Chapter 4 The Abomination

Ryker’s hands were still shaking from the struggle.

“Chain her up!" He barked and Cole brought the chains at once.

The woman snarled under him, her wrists bleeding against the steel cuffs as she tried to break free.

He’d fought dozens of rogues in his life, wolves, vampires, but none had ever burned through his control like she did.

“Easy,” Ryker growled.

She screamed instead, a guttural sound and lunged—fast enough that even his wolf flinched.

Her teeth grazed his neck before he slammed her back into the wall and pinned her there with his full weight.

For a heartbeat, they were inches apart, breath for breath, blood for blood.

Then she stopped fighting.

Cole and the rest picked her up, asking, “Which of the cells do we take tee to?"

“My room."

They all were stunned at his words. “What? You want this rabid abomination in your bedroom?" Tessa hissed.

Ryker turned to her coldly. “Shut up, Tess."

His growl must have silenced the others and they all nodded. "Yes, Alpha.”

When they dropped her and all left, he turned to her.

“Who the hell are you?” he muttered, but she didn’t answer.

He chained her wrists to the iron post in his quarters and sat on the bed, sighing deeply.

She was a hybrid. Something he'd never seen before in real life.

He'd heard stories but that's all he thought they were. Stories.

“Fuck this!" He hissed, running his hands through his hair.

He knew she was trouble. But right now, it felt like he couldn't get rid of this trouble. The crescent mark she had, the way his body reacted when she was near, it didn't make sense.

Ryker decided he'd have to keep her close until he figured it all out.

It wasn't long before the others burst in, the core riders of his pack.

“Boss,” said Kai, his beta, wiping blood off his knuckles. “That girl is not just a stray. Her old man’s offering five million to whoever brings her back alive.”

Ryker lit a cigarette slowly as he walked out of the room. “She's calm now, we don't want to rile her up."

“Five million,” Kai repeated. “That’s enough to fix the entire northern sector that was destroyed in the fire. We could use that, Ryker.”

The alpha exhaled. “We’re not bounty hunters.”

“She’s dangerous,” another one said. “The nurse said it herself, she’s not just wolf. There’s vampire in there. A hybrid, an abomination. You can’t keep her here.”

Ryker’s jaw ticked. “I’ll decide what to do with her.”

Kai stepped closer, eyes hard. “Then decide quick. Word will spread. Someone will come for her.”

“Let them come.” Ryker’s tone cut like steel. “It’s the full moon. Only a fool attacks a pack when we’re at our strongest.”

When they left, Ryker walked outside.

It was indeed full moon. No wonder Irene has begun to fight her wolf side.

Both vampire and wolf were struggling for dominance in that fragile little body. Pity.

Ryker sat on the porch, cigarette between his fingers, watching his pack members transform under the moon.

The full moon always made him restless.

He didn’t notice Tessa until she was standing beside him, wearing that sly smile that used to undo him.

Her leather jacket was unzipped just enough to remind him of what she was offering.

“You’re brooding again,” she teased, crouching beside him. “Let me fix that.”

He didn’t look at her. “Not tonight.”

Her hand slid to his thigh anyway. “You say that every night.”

Ryker caught her wrist and pulled her hand away, gentle but firm. “I mean it, Tessa. Don’t.”

Her smirk faded. “You still think about her, don’t you? Whoever that stray is, you think I don’t notice the way you look at her in there?”

“Tessa,” he warned.

She laughed bitterly, her voice cracking. “You’ll never love anyone, Ryker. You’re too broken for it.”

Before he could respond, she shifted and let out a sharp growl and ran into the forest.

Ryker watched her go. She’d been his lieutenant, his partner in fights, sometimes his distraction in bed.

But love? That word had never belonged to him.

Not anymore.

Not since Lyra Kael.

The name hit him like a cold blade every time it crossed his mind.

The woman he’d loved, the woman who’d died five years ago, taking with her the only piece of his soul that had ever felt whole.

He’d buried that pain beneath wars, engines, and whiskey, but tonight, something about the girl chained in his room tore those wounds wide open.

He crushed the cigarette under his boot and stood but he couldn’t shake the thought of her. The stranger. The hybrid. Irene Cross.

When he opened the door to his quarters, his pulse stopped.

The chains were gone.

“Shit! Where's she?" He growled and spun around.

She stood in the middle of the room,.bare, trembling, the silver shackles lay shattered on the ground.

“Irene,” he breathed, his wolf stirring inside him.

Her eyes lifted to his. They were no longer gold or red, but a perfect, terrifying mix of both.

“I can’t stop it,” she whispered, voice breaking. “It’s burning inside me. I can feel everything. The hunger, the pull, the pain.”

Ryker took a cautious step forward. “You need to calm down.”

Her body convulsed, a low growl rumbling in her throat. “You don’t understand. The moon is tearing me apart.”

Then she staggered, her hands scratching her head.

He moved fast, wrapping his arms around her to keep her from falling. She fought him, her nails slicing across his forearm, blood spilling down his skin.

His wolf snarled at the sting, but he didn’t let go. He used all his strength until finally she stilled, panting, trembling, clinging to him.

For a long moment, neither spoke. The only sound was their breathing, syncing slowly in the dim light.

Then she lifted her gaze again, eyes wild and pleading. “It hurts, Ryker. Please. Make it stop.”

She fell against him, her body shaking violently as the vampire side of her fought the moon’s call. Her voice broke, desperate and raw. “Please, don’t leave me like this.”

The full moon left werewolves rabid and randy. He was not any exception.

He hesitated only a second before pulling her closer, his heart hammering.

And for the first time in five years, Ryker Kael, the cold-hearted Alpha King of the Black Fang Pack, felt something crack open inside him.

He grabbed her face and smashed his lips against hers. She didn't resist him, she clung to him like he was he'd medicine, opening her mouth and raking her hands through his hair.

“Please, make it stop," she cried out desperately and he heed her pleas.

She was an abomination. Something he could get a big bounty off, but tonight, he let himself fall into her depth.

Tearing off his own clothes, their naked skins melded in the dark and he didn't waste time roaming his hands over her skin.

But then as he closed his eyes, feeling her body grip him in ways he couldn't explain, he suddenly felt her stiffen.

When he opened his eyes, her entire body

was rigid and she rolled off him, shaking in what he could only call uncontained rage.

Then she said the one word that took him five years into the past.

“Mate?"