And There Were Wolves

five | breathe

"I could not give you a solid yes or no answer but I suppose there is a possibility that Hogwarts," he let out a small chuckle, "does exist." The humor slowly left his face and was replaced by something else. When his silver eyes met mine, somehow I knew that he was actually feeling nervous. His voice was gentle when he asked, "Do you believe me now?"

I wanted to say yes, but in the end, I decided to be honest. "Maybe."

"That is good enough for now." Ryker nodded and rose to his feet, then offered me his hand.

I placed my hand on his and let him pull me up. My mind reeled over what had just happened, and I recalled what he had said at his wedding yesterday. "Can I ask something?"

"Sure. Anything."

"What did you mean yesterday when you said, 'he will not let me because she is here'? I know you were referring to me when you said 'she', but who was 'he'?"

His brows furrowed, and he seemed to give it a thought for a moment before he answered. "I was referring to my wolf, Khrysaor, the one you just met. He does not want Alana or Maya, he only wants you."

"And I assumed Maya is Alana's wolf?" I asked, trying to understand.

"Yes," he replied curtly. "He always opposed the idea of me marrying her or marking her as my mate."

"Okay," I drawled, trying to wrap my head around that. So thanks to Khrysaor, now he was somehow stuck with me, the unwanted mate who prevented him from marrying the person he actually loved and wanted. Not that I one hundred percent believed what he said about werewolves and soulmates, those were fairytales, children's stories. Brett was more into that than I was. "Well, can't you just persuade him?"

Ryker shook his head. His face looked dejected. "I have been doing that for years."

Okay, so Khrysaor was a big hairy arsehole, I concluded. "I have one more question. Did you know—" I took a brief pause, unsure whether I should even ask this.

"Don't hesitate. Ask me anything," he tried to encourage me, his hand slightly squeezed my hand, giving me the encouragement I needed to continue with my line of questioning.

"Did you know that I was your mate when you met me in the club a week ago?" I held my breath as I waited for his answer.

His silver eyes held mine. There was no reason or explanation, just a simple, "Yes."

"Did you look for me on purpose? Did you seek me out that night?"

Again, he answered in a matter-of-fact tone. "Yes."

I breathed out, unsure what I should make of this. Now it was time for the hardest question, "Why?"

"There is no easy way to say this, and this may make no sense at all." Ryker heaved a deep sigh. "But I wanted to see you. I wanted to be sure that my mate really did not exist before I make Alana mine. I don't know how, but I believe the Moon Goddess led me to you that night and when I met you, well, you know what happened."

I nodded. I understood what he meant. Sparks had fled when we had met. That was all I could say to describe what had happened and explain why I had ended up in the ladies' bathroom with a stranger I had only met for ten minutes. "Thank you for being honest with me and answering my questions," I told him.

Ryker nodded, then he dropped his head, and I followed his line of sight. My eyes fell on his hand still holding mine and realized that he had never let my hand go when he had been helping me get up a few minutes ago. I pulled my hand away and he let go of his hold. He looked up again and those silver eyes met mine. "Are you coming with me?"