An Alpha's Duty

Chapter 12

When they had been teenagers Becca had tried to seduce Luke first to get close to Ryan. When she realised that women weren't what he found attractive she'd gone out of her way to alienate him. He'd suffered in silence never letting on what she was doing to him. Not even Ryan knew the extent of her cruelty until Luke had broken down and told him.

It was that night that Ryan had called it time on their relationship. He'd seen the ugly person she was underneath.

He remembered that night vividly. He'd looked at her with fake tears falling down her face as she'd begged him not leave her. All the while another male tried to leave unheard through her open window in the next room. The smell of sex and stale sweat had clung to every inch of her skin and Ryan had wanted to gage. He'd knew she cheated on him before and he'd always forgiven her but that night he'd seen her for the bitch she truly was.

He was still ashamed that it had taken so long for him to see her true colours. After his relationship with Becca he'd remained single refusing to allow another woman to have the same type of hold over him.

Oh he'd enjoyed the company of various women since Becca but he'd never fallen for anyone. Not the way he knew he was already falling for Lenah.

"If it's not Becca, who is it then?"

Ryan took a deep breath. Well now was the time to see how his friend would react.

"It's Lenah."

If it wasn't for the nerves racing through his body Ryan would have doubled over laughing at his friend's expression. Luke sat stock still with his mouth hanging open.

Ryan started mentally counting in his head waiting for Luke to say something.

When he reached thirty seconds he started to wonder whether Luke was ever going to snap out of his shocked state.

At forty-six seconds Luke's mouth snapped shut and his eyes finally lost their slightly crazed look.

By fifty-two seconds he looked like he was almost back to normal and Ryan felt his heart beat start to relax back to it's regular rhythm.

"The shadow walker? How do you know it's her?" The slight waver in Luke's voice was the only telltale sign that he was nervous. Ryan could understand his nervousness. If Ryan was right, then Lenah would become the new Luna to the pack and offered a prestigious position in the pack hierarchy.

Ryan ran his hands through his hair and started pacing again. He wasn't sure how he could phrase how he felt. It was difficult to describe how he knew Lenah was his mate.

"As soon as I caught her scent it was like she was the only thing that mattered, the only one that I want. I want to be with her all the time, even letting her out of my sight is difficult." Ryan rubbed the back of his neck.

The intense need to be with his mate was already making him edgy and he was itching to rejoin her. He'd never felt more out of control in his life and he found that he didn't mind the feeling at all as long as Lenah remained in his life.

"A true mate?" The awe in Luke's voice left Ryan feeling a little hollow. If his parents were right it would be almost impossible for his friend to ever find his mate.

Ryan nodded his head towards his friend. He knew his parents would not approve of his decision to tell Luke just what Lenah meant to him but keeping this a secret from him was something he refused to do.

To get the pack to accept Lenah he knew he'd need Luke's backing and he couldn't ask that of his friend whilst lying to him.

"Shit. Your mate's a freaking shadow walker dude. You are so screwed." Luke's booming laughter echoed around the empty forest as Ryan stared back sullenly at his friend, which only made Luke laugh harder at him.