Page 23 of Claiming Her Alpha

“So, your fuck up is now ours?” Tailor spat at him.

“Shut up, Tailor!” Sean snapped in Ryker’s defence. “You hurt his mate. You would do the same if anyone came after Lydia.”

“Maybe he should’ve just told us who she was?”

Before the situation could escalate, Ryker jumped back in. “I should have. But I also never anticipated my mate would be a wolf. Look, I’m not asking you to forgive and forget. I own my mistake. I should’ve acted faster and should’ve had my wolf under control. I’ll work hard on that, but I expect the same attitude from you. No one in this room is perfect. I’ve seen every single one of you make mistakes, and I’ve also seen you work hard to make it right. I’m going to do the same. I expect all of you to be at the blood ceremony tonight.”

Though some of them still weren’t happy, none of them argued.

“Cameron, Loren, and Andrew: I want you to make sure there are no signs of rogues out there. We don’t want our new wolves in the midst of a fight the second night they’re with us.”

The three of them nodded and left.

When Ryker didn’t give any further instruction, Tailor was right behind them. Others left after him, but Sean and Gabriel stayed along with a few others. They all seemed curious, but Sean was the only one brave enough to ask.

“So, she is Alpha Desmond’s daughter?”

“Yes.”

“She seems nice,” he admitted with a genuine smile on his face.

“I think I’m slightly biased.”

“What will happen now? Will we have to prepare for them to come after us?” Lenard was one of the younger warriors and seemed to be more worried than the others.

“No. She has agreed not to tell her pack about the bond. She doesn’t want to risk their safety and well being. She has accepted Alpha Vallerian’s punishment for crossing the border and won’t bear my mark, nor will I wear hers.”

Lenard’s brows fused. “And you won’t leave us either?”

It had crossed Ryker’s mind to go against Alpha Vallerian’s commands and go rogue, but he’d likely never make it over the blood line. Worst case, one of his friends would have to kill him for disobedience. He wouldn’t be able to forgive himself. He’d rather spend years being tortured than have one of his friends go through that.

“No. I won’t leave you.”

Ryker spent the rest of the afternoon at the gym, desperately trying to keep his mind off Kendra. He longed for her touch and kept imagining her standing by the door, those blue eyes on him. He didn’t regret spending time with her. He’d do it a thousand times over to know what she felt like in his arms. The sound of the door opening pulled him back out of his thoughts into reality. To his surprise, it was Tailor.

“You should’ve just let her go, you know?”

Ryker crooked his eyebrow as he watched Tailor pick up some weights.

“You let the enemy in your bed and now you’re even weaker for it.”

Ryker finished his set and returned the weights before grabbing his water bottle.

“She poisoned your mind. Now she’s all you can think about. She’s made you want to drop everything–drop your pack–so you can run back to her and play her little obedient puppy.”

Ryker knew far too well that Tailor was trying to get him to lose it again. He ignored him as he moved on to his next set.

“All you want to do is go back to your freak of a mate.”

“You wish your mate was half as strong as Kendra,” Sean growled at Tailor as he walked in. “Stop being a little bitch. Ryker did what all of us would’ve done in his situation–including you.”

“Oh, of course you’re gonna jump to his rescue. Always sniffing his ass, aren’t you?”

“That’s what family does: they stand up for one another. You should do the same if you consider yourself a true warrior. Everyone makes mistakes and Ryker is paying for his.”

Ryker set the weights aside and quickly stepped between the two warriors. “Tailor, I know what you’re trying to do. Just because I lost control once doesn’t mean I’ll lose it twice. Unlike you, I learn from my mistakes.” Ending the discussion, he turned to Sean. “Have you prepared the room for Devon?”

“Not yet.”

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