Alpha Ryland

Chapter 13

I'm lying down on the bed when I hear Ryland enter and shut the door. He must be done yelling at Jake for what he did. He glances at me and then takes a blanket and pillow out of the closet. He places the pillow on the couch and I sit up from the bed. "What are you doing?" I ask him.

Ryland looks at me while unfolding the blanket, "Preparing for bed. Go to sleep." I shake my head, "This bed is big enough for both of us. I'm almost half your size, you'll fit." I giggle at the half his size part. I'm small but I'm not that small.

"I can't share a bed with you, so I'm taking the couch." He says. I roll my eyes, "So you're only going to be chivalrous at night?" He glares at me and I look away. "You do a lot for my sleeping arrangements so I want to make sure you are getting good sleep too. Sleep on the bed tonight and I'll take the couch if you don't want me here."

He stares at me, "Fine. Take the couch." I get up and walk to him, taking the blanket from his hands and set up my sleeping spot. He goes into the bed and shuts off the lights. I sit on the sofa and get comfortable. It's not as soft or warm, but I've been sleeping on floors or hay. This is a miracle in itself. Before I shut my eyes, he calls out to me. "Maura."

I look at him sitting on the bed and I asks what he wants. "Come back here. I feel awful making you sleep there." I blink twice at his statement. He feels bad? Really? I get up and walk to the bed, crawling into my previous spot. He is still sitting while I'm laying down, facing him. "Something wrong?" I ask him.

He nods, "Yes. I was talking to Jake earlier, when I thought it was you, and asked him a question. He couldn't answer it of course, since it was meant for your ears only, so I want to ask it again. It's a little out of context, but answer this: If I gave you the vial right now, would you leave?"

I think about this for a few seconds. Sitting up from my position, I think about the times I've begged the Moon Goddess to let me steal it back from him so I can go home. Other times I'd beg her for adventure when I was stuck at home. I want the best of both worlds, but I can't. "If you had asked me this question before tonight, I would have said yes in a heartbeat." I start off confident, but softer as I explain the rest, "But after everything we went through and finding out about my Alpha for myself, plus knowing that I'd be attacked when you and Jake attack the Alpha... I don't know."

"I said that if I had the vial, I'd leave, but only because I knew that I probably would never get it from you. If I never got it, then I'd get to stay and have adventures with you even though they suck most of the time. I had an excuse to stay." I take in a breath and look at him, "If I had the vial, I'd have nothing holding me back from staying. I don't know if I'd leave."

He scoots closer to me, "Here." He hands the vial to me. My world shatters in this one second. Once my hand touches the vial, my heart races. I finally have it and can go home. I can buy a train or a plane home and tell everyone what happened. I can get him arrested and imprisoned, beaten and killed. I could sue him for stealing my money and hurting my legs by forcing me to walk. I can finally do whatever I want. But, I no longer know what I want. "You can leave."

I blink at him, not sure what to do. "I said leave!" He gets mad. I shake my head and close my eyes, "No." I say softly.

"What was that?" His voice is mad and curious.

"I said no." I look back at him. "I'm probably stupid for not leaving when I got what I wanted. But I can't. I'm staying with you."

"Me? Not fancy shift boy over there?" He asks and I nod. "If you don't leave now, you'll never have a chance to leave again." I nod once more. He tsks at me and shakes his head, "Idiot developed Stockholm Syndrome." He takes the vial away from me and holds in in his hands. He looks at it for a while in the moonlight. I watch the light bounce off the reflective glass and see the clear liquid move from every little movement Ryland makes. "I should explain why I stole this."