My Love, My Mate, My Alpha

Chapter 6

I woke up, jumping at the sound of someone knocking on the door. Ryder groaned and rolled over, then got up and walked to the door.

"Yea?" He asked through the closed door. I sat up slightly and sighed, still sore in some spots.

"Why the hell weren't you at school? What happened?" Ava asked annoyed. He sighed and cracked the door open, standing so she couldn't see inside.

"Something came up, I had to take care of it." He said shrugging.

"So why were you just sleeping then?" She asked. He hesitated and cleared his throat.

"I take it school's over now?" He asked, taking his phone out of his pocket.

"Unlike you, I don't leave early." She said flatly. He nodded and shoved his phone back in his pocket.

"Can you do me a favor and have River come up?" He asked. She started to push the door open and he grabbed it, holding it in place.

"Sure." She said slowly. I heard her walking away and Ryder sighed, then shut the door again and came back over to the bed.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, sitting next to me.

"Tired still." I said quietly. My voice sounded way better than it had. He nodded and kissed my forehead.

"Where's your phone? I'll plug it in for you." He said standing up again. I stood up and went in my backpack, pulling out my charger and cell phone. He took them and plugged it in, then pulled me into a hug before I sat back down.

"You can tell her." I said after a second. He looked at me confused.

"Ava, you can tell her what happened." I said. He sighed and sat down next to me, laying back so he was staring at the ceiling.

"Are you sure? If you're not ready, there's no rush." He said. I shrugged and laid back so I was next to him.

"It's only fair, everyone in my pack knows." I said slowly. He nodded, but didn't say anything. I poked his cheek, trying to make him smile, but he didn't react. I looked down and bit my lip. I knew he was still thinking about earlier, and that he wanted to know if he was right, but I couldn't make myself answer him. He sighed and sat up, then stood and walked to the door. Almost as if on cue, someone knocked. He opened the door and smiled.

"Do you have a minute?" He asked, motioning for River to come in, she nodded and followed him into the room.

"I need you to do me a favor and tell me if he's okay." Ryder said, looking me over. I suddenly felt very shy again. River came and sat next to me, taking my hand in hers. Her eyes wandered my body.

"What happened?" She asked finally. I cleared my throat, not really sure how to answer.

"I uh, got in a fight. Kinda." I said hesitantly. She raised her eyebrow and held my wrist up so I could see the very clear teeth marks on my wrist.

"A fight?" She said. I nodded and sighed.

"He beat the shit out of me and decided to add insult to injury by bitting me." I said rushed. She ran her fingers over the mark, then along the side of my neck.

"He broke the skin?" She asked. I nodded. Ryder was standing with his arms crossed in the corner of the room, watching us with a blank expression on his face.

"Which one is the freshest?" She asked after a couple seconds. I pointed to my wrist and she nodded.

"Are the marks gonna go away?" I asked in a whisper. She nodded slowly and met my eyes again.