Royally Rejected

Chapter Twelve

"Ryan."

I chuckled. "What do you mean, Ryan?" I asked Alexa. I had just filled her in on everything since Ashton arrived. "I think you should be with him." She says in a duh tone.

Snickers pulls at the reins wanting to do more then a walk. Damn horse. "Patience." I tell him but I allowed him to start a trot.

Turning back to Alexa, who easily kept up with the new pace, I huffed. "This isn't a choice Lex. Ashton is my Mate." I tell her firmly.

"At least Ryan isn't an asshole." She sings. I raise an eyebrow at her. She sighs. "He wasn't an asshole at first."

"He has his reasons." I sighed sadly. She growls. "You don't deserve the way he is treating you."

"I know I know." I murmured. We fell into a comfortable silence the rest of the way up the hill. I glance ahead of me where Ashton rides quite well. He's a natural. I couldn't help but realize he is literally destined to be King. I glanced behind me where Ryan seemed to be deep in thought on top his horse.

When we reached the top of the hill we spread out to give each other the appropriate amount of space. Ryan on my right, Lex on left, and Ashton in Lex's left.

"Alright, Ryan. You say go." I tell him. He gives me a long look then nods.

"Ready, set, GO."

Ryan snatches the reins out of my hands while Ashton and Alexa take off down the dirt race trail.

"Ryan-,"

"I love you." He rushed out. My words got stuck in my throat. The world started to tilt and suddenly the air was pushed from my lungs.

My beloved horse trotted away to avoid stepping on me. Ryan cursed and dismounted quickly.

"Are you alright, Lizzy?" He says. I slapped his hands away while I struggled to pull air into my lungs. Once I recovered I stood and walked back to Snicker.

Ryan grabs my arm and forces me to look at him. "I know I've been distant but theres a battle coming and just in case-,"

"You're not going to die." I gape at him. Where the hell was this coming from? He sighs and glances to where the stables were.

"We don't know what will happen."

I shook my head. "I'm not doing this Ry. Stop with the back in forth."

"You think this is easy for me?" He growls and starts to pace. "I'm trying to let you be faithful to your Mate."

"What does being my friend-,"

"I can't just be your friend." He gets in my face and whispers. "I want you. Badly. All the time everyday." He moves a stray hair from my eyes. My heart jumped. I know I should back away but dammit I wanted him too.

"You see? You can't even control yourself." He murmured. His words snapped me back to reality. I grabbed his arm and turned so I flipped him over my body. I heard the air rush from his body. He groaned about a curse. "Do I look like a horny dog?" I hissed at him. Still on the ground he gave me a look.

"Excuse me if the sexual tension is starting to get to me after all these years." He scrambled to his feet. "Especially after.." He trailed off and looked down. I took a small step forward. He tenses up and when he looks at me now theres a smoldering fire in his pretty brown eyes. "When you came to visit me that day I wish I had been selfish."

I frowned in confusion. "What are you talking about?" I glanced down the hill and I could see Lex waving at me. By the time I had looked back Ryan was mounting his horse. I quickly climbed onto Snicker and we galloped down hill.