07/17-18/2017

After Kristin got over the initial surprise of Ryder's lips pressed to hers, she started kissing him back.

The kiss was rough, Ryder was hungrily moving his lips against hers, and she tried to keep up.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing herself closer to him.

Kristin felt Ryder's hot breath inside of her mouth, and it excited her.

She knew they weren't supposed to be doing this.

Yet, it felt amazing.

Maybe that's why.

She felt Ryder's hands on her waist, and he moved her backwards, until her back hit the wall.

Ryder continued to massage her lips with his, squeezing her waist.

She was so into the moment, that it caught her off guard when Ryder bit her lip, causing her to gasp.

He slid his tongue into her now opened mouth, causing her to let out a small moan.

What the hell?

This wasn't supposed to happen!

Kristin tried to knock some common sense into her head, but it was useless.

The feeling of Ryder's tongue exploring inside of her mouth, made her move her hands to his hair.

She ran her hands through his long, thick hair, sighing in content.

Too soon, according to Kristin, Ryder pulled away from her, his dark eyes meeting her's again.

They were both silent, catching their breathes, until Ryder spoke up.

"Does that answer your question?" he smirked at her, turning to walk upstairs.

Kristin stayed leaning against the wall for another minute, trying to level her breathing.

Her lips still tingled where Ryder's had been, and if she closed her eyes, she could still feel his lips on hers.

She eventually made her way upstairs and into her room, her legs a bit shaky.

She fell onto her bed, exhausted, falling into a deep sleep.

That night she dreamed of a certain someone's lips, pressed against her own.

The next morning Kristin woke up, stretching in her bed.

It took a second for reality to kick in and she groaned, thinking about what happened last night.

She should have stopped him, but she didn't. She should have just pulled away, but she didn't do that either.

What did she do? She kissed him back!

She kissed Ryder back!

She jumped in the shower, trying to sort her thoughts.

Okay, so Ryder liked her.

She might, perhaps, like him back.

Well, obviously she did! She didn't know how, or why, but it just happened.

Yet, she was angry at herself for letting this happen. She knew all along they weren't mates. She knew they couldn't be together.

Her anger shifted to Ryder. Why did he have to like her when she wasn't his mate? It wasn't fair for either of them to continue whatever last night had been.

She took her time getting ready, not wanting to go downstairs and face her problems yet.

She dried and straightened her hair, applied makeup, and slipped into a long- sleeved romper.

She shoved her keys, wallet, and phone into a small pink purse, wanting to leave so she wouldn't have to interact with Ryder.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly walked downstairs, listening for any noise.

The house was silent and empty.

Kristin looked out the window to see Ryder's car was gone.

So she wasn't the only one who didn't want to face her problems just yet.

She was glad they didn't have to see each other right now, but eventually they would have to.

And that meant she would have to convince Ryder they couldn't have a repeat of last night again. Even if he didn't want to talk about it, like she figured he would.

Kristin made herself a smoothie and got into her car.

She had to go somewhere. She couldn't just sit in the silent house all day, waiting for Ryder to get home.

Once she got into town, she glanced at her phone, noticing the missed messages from Alex, asking if she was okay.

She quickly typed back that she was okay, deciding to ask him if he wanted to meet in the cafe from yesterday again.

He wasted no time in replying and said he'd be there in ten minutes.

On her way to the cafe, Kristin vaguely thought about what she would do if she ran into Ryder.

She didn't even know if he was in town. For all she knew, he could have went to visit his pack, which was farther away.

Thanks to her silent prayer, Kristin made it safely inside the cafe without running into Ryder.

"Kristin!" she heard a voice and walked over to sit down with Alex.

"Hey, Alex, what's up?" she said, sliding her purse off her shoulder.

"I think I should be asking you that question," he said back.

She was surprised to find him looking a little disheveled.

"Everything's okay, don't worry Alex," she continued when he didn't look convinced, "Ryder came home last night and we had a talk, and we're good now," she shrugged.

"You talked to him?" he asked, incredulously.

"Yes," Kristin said, furrowing her brows, and trying to ignore the little voice in her head that said they did a little more than talk.

"He's dangerous, Kristin, you need to stay away from him," Alex replied, fidgeting in his chair.

Why was he acting so nervous with her?

"Alex, Ryder might act tough, but he's not dangerous, trust me."

Well, not dangerous to her. Alex on the other hand... she was planning on never letting him and Ryder cross paths, ever again.

"I saw with my own two eyes, how dangerous he can be," Alex said, shaking his head, "He was acting like... some kind of animal."

"-- I really don't want to talk about this anymore, Alex," Kristin quickly said, "Lets talk about something else, okay?"

"Like what?" Alex shrugged.

"Like..." Kristin didn't know how to successfully change the subject besides to bring up their kiss. She felt horrible for using Alex to get to Ryder, and she wanted to clear things up.

"Like you kissing me, last night?" Alex asked, before she could bring the subject up first.

She smiled sadly, "Yeah, about that..."

She sighed, "It was kind of a spur of the moment thing, and I... shouldn't have done it."

His face fell, "You regret it?"

"I may have done it to make Ryder mad," she cringed as she admitted this to her friend.

"You know, I knew that was why," Alex's laugh wasn't humorous, "I just didn't want to believe it."

He scrunched his brows, "You said you two didn't like each other like that? You said you didn't like him."

Kristin tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, trying to find her voice.

"I know," she let out a breath of air, "Its... complicated."

"I'm sorry, Alex," she tried taking his hand, but he pulled away.

"It's fine," he shook his head.

Kristin felt the guilt settle in her stomach, feeling sick.

"Kristin, it's okay," he continued, seeing her expression, "But, before you go, I have to tell you something about Ryder."

Kristin stayed silent, watching Alex become distant.

There goes their friendship, she bitterly thought.

"Ryder, he's... I know what he is," Alex said lowly, leaning closer to Kristin.

"What?" Kristin said, trying not to sound panicked.

"He's a werewolf," Alex whispered, "I know."

"But, how?" Kristin stuttered.

"Let's just say I know a lot more now than I did a week ago."

Kristin didn't like the expression on Alex's face when he said that.

"Alex, you can't tell anyone--"

"I know, Kristin," he leaned in farther, "But, I have to warn you."

Alex glanced around, making sure no one was paying attention to them.

"It's about Ryder."

"I know," Kristin replied, wanting Alex to stop talking about wolves.

"No, Kristin," Alex shook his head.

"What is it?" she asked, watching Alex's forehead crease.

"I know about the arrangement deal you and Ryder have, so your packs can have an alliance or whatever."

Kristin's eyes widened, "Who told you this?"

"Kristin, you have to listen to me," he continued, looking into her eyes.

"I will, once you tell me who told you," Kristin demanded.

"Kristin, Ryder is using you."

"Alex!"

"-- Before Ryder met you, his father told him to say you two were mates, so they could make the alliance."

Kristin's mouth dropped open, wondering what the hell Alex was talking about, and how he knew about mates. She completely ignored his actual statement.

"Ryder is only with you so that he and his father can get easy access to your pack. They are planning on overthrowing your father."

Once Kristin finally comprehended what Alex was saying, she shook her head at him.

"I don't know where the hell you heard this, Alex," Kristin raised her voice, not wanting to believe him.

"I have proof, Kristin," Alex pulled out his phone and gave Kristin the head phones that were plugged into it.

"Watch," Alex said as he pressed play on the video.

Kristin didn't have a chance to argue, because as soon as the video was started, her eyes were glued to the screen.

A small room appeared on the screen that was set up like an office. It looked similar to the office rooms in her father's pack building, yet different in a small way.

Once the door opened and she watched Alpha Rickard and Ryder walk in, she realized it was their pack building.

Alpha Rickard took a seat at the table, "Well?"

Ryder remained standing and crossed his arms, "Well, what?"

"Have you convinced her you're mates?"

"Yes," his voice was void of emotion as he responded to his father.

"Good, now you have to make sure John doesn't find out the truth, or else our plan will be ruined."

"Your plan," Ryder corrected, shaking his head.

"Ryder," his father sighed, "Soon enough, we'll be able to attack John's pack, and they won't even see it coming," he chuckled.

"Sooner than later, I hope," Ryder's voice sounded annoyed, "I want to get this over with."

"Patience, son. All good things come, to those who wait."

"I'm not waiting much longer," Ryder grumbled, "Can't you just attack now? We already have access into Spirit Moon."

"Soon," Alpha Rickard's voice was firm, "Just keep up the act, and you will be serving the pack well."

"Oh, I'll keep up the act all right," Ryder chuckled and nodded, walking towards the door.

"And Ryder," he said before Ryder could leave.

"You might as well use her for information," he smiled evilly.

"Oh, I will," Ryder responded, before walking out and the video ended.

Alex took his phone back out of Kristin's hands.

Her eyes followed the screen, her thoughts mixing up inside of her head.

"Where did you get this video?" Kristin asked, sick to her stomach.

Alex shook his head, "I can't say, Kristin. All I can say is that you have to stay away from Ryder."

Kristin tried to steady her breathing as she held her head in her hands.

How much had she told Ryder?

How much had he told his father?

"Kristin, I have to go," Alex said, looking around nervously.

"Alex, wait!" she called as he got up and hurriedly walked away.

Kristin remained seated, not knowing what to do.

She squeezed her eyes shut, grabbing onto the edge of the table as the cafe started spinning.

Don't freak out, don't freak out, don't freak out, she repeated to herself over and over, until her breathing leveled out again.

After a few minutes, her confusion began turning into anger, and she hurried to her car.

Ryder was using her.

Ryder was lying to her.

Ryder was manipulating her.

Ryder was helping his father take over her pack.

Angry thoughts kept running through Kristin's mind as she raced back to the house.

She felt sick to her stomach, betrayal overwhelming her feelings.

In record time, she pulled into the driveway and parked the car.

She didn't even bother turning it off as she jumped out and marched into the house.

Ryder's car wasn't back yet, so she ran upstairs and into her room.

She went into her closet and threw her suitcase onto her bed.

She started tearing random clothes off of hangers and stuffing them inside, getting angrier by the second.

How could he do this?

How could she let him do this to her?

To her pack?

"What are you doing?" Ryder's voice made her jump.

She turned around to see Ryder standing in her doorway, raising a brow.

"Leaving," Kristin spat out, continuing to throw pointless things into her bag and zip it close.

"Why?" Ryder walked closer to her, trying to read her expression.

"You!" she pointed at him, closing the distance between them.

"Me?" he said, scrunching up his eyebrows, "What did I do now?"

Kristin scoffed at him, "Stop lying to me, Ryder!"

She shoved him, catching him off guard, but he only took a step back.

"What's wrong?" he asked, catching her fist, before she could punch him.

Kristin could only mumble out, "You!" as she started repeatedly hitting him.

"Kristin!" he said, sternly, catching both of her hands in his.

"You've been helping your father overthrow my pack!" she yelled at him, feeling tears start to form, "My own father and brother!"

He quickly let go of her hands and clenched his jaw.

"Who told you that?"

"It doesn't matter! You--"

"Who told you that?" he raised his voice, looking down at her angrily.

"Why does it matter? I know everything, now!"

"Kristin, you need to listen to me!" Ryder cut her off, taking a step closer.

"No! I'm done listening to you, Ryder!" she shoved him away.

Ryder growled, his eyes growing dark.

"And I actually trusted you," Kristin turned around before he could see a tear roll down her face.

"Kristin, it's not what you--"

"I knew there was something in it for you," Kristin cut him off, "I can't believe I was this stupid!"

She grabbed her suitcase and tried walking past Ryder.

"Kristin, wait. Don't walk away from me!"

Kristin shoved past him and ran downstairs.

"Where are you going?" Ryder yelled, following after her.

"Away from you!"

"It's dangerous out there!"

She scoffed, "The only dangerous thing is you!"

"Kristin please listen to me," he grabbed her arm, sounding desperate.

"Let go of me."

"Not unless you hear me out," he said, turning her to face him.

"Just leave me alone! Nothing you say will make anything better! Haven't you already hurt me enough?"

By this time tears were freely running down her face.

Ryder scrunched his eyebrows and let go of her arm.

"Fine, leave. I'll just go back to helping my father overthrow your pack," he growled out.

His hands were in fists, and his eyes were dark.

"I hate you," Kristin whispered, opening the door, and turning back one last time.

"Oh, and nice acting," she spat out, before slamming the door behind her.

•. •. •. •. •.

Chapter Sixteen!

What do you think, now that the truth's out?

Thanks for reading!

Vote if you'd like.

Chica_2016