PRESENT
"I watched you the whole time," Ryker continued breathlessly. "From the restaurant to your house... and, the jacuzzi."
River's eyes widened, a tear drop following smoothly after.
He had watched her in the jacuzzi with Caden as well? Did he watch them have sex as well? Of course, he did.
River shuddered. Not even the chilly wind of the rain could contribute to the chills she was feeling at the moment. Alpha Ryker wasn't only a monster but, also a creep. How could he watch while another man took her innocence? What was his thought process while he did that?
"Ever since that night, I've never gotten you out of my head," Ryker continued in a gruff tone as if it was a normal thing that he had watched her had sex. "You take up all of my thoughts. A day has never passed me by without the thought of you. I memorised every inch of you. Your eyes." He placed his thumb softly over her eye lid, watching her dreamily. River trembled. "The perfect shape of your face." He runs his thumb down her cheek to her jaw. "Your lips." He brushes his thumb over her trembling lips. "Your curves…" He runs his hand down and curves.
River trembled at his touch and stepped away from him, his hand falling freely off her sides.
"Don't touch me, please."
River whispered terrifyingly.
"You are mine." He finalised."No one else but mine."
River is speechless, her mouth hung open and frozen in the air as Ryker gives her one last once-over, his gaze sweeping around her hungrily, and swirled around, stalking out of the cell.
River slurped onto the cold floor, hugging herself tightly as more tears flows freely down her face. As the rain gets heavier and louder as did her sobs, filling the air and bouncing off the walls.
All she had wanted was to exit the Pack and start a life as a rogue. If she had known all of these would happen. If she had known she would fall into the hands of a cruel monster a day before she was set to leave the Pack for a life of a rogue, she would've taken her life instead. Death was far better than any of these. Death was better than becoming Alpha Ryker's plaything. Life had been so terrible to her that it wouldn't even let death take her.
The noise of River's sob is drowned by the wicked pour of the rain and the thunder following closely behind.
With River going over her encounter with Alpha Ryker countless times, morning quickly rolled by.
A cell assistant, a woman in her late forties, slender with an average height and honey-brown intimidating gaze, had come to collect River and the other prisoners for their morning routine.
They had all washed up in a public, neat bathroom down the hallway of the prison and gotten new prisoner uniform of white mini, free gown.
When River was returned to the cell and she found Aubrey seated on the bed, her heart skipped.
As the cell guard jammed the gate and locked it, River made it to Aubrey, sitting beside her on the lower bunk bed.
"Hey?" River knocked Aubrey with her shoulder playfully.
Aubrey doesn't respond, her face blank as a white sheet.
"What happened?" River asked, her voice husky from all the sobbing overnight. She hoped Aubrey doesn't notice. "Where did they take you?"
"My aunt. She came to pay me a visit." Aubrey responded dryly.
"Is everything okay?" River asked softly.
"Yes, I think. My step mother is dead."
River's head jerked up. "Are you okay?" She asked and Aubrey nodded.
After a moment of silence, Aubrey asked, "What about you? You don't sound well."
River stiffened, replaying her encounter with Alpha Ryker and his demand. Then, she remembered Aubrey's case was different. Although it might not seem like it, Aubrey was lucky. She only had to work like a normal slave. She didn't need to bend to the rules of a cruel monster that had wiped off her Pack and made her fatherless. Aubrey was going to be doing dirty, normal work while River would be doing dirty, sexual work. River winced at the thought.
Abruptly, she gazed around, searching for any element of suicide. That was the only resort. The only escape route.
"Are you okay?" Aubrey's voice pulled River back to their conversation and back to Aubrey's question.
River quickly nodded, forcing a smile on. "Yes. Y-yes, I am."
Aubrey suddenly place a palm over River's patting it softly.
"When you are ready to speak, I'm always available."
River frowned at her. Did she know something?
When Aubrey noticed River's confused frown, she smiled and said, "River, I'm a werewolf, I'm not stupid. I hear your heart thumping fast. I heard you gulping. And, I smell your anxiety. So, whenever you want to talk about what might have happened, I'm always here."
Before River could give a response, a cell guard approached their cell and unlocked the gate, flinging it open.
"You," he pointed to River. "Come out, the Alpha demands your presence."
River froze instantly, her face going pale.
She stands up slowly and walked out, following the cell guard behind. She didn't want to make Aubrey suspect anything so she tried steadying her heartbeat as she turned to Aubrey and passed a assured smile to her.
Before the cell guard pulled her away, Aubrey mouthed, "Take care of yourself."
At that moment, River knew Aubrey was aware of her horrendous encounter with the Alpha.
River's gaze is fixed on her rough and scarred feet that had seen worst days; when Uncle Derek led her through the woods, she had been barefooted and was limping; when Alpha Ryker's men dragged her to the cell and the night of her encounter with Alpha Ryker. It was clean - she had washed it earlier that morning - but, it still looked rough and with one look, one could instantly know she had been through a lot. Also, she was still limping but, it was not easily noticeable.
The cell guard leads Aubrey out of the prison building, taking them past luxurious building in the Pack house to a building with high walls which River suspected to be the conference room.
She had often heard that Ryker Brothers Pack was the most luxurious Pack in the North. Their buildings are towering and adored with high quality stones, curved and tinted glasses and all the houses built in a curve sign of their pack initials: AR.
It was a gorgeous sight to behold.
The cell guard leads her through the doors of a high bulding with tinted floor-to-ceiling windows and walls made with limestones.
River's heart rate picked up when she heard cackles of laughter from afar. One of them certainly belonged to Alpha Ryker.
Now that Alpha Ryker had revealed his intention behind purchasing her, she had to get used to meeting him often and holding eye contacts with him. At least, until she takes her life.
They walk through a hallway and gets closer to the cackle of laughter.
When the cell guard stops them before a wooden door, River knew the next face she would be seeing was Alpha Ryker. In broad daylight this time. Without any darkness shielding the beautiful face behind the monster.
The cell guard nods softly on the wooden door and he waits for an answer as the cackle of laughter in the room dies down.
A few minutes later, the door opened and a lady neatly dressed in a blue sheath dress, her strawberry blonde neatly styled in a ponytail, her face caked with makeup, appeared.
Her hooded eyes shot up as she regarded the cell guard and River disgustingly.
"Yes?" She frowned at them.
"The Alpha ordered her presence." The cell guard announced, keeping his chin up and his face stoic.
"Well, you are not blind. You can see there is a meeting going on." The lady spat out bitterly.
"But, he asked her to bring her with me now and—"
"Then, bring her back later! We are in the middle of a meeting. Get lost."
The woman barked, proceeding to slam the door in their face but before she could make any move, a gruff tone thundered from the conference room.
"What is happening over there?"
The lady instantly had a sheepish grin replace her huge scroll as she swirled around to the voice and answered, "It's nothing."
"Is that the cell guard?"
The voice asked. That was Alpha Ryker. Of course, it was. Who else would own such authoritative tone with a touch of husky?
"Yes but,—" the lady started but was quickly interrupted by Alpha Ryker.
"Show them in."
The lady let out a tiny huff, pushed the door wider and stepped aside to let River and the cell guard into the conference room.
River still has her head down, her gaze fixed on her rough leg and how she limped them over the wooden floor of the conference room.
For a moment, there was still silence and even if River couldn't see anything at that moment, she felt everyone of their gazes on her. But, the hottest was Alpha Ryker's. She could feel it burning through skin like coal.
"You can leave."
Alpha Ryker ordered. For a second, River thought he was referring to her and her heart leaped with joy but, when she felt the cell guard loosen his grip around her elbow and turned around to exit the conference room, her heart picked a faster race.
"Everyone. Meet our new Pack member, River Bradley." Alpha Ryker announced.
River shifted on her spot, feeling uncomfortable and nauseous from the gazes that were planted on her.
"Is there a special reason you are introducing us to someone that got added to the Pack which is a normal thing for the Pack?"
A voice teased from the conference table.
"No, dumbass. I was fascinated by her and I want y'all to meet her. Perhaps, see what I see. A breathtaking sight to behold."
Alpha Ryker remarked, a smirk in his tone. River shuddered and swallowed hard, her gaze still focused on her feet.
"She is breathtaking indeed." Another voice started, much older than Alpha Ryker's. "Her ass is what caught my attention. Full as hell."
The rooms suddenly fell silent, anxiety rising in the air. But, the anxiety was not from River but from the men surrounding the conference table.
"Speak about her in such manner again and I'd burn you alive and let your kids watch." Alpha Ryker barked a threat.
The man that had made the remark straightened and started, "Right. I'm sorry, Alpha. I just—"
"Meeting is over." Alpha Ryker interrupted. "Everyone is dismissed."
Instantly, scraps of chairs dragging against the wooden floor fills the air as everyone exits the room one after the other.
River counted them. They were 14 in numbers, including the saucy lady. But, she didn't exit the room with the others. She stood by the door in a confident posture, her hand intertwined before her.
"What are you still doing here?" Alpha Ryker asked the lady in an irritated tone.
"I was thinking you'd need me to—"
"I don't remember making an exemption when I asked everyone to leave." Alpha Ryker cut her shot. And, with another tiny huff and a menacing glare at River, she swirled around to take her leave.
The room suddenly felt cold and chilly when River realized she was left alone with Ryker. She hadn't taken her gaze off her feet. She hadn't seen what he looked like properly. The only times she had seen him, it was dark - the night he had appeared at her Pack, causing a massacre and the previous night he had paid a visit to her in her cell.
Ryker jerked on his feet and strolled towards River. When he stopped before her, his lemon scent engulfing her, her breathing hitched.
"Raise your head, River." Ryker demanded.
When she doesn't respond to his demand, Ryker clipped his thumb and index finger to her chin and tipped it up, slowly guiding her head to meet his gaze.
Immediately their gaze locked, River felt breath leave her lungs. The moment stilled as they pinned their gazes on each other.
Ryker's bright blue eyes sparkled like the ocean as it regarded River. They were intimidating but they were also warm and powerful. They were the most beautiful shade River had ever laid her eyes on.
Ryker rubbed his thumb over her cheekbone gently and for a moment, she thought he was going to lean in and kiss her but, he suddenly stepped away, collecting a black tie from the armrest of a chair.
River gawked at his full figure. He was dressed in a white shirt, a black leather jacket over it, a black leather trouser and a black boot. His fingers on his left hand were peppered with silver rings which a child could tell it was worth millions. And, a necklace with the Pack's logo hangs around his neck. He had an impeccable fashion sense that complimented his good looks.
Ryker suddenly tossed the black tie to River, River catching it in a firm grip effortlessly.
"You can knot a tie right? Knot mine."
River gazed at him as if he grew a second head.
"What are you waiting for? I have somewhere to be. Come on."
Ryker said, leaning into one of the conference chairs.
Slowly, River steps towards Ryker, stopping few metres away from him to throw the tie around his neck. She had known how to knot a tie before her Pack was wiped out. And, he knew. The bastard knew because River had being knotting her father's tie in his office when he barged in to cause a massacre.
You can do this, River assures herself. Just few more moments with him before you leave this world.
"Move closer, you can't knot the tie from that distance." Ryker gruff but soft tone pointed out.
He was right but, River still felt dread in her throat as she stepped closer to Ryker.
"Closer, River. I don't bite."
River swallowed, stepping further into his space until her knees leaned into the space between his legs.
Avoiding his gaze, River threw the tie around his neck and starts knotting.
"Do you know your father's last words?" Ryker suddenly asked.
Of course, she didn't. He had sent her away to BloodHound that fateful night, promising to meet her there shortly. However, she never received him. He never showed up. The following morning, his dead body was found and it was confirmed he had consumed wolfsbane the night before. He chose to die a slow, lonely death than to live with her and it made a part of her loathe him till this day.
But, she didn't respond. She just wanted to knot the tie and get away from him as fast as she could.
"He asked me to protect you." Alpha Ryker provided amusingly and River's grip around his tie tightened.
The nerve of him to speak about her father's last moment to her face.
"I found that really funny considering the fact that I had offered him that wolfsbane."
River paused, her hand stilled over the knot of the tie.
"It was just a sincere offer. He looked really pitiful and I offered him the only solution I thought was right - suicide."
River gasped out in shock, glaring up at Ryker.
"Don't worry, the thought had crossed his mind before I made the offer. If it hadn't, he wouldn't have accepted the wolfsbane I offered him without wasting a breath."
Ryker said amusingly.
"Before taking his last breath," Ryker continued casually as if he was speaking on the weather. "he rambled on and on about how his wife ruined everything for him. Then, in his last breath, he asked me to take care of you and protect you."
River bite her lower lip anxiously, forcing the tears that threatened to spill out back.
"I wondered for days why he had asked me of all people to take care of you. Then, it clicked. He knew." Ryker's lips spread apart in a smirk. "He knew my feelings for you. He knew I didn't lay a finger on you while I was burning down his Pack because I cared about you."
River couldn't help it as a tear slid down her face. She takes slow steps back, holding his gaze in a hateful glare.
"You monster." River finally bit out in a strangled tone.
"Call me whatever you want, River. But, the truth still stands, we are destined for each other. Even though we aren't mate and I have a Luna already, we are made for each other. And, I'd have you by all means. And, if I don't have you, River, it'd get real bloody."