MATED TO FATHER, FATED TO SONS-Chapter 24: DROWN YOU

AMARIS

I hate him, I loathe him, I detest him.

He is a fucking brute.

Tears streamed down my face as I made my way out of his room, clinging to my robe and feeling like some whore who had just been used to fulfill a man’s desire, the fabric bunched in my fists so tight my knuckles ached.

As I stumbled across the hallway my eyes met Cole’s gaze. I paused for a moment, my breath catching.

He stared at me and his eyes then travelled to Ryker’s room which was just a few steps behind me, and a knowing look settled on his face, slow and unmistakable.

I didn’t wait for him to say anything. I scurried away, my pace fast, my heart thundering and my legs still weak from all the nasty things Ryker had just done to me.

I made my way to the room, why the fuck did I let him, why the hell did I allow him to get his way with me?

I slammed the door behind me and collapsed to the floor, and let the stream of tears rush on a free flow, my back pressed against the wood, knees pulled to my chest.

I hated him, but more than that I hated myself for letting him, and hated that I had enjoyed every bit of it.

I wasn’t sure when the light of dawn slapped my face but I heard Nia’s voice from behind the door which I had turned into my headboard last night, her knuckles rapping three times with the cheerful persistence of someone who had clearly slept well.

"I will be down in ten minutes," I mumbled, using the back of my hand to wipe my eyes clear, and hissed at the thought of going through with this wedding preparation like I wasn’t fully aware I would be thrown out after I popped out a child.

I took a quick shower and tied my hair in a ponytail so at least I didn’t have to look like the mess I was and felt.

I made my way downstairs and Nia, already waiting for me with a smile bright enough to be offensive at this hour, ushered me to the other side of the pack house where the event halls were, her heels clicking against the marble with an energy I could not match.

"The pack house is much bigger than it appears, don’t you think?" Nia asked, her voice carrying that particular brand of forced cheerfulness she deployed when she was trying to fill silence.

I nodded, clearly not as fascinated as I was when I first got here, or was it because I had been exposed to the darkness of this place which the interior walls didn’t capture accurately, the polished surfaces and high ceilings hiding things no amount of good architecture could pretty up.

"Luna Amaris," Nia called out, pausing in the middle of the gigantic empty space the hall was, her voice echoing through the walls and bouncing back at us.

"Can you just call me Amaris, Nia." I huffed, my frustration seeping through my words.

"Sure, Amaris." She replied, her tone dropping a note. "What do you think about the hall? I know that there are no decorations yet but is it big enough for you?"

I sighed, glaring at the white walls which also didn’t mirror the darkness that was heavy inside my heart, the blankness of them somehow making everything worse.

"I truly don’t care if it is big or small, I just want to get this wedding over with," I responded, my tone coming out a bit harder than I intended.

"Okay," she muttered, clasping her hands in front of her.

I began to make my way outside the hall because despite the spaciousness of it I was suffocating inwardly, the walls pressing in on me in ways that had nothing to do with their actual distance.

"Are we done, can we go back?" I asked as I stopped the moment fresh air hit my face, cool and immediate against my skin.

I exhaled, closing my eyes and allowing the wind to do its magic and absolve this heaviness sitting inside my chest.

"Are you okay, Amaris?" Nia asked, her voice cutting through my ritual of mind purification.

"Yes," I answered curtly. "Can we go already?" I began to pace down the short steps at the entrance of the hall.

"Is it about Ryker?"

Her question caused me to halt, my foot freezing mid-step, and I veered around to face her.

"Why would you ask me that?" I asked, agitated by how good her guess was, or was I now a transparent glass where everyone could either drink from me or see right through me.

Her fingers fidgeted and she lowered her gaze to the floor, "Cole told me he saw you coming out of his room last night crying."

My heart skipped multiple beats at the same time and I had to pause and grip the railing to prevent myself from falling, the iron cold under my palm.

Cole told Nia. Who else did he tell?

Am I already fucked and I didn’t even know it?

"No, no, don’t freak out," Nia stuttered, moving quickly down the steps toward me, her hands finding my shoulders. "He only told me because," she paused and swallowed a large lump, "because I was in his room last night."

I glanced at her, not sure what to make of her statement, but the way her cheeks flushed deep red told me everything her words were carefully trying not to. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Are you and Cole dating?" I asked in a low tone, scared the wind might carry my question around.

"Gosh, God no, no," she responded too quickly, her eyes going wide and darting sideways in the way people’s eyes do when they are saying one thing and meaning another entirely. "It is not like that."

"But you like him?" I asked.

She hesitated for a moment, long enough to answer the question without opening her mouth, before she responded, "We are just having casual sex, it isn’t like that," she said in a dismissive tone, her voice losing an octave and not sounding convincing in any way.

"Uhhmm," I mumbled, not believing one word coming out of her mouth.

"Besides, this isn’t about me." She placed a hand on my shoulder, her grip firm and sincere. "Amaris, Ryker is like a brother to me so believe me when I say it. He is trouble." Her tone was low but the weight behind it was real.

"It isn’t what you think," I denied, hoping my shaky hands and voice weren’t a dead giveaway.

Because it was exactly what she thought.

"I know, but Amaris, don’t allow it to even get there. Ryker is bad news. He is like a poison, he will drown you with him."

All words I knew, all words my heart acknowledged, but my body and wolf refused to heed, my wolf already whimpering and whining inside me to shut her up, restless and impatient and completely unhelpful.

"Nia," my voice trailed off as footsteps approached from behind us, and immediately Nia and I veered around to see who it was, and my face dropped.

"Look who is here, if it isn’t the wench breeder," a familiar voice with a sheepish smile spoke, the words landing like something thrown rather than said.

Lila Cross.