Alpha Ryland

Chapter 20

After a full day of staying with Ryland and his sister, mostly sleeping in the guest room, I start to feel a lot better! I still have a cough and stuffy nose, tired a lot too, but other than that, my fever is gone and everything else feels splendid! I'm enjoying my dinner with them in the kitchen when a bang on the door is heard. Ryland is the first one to stand up and answer it with his sister in tow. I am the next one following the both of them, peeking my head out just enough to see the person at the door.

A male with black hair and brown eyes, about the same height as Ryland, maybe a little shorter, looks panicked, "Sir! There is a patrol going through the entire pack! They are looking for you and some girl." He looks at me and says, "Is she...?"

Ryland just says, "Yes," and doesn't let the other guy finish his sentence, "Are they heading here?" The other man nods and Ryland looks around. "Thank you." He dismisses the man and then shuts the door. Ryland meets eyes with me and orders me to stay where I am. He looks like he is in full business mode, as in he is fully in charge of the situation, and his authoritative words send a dull pressure into my chest that I feel like I have to obey. It feels equivalent to the feeling an Alpha has over his people, but I know Ryland doesn't have that. He isn't an Alpha. He wishes! I laugh to myself at that part while Ryland comes back from upstairs.

He looks at my sister and shows her the vial in his hands, "They might be looking for this. I'm going to take it with me so they don't link you to the crime."

"Crime!?" She asks. Did he not mention that to her? Oops!

He turns to me, "You stay here with her. If they find you and ask where I went, just say I left." He looks at Abbigail, "Don't let them hurt Maura."

Abbigail nods her head and grabs my arm. I shake my head and look at Ryland, "I'm going with you." I know it will probably be a dumb move and Abbigail will be my best bet, but I have been through so many things with him and I am not about to stop now. He shakes his head, "No, you are not."

He walks out the door and I free myself from Abbigail. It was a little too easy, actually. When I look back at her, she shrugs and says, "oops!" Maybe she is getting back at Ryland for not telling her that he stole the vial in the first place. I bump into Ryland outside and he looks upset, "I thought Abbigail had you!?"

I shake my head, "I've been with you since you got it and I will be with you when you get put in jail for it. That was what I originally came here for, right?" I only followed him in hopes of getting it back, so if I didn't come with him now, I'd be going against my first wishes.

He sighs and grabs my arm, running into the backyard and into a wooded area. We keep running for a while until we come across a small shed. There are people looking through it with flashlights. Ryland and I hide between thickets, holding our breaths just in case they could hear us. They determine that there is nobody in there and leave it alone. Ryland pulls me up and we run into the already checked shed, hoping that they will not check it again.

The shed is dark and cold. I'm disappointed in myself that I didn't bring a sweater or jacket with me. This shed looks like it is used as a woodworks place to build things with. I make sure not to accidentally cut myself on something sharp. Ryland covers up any and all entrances around us so nobody can come in.

"I think we are safe. For now." Ryland says in a low voice. He looks around the room and sees another door. He quickly runs up to it so he can barricade it, but his fast movements let the mating vial slip out of his pocket. It cracks on the ground from impact in slow motion from my point of view. I see the liquid slowly pour out and visualize the hope of getting his sister getting to feel the soulmate bond to the man she loves, slip away. I can't let this happen.

He turns around after hearing the sound, watching me run up to it and kneel down to scoop it up. I forgot how I got infected in the first place that got me into this mess. He runs up to me and looks at my hands, "Maura, you can't just touch broken glass like that. You can get hurt." He scolds me and looks at the liquid leaving the vial, "Oh no. It's not supposed to be out of the vial."

I sarcastically glare at him and say, "Oh, really now? I thought containers kept liquid outside of it." He ignores my sassy comment and looks around the room to put the liquid in. He picks up a small cardboard box by woodchips and places it beside me. I carefully put it in. Since it is a cylindrical vial, it rolls over and all of the contents spill out. Ryland looks devastated as he watches the liquid's content seep into the box. I don't know what to do, so I stay quiet and watch him unfold. He has risked his life for this vial and was so close to letting his sister have it. Everything is ruined now.

What happens with me now? Does he still plan to kill me now that I am here? He didn't deny it, really. Surely after all of our conversations and time together, he wouldn't want to harm me. Plus, what is keeping me staying with him now that it is no longer in the picture? Safety? He did ask me what I would do if the vial was out of the picture and I was going to deal with it when it happened. Now that it has happened, I still don't know what to do.

I yelp in pain and he Immediately looks over to me. I bring my hands up, palms facing the ceiling, and see glass stuck in my right hand. Ryland gasps and reaches for my hands to take it out, "I told you to be careful! Haven't you ever learned not to pick up shattered," He stops speaking when he touches my hands, "glass...?"

An incredible feeling rushes from my hands and into my body. My heart feels like it was placed in its own personal hot tub to relax in as the rest of my body lights up with shivers. I look up to meet Rylands eyes to see that his eye color had changed to a deep blue, and then turned back into brown. He looks mystified and I'm delightfully confused at what's happening. He retracts his hand from mine and looks at it.

We both completely forgot that this serum is to pair people together as mates. We both had got contaminated with it and it paired us together. I have never felt so awkward and stupid at the same time. He takes out a water bottle he found in here and opens the top. I carefully pull out the only glass shard in my palm and let him pour the water on me. I wash my hands and he does the same. Both of us are quiet and don't know what to do or say next.

He holds out his hand for me to take so we can test it again. I place my hand on his and we feel the same spark between us. My eyes want to shut and enjoy the feeling, but I can't let my head be consumed so easily. He moves his hand from my hand to my cheek, moving closer to me. I think he is also blinded by pleasure to think straight. He runs his thumb on my cheek and quickly pulls it away, shaking his hand out to get the feeling to go away. "I'm so sorry..." he stands up and brushes his clothes off. He offers his hand to help me up but then retracts it, knowing that every time we touch, we are getting more attracted to each other. Not that I wasn't already attracted to him when we weren't mates.

He looks out the window to make sure that the coast is clear and then mindlinks his sister to see if they had reached her. She tells him that they had already came when we left and all their men had left to find us elsewhere. Me and Ryland decided to stay longer in hiding before going back. We don't say a word to each other after he unlinks with his sister. I can feel everything Ryland is feeling, which is really weird and oddly comforting, and I can only assume that he can feel what I'm feeling.

It wasn't bad before when we were both sort of liking each other without being soulmates, but now that we are, it creates a manhole of confusion. I can feel that Ryland is very apprehensive about everything. I feel much more different than what people told me I would feel. I feel little stronger now for some reason. We leave the shed after a while, but don't talk until we reach the house.