Hunted

Chapter 41: Whispers

Rykan's POV:

Xander stayed practically the whole night and sorting through everything we talked about left me fucking exhausted. I was so glad Kora was okay and at first I was pissed at him, but then he snapped back at me and told me he knew what happened between Kora and I and did I really expect him to hand her over after that? I couldn't argue with that. I hated him, but I couldn't argue with that. If he had treated his mate poorly and she came to me for refuge, I wouldn't let him in unless she wanted him. Except Xander didn't fuck up like I did, so that was never going to happen.

I thought he fucked up before but then he told me what happened. That he tried to talk to me, that Scott kept him away at every turn. At first I thought he was full of shit and he said he thought I might say that which was why he brought old phone records he dug up that showed just how many times he tried to call me. I might've thought they were fake if I hadn't linked Patrick to ask him to check our phone records and he said the same thing. Which meant Xander never turned his back on me and I had even more reasons to be pissed at Scott.

If it weren't for him clearing the air, our next conversation would've gone very poorly when he told me the way I behaved with Kora was unacceptable. He didn't need to tell me, but I was almost glad he was there to make me feel like shit for it because I deserved someone putting me in my place for that shit.

He stayed as long as he could and I'd only been sleeping a few hours before my phone rang. Xander called me to ask for Francesca's contact information and when I asked why, his reason was the last thing I expected. Kora wasn't human. Kora wasn't human and they found that out when she sent shit flying around the room in her sleep. She was a hybrid, one of the rarest forms of hybrid that existed.

So many things fell into place when he told me that. The reason Blood Stone went after her, they must've known, but how did they know and we didn't? Xander said Kora was shook up, that she didn't believe the magic was coming from her at first until she ended up breaking most the things in their kitchen during an anxiety attack. He said she didn't know about this part of herself, that the pills she'd been taking, the special ones, the ones that had tranquilizers, were something given to her to mute her aura so people wouldn't know what she was, so that Kora didn't even know what she was.

Which meant she didn't know what she was taking and she wasn't hiding it from me. I was such a fucking asshole for not giving her the benefit of the doubt.

I was terrified. I told only Xavier and Patrick about Kora and asked them to keep it quiet. I immediately contacted The Elders and told them I didn't need help after all, she was home safe and sound. If The Elders found out about her... I didn't want to know what they would do. I had to keep them distant, I had to make a move on Blood Stone, I had to keep anyone that wanted to hurt and use her as far away as possible. Easier said than done when I couldn't even be on the same territory as her.

Being able to focus when my Kora wouldn't speak to me and I knew she was suffering was nearly impossible. I knew my pack needed me, I knew I had to put on a good leader front but I could not fucking do it. The worst part was I couldn't even try to make up with her because she didn't have her phone and she didn't want to talk to me. Not that I could blame her. After the way I acted, I was strangely almost proud of her for holding her ground and not giving into the bond. She was strong, so fucking strong despite everything. And I was a piece of shit for making her feel like she was anything less than perfect.

Part of me wanted to go there and get her to talk to me, to listen, to let me try to explain and grovel because I was very fucking ready to grovel, I would do anything she asked of me, anything to make this better, I would get on my hands and knees and beg her if I had to. I didn't care. I just wanted her back, I wanted to ease her pain, I wanted to be there for her while she explored this new part of herself. But I couldn't. I'd done enough to make her feel bad and if I ignored her boundaries now, I'd just make her feel like that fucking ex did. Like what she wanted didn't matter, like I didn't respect or listen to her, like her feelings weren't a priority, like she wasn't a priority. Didn't I promise that to her at the beginning? That she was a priority for me? Way to fucking show it, Rykan.