And There Were Wolves

nine | exile

"As in your best friend and not your scrawny boyfriend," said Ryker, as if he was trying to list down the men in my life and remember their names and roles. I would have laughed if I had not just experienced a mental breakdown.

"Ex-boyfriend. I broke up with Brett at your wedding, remember?" I corrected, still feeling slightly angry about Brett's betrayal and how he had stood for Alana instead of me. "But yes, Eros Adler, my best friend. My dad used to be Eros's Beta or something."

Eros did not pick up my call, he rarely did at this hour. I tried calling him one more time but to no avail. Sighing, I stared at my phone with frustration welling up. "He is not answering my call. I could try to go to his flat but he rarely uses it. Or I could leave him a message to meet me later."

"That is fine," replied Ryker, placing his hand on my wrist, stopping me from texting Eros. "I think I know where to find him."

I blinked, my brows lifted in surprise. "Where?"

"His name should have been a huge giveaway but I did not think much of it," he said, more to himself than to me. "He is probably out in the South, The Erebus, his pack rules that territory. Come on." He slid his hand from my wrist and held my hand.

I frowned, trying to understand his logic, as I followed him through the side of the house and towards his car. "What do you mean that his name would have been a huge giveaway?"

Ryker let go of my hand as he opened the door and held it for me. I got inside and looked up at him, waiting for his answer to my question.

"In Greek mythology, Erebus or Erebos is the personification of darkness and one of the primordial deities. The pack was led by a dickhead who wants every member of his pack named after Greek gods or goddesses or at least have their name mean something in Greek." Ryker rolled his eyes, clearly finding this to be ridiculous. "Other than that he also has every member of his pack whose surname does not start with the letter A change their surnames. And just now you told me that your friend's name is Eros Adler." He closed the door. I let that information sink in as I watched him walk over the hood to his side.

Once he got in and sat behind the steering wheel, I asked him again. "So my dad used to be in The Erebus pack too?"

Ryker nodded. "Yes, Leonidas is the Alpha, and ten years ago, your dad used to be his Beta, his second in command."

"But my dad's surname is Lancaster. It does not start with an A," I commented while wondering if perhaps Leonidas was being lenient to my dad because of his position as his Beta.

Instead of explaining to me, he leaned forward, closer and closer to me. "What're you doing?" I would be lying if I said I didn't expect a kiss, especially with this close proximity where I could feel his breath on my top lip.

But instead of closing the gap between our lips, his hand reached for the seatbelt, pulling the strap, then he looked down as he lined up the seat belt latch on the belt webbing with the slot in the top of the buckle, and inserted it fully. Once we heard a click, he moved away, then put on his own seatbelt, completely unaware of how hard my heart was beating. He started the car before giving me his answer to my previous question, "Lancaster probably is not your surname. I kind of guessed it when we first met."

Great. So not even my surname was real. I wondered what else wasn't real. "So what was my real surname?"

Ryker glanced briefly at me before focusing his eyes back on the road. "Ashcroft."

"Ashcroft," I tasted the word in my mouth. "Xyrra Ashcroft."

"Xyrra probably is not your birth name either," he commented silently. "Your dad probably has it changed." He took a small pause then added, "Or your mom did. Xyrra is of not Greek origin."