A Mate's Betrayal

Part 16

"Rina! Rina! Wake up! it's just a dream Little one, wake up!", I opened my eyes to find Ryker shaking my body. It was still dark outside which surprised me. "What's going on?", I asked. "You were screaming in your sleep, Rina. And you're sweating like crazy", he said while wiping the sweat away from my forehead. "I guess I was having a nightmare. I can't remember anything", I said getting out of bed.

I was feeling so hot that I had to take a shower. He watched me silently as I went to the bathroom. I opened the shower tap to release cold water, enjoying how it felt against my skin then suddenly there was a piece of cloth being dragged from my shoulder to my back in a relaxing manner. I turned to see Ryker. His face had no emotion but I was thankful for that and hoped that he would still be there for me if the nightmares continued. 

He cleaned me then wrapped me in a towel while leading me to the closet where he dressed me in one of his shirts. The moment I smelled the rainy forest, my body relaxed making me look at him with curiosity. It earned me a smile. "A mate's scent and touch can cure anxiety and make you feel like a new person. I figured since you feel the sparks too then my scent might be able to do the trick. I'm glad to see that my instincts were correct", he said trying to tie my curly hair in a bun but failing miserably.

"Thank you for the effort", I said taking a hair band from my bag and putting it on my wrist, he watched as I collected my hair with one hand and hold it with the other that had a hair band on it, in seconds my crazy hair was under control. "I think I got it. I'm doing your hair tomorrow", he said with excitement. I replied with a nod as he pulled me to the bedroom.

I hesitated for a while making him turn to look at me. "What?", he asked, oblivious to the fact that he only had boxers on. My eyes went to his waist. "Oh shit! I'm sorry", he said rushing back to the drawers and pulling out some pants. "Ready, I'm not putting a shirt on. This is compromising a lot considering I prefer sleeping naked", he said while pulling me between the sheets.

I woke up with my nose in a rainy forest. Yes, super rainy and addictive. I rubbed my nose on the forest again and it moaned. Why would a forest moan? I opened my eyes and I was in the crock of Ryker's neck. His hands were caging me in a bear hug that made me disappear in his chest. It was a very cozy position. There was a knock on the door that made me want to pull back but I couldn't, he was that heavy. The door busted open and someone entered. They pulled the sheets away and took a picture of us. 

"Oh, my goddess, they look so cute", someone said happily waking Ryker in the process. "What the hell?", he complained then pulled me into him even more. "Ryker it's almost noon, she must be hungry, take her to the kitchen and feed her, chop chop!", Mildred said while rubbing her belly. "She would have told me if she did", he defended himself.

"You're suffocating her, how could she talk?" Chris said making him look at me with a smile. "I am kinda hungry", I said with a smile. "Ok then", he agreed then got out of bed. "Oh my! What a nice sleeping attire you have there", Mildred said when Chris got out of the room and I had to wake up. I ran to the closet and put on some leggings while Ryker made the bed. He wasn't going to put a shirt on I guess. 

I was able to see the tattoos that decorated his upper body making me admire them. I was definitely going to look at them closely later. "Ok ladies, lead the way", he said holding the door open for us. Mildred walked out and I followed right behind her.

"Where's Abe?", he asked as we were having brunch. "In a meeting. The Bear tribe is still having issues with the hunters", Mildred answered with her eyes not leaving the bowl of fruits. "I don't know why we bother; the hunters will never stop. We should just hunt them down and kill them where they are", Ryker said shocking me to my core.

I wondered how many people he had killed. "Little one, I'm a warrior, it's my job to protect you and most of the time protecting requires killing", he said making me swallow hard. "I don't kill innocent people, I promise", he assured me. Although it didn't make me feel better, it made me feel some sort of relief.

"I want you to escort me somewhere. Do you feel up to it?", Ryker asked when we returned to our room and got dressed. "Yes", I agreed without asking where we were going. We went to the garage which had ten luxurious cars. He unlocked a truck that was at the very end of the line and helped me in it. As he drove us out of the premises two cars joined us. The same ones that he was with the day I met him.

"They're for security. Not that I need them but it's kind of a rule that Abe put in place. I'm not allowed to go anywhere without my security detail. To think that I'm their Captain so they would listen to me. I tried talking them out of it but they all pretended to be deaf, so in time I learned to live with it", he explained reaching for my hand while his other one remained on the steering wheel.

"This is nice", he said when I pulled his hand between mine and placed it on my thigh. "Rina, can I ask you something?", he asked not looking away from the road. "Yes", I replied not knowing what was coming next. "Do you still have feelings for Chase?", he asked and it surprised me so I remained silent trying to figure out what to say. He tried to pull his hand away but I held it in place. "No. I moved on a long time ago", I said and watched as his face lit up.