Day Eight

ADARA

It had been a little over three days and he was still distant. My wolf was frustrated and I was starting to get irritated.

In the morning I woke up to find myself alone, again. He had taken to going to bed late and waking up early, so that we were never caught in bed together.

It bothered me, and I was pretty close to giving him a piece of my mind.

“Good morning,” I sang, hoping my good mood would finally rub off on him.

“Morning,” he grumbled sleepily, sipping his coffee.

I frowned—apparently it hadn’t. I walked into the kitchen, pouring myself a cup. “So what’s the plan today?”

Ryder shrugged. “I was going to wash and paint the outside of the house.”

“Well . . . Do you want help with that?” I asked, my irritation shining through for a moment.

“If you want,” he said, taking another sip of coffee.

I slammed my cup down. “Okay, Ryder. Spill it. What the hell is your problem?”

“What do you mean?” he asked, looking up at me with a glare.

“I mean this!” I replied, waving my hands at him. “You have been in a mood for days. What is going on?”

Ryder huffed. “I’m not in a mood.”

“Says the man clearly in a mood,” I replied sarcastically.

Ryder stood from the kitchen island. “I’m going to head out and start cleaning before it gets too hot.”

I clenched my teeth, my irritation quickly turning to anger. “What happened to not leaving a conversation?”

Ryder waved me off dismissively. “I wasn’t aware we were having one. It sounded like you were just complaining.”

My eyes widened in shock as I stepped back in disbelief. “Uhh . . . Excuse me?”

Ryder turned to me. “What do you want from me, Adara?”

I let out a scoff. “I want my friend back, my mate back. You turned back into the jerk I met in a holding cell. What is your problem?”

Ryder lunged forward, taking my arms in his large hands. “Adara, I just need some space. Give me that, please.”

I felt deflated. “If you don’t want this anymore, just say so . . . “

Ryder lowered his head. “Adara . . . “

I pushed him off and walked back inside. “I have work to do.”

I walked into the common area and began spackling holes in the walls, wiping away the few stray tears that dared to fall in my state of anger.

I spent the rest of the day alone, not wanting to be near him or his foul mood.

“Adara?”

I ignored him and continued working on wiping down the pack kitchen, making notes of the things that needed to be fixed.

“Adara?” I heard him holler again. I once again ignored him.

He walked into the pack kitchen with a scowl. “Didn’t you hear me calling you?”

“Nope . . . You must have not been yelling loud enough,” I replied coldly.

He shook his head, knowing well that I had heard him. He placed his hands on his hips, looking at all of the progress I had made. “Are you ready for dinner?”

I shrugged. “I’m not hungry.” Suddenly my stomach growled loudly, betraying me.

Ryder frowned before walking up to me. He took the rag from my hand and held my hands in his. “Adara, I’m sorry.”

I turned my face away. “I told you before, you don’t get to apologize and have everything just go back to normal. You were a jerk.”

“I know,” he replied quietly. “I got in my own head.”

“That sounds like something you need to figure out then,” I said coldly, before pulling away and walking upstairs.

~Good! Don’t forgive him! He doesn’t get to treat us like that! We are a freaking queen! ~my wolf hollered in approval as I walked into the apartment and into our room.

I showered off the dust from the day before crawling into bed.

I was still awake when Ryder climbed into bed a little while later and I laid still, hoping he would think I was sleeping and leave me alone. No such luck.

“I know you’re awake, Adara,” he whispered.

“Well then, if I’m pretending to be asleep, you should get the hint,” I replied quietly, before shuffling in the covers, keeping my back facing him.

I felt Ryder scoot closer to me, his mouth touching my ear as he whispered, “I got in my own head.

“I made myself believe that I couldn’t continue to let myself get close to you in case you decided you didn’t want this life and left. I want you to be happy.”

I scoffed before rolling over to face him. “I WAS happy, Ryder. It stopped when you made a decision for me, deciding that I wasn’t going to stay and that I couldn’t possibly be happy here.”

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, lowering his head.

I scowled at him before rolling back over. “You should be.”

He stayed quiet for a few minutes before moving close to me and wrapping his arms around me tightly, pressing his body against mine.

“I promise I’ll never push you away like that ever again,” he whispered, sending involuntary shivers down my spine.

“You promise?” I whispered.

“I promise,” he replied, before rolling me over to face him. I looked up at him, searching his face for the truth. “I swear, Adara. I won’t push you away ever again.”

I took a deep breath and pulled myself close to him. He placed a soft kiss on my forehead and we fell asleep, hoping tomorrow would be better.