Isla's eyelids flickered between the Alpha's chambers and the Omegas' quarters, hoping that no one would burst into them as Ryker held tightly onto her hands.

"I will leave now, Alpha." She stretched a little, pressing her lips together to form a small smile.

"Why?" He held her tighter. "Do you want to run away from me again?" The smile on his face faltered, he gave her a side glance, searching for something he wasn't certain about.

She suspired, staring at him to peek the mortification that assaulted his expression. She knew he'd be disappointed if she was running away from him after what they just had in the forest, but no matter how hard she tried to stay with him, there was an inner voice that kept compelling her to run far away from him.

"Alpha, we—"

"Alpha!" She was cut short by Talon's squeaking.

Ryker didn't let go of Isla, he pulled her closer to himself and turned to his brother. "Is there a problem?" He asked, eying him.

"Alpha, I want to speak to you—" his eyes darted between Ryker and Isla—his hand tightly clasped around Isla's. Talon scoffed and said a little louder, "alone, please."

Ryker took careful note of all his contemptuous  looks but he chose not to address it now. He would do that much later when he could yell at Talon for berating Isla.

"It's urgent," Talon added when Ryker wasn't deciding. 

"Isla, I will see you when I am done here." He let go of her hands, urging her to go to her room. His eyes were on her as she straggled to her room. He let out a nasty chuckle, thinking of how hard he took her wolf in the forest. "What's it you want to talk about?" He turned back to his brother.

"Alpha, there are two things I want to talk about. The first is very important and the second one is unimportant, not an issue I should be bothered about, but, I have to talk about it because you are the Alpha of this pack."

"Go on, Talon. I have work to attend to. Make it hasty, what are the things you want to talk about?" Ryker stared fiercely at his brother. The stares weren't needed, but he did it to deter him from talking horribly about Isla. 

He knew the unimportant issue he wanted to talk about had something to do with her, it was glaring from the horrible stares.

"Our smallest pack was invaded just this night and many lives were lost, Alpha. The news got to me really late."

Ryker rolled his fists, gritting his teeth. "How did this happen and how many lives were lost?" He moved inches away from Talon, pondering over the sad news he just gave him. "We have many men watching over the packs, how was it invaded and none of them could fight the rogues?" He screeched, fury coursing through him.

"I haven't gotten a proper explanation for that, Alpha. The soldiers on duty haven't given a proper explanation to that." Talon heaved a long sigh again. "But it was brutal, really brutal. Adira and I went to take a look after the invasion was reported and it wasn't a good sight to behold."

Ryker bit his lips so hard he tasted blood. "Those bloody rogues, those bastards! I will kill them all with my hands." His chest started to rise, his breathing erratic. 

Ryker loathed to hear about the killing of his own people, it made him feel incompetent as the Alpha and right now, he felt so bad that he was out there having fun while his people were being slaughtered. 

 It hurt him to the bone, he shut his eyes to relieve himself of the anger and pain that rushed through him.

"Alpha,"

Ryker lifted a finger to halt Talon from speaking, the guilt of neglecting his own people to satisfy his sexual desires was already eating deep in his system. He couldn't bear more.

"Take me there, I want to see their bodies before they are buried."

"Alpha, the sight is gross and…"

"Take me there, Talon. If you don't want to come with me, I will go alone." Ryker took a step forward, heading towards the exit of his chambers.

Talon followed behind, muttering clear words but they were inaudible to the Alpha. 

Ryker could hear the whispering of his brother's voice, but he had no idea the exact words he was saying and he didn't want to hear more. The words he had heard before stung him, he had failed as an Alpha.

"No more words until we are there." Ryker said in a warning tone. 

Talon nodded, trotting behind his brother as they made their way towards the exit.

-

-

"Isla!" She heard her name, the voice was familiar too, but she was the least person she'd expect to have a conversation with, or would even call her name. 

Halting, she bowed, waiting for Adira to catch up with her.

"Isla!" Adira stood smart in front of Isla and sneered. "You were out with the Alpha, weren't you?" 

When Isla didn't give a response, she smiled and continued. "I saw you and him coming back to the Pack, so you don't have to deny anything." She threw her hands to the side and walked around Isla. "There was an invasion tonight, it wouldn't have gotten this serious if the Alpha was in the pack house with us."

"I don't understand what you are talking about." Isla looked at Adira who had a sheepish grin on her lips.

"You, Isla, are nothing, nobody and will never be anything to the Alpha. He's the Alpha of Darkwood pack and you are just a lowly omega. You two don't fit, you are not in his league. I would have ignored this and wouldn't even have said anything about it, pretended to be blind to it because Ryker is the Alpha and he can sleep with any woman he wants—" 

"Excuse me!" Isla felt a pang in her chest, the throbbing of her heart intensifying as she glared at Adira who didn't appear to be bothered if her words affected Isla or not. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, Ryker wouldn't have been distracted if he wasn't fucking you. He would be in the damn pack and look after his own people, he would raid the entire pack as he always did every night and make sure that his people are safe, but he lagged this time because of you, Isla." Adira shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes.

"I still don't understand what you are talking about." Isla jerked her shoulders.

"What I am saying is simple and clear, Isla! You are a distraction to the Alpha, he's not taking the pack affairs seriously because of you and every fucking thing is a waste of your time and his time! He will never be with you, he will dump you when he's done with you! Do you know anything about him? Do you even know the secrets he's been holding in for too long? Do you know him like we do? Do you fucking know him like Milly does?" Adira was panting and that scared the hell out of Isla. "You don't know anything about him. Ryker can never be with you, he will use you and when he's done with you, you will be left alone and kicked out of the pack house. You know nothing about him, absolutely nothing about him. So, I want you to stay away from you, stay away from him and let him deal effectively with the pack affairs." Adira veered around, took one more glance at Isla before walking away from her.

Isla was dumbfounded, her knees grew so weak she couldn't move. She didn't know why Adira was blaming her for everything, she had no idea what secrets she was talking about. 

Sighing, she pondered on Adira's words and it dawned on her that she really didn't know the Alpha, she didn't know him at all.

Tiny tears dropped from her eyes, she held back the tears but it fell harder and harder. She snorted, her vision was blurry and she could hardly make up her way back to her room. 

She turned towards the Alpha's room, confused about why she was going there, but maybe she needed to see him and ask him questions.

She got to the hallway that led to the Alpha's room, but was halted by the soldiers around.

"You can't go in there," one of them said, his tone harsh and vicious—the kind that sent cold shivers down one's spine.

"I want to see the Alpha, please." Her voice was shaky as she spoke out. "He wants to see me too."

"The Alpha is away, you should go back now." The soldier said sternly, returning back to his duty post.

Isla dropped on the floor, befuddled. She thought of what to do, but nothing came to her mind. Ryker was out and she was left alone, crying as she thought of the different things going on in her life. 

She had wanted to stay on her own, but he showed up and now, it was hard to live without him and harder to live with him. 

She was foolish to think that she could be with Ryker. He could never be with her, she was too flawed, never the kind of woman the people would want him to be with.

Isla sobbed harder as she thought of Adira's words. Whatever was between her and Ryker felt real and she didn't want to lose that, but now, it was looking almost impossible to hold onto it.

Faithy💓