MATED TO THE SECRET ALPHA
Chapter 196: Lunatic

Chapter 196: Lunatic

Reana was sitting up on the bed, her brows drawn tightly in concern. Ryder was supposed to be asleep on the floor. But now the blanket was tossed aside, and the space where he’d been lying was empty.

Had he returned to his quarters out of annoyance? No... he wouldn’t just leave. Not when he was still recovering.

Reana didn’t know much about his powers, but Ryder had told her that he did what he shouldn’t have done and needed enough time to rest. He told her that if he exerted too much energy while still healing, he might get a serious backlash.

So, where the hell did he go? Before she went to the bathroom, he was still here, lying on the cold floor. But on her return, he’d disappeared. She didn’t hear the sound of door creaking, which could only mean that he’d used his teleportation skills again.

That idiot!

Didn’t he collapse when he used it the other day? How could he be so stupid, just because she was angry at him?

She was still angry at him, granted. But she couldn’t see him in pain.

Has he really gone to his quarters?

Reana’s brows creased. With him looking like that, if anyone saw him, they’d raise an alarm, and Ryder would either have to kill her pack members again, or be thrown into the dungeon and investigated as an intruder... an enemy.

"I’m going to kill you, Ryder!" Just as she swung her legs off the bed, preparing to get up, the air around her rippled. In the next second, Ryder appeared in her room. But he didn’t look alright... he looked deadly pale.

"Ryder—!" she gasped, but her voice caught in her throat.

Before she could even reach for him, he stumbled forward and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Ptuh.

The crimson splatter hit the floor, stark against the brown plank. He fell to one knee, shivering. His face was pale and he was drenched in sweat.

"You’re hurt!" Reana cried, sliding off the bed to catch him. "What happened? Where were you?" She panicked.

Ryder didn’t answer right away. His chest rose and fell in uneven breaths, but his eyes... those stubborn, infuriatingly charming eyes, still held their glint.

"You were worried," he rasped, voice barely audible. "You couldn’t sleep, so I had to check if they were still alive."

Reana froze.

He went to and fro the wasteland in such a short time... In this state?!

Raw anger rose in her chest as she shouted, "You absolute idiot!"

Smack!

She smacked him on the side of his head – not hard, but enough to convey how angry she was. "You’re still healing! I told you not to go! Do you have a death wish?!"

He let out a strained chuckle. "Your smile, your peace of mind... matters more, My Luna."

Reana’s heart swelled with affection, at the same time, ached for him. Still, she didn’t let the turmoil in her heart show.

"Don’t patronize me!" she snapped, though her hands trembled as she pulled him up, carefully helping him onto the bed.

Her voice cracked as frustration and fear tangled in her chest. "Will you only stop hurting me after you’ve shredded my heart into pieces?" She clenched her jaw, hating that she couldn’t stop the emotions spilling.

She was angry, she was hurt that he was hurting, she loved this ancestor fool. She felt guilty, she felt remorseful...

All the feelings surged at once, overwhelming her. And through it all, he just smiled. The idiot smiled like even in pain, she was worth it. And it made Reana feel even more terrible.

"I’d be damned if you ever had to fear for anything alone," Ryder whispered as she laid him against the pillows.

Reana stared at him. Really stared at him without blinking. His gorgeous face was pale. His long, red hair was scattered on the pillow. And his bloody lips were curled in a small triumphant smile.

He did that knowing she wouldn’t be able to hold on to her anger anymore. This scheming idiot had manipulated her with his own pain.

Smack!

She slapped him hard across the face. "You reckless, infuriating, moon-cursed idiot," she breathed, eyes glittering with tears. "You’re sneaky, manipulative... ugh!" she growled, pressing a trembling hand to her forehead. "You wanted me to break. You knew exactly what you were doing, didn’t you?"

He chuckled again, and the sound broke her even further, and a single tear rolled down her cheek. "You..." her lips trembled and she bit it harshly. "I hate you even more now."

Ryder, of course, didn’t take her seriously. Not when she was trembling. Not when her voice sounded softer than a pup’s.

He reached for her face. With a finger, he wiped her tear. "You don’t look domineering when you cry, My Luna," he whispered with a soft smile.

"Shut up," Reana’s voice cracked as she said it, but the words held no venom. "Why would you do something like this? Look at you..." Her throat tightened. His body was burning and cooling at the same time. He’d used his power while not fully recovered. Idiot. Idiot. Idiot.

Ryder gave no reply. He just closed his eyes for a second, his expression soft with subtle pain etched on his face, yet he was still smiling. "You wouldn’t listen if I just said sorry. So I had to show you how sorry I am."

"You showed me blood, Ryder! Blood! That is not how people apologize!" she wanted to scream the house down, if that would make him see reasons, but of course, he was Ryder. He never learned.

"I was careful," he muttered.

"You’re literally dying on my bed!" Reana hissed, but her voice cracked again at the end.

Ryder’s hand reached out, weak but deliberate, catching hers. "I’d do it again. For you."

She swallowed the knot in her throat, her other hand brushing back the sweat-damp strands from his forehead. "You drive me crazy. You really do."

She cradled his face between her trembling hands, the heat of the slap still blooming across his cheek. She hated him. She should hate him. But fuck, she couldn’t stop loving him even if she tried.

"I don’t want to lose you," she whispered. "Not to the goddess, not to your stupid heroism, not to your deceit. I can’t lose you, Ryder."

His breathing was labored, his eyelids drooping from pain and exhaustion, but his gaze never wavered. "I know," he murmured. "But I needed to–"

"You didn’t have to do anything!" she cut in, gripping his shirt, bunching the fabric in her fists. "You had to rest. To heal. To stay with me. Not vanish into the night like some damned martyr." Her voice shook with every word, and she hated that he was still looking at her like she was everything right in his world when he was the one fading away.

"You couldn’t sleep, Reana." He said, searching her sad eyes. "You were tossing and turning in bed." He brushed a strand of hair that was sticking into her mouth. "You were worried about them. You vowed that if they died, you’d fuck another man." He paused, "I had to save them, Reana. I had to see for myself that they weren’t dead."

"You’re stubborn." She whispered.

"I know," he said again, the ghost of a smile tugging at his lips. "But you love me anyway."

Reana let out a sharp, tear-laced laugh that sounded too much like a sob. Her forehead dropped to his, and for a moment she just breathed him in his blood, sweat, magic, and every part of him that made her heart ache.

"I do," she whispered, her voice trembling against his skin. "That’s the problem. I do love you. And I hate it."

He tilted his head, just enough for their noses to brush. "Hate me later. Right now, I think I need to be rewarded for saving their lives."

She breathed. "What do you want?" She was relieved to know they were alive, but she wasn’t happy that he had to risk his life for that.

"Your sweet lips on mine..." he whispered on her lips.

"You’re not in any state to be kissed," she snapped, but her voice had softened, melted under the fire he’d stoked. Her lips were already too close to his.

"But I am in the perfect state to need it," he murmured.

Rea chirped like an excited bird. ’Kiss him.’

’Shut up,’ Reana growled at her wolf.

The wolf whimpered like a pitiful cat. ’He did so much. All he wants is a kiss.’

Gods help her.

Reana’s hands trembled slightly on his face. Her heart still thrashed against her ribs like a caged beast, but she couldn’t stop herself. Not when he looked at her like that. Not when her wolf was about to cry. Not when everything inside her was screaming at her —to love him, to scream at him, to forgive him, to claim him.

Her breath caught in her throat, as she slowly closed her eyes and kissed him.

Soft at first, like a question.

But he answered.

Despite the pain, despite the fever burning through his skin, Ryder lifted a hand and fisted it gently into her shirt, pulling her down with a desperation so raw it made her chest seize. The kiss deepened... Needing, aching, and filled with all the things neither of them could say.

It was punishment and apology.

It was fear and surrender.

And when she finally pulled back, panting, her forehead pressed to his once more, she whispered, "If you ever scare me like that again, I swear, I’ll inflict pain on your skin."

Ryder exhaled, smiling like a man who’d just been given life again.

"With your lips?" he teased, voice hoarse.

Reana groaned and shoved his face into the pillow. "Shut up and sleep, you damned lunatic."

But even as she said it, she tucked the blankets around him like he was the most precious thing in the world.

Because he was.

And the lunatic didn’t sleep alone. He pulled her along, cuddling her like a pillow. Like she gave him the right to...