Ryan galloped home. The memories washed over him. He remembered her now. She was the woman from his past. He had thrown her into the water because the elder had forced him to.
He never wanted to do it but he was scared. The elder was a respected man in the pack and as the Alpha, his word was lord over everyone.
No one would believe him if he tried saying what he had caught the Alpha doing. That was another reason the elder roped him in the act. He knew that would stop Ryan from telling other people and since that day, Ryan couldn't say a word about it to anyone.
It gutted his conscience. He was surprised and relieved to see her but he wasn't happy. He had lived the past seven years with a hurting conscience. He returned home a dejected man.
Ryan alighted from his horse. He strode into the palace, lost in thought.
"Where are you off to? Won't you give me a reply?" The elder roared in anger.
Ryan shook his head slightly. He had forgotten to give the elder his reply because he was thinking about her. How would he get her to forgive him? How would he get her to see him in a different light?
"Good evening my Lord," Ryan bowed before the Alpha.
"What were you going to do in your room? Did you expect me to force a reply from you?" The elder snarled.
"I'm so-sorry, my Lord," Ryan stuttered.
He clenched his fists behind him in anger. He wished he could talk back to the old man. All these years he had allowed the man to belittle him and speak to him like a child.
Something had awoken him. Ryan didn't know what it was. It…
"Ryan!!" The elder's voice interrupted his introspection.
"Alpha Devon says he will send the peace offering soon," he said.
"That took you a long time to say! Now get out of my presence you weakling!" The elder spat at him in anger.
Ryan bowed and turned to go upstairs adjacent to the throne. He ascended the stairs slowly and turned to his right where his room was.
He understood Adrienne. If she were the one who tried to kill him, he could never find it in his heart to forgive her. He would haunt her till he got her. However he was the one.
Ryan opened the door and entered his room. He sagged against the door frame and drooped to the floor. What could he do to show her that he was a changed man?
He clasped his head in his hands. Worry and irritation roiled in his belly. He couldn't change the past but he could do something about the future. He would show Adrienne that he was not who she thought him to be. Though, he hadn't known how he would show her but he would.
Ryan stood up from the floor and traipsed to his bed. A four poster bed which stood in the middle of the big room. He sat on it. The corner of his lips twitched in a small smile.
He was happy he had seen her. He had found his mate at long last! It meant that the priest and the elder were wrong. They had left him to a resigned fate to deal with the hurting alone. He was happy now.
He didn't have to deal with the itching sensation he felt anymore. When he saw Adrienne, his wolf had recognized its mate and the itching sensation had reduced. All he needed to do was to make her believe that he was a changed man.
Ryan laid back down on the bed and closed his eyes. He relived those bad things he had done for the elder over the years. He didn't have a choice to do them because he couldn't stand up to him.
He feared for what would happen if he ever tried it. The elder hated him because he was a threat to the throne which he sat on. So the Alpha had picked on him with every opportunity that he got.
Ryan had cowered before the Alpha in fear because he didn't want to go against his order. Where did that put him? It placed him on a bad side with his mate. And the old man never appreciated his efforts. He still nagged him to do more.
Now that he had discovered that his mate was very much alive and healthy, it was time to put an end to the evil schemes of the man. He would go against him in all ways. He would defend the people and their rights.
It was time for him to speak up. He had spent most of his years acting like he was a child.
"It's time to grow up, Ryan," he said to himself
If it would cause him pain, he would endure it for the greater cause. His parents had taught him to be an upright man, someone who had compassion for the people. He had made a mistake on the path because there had been no one to guide him. He would guide himself on the path and make sure he did things well.
It wouldn't be easy because the elder had his cohorts, he would lay low for a while to watch them before he acted on anything.
He decided that if he could become bold and show a change in personality, that way he could pay for his terrible past. Adrienne would definitely be surprised at the change in him. The change had been long overdue.
He had a shot at not only gaining his pack back, but his mate too if he could stop being the Alpha's puppet and he would do this without them suspecting anything.
After all they still thought him to be a weakling. No one would ever imagine that a meeting with his mate had made him this way.
Ryan drifted off into a deep slumber.