Untamed

C H A P T E R 10

Ryder

I watched her carefully as she stood upright, growling menacingly with a dangerous glint in her eyes. Adam and Xander were circling her as they had been instructed to and I crossed my arms as I waited for something to happen.

I took an unconscious step forward as she grabbed a hold of Xander without even looking at him and got him in a headlock without any effort. She was rather short, which caused Xander to fall slightly and she let go of him as Adam tried throwing a punch at her.

She rolled on the ground and pushed herself off of the ground again. There was a rather obvious look of annoyance on her face, but I found the situation amusing. There were a few of the Pack Members gathering around to watch.

I felt myself frown when I noticed Aurora smirk. It wasn’t like her to do something like that and my shoulders tensed as I noticed the ghostly silver color her eyes were-the same as her markings. She let out a growl that was so vicious that my Pack Members stepped backwards. I didn't miss the way Adam sent Xander a look and I knew that they had realized what was going on.

They lunged at her simultaneously and she ducked under Adams arm, causing him to crash into Xander. The two of them barely had enough time to realize what had happened, before she grabbed a hold of Adam and tripped him. Xander was still dazed from the impact, but he snapped out of it as Aurora banged Adam’s head against the ground.

Xander lurched himself forward with the intention of bumping into her, but she stepped back and he let out a growl as he narrowly missed falling over Adam. I slid into the ring, knowing that a wolf in human form was more than a danger.

Ghostly eyes stared back at me and she let out a laugh that dent a chill down my spine.

“You have a lot of nerve involving yourself here, Alpha Ryder.”

Her wolfs voice was gravelly-something that was an obvious giveaway when trying to look for any sign of control. She had spat my name as if it was poison on her tongue.

“What makes you think that?”

I knew that taunting her wasn't the smartest thing to do, but I needed to keep her distracted long enough for Xander to get Adam to safety. She let out a growl as she clasped her hands behind her back in a manner that suggested she was trying to control herself.

“I could kill you. With the simple swipe of my hand.”

I tilted my head to the side and frowned, regarding her in a curious yet confused manner.

“Are you challenging an Alpha?”

My tone was mocking and she took a threatening step forward, which caused me to smirk.

“I'm challenging a pathetic Alpha. One who isn't even strong enough to acknowledge his mate bond. One who almost killed said mate!”

Her eyes seemed to glow impossibly lighter before they flashed back to Auroras brown and then to the ghostly silver again. I couldn't help the relief I felt at the fact that Aurora was trying to gain control.

“Is that so? And what makes you think you can judge me?”

My voice was mocking and her eyes flashed brown long enough for me to notice the fear in Auroras eyes before her wolf took control again. It wasn't uncommon for one to fear their wolf when they didn't have control. We started circling one another, and the crowd around us seemed to have gotten bigger. It was not every day that an Alpha and a Luna fight one another.

“The fact that I'm a Royal.”

I barely had time to register her words when I felt my legs give out underneath me. I let out a growl as I started pushing myself upright, only to have a vicious blow delivered to my face.

I let out a growl as I grabbed a hold of her neck, feeling my claws sink into the delicate skin if her throat. I pulled my free hand back to deliver a punch of my own, only to look into her startled eyes-startled brown eyes.

Her eyes flashed silver again and I let out a growl as I delivered the punch before slamming her harshly into the ground. She gave a humorless laugh, the sound causing my to tighten my hold on her throat. Her eyes flashed brown again and I silently prayed that Aurora could get her wolf under control before matters got worse.

“Come on. Do it. Kill me. Kill her. What's stopping you? At the rate you've been treating her, she'll die anyway.”

It felt as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water down my back and my eyes snapped to the hands that suddenly wrapped around my wrists and I looked up to find Auroras brown eyes staring at me.

I carefully detached my claws from her neck and she gasped as she scurried away from me, staring down at her bloodied hands in disbelief. It was the first time that I had noticed it too and I realized that Adam must have been more injured than I had realized.

Her eyes darted from person to person in the crowd and I felt a feeling of dread wash over me. I rushed forward as her eyes glazed silver again. My heart sank as I watched her claws elongate and I grabbed her hand when it was inches away from her throat.

I looked up and found her wolf smirking at me. She looked… Soulless. Like she had a lack of humanity.

“You might not be ready to admit it yet, darling Aloha Ryder, but you're falling in love with her.”

And just like that, the white was replaced with brown and Aurora was visibly shaking in fear. I let go of her and stepped away from her, realizing that it might be fear of me.

Aurora

I let my eyes drop to the floor as I tried to block out my wolf’s harsh yelling, telling me that I wasn't weak and that I could stand up to him. Even if she was right, I wasn't going to run the risk. I knew that there was no way that I was going to go unpunished for her careless actions. Knowing her, she had spoken her mind and disrespected him more times than he had dared to count.

But what angered me was the fact that she had tried to kill me. I knew her well enough to know that if Ryder hasn't stopped her, she would have done it. I also knew that scolding her for her actions wasn't going to help. The solution was simple. Silent treatment.

“Go home. Right now.”

My eyes snapped towards his tense and obviously angry form and I hurriedly pushed myself off of the crowd and started making my way through the throng of people who had gathered around us. They parted like I was some kind of disease. I let out a strangled sob before I set off running, uncaring of their eyes burning in to me.

I ignored the things that I usually would have paid careful attention to. I ignored the blood that was slowly running from my nose. I ignored the aching burn in my calves. I ignored the lump in my throat that was making it hard to breath. I ignored everything.

I just ran.

I wasn't going to his house. I knew that much.

All rational thoughts left my mind as the tenseness in the air indicated that I was close to the border. The trees passing me became nothing but a mindless blur as I pushed myself to run faster. I must have been steps away from my freedom, when I felt something collide roughly with my body, knocking me sideways and to the ground.

Without opening my eyes, I knew that Ryder had been the one to stop me. I was uncaring of the fact that I was full on crying and when I forced my eyes open, Ryder was hovering over me with his hands on either side of my head, supporting his weight.

His eyes were a deadly black color, but even without that as an indication, I knew he was mad at me. His chest was heaving terribly and I knew that his hands were gripping the grass beside my head in anger.

I’d be lying if I said that it wasn't kind of scary.

Who was I kidding? I was scared. He looked livid.

“You tried leaving.”

His voice came out in labored gasps and I wanted nothing more than to have the ground swallow me whole. I carefully avoided looking into his eyes, choosing to look at the space between his nose and his mouth instead.

“Look at me when I'm talking to you!”

His voice cut through the air like a c***k of thunder and I squeezed my eyes shut as he punched the ground beside my head. I forced myself to look into his eyes.

“What did I tell you to do?”

“Go home.”

“And did you do it?”

“No.”

“So, what does that mean?”

I squeezed my eyes s**t once again and then looked up at him once again, with a slight suspicion of where he was going with this.

“That I didn't listen.”

“And do you know what happens to people who don't listen?”

His voice was deeper, darker, devastatingly seductive. I shook my head as my eyes fell s**t of their own accord. I knew that there was no point in denying the fact that I was scared.

“They get punished.”

His voice echoed through the forest and I felt my body tense. I let out a startled gasp as my eyes flew open as I felt his lips on the base of my neck. I became aware of my wildly beating heart and I closed my eyes again as I tried to calm down.

His tongue flicked out and I arched my neck to move away from him, only to realized that it exposed my neck further. Before I had time to correct my mistake, he buried his head in my neck.

“Maybe I was wrong. For not giving you a chance.”

My barely controlled heartbeat went wild again. It felt as if it was going to jump from my chest any minute now.

“But to make sure that you don't leave…”

I felt myself frown when he didn't finish his sentence. My eyes widened in horror and his hand clamped over my mouth to muffle the scream of terror that I wanted to let out. Pain pierced through my neck as his canines sunk into my skin, causing my to arch my back and my hand reached up as I gave a vicious tug at his hair in an attempt to stop him.

I let out a pleading moan as I felt darkness settle around me as my eyes rolled to the back of my head.