08/16/2017

In record time they arrived to Nightfall's borders, stopping when two guys approached their vehicle.

"And you are?" One of the guys gave Allison a dirty look, obviously thinking she didn't belong here.

Allison pulled down her sunglasses and leaned towards him.

"I just so happen to be the bestest friend of your beloved Luna, so I suggest you drop the attitude."

"Allison!" Kristin whisper- yelled at her.

The guy scowled at Allison but then lowered his head to see into the passenger seat.

His eyes landed on Kristin and he seemed to debate whether she was actually his Luna or not.

"You're the Alpha's mate?" he questioned, his tone becoming less rude.

"Sadly," Kristin muttered, nodding her head.

The guy bowed his head, "It's nice to meet you, my name's Luke."

Kristin felt extremely uncomfortable when he bowed but Allison seemed entertained.

"Nice to meet you," Kristin replied, before elbowing Allison to start driving.

Instead Allison lowered her sunglasses once again.

"I'm Allison," she spoke sweetly, sarcasm hidden in her tone.

"I didn't ask for your name," Luke replied, giving her another of his dirty looks as she stepped on the gas, driving them away.

"He's hot," Allison replied, smiling.

"Seriously, Al?" Kristin pinched the bridge of her nose, "You had to make a scene?"

"What? You are his Luna," Allison shrugged, "I couldn't help myself, I love making scenes. Plus, he was hot, wouldn't you agree?"

Kristin rolled her eyes, but realized Allison was looking to the backseat, asking the guard.

He gave her one look then turned away ignoring her, his serious expression never faltering.

"Where do I go?" Allison asked, looking around.

"He's probably at the pack house, its that way," Kristin pointed to her right.

"Ohh, here it is," Allison said when they reached the front of the building.

"Okay, lets kick some butt," she rubbed her hands together and hopped out of the car.

"Wait, Al, what's the plan?" Kristin said stopping her.

"I just said it," Allison blinked at her, like it was obvious.

Kristin looked up to the tall building, noticing the darkening skies threatening rain.

She wondered how Ryder would react to seeing her. Or if he knew she was here yet.

Next thing she knew her legs were walking her towards the door.

"Hey, can you stay with the car?" She heard Allison asked the guard with them.

She didn't hear his reply because she was already inside.

She regretted coming here to see Ryder, she really didn't want to confront him right now.

Yet it seemed like since she was getting closer to him, the invisible pull between them was strengthening.

"Where are you going?" The same girl from the front desk asked her.

Kristin stopped and turned toward her, "I'm going to see Ryder," she said, obviously.

"He's in a meeting right now, he won't be able to talk," she said, pushing her glasses up her nose.

Kristin wasn't sure why she sounded slightly rude.

"You do know you're talking to his mate, right?" Allison walked up behind Kristin, making her jump.

She didn't even care that Allison was starting again, she just wanted to get this over with.

"I do, thank you very much," the girl forced a smile, "But the Alpha has told me he's too busy to talk."

"He said that?" Kristin asked, pulling her gaze from the stairs back to the desk.

"Yes," she repeated, "Alpha's orders."

"He's not my Alpha," Allison grumbled and started walking across the room.

It was kind of humorous to see her marching confidently, although she had no idea where to go.

Kristin stopped smiling when one of the guards standing by grabbed Allison and dragged her back to the desk.

"Hey, let me go," she failingly tried using her human strength against him.

"Kristin are you just going to let this guy man handle me?" Allison raised her brows.

"What?" Kristin snapped, trying to understand her.

"You are the Luna!" Allison stated slowly.

The guard and the girl at the desk both turned to look at Kristin, not sure what to do.

"Let her go," she spoke quietly, not wanting to start ordering people around. It felt weird.

"You can't go against the Alpha's orders," the guard warned.

"Okay," Kristin shrugged, "Now will you let her go?"

He slowly removed his hand from Allison's arm.

"Ha," Allison walked over to stand by Kristin, acting like her friend suddenly had super powers.

Kristin sighed, "I need to talk to him, when does his meeting get done?"

The girl side glanced the guard, looking like she didn't know what to say.

"Is it almost done?" Allison asked when she stayed silent.

"Uh, it's taking a while," she looked slightly nervous.

"Don't lie to your Luna," Allison warned her, picking up on her nerves as well.

The girl opened her mouth, then shut it. It looked like she was mind linking someone for a minute, then she spoke.

"The Alpha cannot see you today."

"Wait, were you talking to him?" Kristin narrowed her eyes, wondering if she was directly mind linking Ryder.

The girl nodded, "He's too busy today."

"Is he even in a meeting?" Kristin flatly asked, knowing Ryder would probably make an excuse to not see her.

Did he really not want to see her that much?

"And don't lie," she added before the girl could reply.

She was hesitant, which told Kristin she was lying.

"Wow," she shook her head at her and started up the stairs.

The guard stepped toward her, unsure if he should stop his Luna.

"Don't," Kristin said, holding up her hand.

She was angry and determined now.

"Hey!" she heard Allison yell from behind her.

The guard was holding her from following Kristin.

"The Alpha doesn't want visitors," he stated, nodding at Allison.

"A visitor? I'm the--"

"I'll be back in a little bit Al," Kristin interrupted her, giving her a pleading look.

"Fine, but I will find a way to go kick his a*ss!" she said triumphantly, causing Kristin to chuckle and the guard to frown.

Kristin hurried up the stairs before she lost her determination and chickened out.

She walked all the way down the hallway, knocking on his office door.

After almost a minute of her knocking and silence, she turned to walk away, wondering where he must be.

Wait.

She turned back around and stared at the door.

Twisting the handle she pushed it open, and sure enough, there he was.

It took her a few seconds to take in the view.

Behind Ryder, the windows revealed a dark sky with rain splattering against the glass. He sat in his chair, his hand running through his thick dark hair. His blue eyes were almost as dark as the sky, looking back at her.

She noticed he looked tired, even for a wolf. His skin was slightly darker under his eyes, showing his lack of sleep.

After seeing him, Kristin had lost all of her anger. Now she had shifted all of her focus on not running to him, the pull between them almost irresistible.

The only sound was the rain hitting the windows and a slight rumble of thunder in the distance.

Minutes passed by, causing Kristin to regain her anger from Ryder's silence.

"I'm sorry I had to interrupt your meeting," she said bitterly.

Ryder turned away, running his hand through his hair once again.

"It looks like a lot of fun, being the Alpha. I see you already know how to give orders for people to lie."

His dark eyes shot back to her, it looked like he wanted to say something but he stayed silent.

"Especially nice, when they lie to your mate," she continued, taking a step closer to his desk.

He clenched his jaw, watching her take another step forward.

Kristin stopped directly in front of his desk, crossing her arms.

"Or am I not your mate anymore?" Although her voice sounded bitter, she was trying her best to stay strong. Seeing him sit in silence was giving her anxiety.

"Why wouldn't you not be my mate anymore?" His voice sent chills down her spine.

"Because you don't want me to be," she struggled to keep her voice steady, "I think I get it now."

"Get what now?" He scrunched his eyebrows at her.

"I get that you'd rather lead the pack by yourself. You could have just said you didn't want me to be Luna."

Kristin's voice was filled with anger, but also with more emotion than what she would have wanted.

"Kristin," Ryder said, closing his eyes, "I thought I could lead the pack by myself."

Kristin frowned, watching lightning strike out the window.

"I hate being Alpha, but since I don't have a choice, I wanted to keep you out of it."

"But apparently I don't have a choice in that either, because the bond is practically killing me," he added with an annoyed voice.

"If you didn't want me to be Luna, you should've just said it," Kristin demanded, the annoying pain shooting through her again, "I'll just go and leave you alone then."

"Kristin," Ryder called, stopping her from leaving, "I can't do this without you."

Kristin scoffed, "You've already made it clear you don't want me."

"That's not true," he said, thunder rumbling outside.

Kristin narrowed her eyes down at him.

"I don't know what's wrong with you, but your changes in personality are really messing with me. So, will you stop having mood swings and tell me what the hell is going on?" She raised her voice, emotion taking over her. It was getting really hard to stay away from him, the bond was getting out of control.

"I'm sorry for yesterday, I just felt like sh*t for bringing you into this," Ryder muttered, his hands forming fists.

Kristin couldn't say anything without the waterworks starting, so she willed herself to stay calm.

"Okay, I'll explain," he said to her, although she hadn't asked him to.

"I f*cked up your life Kristin. I did the arrangement sh*t with you, which caused you to be kidnapped and then you watched my own f*cking father murder my brother and his mate right in front of you, and now since I'm the last one alive in my family I have to be the f*cking Alpha, and you have to be a Luna all of a sudden. That's why I feel guilty, okay?" Ryder had stood up from his desk while speaking, his tone and swearing made Kristin shrink back.

"It's not your fault," she said quietly, looking down at his desk.

"It is my fault. I was helping my father overthrow your pack! Everything that happened to you was because I couldn't stand up to my crazy f*cking father," Ryder angrily said, turning around to face the windows.

Kristin cautiously watched his shoulders rising from his short breathes and his muscles becoming more prominent from his anger.

"Ryder, if you would have went against your father, he would have most likely killed you. That wouldn't have been helping me out, trust me."

"At least you wouldn't have been in this mess," he growled out.

"Don't say that," Kristin snapped, upset that he was implying he would have been better by attempting to 'stand up' to his father. She knew what it felt like to be separated from her mate. If he was gone, if Rickard had killed Ryder too-- she did not want to think about it!

"I'd be worse off if you weren't here," she said honestly.

Ryder turned back around, shaking his head.

"You always have to see the good in everyone! You act like everything's fine and you just have to accept your fate but it's because of me you have to deal with the fact that you saw my family kill each other! You should hate me, you need to be angry with me. How do you know I won't turn out like my father?"

At this point, growls were coming from his throat and he was shaking. Even though there was a desk in between them, Kristin knew it would be bad if he shifted.

"Ryder, please calm down," Kristin started walking around his desk. She didn't know why she was getting closer to him when he was about to turn into a giant wolf, but she wanted to calm him down.

Ryder backed away from her, "Stay back, or I'll just hurt you even more."

Kristin stopped moving, now there was about five feet between them.

"I don't hate you, Ryder," she looked pleadingly into his eyes. She really wanted him to believe her. "I know you aren't like your father."

"You don't know that, you're just saying it," he stepped back again and reached out to grab onto the back of a metal chair near him.

"Ryder, what matters is right now. I'm more than okay, and I want to help you," she kept her voice soft, trying to calm him.

She took another step towards him and he tightened his hold on the chair, bending the metal.

"Kristin you need to go before I shift," he said, his eyes turning black.

"No, I know you won't hurt me," she said, taking another step towards him. She didn't know if what she said was actually true but she didn't care. All she knew was that she had him cornered and she took another step.

Ryder-- or maybe his wolf at this point-- growled loudly at her, warning her to back off.

She was only a couple feet away, she could reach out and almost touch him if she wanted.

"I don't blame you for what happened because it wasn't your fault. It was Rickard who was manipulating you and your brother. He was the evil one. Not you, or anyone else. You saved me from him when you showed up, if it weren't for you I wouldn't be here."

"If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have been kidnapped in the first place Kristin!"

"Ryder," Kristin spoke, her eyes filling with tears. She didn't care anymore, she just wanted to be with her mate. "Stop trying to push me away. I want to be with you."

Lightning lit up the room and thunder crashed soon after, Ryder and Kristin were both silent.

Then Kristin did the first thing she thought to do. She didn't even think it, really. It was pure instinct as she closed the distance between her and Ryder.

He seemed surprised at her actions, that he didn't have time to move before she wrapped her arms around his neck and reached her lips to his.

•. •. •. •. •.

Chapter Twenty Seven!

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Chica_2016