CHAPTER 36. THE HARD CHOICE
ONCE ABUSED. NOW LOVED.
RYDER.
I opened my eyes to a face, hovering around mine. I quickly sat up, looking around, confused for a second. Nurse Gina was startled and scurried to a corner in fear.
“What the hell are you doing to me?!“ I snapped at her. She muffled a cry, and her quivering lips were finding it hard to give me a coherent explanation.
“You fainted,'' a voice said. That's when I realized there were others in the room. Darius, Jay, Giveon, Ciara, a few other nurses, and the bloody traitor, Jason. He had a bandage on his right rib and his face was bruised.
It took me a few more seconds to comprehend what Darius had just said. My eyes widened and my gaze shot at him.
“I did what?!“
“Fa..in…ted?“ He repeated, drawing the word like he was scared to say it.
“I fainted?!“ He nodded slowly, unable to meet my gaze. “How the fuck is that possible?“
“When I hurled you out of the ring, I think you landed hard on your head. That's why we rushed you down here,“
And that's when I recognized that I was at the royal clinic. The harsh thumping in my head cued in, making me realize it did happen. I fainted! Sounds like make-believe.
“How's that possible?“ I muttered in disbelief.
“I was hoping you'd tell us that!“ Ciara's shriek almost exploded in my head. “Since when could Darius hurl you out of a ring? He's nowhere close to you in agility and power. And you've never fainted, not even if a bomb exploded in front of you. What's happening to you, Ryder? What the fuck is this?!!“
I couldn't listen to any more of her words, especially because they were true and were brutally poking at my heart. I signaled at Giveon to drag her out and he did, with some help from Jay.
“But she's right though. We're scared this might be a start of a bigger calamity.“ Darius sighed, ruffling his hair. “If the rogues find out about this, or the other packs get a whiff of it, they'll think you've turned into some weakling. Their loyalty will dwindle and soon, they're gonna be waging wars against us. It'll be a goddamn Apocalypse,“
I was as worried as he was, but I was more raged, staring at Jason who was defiant enough to return my stares, despite the anxiety in his eyes.
“Leave us,“ I ordered. Darius nodded and left, “All of you!“ I added, making the nurses scram. Now, it was just Jason and me.
Seconds passed and none of us said a word. No matter how itchy I was to sort this shit out, I was never gonna be the first to start talking. He should start, after all, he's the one who's gonna be doing a lot of explaining.
He puffed, leaning against the wall with his arms wrapped around his chest. “Ryder, I…uh…I don't understand,“
“Me neither,“ I snapped, my tone was low but deadly. “So make me understand, Jason.“
“I don't know…“ he sighed, lowering his head, “I got no fucking clue what's happening between us. And I certainly don't understand why you went ballistic on me earlier,“
“You were supposed to be my spy,“
“I was!“
“You were supposed to keep me updated daily,“
“I couldn't. You were away, handling the flooded packs. I didn't wanna be a nuisance,“
“It's never a nuisance when it has to do with Hara, you know that. I waited for your calls, for your updates. But I got none, why?“
“Told you already. I didn't wanna be a nuisance,“
“Bullshit!“ I snapped. This motherfucker was testing the limits of my patience. I wouldn't hesitate one bit to claw his heart out.
“Ryder, c'mon. I don't know why you seem so angry but I've done nothing wrong,“
“Really?“ I seethed. “So why do you have a picture of Hara on your wallpaper?”
He went silent. His eyes were pleading fucking guilty and his limbs were shaking. All I had to do was tap into his mind and get the fucking answers I wanted. But I couldn't bring myself to do that to him.
He was like a friend to me. Invading his mind was disrespecting his privacy and neglecting his feelings. Stupid of me to still think of him as a friend, when he was giving off traitor vibes.
“It means nothing…“
“It means everything to me,“ I said flatly. “Hara's my mate. You got no reasons to have her on your wallpaper,“
“Fine, I'll take it down,“ He was torn like my words were causing his heartache.
“Be sure to do that. But that doesn't excuse your action. I still wanna know why you did it,“
“Did what exactly, man?“
“Why did you begin grooming feelings for Hara?“ I finally said the words out loud.
“Hara?!“ Father's voice thundered, startling both Jason and me. We didn't hear him come in. Jason looked like he wanted the earth to open up and swallow him. I, on the other hand, was awaiting what I knew was coming.
“Father…“
“Hara's here?!“ He barked, his eyes burning red with rage.
“Take it easy, Father.“ I tried soothing his rage but he was not having it.
“Answer me! Did you sneak her into my pack?!“
“Our pack, Father,“ I corrected, getting down from the bed. If I was gonna challenge him, I had to be standing, not sitting like an invalid on the sick bed.
“Jason, get the hell out of here, Father and I need to talk,“
“No, Son. Your Beta stays. I need to know why you almost killed him.“
“It's between Jason and me.“ I replied laconically.
“Fine. Then tell me just what the hell is Hara doing in this pack. Where did you pick her up from?!“
“Hara came here on her own. I had nothing to do with it. I only met her here by accident,“
“But you continued meeting her!“ Father barked, spilling drops of saliva on my face. I didn't dare wipe them off.
“I had to…“
“Why?! So you could keep insisting she's your mate?!“
“She is my mate!“
“Nonsense!“ He stamped a foot in anger. “She belongs to someone else. And please, Ryder, tell me you haven't fucked her! Say it to my face that you haven't touched another man's mate!“
“No, Father. I haven't touched her, but I got every intention to. She's my mate, and someday, we'll have to do it.“
“Don't even think about it! Ciara's gonna be your wife and the mother of your heir. I will not accept another woman as your wife or mate, especially Hara!“
“I can never be with Ciara!“
“Yes, you will be!“ He flared up. He was too old to be shouting this much and I had to back off. Don't wanna stress him any further. I'll do what I gotta do, without this bickering.
“Do you wanna say something else or do I excuse myself?“ I asked, needing to leave. The energy in here was negative and sucked the life out of me.
“Get ready. You're leaving with the elders tomorrow, “
“What?!“
“They'll be visiting the old temple tomorrow to offer peace offerings to the moon goddess. We need to do that if we want to be saved from the flood.“
“I understand, Father. You cherish your ancient ways a lot. But why do I have to tag along?“
“Because we fear you might be losing your powers. You fainted for the first time. We need to know what's going on,“
“I'm fine, Father. I don't need to go to any temple or do whatever it is you do. I'm staying back,“
“Because of Hara?!“
“Yes, Father, because of her and the pending duties I have here,“
“Those duties wouldn't matter when you finally lose all your powers and the rogues take over this pack. And certainly, Hara would be dead if the rogues infiltrate our packs. Choose your priority wisely.“
This just knocked the air out of my lungs. I glanced at Jason and he had a look of despair in his eyes, the same despair that lurked in Father's words.
What would my ultimate decision be? Leave again or stay back and let whatever it is that's happening to me get worse? If I become just like any other random Alpha, our pack will be doomed.
It was a hard choice to make. More like impossible.