CHAPTER 65. AT HER MERCY
RYDER
I woke up at dawn and found myself lying on the cold floor of my balcony. I reeked of alcohol, and my head hurts from the crying and how much drink I had.
I could easily take the pains away with my powers, but I didn't do it. I let the pains be, as they made me feel alive in an odd way.
I got into the bathroom and had a quick shower. Darius showed up and picked out my outfit, I didn't say a word to him. We just did our thing in awkward silence.
We headed to the meeting hall and went over a few things about the estate project, just the two of us. Tiffany showed up later with a list of potential human investors for the project. We spent hours giving each of them a call and going over the details of the project with them. It was until noon that we got done with it.
“Finally, we're done with this. I'm fucking exhausted,“ Darius groaned, stretching out his limbs. It was just the three of us, the other warlords were still in the pack house.
“Yeah, me too,” Tiffany mumbled, packing up her stuff into her small briefcase and ready to leave, ”I need to you get some rest,” She said.
“Sure, go ahead. I'll just go through this one more time,“ I said to her, flicking through the files I was holding.
“Is something wrong?“ Tiffany asked, giving me a keen look. “You look moody,“
“Nah, I'm fine,“ I quickly defended. I didn't wanna start discussing my feelings and looks right now. If I do, it'll make me think hard again about last night. I've been trying so hard not to think of last night, or I might be forced to tap into Darius' mind and find out what he was hiding from me. I still haven't forgotten about that.
“Your eyes are puffy,“ She stated and tried to touch my face to get a better look, but I avoided her touch. She was surprised by my reaction, I've never really avoided her touch like I did right now.
“I'm fine, Tiff. I'm just having a hangover from how much I drank last night,“
“Eyes get puffy from crying, not from drinking,“ She pointed out.
I hissed at her words and looked away. She was being annoyingly nosy right now and it was beginning to get on my nerves. How did she not understand that it was a blatant lie and she shouldn't ask more questions, as it's very obvious I don't wanna tell her the truth?
Isn't that what blatant lies are? When you lie and they know you're lying but have to give it a rest because it's obvious you don't wanna say the truth?
“Tiff, I said I'm fine. Do you understand that or not?“ I said in a brash tone. She was either very annoying this morning or I'm the one rather edgy this morning. Either way, I needed to make her stop asking me these random questions. I'm barely holding up right now, I don't wanna break down again.
She flashed me a skeptical and confused look but didn't ask me any more questions. She stood to her feet and tapped my shoulder.
”Take it easy, Ryder. And please, do get some rest. You need it,“
“I will. Bye Tiff,”
She headed out for the exit door, and the heels of her shoes made quite a noise as they came in contact with the floor. But the noise faded as she left the hall and took a right turn.
It was just Darius and I in the meeting hall now, we didn't speak to each other for a while until he spoke up.
“Ryder,“ He called out my name. I dropped the file on the table with a sigh and turned to him.
“What is it?“ I asked him.
“I know you don't wanna talk but can I ask you something?“
“Go on,“
“The guy from last night, how do you know him?“
I was taken aback by his question. This was the same question I asked him hours ago and he claimed not to know Roland when his eyes said the opposite. Why was he asking me the same question now?
“Why do you ask?“ I retorted, and he fell silent. What the fuck is going on with Darius? What is this? Why was he acting so suspiciously, like he committed a crime?
How the hell does he know Roland? Because there's no doubt that he does know Roland.
“Uh- nothing,“ He stuttered and gave a nervous laugh, “It's just that ever since last night, you've been so sad and drank a lot too. I've never seen you look this broken. And it all started when you met the man at the party, that's why I'm asking,“
“I don't wanna talk about it, Darius. Please.” I ended the conversation and stood up to leave. I'd wanted to stay here for a while and go through all the files, but I don't wanna stay around him. Not until I figure out what he's hiding. I just hope I don't experience betrayal the second time. Jason's betrayal gave me enough pain to last a lifetime, I don't wanna add to it.
I left the hall and was walking down the hallway to the rooms when I bumped into Father. He was leaving his quarters with a few pack warriors.
It's been a while since I saw him this close, he's always out visiting Ciara, or locked in his chambers with the few elders of the pack that didn't embark on the journey to the old temples.
“Son, let's talk,” He said as he dismissed the warriors and they left.
”Sure, Father. What is it?”
”I heard about the mess your nemesis created at the Silver pack party last night,”
“Hara isn't my nemesis. And she did nothing wrong, Evelyn started the whole mess. Get your facts straight before you ask for a discussion next time,“
”How dare you speak to me like that?!” He howled furiously.
“Excuse me, Father. I got more important matters to attend to,“ I bowed and hurried out of his presence.
I felt bad about how rude I was earlier, but his words struck a nerve and I lost it. He has always had nothing but mean words and names for Hara, and I hated him for it. But for the first time, I felt the truth in those names.
Hara was indeed my nemesis, she was my undoing. The only one who had the power to shut me down with the flick of her fingers. She was a blessing and a curse, but the fact remains that I can't let her go. And if she abandons me, I'm gonna completely shut down. Right now, I'm at her mercy. Sad, but true.
I walked past her room but my steps slowed as I couldn't fight the urge to check up on her. The last time I saw her was when we had sex last night. It's noon now and I'm yet to see her.
Slowly, I opened the door and peeped inside but there was no sight of her. The bed was neatly arranged. I thought she might be in the bathroom but no sounds were coming from there. She isn't in her room. Where had she gone?
“Master, ” A voice said from behind. I turned to see that it was one of the palace Omegas that attends to her. She bowed her head.
“Where's Hara?“
“Ma'am Hara went out to meet her friend,“
”Who? Hailey?“
”Yes, Master,”
”Oh, okay. You may go now,“ She bowed again and walked past me. I shut the door and headed to my room.
For some reason, I felt very uneasy that I was forced to remind myself that it was just Hailey she went to meet, not Roland. Besides, we met him at Silver Pack, not here in my pack. He isn't here in my pack, so I got absolutely nothing to worry about, right?