Ruin
I’m pacing the bedroom that will be mine for the next few months, trying to keep my cool and failing miserably.
“WHY DIDN’T YOU BLOODY TELL ME?!”
I’m on a call with Ryker right now and I don’t give a shit if he is my superior, he knew what he was setting me up for when he sent me here. He knew this woman was my biggest regret and still he sent me here.
“Can you calm down so I can speak?” he says in a low voice, quelling my anger with his tone alone. “I told you to keep an open mind, didn’t I?”
I scoff. “An open mind? That’s what you call this, mate? You knew what I was walking into and you kept quiet about the entire thing!”
“What does it matter whether I told you or not? You would still have had to go on this fucking mission, Ruin,” he says, bordering on a growl, then he sighs. “Listen, I know this is going to be difficult, but it’s only for six months.”
I sit down on the bed and pinch the bridge of my nose. “No, it’s more complicated than that,” I say, gritting my teeth. “Turns out this woman is … my wolf’s mate, but I’m sure you knew that, too.”
“What did you just say?”
A frown forms on my face when I hear the hostility in his voice. “The girl, Chloe Jane, she’s my mate,” I answer him.
I never thought I’d be susceptible to the shifter mate bond, to be honest. When we were reincarnated as vampires, none of us met our so-called Fated, so what makes this reincarnation so different from the others?
“Fuck,” Ryker says, blowing out a breath. “I promise you, I didn’t know she was your mate, Ruin. The Fates never showed me this link between you, and you know I am aware of everything that goes on.”
An uneasy feeling ripples up my spine just as he says this, and it feels as if something has shifted in the air. Ryker has the First Sight, he can see things before normal seers even get wind of it.
So the fact that The Creators didn’t show him the mate bond…
“Wait, why would they not show you this? Do they have something different planned for us this time around?” I say, pacing the floor and for the first time ever, anxiety settles in my bones.
The Creators have never done something like this before, have never kept vital information from Ryker. So what could this mean for all of us? Will we all be … getting mates at this rate?
“I don’t know, but I’ll find out. Give me some time to speak with them and I’ll get back to you,” he says. “Sorry about this, Ruin. If I knew—”
“I know,” I interject. “Just see what’s going on and why they’ve done this. The last thing any of us need is the complication of a bloody mate bond.”
Hanging up without waiting for him to respond and throw my cell phone onto the bed. Meeting Chloe Jane was jarring enough. Now to find out that our bond might be fated? What the fuck are The Creators thinking?!
***
The following morning, things are even more strained; well, for me at least. Being close to her for a few seconds was difficult enough, but now I constantly have to be at her side.
It would help if she wasn’t endearing or cute as hell. She’s beautifully clumsy, and gets flustered for no apparent reason. But I think I know the reason is me; there’s no way she can’t feel this bond between us.
How fucking cruel must The Creators be to do this to me? Then again, I probably deserve this with the amount of lives I’ve taken since my inception. Now I can do nothing but feel my cursed wolf pine for its mate, and honestly I wish I could bring myself to say the Rejection Vow.
“Ruin,” her sing-song voice calls to me and snaps me out of my thoughts. “Could you please escort me to the back garden?”
I’m standing behind her while she’s reading in the parlor, and only just notice she’s looking straight up at me. Her hearing must be super sensitive if she knows exactly where I’m standing.
I take her hand and place it on mine. “Just tell me where you need to go,” I say, and she slowly gets to her feet.
Her heart is beating incredibly fast, and she sucks in a breath when she accidentally stumbles into me. Gods, I’m drowning in her sweet peach scent and I swear it’s fucking torture being this close to her and not being able to do anything.
But even as I think about doing anything to her, guilt rears its ugly head. I’m the reason she’s blind; I’m the reason she lost her mother. There’s no way around that, and I deserve whatever fucking punishment this is.
We step outside and a Spring breeze ruffles her dress and causes her hair to fly into my face. I stifle a growl and lead her over to a garden gazebo where I see her lunch has already been set up.
“Just over there, thank you,” she says and I help her up the three short steps into the gazebo. I pull out a chair for her and she murmurs a thank you, then I step back and leave her.
This will be my job for the next few months; watching her, keeping an eye on her for whatever reason her father wanted me here. Standing around and doing fuck all while acting like her shadow.
I get that whatever bill they want to pass is important, but would they really go out of their way to harm her again?
As I’m thinking this, I see Chloe Jane’s sister walking towards us and when she sees me, she gasps. I nod in greeting and she gives me a fake smile before scampering towards her sister.
I tune them out while scanning the grounds. There are plenty of hiding spots here. I’ll need to speak to her father about getting more men out when she decides to be outside in the garden. Fair enough, I can take them, but I’d rather not show my true form in front of these people.
“...marrying him?” Chloe Jane’s voice causes me to frown and when I look at her, I notice her eyes are welling up with tears. “You knew about it, didn’t you? It’s why you were so awkward when they were here. You knew Daddy didn’t just sell me as a bride, but as an incubator as well!”
Woah, what the fuck? I look at Chloe Jane, wiping her tears away and sniffling, while her sister looks as guilty as sin. What the hell is going on here?
“It wasn’t my place to say anything, CJ,” her sister says, and takes her hand. “This was an arrangement between Daddy and Alpha Mason. He should have been the one to tell you, not me.”
Well, if she’s so adamant about it, why isn’t she looking remorseful? I narrow my eyes at the sister, deciding then and there that I don’t bloody trust her. There’s something off about her, and it’s not just the way she’s looking at Chloe Jane as if she can’t stand her.
“I suppose so,” Chloe Jane says, then she gets to her feet and holds out her hand toward me. “Ruin, please take me back to my bedroom.”
Her sister stands up. “I’ll take you—”
“I’d rather you not,” she says as I take her hand and lead her down the steps. One glance back at her sister and I don’t just see contempt, but a flare of anger as well. “Thank you, Ruin.”
“Only doing my job, love,” I say, and nearly fucking kick myself for using that endearment.
She holds onto my forearm as I lead her up to her bedroom, and only when she closes the door on me, do I realize what she just discussed with her sister.
My fated mate is being married off to some fucker named Alpha Mason.
Chloe JaneI didn’t think things could get any worse, but now I realize that my sister has been keeping things from me. It’s not only the fact that she kept the baby thing from me, but I could tell there’s more. Kim isn’t being honest about things for some reason, and she’s mad at me for something as well. I wish I could tell what was going on, because now it feels like everyone is lying to me.Well, everyone except Ruin.I don’t know why that even counts. He’s just my bodyguard, paid to look out for me, protect me and keep me alive. Basically a glorified babysitter. No, I can’t depend on him, either. I need to find out what’s going on before I go insane and preferably before I get married.I can hear footsteps approaching my bedroom, one foot slightly dragging and I know it’s my father. Great, Kim must have told him that I knew about the baby thing now he’s coming to explain himself to me. Guess I have to get my nod and smile routine ready.Three knocks. “CJ honey, can I come in?” M
Ruin I have never hated a wolf more than I hate this pompous fuck in front of me. And the only reason is because he’s trying his utmost best to charm the knickers off Chloe Jane and she’s slowly falling for it. In all my years of being reincarnated as a different supernatural creature, I have never felt what I can only guess is jealousy. It’s like a burning furnace right in the middle of my fucking chest, and I wish it would just stop. They’ve been at this damned restaurant for the last few hours, and although Chloe Jane looked hesitant at first, she slowly started to fall for the fucker and his charms. I can’t even say he’s faking it because he honestly seems into her, but I still feel like shit. I’ve been keeping my feelings in check, or at least trying to, but my wolf won’t stop edging me on. /“She’s ours!”/ he growls, baring his teeth. /“How can you stand there and let her be charmed like that!”/ /“Because it’s my job, you stupid piece of shit,”/ I respond back before quietin
Chloe JaneI can’t remember half of what happened on my lunch date with Alpha Mason, only that I acted completely out of character. I giggled at his jokes, swooned when he told me about our future together, and allowed him to kiss me.My first kiss and I can’t recall how it happened. The only thing I can attribute it to is Alpha Mason’s calming scent, but that doesn’t make any sense at all. I’ve never heard of a wolf being able to control another with its scent alone.This is where I wish I could see, so I could research his pack and its previous Alphas. I doubt my father would even tell me anything if I had to ask, and the same goes for Kim. To them, I’m just supposed to be compliant, and I can’t help but be compliant around Alpha Mason.“This is stupid,” I grumble to myself. I’m back out in the back garden again, and I should be enjoying the last few moments of Spring, but I can’t even bring myself to enjoy my favorite season. All I’m sitting with is the worry that when I’m alone w
RuinAs I suspected, I do not like the fucker for a good reason and it’s not just because he’s about my marry my mate.I thought it was odd when Chloe Jane asked if she behaved differently in front of him, and now I know why. He probably comes from a long line of Alpha with manipulation woven into their scents. I would ask Ryker about it, but he’d probably just say it’s none of my business or that he’ll handle it.But if he’s fucking with Chloe Jane, that IS my business. I know I won’t be able to do much, but I have contacts I can make use of without raising suspicions. And that’s exactly what I plan on doing while I’m here. Whatever Mason’s plan is, it involves getting Chloe Jane to be compliant and docile; it already has my back up in so many ways. She is currently getting ready for the day when my cell phone rings and I spy Ryker’s name, but before I can answer, I see her father, Edward, walking toward me. He’s looking stricken, so something tells me this has to do with Ryker cal
Chloe JaneSo, Alpha Mason couldn’t make it this weekend to spend time with me, and I can’t say I’m disappointed. I wouldn’t have been myself around him, anyway, and it would have left me feeling hollow again.Now I’m sitting in the sun room, reading my Braille dark romance novel and wondering what will become of my life now. I have less than six months left of my independence before I’m to be someone’s wife and womb. As much as I want to fight the fact, I can’t. It’s been decided by those more powerful than me, and I can do nothing but go with the current.Sometimes I wish my life was one of these dark romance novels I usually read. One where the morally gray man takes the usually sweet virgin girl away from it all and worships her, while she never has to worry about anyone harming her because he would kill those who even looked her way.But my life is not a dark romance novel, although this marriage arrangement is quite archaic. “Something sad happening in that novel, dove?”I smi
RuinGreat fucking going, Ruin, you gave her a kiss. A bloody forehead kiss! As if my life wasn’t already a tangled mess, now I’ve gone and added another knot to it—a knot named Chloe Jane.I close my eyes, but the image of her, looking up at me with those unseeing eyes, trusting and innocent, haunts me. The last thing she needs is more confusion, more uncertainty. And what do I do? I lay a kiss on her like some bloody love-struck fool. I’m a fucking idiot who needs to keep his emotions on a tighter leash. I’ve never been this reckless before, and Chloe Jane’s vulnerable as it is.It’s been hours since I turned in, but I can’t seem to sleep while replaying the events of this afternoon in my head. I overstepped, there’s no denying that. I’ve been overstepping since the moment I arrived, letting my guard down, letting her in. That needs to stop. I need to stop.There was a time when I didn’t give a fuck about people’s feelings; when I completely gave into who I was without remorse. Tha
Chloe JaneI need to breathe. I need to breathe. I can’t be around this man anymore. Everything in me is telling me to ask Ruin to take me home, but no matter how many times I try to get his attention, he brushes me off.Did I do something wrong? Why is he being so cold to me? I thought we turned a new page yesterday, and got closer than before, but it seems I was wrong. He’s barely spoken to me today, when he would usually chirp in when I’m deep in thought.Then again, he promised he wouldn’t overstep again, so this must be him doing that. But he also promised to protect me, and now he’s not doing it. All through the dinner I had to be polite, to make conversation with people who I can tell pitied me, all while staying on Alpha Mason’s arm. He introduces me as ‘the Sovereign’s daughter, Chloe Jane, and my soon-to-be Luna’ as if those titles are more important than my own name.I hate being here.After I can’t take it anymore, I ask Ruin to walk with me to the ladies’ room while givi
Chloe JaneAll too soon, we’re back at our estate, and when Ruin opens the door for me, I remove my mobility cane from my handbag and walk inside. I can hear him hesitating, but I need to be alone right now.“Please don’t follow me,” I throw over my shoulder, but I know he won’t listen to me. It’s his job to watch over me, as he always tells me.While walking out toward the back garden, I drop his coat and remove the pins from my hair, throwing them down as I walk. As soon as my curls tumble out of its confines, I feel like myself again. I reach a place close to the woods at the back and sit down on the dewy grass, not caring that I may be damaging the dress I’m wearing. Then I pull my knees up and rest my forehead on them before the tears start to fall.Fat and blind. I’ve never been spoken about with such contempt before and all because of a man I don’t even want. That’s one thing about growing up sheltered my entire life; I had no idea people could be so cruel.Actually, I didn’t