Destined for Disaster ✔️

Chapter 21

"I still think this is ridiculous." Ryleigh sat cross-legged on Austin's bed, her arms folded across her chest.

"I agree," he said. "It's ridiculous you won't let me sleep in my own bed."

She rolled her eyes and threw a pillow at his face, which he unfortunately caught without difficulty and didn't give back.

"If you were more of an alpha, you'd claim your territory," she said, dropping to her back and sprawling out over the bed, cocking her brows at him. "Now give me my pillow back." She held out her hand, but he tucked it under his head.

"It's my pillow, actually, and if you wanted it, you shouldn't have thrown it at me."

"If you weren't so desperate to have me near you, you could have your bed back and I could have a room of my own."

"That's not the reason, and you know that perfectly well."

She turned to her side, facing him, and slipped one arm under her remaining pillow and one across it. "That's right. It's because you don't want other men to look at me."

"You're twisting everything. It's for your own sake. You're an unmated woman."

"Heartening to see how much trust you have in your guards. Also, I can defend myself just fine."

"Not when you're sleeping."

"I'm a light sleeper."

"Not when you're running a fever, you're not."

"My fever is almost gone."

"You're still in no state to fight."

She groaned and rolled unto her back, contemplating throwing her other pillow at him, but that would leave her without any and it wasn't worth the sacrifice. For a minute or two, they lied quietly in the dark. Ryleigh looked at the window, a narrow beam of moonlight peaking in from under the curtains.

"You can't deny it, though," she said. "That you want me near. I mean, you could have let me escape yesterday. You didn't."

"Julie would have blamed me for not trying harder to keep you here. Besides, if you'd escaped and got into trouble again, we'd both be going down."

"And those are the only reasons?"

"Yes."

She wasn't convinced, but he sounded so annoyed she decided not to press the issue.

"You know, you're one to talk," he said. "You didn't really want to escape."

A snort was the only reply he got.

"No, really," he said. "You were in no condition to be going anywhere, and you must have known that. You could barely walk, let alone run. If you had waited a day or two more, you might actually have gotten away. There was no reason not to wait."

She didn't respond.

"This must be the first time you didn't have a response ready."

"Funny," she said. "I was going insane. I couldn't wait a moment longer."

"I think that's nonsense. You're smarter than that. You knew you'd never make it, and you went anyway."

"What would be the point? If I knew I was going to fail, why did I even attempt it?"

"To prove to me that you could. To prove that I couldn't cage you and that I shouldn't take you for granted."

"You're delusional."

"I'm right."

"No, you're not. I'm very vain – I tend to overestimate myself. I thought I could make it. The fever must have been messing with my judgment."

"I don't believe you."

"O, no!" She pressed the back of her hand against her forehead. "He doesn't believe me. My poor heart, what will I do now!" She propped herself up on her elbows and glared at him. "I don't care if you believe me or not, it's the truth."

"Well," he said, "how can you expect me to take your word for it, when I don't know the first thing about you? I can't trust you if I don't know you."

"You know someone by their character, not by their past."

"I haven't figured out your character yet either. Doesn't help that for the most part you wouldn't talk to me. And everything you've said has been either humorous or rude."

"I'm not rude, I'm blunt – there's a difference."

"Keep telling yourself that."

She sighed and he just knew she was rolling her eyes, even if he couldn't see it in the blackness of night. She turned to her other side, her back towards him, and he rightly took that to be the end of the conversation. For a few minutes, at least, until she spoke again, her voice soft and clear in the dark.

"I'm not evil, you know."

"I never said you were evil."

"But you think so, don't you? You think I'm dangerous."

"I know you're dangerous. I've seen you lose your temper and it's not pretty. If you want me to see another side of you, you'll have to show me. And I do hope you will, considering good behaviour is part of our agreement."

"I've behaved today, haven't I?"

He thought about that a second. "Sky seemed to think so. And you did behave at dinner, I'll admit that. There's not many people who have the patience to deal with Carry's curiosity."

"It takes more than a kid's innocent questions to faze me."

"I believe that. You did seem a little fazed when she asked about your scars, though."

She knew he was fishing for information, and she wasn't going to fall for it. "I don't like talking about them," she said. "Still, I get why she would ask about them, and that's fine. I'd want to know too. I might tell her about them sometime."

"What about me? Will you tell me about them?"

Silence settled between them for a while. "Maybe." A glance in his direction showed her he smiled at the answer – a smile of surprise. He probably hadn't been expecting an answer – or hadn't been expecting anything other than a hard 'no' or derogatory criticism.

"You know, if you'd rather talk about something else, I'd love to know what pack you're from, or who your family is, or anything else about you," he said. "I know next to nothing."

"Why does it matter what pack I'm from?" she said, an edge of a warning to her voice.

"I don't know. We're stuck with each for three more weeks. It might be helpful if we learn a little about each other in that time."

"Why? It wouldn't change anything if you knew who I am. You would hate me more, if anything."

"You think I hate you?"

"Well, you don't like me. And knowing more about me won't change that."

"You don't know that."

"I do. Besides, there's no point in troubling myself. In three weeks, I'm going to be out of here, and then we'll never see each other again."

"And then where'll you go?"

"That doesn't concern you. Probably best if you don't know."

"Really? You're so eager to get away from me you want to eliminate every possibility I might ever locate you after you leave?"

Her sigh pierced the silence. She sounded almost apologetic as she went on, though there was a hint of challenge in her voice as well, a certain harshness. "It's just better that way. You won't have a reason to locate me anyway, will you?"

"Well, no."

"That's right. So it doesn't matter where I'm from or where I'm going." She turned on her other side, cutting off any follow-up questions that might have followed.

_____

A/N: Thanks for reading!