RYDER'S POV
My eyes couldn't be lifted from the beauty before me as she and Amelia, my younger sister, interacted; she wasn't spilling much, but I knew some secret she wished to bury and not talk about lay buried behind those eyes of hers.
I was so hooked up by her that when she asked how I wanted her to pay back, I blurted out, "Marry me." I had uttered the word out loud before I realized what had happened.
"Ryder!" Amelia's eyes changed a bit. "Come on, Ryder, you don't want to take advantage of someone in this kind of situation," Amelia said, trying to talk sense into me.
"Take advantage? Why will I? You know as much as I do that I am asexual. I don't want anything to do with any she-wolf out there; none appeals to me sexually," I said. I was asexual; I have been for as long as I could remember. I just never felt any form of pull towards any gender romantically, but looking at Maya now, I can admit I wasn't so sure anymore.
"I wonder why you want to marry her in the first place?" Amelia argued back.
"Her child!"
"What does this have to do with her child?" Amelia asked me,
"If I eventually marry her, her child will be mine automatically; that way I will secure my line without the councils of elders being on my neck every damn time," I explained, but deep within me, I knew there was more to wanting her child to be mine; I wanted her to be mine.
Amelia looked half convinced, but I knew the Miss Goody Two-shoes that was my sister was definitely still against making Maya adhere to that.
"Moreover, it will only be for 10 months; when the child is born, she can leave it here if she wishes, or she could stay here in the pack and raise it with me, as its mother, but we'd be separated after that year," I explained, trying to convince Amelia and ultimately Maya.
My wolf wanted her beside me; I didn't know why, but that was what I wanted.
"I'm so sorry, but I can't. Is there another way I could repay you?" Maya finally spoke up; it was almost as though she hated me without even completely knowing me, or was it that she hated all men in general? I would never know, since she wasn't saying much.
"Of course, you don't have to," Amelia said to her in the soft tone. "Here in the Mooresville pack, you always have to pay back what you get, but you can pay back in any other way, not necessarily what my brother proposes-marrying him," she said, eyeing me as she spoke to Maya.
"I can do anything, but I can't get married to anyone," Maya said in a final tone. Whatever it was that had happened to her, I wanted to know.
"It's fine; you can rest now and work as a slave here for the next year, then you'll be free of whatever you owe and may choose to leave afterwards," Amelia said reassuringly.
I scoffed when she acted like this; it almost seemed as though she was the alpha here and not me.
********
I stood by the window of my room, watching as different members of the pack used and maltreated Maya. It was the law; she was not one of us, and as long as she survived in our land, she could be used in any way. I wondered how long she'd survive in this place. They were more respectful to her than I'd thought they'd be. I wonder what they'll do when they find out she was from the Nightshade pack, our number one.
enemy's territory.
"Hmm! You keep watching her, why?" Amelia said from behind me. startling me. I said from behind me, startling me, and I jumped.
"Nothing, I wasn't looking at her, just worried she might be in danger around here," I said quickly.
"I know, behind all of those hard
Wolfie, features of yours lay out a generous and good man. I knew you wanted to protect her, and that's why you asked her to marry you, but why?" Amelia noted.
window just glanced back at the time to see Maya make her way into my place. In a matter of minutes, she entered the room I and Carla were in.
The room went silent for a while, no one saying anything, then Maya spoke up.
"I've accepted to do it," she announced.
"You'll do what?" I asked; Amelia looked more confused.
"Oh no, you don't have to do anything you don't want to," Amelia said to her, realizing what she had meant.
"No, I want to do it. I am tired of being stepped upon everywhere I go, I am tired of being weak, and if marrying you for a year will make everyone else fall below me, then I am ready! Plus, you guys saved my life, so if I can make your lives comfortable in any way, I'm willing to help," she explained. She sounded so angry and determined.
"One more thing, I will have to mark you." I spoke up. Amelia looked at me as though she was going to rip off my head if I didn't shut my mouth, but I ignored her and continued. "Have you ever been marked?" I asked her.
"No," she simply replied. She's pregnant; she must have been marked for the baby to come around.
"When and how did the baby come about?" I nonchalantly asked, did she just sleep with men even though they weren't mated to her? I thought, and somehow the thought of that made my heart skip.
"RYDER!!" Amelia screamed my name, calling me to order; she seems to be getting worn out with my wound-opening questions.
"Okay, maybe that wasn't the right time and right question to ask," I concluded in my thoughts.
"It's fine," Maya shrugged at Amelia, then turned to me.
"I never got marked; its father never marked me. We only had fun once, and it landed in this," she replied, pointing to her stomach. Her eyes had a glint of sadness in them as she spoke, but she still managed to keep a straight face.
Then, beginning to roll up the sleeves of her clothes, she stretched out her hand to me. "Here, mark me," she said with so much conviction.
I gave her a strange look, asking with my eyes if she was sure she
nodded and then stretched out her hand more as though she was impatient to get it over with.
I gently called upon my inner wolf, my fangs began to grow out, I breathed in hard, and then, slowly, I marked her by her arm.
