224

Anger had swirled through Ryder for weeks after leaving Mintia and Wynter behind. Milo and Abigail had been quiet in the backseat and Shae had cried all the way to Bucharest. Nova hadn’t said a word yet but Ryder knew well that she would.

Two days later Ryder stood on his porch and Nova finally let loose. He could see swirls of silver in her eyes as she sat down on the porch swing and he finally joined her after minutes of silence.

“I love you, Ryder, but sometimes I don’t know who you are.”

“You know exactly who I am. I never hid anything from you.”

Nova sighed as she turned to look at her husband. “What you did was inexcusable.”

“He put her life in danger!”

“Don’t raise your voice at me.”

“I’m not … I’m sorry. What else was I supposed to do? He touched my daughter! His filthy hands pawed at her, he slapped her and …”

“And he didn’t get very far. Wynter killed him for touching her. He did what you expected of him, what Typhon expected of him.”

“It doesn’t matter, he stood in this house and vowed to me that she’d be okay.” Ryder rubbed a hand over his face, his emotions wreaking havoc with him and the fact that Abeloth had blocked him out irked him even more.

“And he did exactly that! You’re exhausting, Ryder, you expect him to be better than you!”

“He is better than me! But he left her there and went off and got himself a girlfriend!”

“Ryder. He is your son and he couldn’t have known what would happen. Did you?”

“He was there!”

“You left your whole tribe to go to France …”

“Don’t throw that in my face!” Ryder’s voice was loud now as he yelled at her.

“I’m not. I’m just saying that he followed the plan.”

“Yeah and knocked up two women within months of each other.”

Ryder walked off the porch and left Nova sitting on the swing. It was too much to handle. He heard her stand up and when she called his name out he stopped walking and turned around. “Just so you know, Ryder Grey, your daughter is moving into the guest house with Milo!”

Nova slammed the kitchen door closed behind her as Ryder stood on the lawn with his mouth hanging open and his fists clenched at his side. The closeness he’d witnessed between Abby and Milo had been put down to the trauma she’d suffered and Milo being there for her.

Ryder’s eyes glowed yellow as he made his way to the guest house and flung the front door open. He could hear Milo singing in the shower and he slammed the door open. Milo’s head popped through the open shower door with that damned shower cap over his hair.

“Sheesh, Dad, knock next time.”

“We need to talk.”

Milo stepped out of the shower and pulled a robe on, making it stick to his skin. “Let me just brush my hair.”

“This is no time for jokes, Milo!” Ryder slammed his fist down on the bathroom counter, cracking the tiles around it.

“Fine. Where do you want to do this?”

“In the house in five minutes! I can’t take this shit anymore.”

Ryder turned around and left the guest house, trying to reign in his temper. Abeloth chuckled low in his mind and then blocked him out again. Ryder sighed as he walked into the kitchen and found Nova making coffee.

“Get Abby down here.”

“I’m not your slave, Ryder. Do it yourself.”

“Nova …”

“No! I won’t stand here and listen to you talk down to me. I’m your equal, not your subordinate, if you want to rip this family apart, do it on your own.”

Ryder stomped up the stairs to Abby’s bedroom and stood in her doorway watching her sleep. She wasn’t a child anymore and it was time that he accepted that fact. She was a week older than Alexis.

Even though his head had exploded when Alexis came clean and told them about her pregnancy he’d accepted the fact even though the boy’s father wasn’t in the picture anymore. She hadn’t wanted to come home and he was proud when she stood up for herself and said she’d figure her life out herself, with her son.

“Abby … time to wake up.” Ryder’s hand on her shoulder shook her gently and she opened her eyes and he felt a stab to his gut. She reminded him of Megan so much.

“What’s going on?”

“Family meeting in five.”

Ryder left her room before he said anything else and gritted his teeth as he walked back downstairs and sat down at the head of the kitchen table. Milo sauntered in and sat down opposite him. His eyes hadn’t stopped glowing and he closed them briefly and willed himself to calm down.

Nova placed a cup of coffee down on the table and he opened his eyes again. He took a sip from the cup and grimaced. “It’s bitter.”

“Like your personality.” Milo started laughing but shut up when Ryder glared at him.

Abby tightened the robe around herself as she walked into the kitchen still clad in her pajamas and sat down next to Nova. She inhaled the aroma of coffee and looked her father in the eye. His anger was evident and she swallowed nervously.

“Nova tells me you’re moving into the guest house with Milo.”

“Oh that.” Milo looked down and gripped his mug in his hands.

“Yeah that.”

“Daddy …”

“How long?”

“Since Abby came to Mintia. It just …”

“Don’t tell me it just happened. Shit like this doesn’t just happen!”

“Daddy …”

Ryder glared at Milo, not able to comprehend the situation. “What the hell were you both thinking? She’s your sister, Milo!”

Milo grinned slowly. “It’s no different from Wynter sticking his dick into Ally.”

The cup in Ryder’s hand cracked as his knuckles turned white and shattered onto the kitchen table. “How in Typhon’s name did all this happen?” Ryder shook his head, talking to himself more than actually wanting an answer.

“Well, the night Wynter went to pick Ally up from that party, they went at it in the truck … right, I’ll shut up now.” Ryder’s glare was icing the blood in his veins.

“Hunter … is he the father?”

Nova looked down briefly before finding his gaze on her. “No, I asked her.”

“You knew?”

“Yes, I knew, Ryder. I’m her mother, of course I knew.”

Ryder turned towards Milo once again, his finger pointing at him. “Did you sleep with Ally too?”

“Of course not!”

“You shared everything else.”

Abby closed her eyes and shook her head as Milo answered Ryder. “Maya yes, not Ally.”

“What?” She glared at Milo and his face paled visibly.

“It was before we did anything. I swear!”

“Is that why she came looking for you that night you bit me?”

“You bit Abby?” Ryder had his hand around Milo’s throat now.

“Wasn’t … like … that.” Milo struggled to breathe as Nova pulled his hand away from Milo’s throat.

It took Abby and Milo the better part of an hour to tell Ryder the whole story of what had happened that night. Ryder’s angry glare hadn’t changed at all and Milo finally told him of the odd bonding sensation that had pulled them together.

“Who’s your daddy now, Abigail?” Shae stood in the doorway and Ryder had no idea how long she’d been there.

Milo laughed and even Nova smiled as Abigail blushed and Abeloth nudged Ryder from the inside. “Don’t push them away, Ryder. You’ll end up alone and if you push Nova away I’ll never talk to you again.”

“At least I’m not screwing anyone.” Ryder choked on his own saliva as Nova’s eyes widened and Shae sat down as if she hadn’t just said that.

“You’re twelve! I’d fucking hope not.”

“Daddy … you know we can’t fight this bond but if it makes you feel any better Milo hasn’t marked me yet.”

“It doesn’t make me feel any better. You’re all screwing each other and I can’t … I just can’t.”

“There’s nothing you can do except to accept it and move on.” Nova’s hand was on his arm and her scent worked its magic and calmed him.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this … I’ll snap your neck if you hurt her, cheat on her or break her heart.”

“I’ll let you do it too.” Milo’s hand sought out Abby’s and Ryder closed his eyes as their fingers intertwined.

“Good, now we can talk about what you’re going to do about Wynter.”

“I’m not doing anything. He put Abby in danger and for that I can’t forgive him.” Milo had determination in his eyes as he spoke those words.

“And when he realized the danger he removed her from it, took the danger away from her and killed the threat.” Nova was angry now and frustration was evident in her voice.

“Wynter set himself on the path he’s on now. I’ll consider speaking to him when he decides to stop thinking with his dick.”

Nova threw her hands up in the air and left the kitchen feeling angry towards them all, but mostly her anger was fixated on Ryder. He was going to lose his son if he didn’t fix the error of his ways and soon.

It had been weeks and he felt the guilt eating away at him. He was also headstrong and he waited patiently for Wynter to make his move. He shouldn’t have hit him and Ryder thought back to the time when his own father had raised his hands in anger.

It had caused a rift making Ryder leave Aurora and break all communication between them. He wasn’t sure if their relationship would ever have been saved if he hadn’t been dying and Abeloth hadn’t taken him home.

Ryder’s breath caught in his throat and he felt a powerful connection inside him snap. His eyes glowed yellow and Abeloth’s breath hitched too. It was done, the King was dead and Wynter had fulfilled his destiny.

It took the rest of that week to confirm the King’s death as well as the Queen’s and Maya’s. Wynter had killed them all in a spectacular show of dominance as he simply waltzed into the Palace dragging Maya’s dead body behind him, his skin morphing into scales as bullets were fired at him.

He received video footage from a source and watched as Wynter knelt down in front of Sorin, accepting him as the new King. His source couldn’t tell him anything else except that Wynter had left Sinaia and gone back to Mintia.

With shaky hands Ryder picked up his phone and dialed Wynter’s number. It was time to put the guilt to rest. “The number you have dialed does not exist.” The line went dead and Ryder stared at his phone for a moment and dialed the number again.

“The number you have dialed does not exist.”

“That can’t be right.” Ryder’s words were spoken out loud just before a searing pain shot through him and he felt his bond with Wynter snap, signifying his death.

“Wynter …” Ryder’s gasp was all the could get out before darkness overtook him, the pain of losing his son too much to bear.