Chapter Twenty-Three âAnswers
"Shift. I want to ask you questions."
Ryder cocks his head at me and gets up. I expect him to go behind a tree or something, but after staring at me for a few seconds, he starts to shift right there.
"Ryder!" I squeal, immediately turning around. I don't know if the books are accurate, but I don't want to take any chances. This is not how I want to see his junk for the first time.
After a few minutes of silence I decide that it's safe to turn around, sighing in relief when I see him fully clothed. He's leaning against a tree, staring at me in amusement.
"You knew I would be naked." There's a spark of mischievousness in his gaze, that's only confirmed by the wickedness in his smile.
"Yes. How long were you going to make me stand there waiting for you to get dressed?"
"I knew you would turn around eventually," he shrugs with a lazy smile, "and you looked cute. Even though you were turned around, you still covered your eyes with your hands."
I didn't even realize that I'd done that. How embarrassing.
I stare at him. He stares back. "So uhh. . . you're a werewolf." No shit, Emma.
"Yes."
"And I'm your mate." No shit, Emma.
He shivers a little. "Yes."
"Why didn't you tell me before?" Finally. A question that I don't already know the answer to.
"I was dying to, but it's against pack law. Humans aren't allowed to know about us. At all. So self-control is a must. Wolves in our pack have mandatory classes that teach them how to stay in check. You usually only attend them as a child, but I had it tougher because I'm becoming Alphaâ"
"Wait, you're an Alpha?!"
"I'm going to be, yes. My father is the current one."
"But I thought you said you have an older brother. Wouldn't the eldest take that position?" Not that I'm an expert on werewolves or anything.
His expression falters a bit. "Usually, but my brother. . .he's not suited to be an Alpha anymore." Before I can ask why he runs his nose against mine. "That's a story for another time, Cupcake."
"Wow. I can't imagine you as an Alpha though. You're too sweet." And then I picture him dragging Sean by the back of his shirt through the cafeteria.
Okay, he's not an angel, but still.
"Only with you." He sits down on the ground and pulls me into his lap. "I'd do anything for you. Including resisting the urge to rip someone's throat out," he fakes a cough and mumbles Sean's name under it. "Anyways, as I was saying. . . not telling you about me was extremely difficult, especially in the beginning. All I wanted to do was tell you that you were my mate, and your cute ass certainly wasn't helping." He nips my shoulder when I laugh.
"Every little thing drove me insane. When I'd walk you to class and you'd accidently brush against me to get to the door, or your sweet little smile when I handed you my cupcakes. And god, don't even get me started on when you'd eat them in front of me." I laugh harder this time, remembering an incident that happened before we even got together. I was eating my cupcake and some frosting got on my finger, so of course I'm going to lick it off, I can't let any of it go to waste. So I'm putting my finger in my mouth, when I hear Ryder let out a groan of agony. I turn to see him looking like he was pain. When I asked him what was wrong, he just shifted in his seat and told me it was nothing.
"You're thinking about the frosting thing aren't you?" He rolls his eyes at me, but eventually laughs a little too. "Those little moments probably didn't mean much to you, but I looked forward to them every single day. I wanted so much more, but I didn't want to scare you off more than I already had."
"Well, shit. It's that easy?" I fold myself into an unflattering position and make an ugly face at him. "Do you want me right now?"
"God yes. In every possible way." The deepness of his voice suggests that he isn't lying.
I shake my head at him, but still give him a small kiss as thanks. "So why are you telling me now? Like in the forest by your parents house?"
"I wanted you to be safe. Just in case you ran off or something. I know this territory like the back of my hand, so if you ran it'd be easier to find you. Plus there's no cliffs, rivers, or holes in the ground that you could fall into."
I'd roll my eyes at his protectiveness if it wasn't so cute.
"Okay, so what can you do?" He raises an eyebrow at me. "Like what wolfy powers do you have?"
He nips gently at my bottom lip, a small warning not to call them wolfy powers again. "I'm stronger, faster, have a heightened sense of smell and hearing, and I heal quicker."
"Does it hurt when you shift?" It sure looks like it does.
"At first, it hurts a lot, but you get used to it. It doesn't ever feel nice, but it is pretty manageable after a while."
"Do you shift often?"
"Yes, a least a couple of times a week. Wolves are wild creatures that don't like to be caged. If we don't shift regularly we get agitated, until eventually, our wolves force themselves out."
"Do you hunt stuff when you're a wolf?"
"No. Some wolves do, but most don't. We usually just eat more protein than the average person and prefer our meat a little on the rare side."
"Okay um, can you communicate with your pack in your head?"
"No, we don't have telepathic powers," he laughs when I stick my tongue out at him. "Wolves are pack animals. The bond between us is so strong that we can usually read each others body language to understand the basics of what we want. We also communicate by howling though. One long howl in our pack means that someone is in our territory, a series of short howls means that someone is hurt, etcetera. Of course it's very limited, but it gets the job done."
"How many packs are there?"
"Hundreds. Some big, some small."
"How large is your pack?" Am I just a pervert, or does that sound kinda dirty?
"We're considered a big one. We have around three hundred members."
I nod. I've been avoiding this question for a while now, but I have to ask. "What exactly does being mates mean?"
"It means that I'll do anything for you. That everything I do is for you."
I look down. "If it wasn't for the bond, would you feel like this for me?"
"Of course. Whether I'm a wolf or not, you're my soulmate. Everything is real. How I can't take my hands off you, how your scent drives me crazy, how sweet your voice sounds, how much I lo-" He suddenly bites his lip, like he's trying to stop words from coming out. "Being a wolf does amplify things a little though."
"But why?" Was he just about to say that he loves me?
"I don't know, Angel." His voice is a hoarse whisper and when he nuzzles his face in my neck, my heart flips.
"Can werewolves breed with humans?"
"We can. They can turn out to be either werewolf or human. The wolf gene does get weaker though, but it's okay because human mates aren't common."
"Okay. Now I have to ask you the most important question of all," I pause, "can I ride on your back while you're a wolf?"
He laughs and turns us so he's lying on his back and I'm straddling him. "Yes, beautiful. You can ride me whenever you want."
Why is he always so horny? "Why are you always so horny?" I tease.
He smiles. "Why are you always so beautiful? You think I like getting a hard on everytime you smile at me?"
I can't help but laugh at that.
"Okay, well that's all the questions I have for now. I can't really think of anything else. To be honest, I'm surprised I even asked so much. I'm still in shock over this." I shake my head.
"But don't think this is over. I'll probably think of stuff later."
He chuckles. "Okay Angel, you can ask me as many questions as you want. You could honestly just sit there and hurl insults at me all day and I would still love spending time with you."
I wrap my arms around him and bury my face in his neck. "I would but I like you too much.
There's no insult I could throw at you anyways. You're handsome, sweet, loyal, protective, you give me food and you're a werewolf. What more could I want?" It's his turn to be complemented. He's always saying something sweet to me. Guys need to know that you appreciate them too.
He grips me tighter and takes a deep, shuddering breath. "God I love it when you say stuff like that."
I cuddle further in his chest for a minute before I pull away, because if I don't, he never will. And I mean that literally. If I don't pull away we end up cuddling for hours."Okay, Wolverine. Can we leave now? Mosquitos are eating me alive out here."
"Why didn't you tell me before?" He says, eyeing me with concern as I itch the hell out of a bite on my arm. "Come, I think I have something inside." He takes my hand and walks us to the house, but before we reach his door I stop. "I'll wait here."
He frowns. "You sure?"
"Yeah, you'll only be a minute right? I want to get my phone from the car." Before Ryder told me what he was, he asked me to leave my phone in the car. If it was anybody else I would've said hell no, but I trust him more than anybody else in my life. It makes sense now why he wanted me to leave it behind. If I was scared I would've called someone, maybe even the police.
He nods and kisses my forehead before going inside.
The walk to the car isn't far, but it is parked right next to the woods. Even in broad daylight, I feel a sense of unease wash over me.
I open the car door and immediately reach for my phone, expecting to see it on the seat where I left it, only to find it gone. I look on the floor in front of the seat thinking maybe it fell. It's not there either. As a last attempt I lean over and look in between the driver and passenger seat.
"There we go," I mumble to myself as I spot it nestled in there. After some awkward maneuvering of my hand, I finally grab it and jump out of the car.
I barely have time to close the door before someone grabs me.
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Bonjour b*itches! ;) (That's a compliment btw, dogs are life.)
I just want to say that I had a crazy few months. I was helping my parents open a business (which I now work at) and I'm also going to school. Plus, my laptop broke for a while and I know I can technically write on my phone, but I really can't. Every time I try, I just can't get anything out. I need to be sitting in front of my computer.
Also I lost internet for a while (don't ask, I don't know how I survived), and found a mole that had basically all the signs of cancer.
It wasn't cancer though!! I'm ok.
Anyways, have a great day, and I hope you enjoy. â¥