•Ryder's POV•

I walk into my office and everyone turns their head to look at me.

I continue towards my chair and take a seat.

Nobody has said anything yet, they are all looking at me expectantly.

I clear my throat before I begin, "A few years ago, I used to always visit my Aunty and Uncle, we weren't actually related, but we were so close that I just called them that. Anyway, they had a son, who is Cole, and a daughter, Maddison. I always saw them as my siblings, I used to see them all the time and we were so close. About two years ago, Maddison and her mum died in a car accident. Cole blamed it on himself, even though he had no part in it.

"After that, he changed. He didn't pay as much attention to me when I came to visit, he changed his style to darker clothing, and his personality changed too. I wasn't surprised when he said that his pack ditched him, he was causing trouble and making it hard for the other pack members.

"But I knew when I saw him last, which was just over a year ago, that he had completely changed. A side of him came out that I never knew existed, he had a dark side. And now that he came today, I understand part of the reason he's like this is because of me."

Mara looks like she's about to say something, but I put up my hand to silence her.

"I just need you all to know that Cole isn't like this. He isn't what you saw today, he's actually a kind and caring person that just wants everyone to accept their lives as they have it." I finish.

I look around and see everyone nodding their heads, but when my eyes land on Mandy, they look lost and confused.

"Are you okay Mandy?" I ask.

Mara looks at her and frowns, she walks over to her and pulls her up.

"We'll be back in a second." She says and walks out, Mandy trailing behind her in a daze. Mara turns around before she completely vanishes and looks to Layla, giving her a silent message to come too.

Layla nods and gets up to follow too.

Josh, Trent and I give each other looks.

"They need one of their 'girly talks'." Josh says through mind-link.

"Yeah, but did you see Mandy's face? It was like she'd seen a ghost." Trent replies.

"Why are we talking in mind-link again?" I ask.

We all give each other a look and start laughing.

How this was funny? I don't know.

The door opens and my dad walks in.

"Ryder, I need to talk to you for a second." He says in his Alpha tone.

I nod and excuse myself from the guys.

We go out into the hallway and I close the door behind me.

"What do you need to talk to me about?" I ask.

"So Mara's human?" He begins.

I knew Mara wanted to keep her secret, because she didn't shift when she was being held by the rogue just adds to my suspicions of her not wanting people to know.

"Yes." I reply with a straight face, careful not to give anything away.

"Well I see that you told her everything okay?" He asks.

"Yeah, she accepted us fine." I shrug.

"Good. And you know that she's going to need lots of protection?" He says.

"Dad seriously? I've gone over this with Josh and Mandy. Mara is in good hands and I would never let anything happen to her." I reply.

Dad nods and smiles, "She's a lovely girl, you should feel very lucky that she is your mate."

I smile more to myself than back at my dad, "Yeah, I know."

Dad slaps my proudly on the back and wanders away, probably to find mum.

I turn around to go back to the office, but get stopped by Jessica grinning playfully as she struts down the hallway.

Just as I'm about to head to the office door, Jessica makes her way in front of me and runs a hand down my chest. I pull back from the disgusting action, feeling repulsed that another female is doing this other than my mate.

Jessica fake pouts, "Oh Ryder, baby, don't be like that."

Caleb growls when she calls me 'baby'.

I roll my eyes dramatically, "When will you give up Jessica?"

She looks at me seductively and takes a step forward, coming even closer to me.

"Playing hard to get, huh?" She smirks.

I push her away lightly, "Have I not made it that obvious that I don't want you? Or was just introducing my mate, Mara, to the pack not enough for you?" I ask, emphasising the word 'Mara' so that she gets the hint.

"Yeah, but you don't actually like her do you? She doesn't have anything I can give you." She bite her lip and trails a finger down my neck.

I step back, "You disgust me." I hiss.

"What do you see in that worthless human anyway?" She shouts.

"Mara is anything but worthless." I defend.

"She going to suck at being Luna. I mean, she couldn't even defend herself today." Jessica continues.

"Stop." I say through clenched teeth.

"Why do you even want to be seen with her?" She pushes.

"Stop." I say a but more sternly.

"Why do you even care about her?" She yells.

"Because I love her!" I shout.

"W-what?" She stutters, looking taken aback.

When I realised what I said a take a moment to think about it. There's no way I'm taking it back, I know what I just admitted is the truth. I do love Mara. But I had never even thought about it until now, until I physically said it.

"You heard right. Now stop bothering me, stop trying to seduce me, and stop trying to bloody get in my pants! I've had enough of your shit and so has Mara, so leave us the fuck alone!" I burst, I get all my anger out at Jessica.

And I swore, I try to never swear.

She looks frightened and shocked at the same time. She starts to back away and nods slowly before running off in the other direction.

I shake my head and mumble incoherent words under my breath as I head into the office.

I swing open the door and hit something. It's not until I look down that I see Josh and Trent rubbing their foreheads.

"Ow." Josh mutters.

I narrow my eyes at them, "We're you listening?"

The give me a guilty look and I shake my head, "Just forget about it okay? Let's go and talk to Cole before he wakes up and bloody destroys the place." I say, still angry from my run in with Jessica.

They nod and get up sensing my bad mood.

"I can't believe you swore, she must have been giving you some shit." Josh whistles.

I just give him a glare and he shuts up.

We get to the holding cells a few minutes later, they are in the forest a little, so we had to walk out of the pack house to get there.

I nod at one of the guards as we walk past.

He leads me to the cell which holds Cole.

"The pack doctor said he should be waking up any minute now." The guard says before leaving, knowing that we need privacy.

We lean against the wall as we wait for Cole to wake up.

"So you love her huh?" Trent asks.

My cheeks redden a little and I look down, "Yeah." I admit.

Trent nudges me, "That's nothing to be embarrassed about. I remember when I first realised I loved Layla, it was the best feeling in the world. But do you know what's even better?" He asks.

I look at him confused, "What?" I ask.

He leans in a little, "When she says it back." He grins.

I smile too, "Yeah, well, I doubt that's going to happen soon." I say.

"Why?" This time it's Josh that answers.

"Because, Mara's not a werewolf. She doesn't feel the pull as much as I do." I reply.

"Do you think she would have let you mark her if she didn't trust you?" Trent asks.

"Trust is a whole different thing to love." I reply.

"Yes, but trust is a step towards love." Trent replies.

We hear a shuffling from the cell and turn our heads to a groggy Cole.

He looks around and then his eyes lock on us, or mainly me, and he scowls before laying back down, staring at the ceiling.

"How are you feeling Cole?" I ask.

"Fantastic." He sarcastically replies.

"Was the only reason you ambushed my pack today because of me?" I ask, stepping forward.

He sits up from his bed and looks at me before giving me a smirk.

"Maybe. Maybe not." He replies.

"Well, what was the other reason?" I press.

He sighs and gets up, coming closer to me, the smirk still evident on his face.

He comes until his chest is touching the metal bars. I do the same, but keep a little distance from the bars.

"Having fun with your little mate, Ryder?"

The anger that Jessica left we with still hasn't subsided, and this just set it off again.

I grab Cole's throat through the bars, "I know you don't want to die Cole. Or you would have done it yourself by now." I say.

He smirks a little but I tighten my grip, making him wince.

"But," I continue, "If you ever, ever, threaten Mara again. I'll make sure you don't intake another breath in your life." I sneer.

I'm about to throw him against the wall, but I certain scent stops me.

"Ryder! Stop! Don't hurt him!" Mara yells as she barges through the door.

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Hello!

Okay, so I'm going away for a week and I won't have much access to internet. But I'm going to try to update a least once so I'll see how I go.

Pic of Layla to the side (Played by Ariana Grande) ------------>

See you in a week! xx