Chapter 129
RYKER’S P.O.V
Damien had been a permanent fixture in my life from the first day that I could remember. He always did things his way regardless of whether I agreed with it or not. We were very different, both on the surface and in every way
that think of. There were times that his actions would piss me off but never to this magnitude. It took a considerable amount of
could
effort to not drag him by the hair and beat him to a bloody pulp while we all sat in the private living room.
For the first time in forever, Riley didn’t make an effort to sit next to him. She was always in his space and begging to be noticed by him. It was a wonder I didn’t notice it earlier but today, she did none of that. She sat on one end of the room, Christine on the other and Damien sat completely alone. At least he had the decency to keep his head down because he knew that he had fucked up badly.
“Does anyone want to start talking first?” Camilla asked from her spot beside me. She was seated upright with her hands folded in her lap like a regal ruler. Everyone avoided her gaze.
Damien’s eyes met mine and I simply stared at him blankly until he exhaled deeply. He knew I was pissed, there was no hiding it. it didn’t matter that I was lounging on the couch with my arms around my mate, that was simply a countermeasure to prevent me from hitting him.
“Do we really have to do this?” it was Riley who asked. “There is nothing to talk about. I just want to go back home and get to work. I have so much to do.”
“If that were true then why did you come?” I asked and she narrowed her eyes at me. “If you were swamped with so much work then why did you bother to leave?”
“Because,” she hesitated and I raised a brow. “I heard that you were all in danger and I wanted to help. I got to the camp and they told me that he had run off without an explanation so I came. It isn’t a big deal. Everyone is safe, can I leave now?”
She started to rise but I shot her a hard glare. “Sit the fuck down, now.”
I had never raised my voice to Riley, not even when she was a teenager and she was the brattiest person in the world. I always believed in talking to her gently and after spending years with a father who did nothing but scream and yell, I was determined to be different but if yelling was what I needed to do in order to get to the bottom of this then I was more than happy to oblige.
She sat down but her eyes burned with anger and unshed tears. “This is none of your concern, Ryker. This is my life and my business and I don’t see why you are so interested in it. Are the problems in yours not enough for you? Why do you want to barge into mine?”
“That’s not what he is trying to do,” Camilla spoke softly. “This isn’t just about you anymore, Riley. This is about all of you and it affects us as well. The pack is basically an extension of the palace, we will see you sooner or later and we don’t want this to affect anything.”
“If this is about professionalism then I can be professional,” Riley shot back and Camilla turned to me as if to say this was going nowhere.
“Look, Riley, no one is upset with you,” I cut in because I knew my sister and I knew that was probably her biggest worry. “You did nothing wrong, this is about Damien and his inability to make a fucking choice.”
In hindsight, I probably should not have said that out loud but I was not going to let my sister shoulder the blame for something that she had no say in. She didn’t choose who she fell in love with and she didn’t choose for him to have another mate. Damien was responsible for the chaos that was happening and it only made sense that he should shoulder the blame. “That’s just rich,” he scoffed. “Put it all on me, would you? I was just trying to get her to safety. I came to help just like you asked and now I am the one at fault? If I knew this was going to happen, I would never have come. I thought I was doing the
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right thing.”
“We both know that wasn’t your thought process at that time,” Camilla whispered and he turned to her and opened his mouth to speak but when I let out a warning growl, he went silent. I could tolerate his absurd yelling but if he directed it at my mate for even a second, I was going to kill him and he knew it.
He ran his hands down his face. “Look, I made my choice, a long time ago. I chose Riley and we were going to mate with each other. This is not as big of a deal as you are making it out to be.”
I glanced over at Christine to see how she was taking the news. She sat like a marble statue and if I didn’t know her, I would have believed her to be a sculpture. She stared blankly ahead of her but ever so often, I would see a crack in that mask and see the hurt in her eyes. I wished I could protect her from whatever was happening but I couldn’t. No matter how this ended, someone was going to get hurt.
“Why didn’t you reject her then?” Riley yelled out in frustration. Everyone turned to her in shock but I just sighed deeply. I knew an outburst was coming but I didn’t know when. “You tell me that you made your choice and I am the one you want but your mate bond with her is still intact. Are you keeping her as a backup option?”
“I am no one’s back up choice,” Christine cut in speaking for the very first time.
“Then why?” I wasn’t sure if she was asking them or asking herself. “I thought I could do this but I can’t. I need to know.”
Damien stood from his spot and made his way over to Riley. He took the spot next to her and reached out for her but she shied away from him.
“Riley,” he began slowly. “I’m sorry that I made you feel like a choice. There is no choice, it has always been you. This is just a large miscommunication and if it makes you happy then I will reject her.”
“I don’t want you to do it because it makes me happy. I want you to do it because you want to.”
I glanced over at Christine and mind linked her. “You don’t have to stay for this.”
“That would defeat the entire purpose of the meeting, would it not? You need to close the chapter and my leaving would hinder that. I am fine, Ryker, but thank you for checking in on me.”
“Christine, you don’t have to pretend and you don’t have to keep hurting yourself by staying here.”
“I want what belongs to another. I brought this upon myself.”
She severed the mind link before I could say anything else and I turned to see that Damien still hadn’t spoken or moved since Riley had said what she wanted. There were a million thoughts running through his head and I could almost see the wheels turning.
“Let me make this easy on all of you,” Christine began as she stood to her feet. “I reject you as my mate, Damien. I would not want to be a hindrance to your love story.” She turned to Camilla and I. “May I be excused?”
I had barely nodded when she stormed out of the room. No one dared to speak after she had gone. Damien stared at the door that she had disappeared through and there was hurt shining brightly in his eyes. Riley didn’t miss it because she scoffed.
“I think I’m done with this too,” she stood to her feet and rushed out immediately after. What hurt the most was that Damien didn’t even try to follow her.
I turned to Camilla only to find her looking at me and I could see the silent questions in her eyes. Had we made things much worse? Did we just potentially hurt all three of them? I was asking myself the same questions but before I came to a conclusion, I wanted to speak to Damien. I communicated that with my eyes and she sighed before standing to her feet and leaving.
Once she was gone and it was just Damien and I, I began speaking. “Do you know why I made
you Alpha?”
“It was because I was your Beta and the next in command.”
“No, it wasn’t,” I said and his brows furrowed in confusion. “In all honesty, Riley should have been the Alpha because she was next in line but she was too young to shoulder that kind of responsibility and she was a free spirit. It would have hindered her and broken her wings.”
“So I was the next available candidate, that is what I said.”
“You didn’t let me finish. I made you Alpha because although I knew it wasn’t the right time for Riley, I knew she would make a good ruler. I also knew how she felt about you and in some warped part of my mind, I had hoped that by making you Alpha, I would ensure that she would rule too.”
“I already chose her, she will rule. I don’t see what this is about anymore.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose between my fingers and exhaled deeply. “Fatherhood might have made me calm but do not think for one moment that I will not hesitate to kill you if I decide that is necessary. You need to get your shit together, Damien. Riley is my family, long before ever were and long after you cease to be.”
“I raised my sister and I love her like I’do my daughters. If you hurt her again, I will kill you and no, it is not a threat, it is a promise. Clean up your act and figure out what you want. If you choose Christine then stick to it and if you choose Riley then stick to it. Just know that whatever choices you make will have consequences and you better be ready to deal with them. as they come.”
