For the first time, he unlocked the door for me and let me walk into the room. Unlike Roman’s office, Ryker’s was a mess. Papers all over the place, his workout gear slung over a chair, locked cabinets that lookedneat.
I sat on one of the spare chairs, watched him unlock the top drawer of his desk, and put the notebook inside of it. After shutting and locking the drawer, he put the key into his pocket. There were so many locks for someone so open with his Lycans about who he was and what the missions were really about.
“We should go through the notebook tonight,” I said. “I won’t be able to wait until morning.”
He chuckled lowly and walked around the desk, placing his hands on my shoulders from behind and squeezing lightly. “You need rest, Isabella. You’ve been working for far too long on this. I will go through it by myself and tell you what I find tomorrow.”
“But—”
His hands travelled down my arms, light enough to make me shiver. He breathed against my neck. “Go, Isabella,” he said into my ear.
I swallowed my fear of what would happen next—what I would allow to happen next—and turned around to face him. The room was dimly lit, making his features look more alluring. This was my plan, and I wasn’t about to let it slip through my fingers.
“You should get some rest too,” I said quietly suggesting something more sinful than I could ever even imagine. I brushed my fingers against his forearms.
We stared at each other for a few moments, then his gaze fell to my chest. “Where’s your mate’s necklace?”
“I took it off.”
His eyes darkened. “Why?”
I stepped toward him, so we were inches away from each other. “Why do you think?” I asked quietly, keeping my gaze on him.
Again, he paused and just stared at me, and I was terrified that he’d see right through me. That he’d see that this was all a lie. My heart raced when he stepped closer, pushing me against his desk.
“For this,” he said.
I swallowed hard and drew a finger down his chest, flirting just like Raj told me. And, in a moment, his lips were hovering over my own, millimeters away from pressing against me. My breath caught in my throat, and I placed my hands on his hips, fingering the waistband of his pants.
“For this,” I affirmed. He pressed his lips to mine, and I tugged him closer by the pants pockets, snuck my hand into his right pocket, and stole the key to his office.
Chapter 48
Roman
I hadn’t slept in the past week.
Every day that Isabella wasn’t here and wasn’t marked killed me on the inside. She was off doing her job, being the Lycan that she was, and trying to find my sister while I tried desperately to find some kind of trail.
For the first time in a long time, I was all alone. No mate. No sister. No family. And it was my worst fear, to have nobody that I loved and cared about with me. All I had ever asked the Moon Goddess for was a family that would love me as much as I loved them, a family that I could cherish every day.
It’s funny how life turned out.
No, I didn’t want Isabella to leave, but I needed to let her go. It was the only way that I could get her to see that I really cared about her and that I valued her strength and saw beauty in it.
A sharp, piercing pain shot through my chest. I laid in my bed, staring up at my ceiling, and let my wolf whimper. There was only one time that I had felt this pain before, and it was the night of the Full Moon Party. Right before I left to find my mate, right when she was offworkingand kissing one of those foul-mouthed rogues.
I didn’t want to think about what she was doing this time, because this time it was for me. Whatever she was doing was to find Jane and Raj, and I had to trust her. I had to trust her to come home to me when all of this was finished. I had to trust her to choose me. I had to be enough for her.
Chapter 49
Isabella
From the dark forest, I watched Ryker through his office window. He sat at his desk on the first floor of the Lycans’ packhouse and pushed a hand through his hair, reading Roman’s journal. Exactly three hours ago, I had the chance to sneak into the office, to go through every piece of paper in his desk, and to confirm every one of my suspicions.
I invited Ryker over at 11pm totalkabout the information in Roman’s journal. Only, he thought thistalkingwas code for fucking me. He had that smallinnocentsmirk on his lips when I asked him, the one he had given me at the stream the day he told me I’d be a good fit for the Lycans.
Though he had only kissed me once last night, he pulled me toward him like he had wanted me for far longer than I had thought—for days or even weeks—and told me he was thankful that Roman hadn’t marked me. That Roman didn’t deserve me.
