Mated to my Alpha's Rival

Chapter 35

Elias' POV

"Ryder?" I ask Ryder, lifting my head off his chest to look at him. "What's wrong?"

He looked as pale as a ghost, his breath hitching at his throat. His eyes were staring at nothing as if they were frozen in shock. His reaction was starting to scare me.

"Ryder?" I ask again, a serious concern in my voice this time.

Ryder swallows the lump in his throat, "I never told you exactly what happened to my family," he confesses. I pull away from his body as he props himself up on the bed.

If I recall correctly... "They were murdered?" I ask him to confirm.

Ryder slowly nods.

Something was wrong. I couldn't place my finger on it. But Ryder's reaction told me it was significant enough.

"My brother, he was alone in the woods when he came across a rouge wolf which provoked him and he ended up killing the wolf. He came back to inform the pack, but the leader of this particular rouge pack took the death as a sign of war," Ryder pauses. "They later attacked our pack, wiping half of us out... I was the only survivor of my family's bloodline."

My stomach drops, "so you're saying that the rouge wolf we killed, could be within the same rouge pack..." I begin to piece it together.

Ryder looked at me with dread in his eyes which told me it was a strong possibility. My heart rate spikes up at the realisation, as I look away from Ryder. If we did in fact murder a rouge from that same pack, despite it being justifiable, then it might be an act of violence... meaning my pack is in danger.

This is bad.

Very bad.

Not even a second later I am mind-linking my parents warning them about the potential danger of killing that rogue wolf. "Are you sure?" My father's voice enters my mind.

"Ryder just told me," I respond, looking over to Ryder who's watching me attentively despite not hearing my conversation with my parents. "He said these same events happened before his pack was ambushed." Immediately, I can hear my father and mother talking among themselves, making defensive plans.

My mate places his hand gently on my knee, as I listen intently to my parent's instructions. Abruptly, a warning blares in my head, "We need backup right now at the northern border, we are getting attacked!" I knew the voice, it belonged to one of the pack's border security guards.

"Shit!" I exclaim out loud startling Ryder. I scramble to stand up, nearly tripping over my own two feet. Ryder looks worried as I rush about his room, collecting my jacket off his floor and shoving my feet into my shoes without my socks on.

"What's going on Elias? What happened?" He asks with urgency, standing up as well to stop my rushed movements.

I shake my head. "We are being attacked, I've got to go help them," I pull out of his grip and turn towards his bedroom door. Ryder was stuck in his spot for a moment before it processes. I can hear his hurried footsteps after me before he catches up, pulling me to a stop.

"No, no, no," he shakes his head, his voice cracking, "You can't go, Elias, you don't know what it's like, I can't lose you too," he begs.