08/18/2017

This time Kristin wasn't trapped in a cell.

In fact, she was on a stage, standing alone in front of all of Nightfall.

Everyone stared at her as she nervously stood, waiting for something to happen, but she didn't know what.

Suddenly a booming voice announced her name as their Luna and they all began cheering while music started playing.

Her legs walked her to the edge of the stage as she reached down to shake everyone's hands that were held out to her. Smiling faces clouded her view, their hand shakes urgent and jerky.

Although they were smiling, Kristin noticed it looked forced, like they were all just faking their smiles.

She furrowed her brow as she looked around at everyone staring at her, and they all began whispering her name.

"Kristin, Kristin, Kristin."

Their voices grew louder with every word and she tried to back away, wanting to run away from them.

Suddenly she felt a hand tightened on hers, not letting her leave.

It was so hard it was becoming painful and she tried looking at who was grabbing her hand so tightly.

She gasped, blood draining her face as she locked eyes with Rickard.

His mouth twisted into an evil smile, his eyes glistening back at her.

"Hello, Kristin."

His cold voice sent shivers down her spine and she tried to scream.

She wasn't sure where Ryder was, or her parents, but she cried for help.

Her screams only came out like whispers, her voice turning silent.

She widened her eyes as she realized she was now completely mute.

Rickard yanked on her hand, pulling her off the stage.

She started falling and falling, waiting to reach the ground.

She didn't know why the stage was now hundreds of feet in the air, but this meant she was falling to her death.

Everyone else disappeared as she awaited to hit the earth, the fall taking an excruciatingly long time.

Instead of hitting the ground, she was engulfed in blackness as she opened her eyes again, waiting for them to adjust to the darkness around her.

She saw a flash of light gleam from the metal bars in front of her, and she quickly backed away from them, until her back hit a wall.

She reached both of her arms out, feeling walls on either side of her. They were closing in, forcing her to scramble forward, towards the opening of the cell again.

When she reached the bars, she immediately recognized Ryder standing outside of them.

"Ryder!" she tried to speak, yet her voice was still gone.

Her silent screams for his help were drowned out from Rickard's evil laughing echoing throughout the room.

She turned her head just in time to see Rickard raising his arm to point something at Ryder.

Tears blurred her vision as the gun gleamed in the darkness.

Right as he pulled the trigger, sending a bullet towards Ryder, something grabbed her, making her jump.

She tried fighting off the strong hold, but slowly stopped when she felt warmth spread though her body.

"Kristin," she heard Ryder's voice and her eyes flew open to see his dark blue ones staring closely back at her.

Her chest was moving up and down from her rapid breathing and her eyes flew to his chest, where the bullet had went.

Seeing that he was perfectly fine, she let out a breath, letting her head fall back on the couch.

"You okay?" Ryder's voice held worry as he continued to study her face.

She nodded, unable to find words to speak.

Ryder leaned back so she could sit up and rub her eyes.

"What happened?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing," Ryder said, raising an eyebrow at her.

She sighed, "Its fine, it happens every time I try to sleep."

"What are they about?" he asked lowly.

"What?" Kristin asked, trying to think of how to change the subject.

"Your nightmares," he replied, creasing his brow.

She shook her head, already forgetting the details of her latest nightmare.

She knew the basics, she was back in the cell, Rickard was always there, and her life as well as others were always in danger.

She wasn't about to tell Ryder this though. He'd only feel more guilty.

"That's why you haven't been sleeping," he realized, getting up to stand in front of her.

She looked up at him, watching him clench his jaw at her.

"I'm fine, Ryder. Just let it go," she pulled her hair away from her face and stood up.

"You're not going anywhere," he stated, his mind set on figuring this out.

"I'm going to the bathroom," she rolled her eyes, walking towards the door.

Once she was outside, she walked down the hallway and found a bathroom to her left.

Locking the door behind her she went to the sink to splash water over her face.

Looking at her reflection, she knew why he was worried about her. She looked even more exhausted than she was before she fell asleep. Dark circles were prominent under her eyes and her face looked drained of color.

She really wanted to shower, but she didn't think there were showers in the pack building.

Ten minutes later, she was walking back to find Ryder waiting outside of his office, looking slightly impatient.

"What took you so long?" he asked her, walking down the hall.

She hesitantly followed him, wondering why he was leaving his office.

He turned around when she didn't respond and his eyes softened.

"Come on," he held his hand out to her.

"I'm not holding your hand Ryder," she replied, walking past him.

"Oh, right. That would be taking things too fast," she heard him tease from behind her.

"Where are we going anyway?" she asked as they walked down the stairs to the lobby.

She stopped to glare at the receptionist, who was still sitting at her desk.

Although Ryder had walked past her without giving her a second glance, she watched him, speaking up.

"Done for the day, Alpha?" Kristin didn't like the tone of her voice. Maybe it was because she was running on low hours of sleep, or that the mate bond was confusing her feelings, but either way she didn't like that girl talking to Ryder.

It had made her mad that Ryder used her to lie to Kristin earlier.

"Yeah," Ryder said without looking at her. Instead he turned back to Kristin, motioning for her to hurry up.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked as they walked outside.

"Yep, never better," Kristin shrugged, getting into his car.

He turned the vehicle on, shaking his head at her sarcasm.

"I just want to help, Kristin."

"You can't help, Ryder. It's just something I have to deal with," her voice became less harsh and more soft.

"Where are we going?" she asked as he drove deeper into his pack.

"To eat. I'm starving."

"I have to go back, my parents are probably worried I haven't checked in," she said, not in the mood for their questions when she got home.

"I called them. They said you can stay here for the night."

"What?" Kristin asked, surprised that he could convince her father that she could stay.

"Did you ask me if I wanted to stay?" she added, raising her brows at him.

He scoffed, "Stop fighting the bond, Kristin."

"You can't fight what isn't there," she said, smirking at him.

For some reason, he was lifting her mood. Which was weird because he usually was the one who put her in a bad mood in the first place.

"You're still in denial," he shook his head, smiling at her attempt to mess with him.

"No, I honestly don't feel a thing," she shrugged, wanting to get a reaction from him.

"Lying is wrong, babe," he smirked, looking over at her as she rolled her eyes.

Back with the nicknames.

She would never admit that a small part of her liked it.

Her eyes flew to her lap where Ryder had placed his hand on her thigh. Even through her jeans, she could feel the affect he was giving her.

"You're telling me you feel nothing?" Ryder asked with a glint in his eye, knowing it would indeed affect her.

"Yeah, I feel absolutely nothing," she stared down at his hand that tightened on her thigh, trying not to blush.

"Really?" he asked as he squeezed her thigh again, seeing the blush over her cheeks.

She grabbed his hand and took it off of her, not being able to take the tingling sensation.

"Nope," she said, determined not to break.

"Well we'll have to see about that," he muttered, parking in front of a small diner in the middle of the pack.

"I still haven't said I was going to stay with you tonight," she gave him a pointed look, following him inside.

"Just calm down, babe," he shook his head at her, putting his hand on the small of her back to push her forward.

"Alpha," everyone nodded at him once he walked past their tables. Although there were only five or six others who were sitting down, it made Kristin uncomfortable that they were all giving her curious glances.

"Ryder," she whispered, glad they were going to sit in a corner where no one would be able to stare at them.

"What?"

"They're all staring at me," Kristin wrinkled her nose, causing Ryder to laugh.

"Because you're the mysterious new Luna."

"But I look horrible," she made a face, knowing her lack of sleep was having physical effects on her appearance.

"You look fine," he rolled his eyes, "No one can see you anyways."

"So I do look horrible?" she muttered as she checked if everyone couldn't see her.

"No, I said you looked fine."

"Just fine?" she narrowed her eyes at him, knowing she looked the opposite of fine. She just wanted to mess with him like usual.

He shrugged, "Lying is wrong," he repeated, failing at holding back his grin.

Kristin kicked him from under the table, a small smile spreading across her face.

"Was that supposed to hurt?"

She tried kicking him again.

"I hardly felt anything?" he smirked as a waitress came over to take their order.

"Hey Ryder-- I mean Alpha," she smiled at him.

"Don't forget it," he smirked back at her, making Kristin feel a strong sense of... what was this?

Jealousy.

The girl had shoulder length dark hair and tanned skin that made her tall figure utterly beautiful.

She laughed at Ryder, shaking her head.

"If it means Rickard isn't, I'll gladly call you Alpha," she rolled her eyes.

Ryder nodded, but Kristin saw the dark look wash over his face that happened whenever someone mentioned his family.

"Aren't you going to introduce me, Ryder?" she asked, her bright green eyes looking over to Kristin.

"Evelyn meet Kristin, Kristin, Evelyn," Ryder said, his eyes meeting Kristin's briefly.

"It's nice to meet you," Evelyn grinned at Kristin. "I'm so glad someone is here to whip my cousin into shape."

Wait--

Her words shocked Kristin, causing her mouth to drop open.

•. •. •. •.

Chapter Thirty read!

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