My Second Chance

Chapter 15-Edited

Chapter 15(part 2)

Elizabeth's POV

After the boat ride, we went on a little hike in the forest. They have beautiful forests here in Portland. I absolutely love it.

While we are walking, we decide that this is the best time to talk about our pasts.

"My pack has hated me since the day I was born. Even my parents hated me. Only Jake and our Luna were nice to me. While the Luna was babysitting me one evening, apparently some rogues got on our land, and they killed her. Everyone but Jake blamed me for her death, and they hated me even more. I was only a few months old, and I don't remember that at all. Anyways after that, a lot of pack members would abuse me physically and emotionally. Zack was the worst one though. He's the one that started the beatings, and didn't even care when he found out we were mates. He just rejected me in front of everyone, and then he called for another beating." I look over at Ryder for the first time since I started talking, and he looks like he wants blood. I just give him a reassuring smile before I continue with my story.

"All my life, I've been a slave in that pack, and I've had to do everything for the pack members. I wonder how they are going to be able to cope since a lot of them don't even know how to do dishes and stuff."

"I want all of them dead. They don't deserve to live." Ryder's eyes are pitch black, and his voice is a little deeper, so I'm assuming that Kaydon has taken control.

"It's ok, Kaydon."

"No it's not," he growls, "you are my mate, and I did not protect you. I failed my job, and that is not ok." I wrap my arms around his neck and give him a hug. He puts his head at the curve of my neck and inhales deeply. I start running my hands up and down his back, and he starts to relax a little.

"Kaydon, it's not your fault, and I'm ok. It's all in the past, and you are here now, so you can protect me now." There's a comfortable silence between the two of us before he picks me up and starts walking. I wrap my legs around his waist, and I lean my head on his hard chest.

"What was your childhood like?"

"Well, it wasn't much better than yours..."

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"I want to tell you, you told me yours, and it's my turn now." He takes a deep breath before he continues talking.

"My mother passed away when I was 5 years old. A group of rogues got onto the territory so my father and uncle left to see what was going on. It turns out that those rogues were just a distraction to get my father away from my mom. A few men came in, but it seemed like my mom knew them. I don't know how she knew them, I just know that she did.

"After the leader killed her right in front of my eyes, they left. My father and uncle came in a few minutes later, but it was too late. My father blamed me for my mom's death, but that was expected," he says with a bitter chuckle.

"My father hated me. He only put up with me because my mom loved me. He thought I was a waste of space, and that I was taking his mate away from him. Anyways, after that, my dad turned into a cruel man who almost ran this pack into the ground. I challenged him when I was 15 and I won. After I beat him, he killed himself and I had to scramble to put the pack back together. That's basically my childhood. Anyways, today is supposed to be a happy day. Time for our next activity." I'm glad we finally got that discussion over with. Now we can finally move on, and be happy.

"Where are we going next?" I ask while snuggling into Ryder's chest. His arms wrap around me a little tighter.

"It's a surprise."

"I hate surprises..."

"So, are you ready to meet the pack?" Ryder asks, ignoring my last statement.

"I guess, but I'm a little nervous."

"There's no reason to be nervous, everyone will love you." I sigh, and close my eyes and rest my head against his chest. Hearing his heartbeat soothes my wolf and me. We walk for a few more minutes before I hear the sound of laughter and screams. I instantly open my eyes and look around me.

My eyes widen when I see the fair that's in front of us. Ryder slowly puts me on the ground, but he makes sure to put his arm around my waist and pulls me really close to him.

"I've never been to a fair before," I say honestly. I'm sure my eyes are sparking and my smile is literally half the size of my face. Ryder takes one look at my face, and he gives me a heartwarming smile.

"So you like your surprise?"

"I absolutely love it! C'mon! Let's go on some rides!" I say while tugging on his arm. He chuckles, but allows me to pull him behind me.

We've been on a lot of rides, and we've eaten a lot of fair food. The food was really good, but it was also really unhealthy. Thank god I'm a werewolf and I have a high metabolism.

Anyways, now, we are playing some games that are obviously rigged. Ryder doesn't seem to care how much money he has spent since I'm having such a great time. I hope I'm not costing him too much.

"Can you win me a stuffed animal?" I ask Ryder with a pout. I've tried this game 2 times, and I've failed both times. I really want that stuffed monkey.

"You want a stuffed animal?" Ryder questions. After I nod my head, his face turns into one of complete determination, and he looks so adorable.

The goal of the game is to hit down all the bottles. Obviously werewolves have an advantage since we are stronger and have better sight, but the game is rigged so at least one of the bottles is still standing up. Ryder knows this though, so he uses just enough werewolf strength to knock down that one bottle that won't go down.

I almost want to laugh at the person's face who is running the booth. They look so shocked and their jaw is hanging on the ground. While he's handing us the purple monkey, he looks at us suspiciously. We give him smiles before we leave.

We are walking to the front of the carnival since I'm feeling pretty tired. I keep yawning and rubbing my eyes. It's about 6:30 now, and Ryder says I have one last surprise.

He picks me up and starts carrying me towards his house.

Once we get to his house, he puts me down, and opens the door. We walk in together and I feel Ryder pulling me somewhere. All the lights in the house are off, but I can still see pretty well because of my werewolf vision.

He stops in front of one door before he takes out some keys. Once he finds the right key, he opens up the door, and he walks in before me. He turns on the light, and I'm met with a room that is filled with books.

"The other day, you told me how much you love to read. I had some books, but I decided to expand this room into a library so you could read as much as you want."

I run over to the first shelf and I run my hands along the books. There are books that I have read, books I have wanted to read, and some that I've never even heard of.

"This is absolutely perfect. I love it," I say while grabbing the first book in the Hunger Games series.

"I've never read this book, would you like to come read it with me?" Ryder walks towards me before he picks me up and carries me to one of the chairs. He sits down with me on his lap, and we open the book and start to read.