Arielle’s POV:What could I say to convince him?I was spent; I felt like I had been tense, my shoulders even hurt from the way I had been overthinking since for the past few hours, waiting for Richard to return.And now, this.I was still on my knees, feeling the pent up tension leak out of my body through my tears. I wasn’t crying just for Ethan. I was crying for everything; for Leon’s message he had sent as an ultimatum to me, for the obstacles I still had to face as the mate of the Alpha of the pack, for all the pain I had gone through at my age.Why was all this happening?“Get up,” Richard was saying, and I could see a flash of an intense emotion in his eyes before it was quickly replaced by blankness. I watched him clench his hands into fists and unclench them back again.He even repeated the command a second time.Still I couldn’t get up. I wouldn’t get up until he finally listened to me. I need him to give me a listening ear, and not to ignore my pleas like I meant nothing to
Richard’s POV:I wasn’t startled by Arielle’s question. In fact, I had definitely expected her to ask me such a question.After all I had left a date looking a little bit worried as Darren had called me and interrupting what would’ve been a pleasant night.‘Do you want to talk about it like this instead?’ She asked me to the mind link.I shook my head, releasing her from my embrace and leading her to sit down on the couch.Once the two of us were seated, I clasped my hands on my lap.‘Now, how do I begin?’She responded quickly, ‘From the beginning.’ There was a tinge of humor in her tone that made me relax a little. But then she spoke, sounding a little more concerned than before now. ‘Richard, remember not to leave anything out. I know you don’t want me to be hurt by anything but I need to know all these things. I’m your mate, remember?’I nodded, squaring my shoulders before I then began to speak out loud, instead of talking through the mind link. It would be a little bit easier th
Arielle’s POV:I don’t know how long that I had managed to sleep for, but it was already a few minutes past 7am when I opened my eyes.I didn’t get up immediately, instead i I just laid there, staring at the patterns on the cieling of my room, with my body relaxed and my mind moving in a flurry.I was thinking of the things that had happened in the last couple of hours - no, more like in the last night.I took in a deep breath and released it slowly through my mouth. I did that again, and again, until the knots that I could feel in my belly subsided just a little.There was too much going on, I decided, slowly finding the strength to get out of bed. With Leon’s ultimatum expiring in the next two and a half days, with Ethan who was Leon’s second in command needing to decide where he stood - either with me and the Redding Pack, or with Leon and the rest of the Rogues.There were just too many things happening, too many people involved now. And I was right in the middle, at the epicenter
Richard’s POV:I was frustrated, pacing the length of my study, after Darren had finished his reports.The chief guard, Falcon, was present in the room as well, as he was not only the highest ranking warrior that was present last night when I met with Leon, but his strategic expertise was also one that was valued at this point in time.I would need every advantage that I could get concerning Leon. He was not a skill-less Rogue, like most. That was why he was feared, even though it hurt me to admit.So here I was, annoyed as hell and trying. Not to show it, because I just couldn’t come up with a good plan to pin Leon down, and chase him from our borders, putting him at a current advantage. As much as I didn’t want to entertain the thought, LeonIf only that Rogue - what was his name again? Ethan?? - that Arielle had begged for me to spare, would reveal something, anything that would help me in this endeavor. But no. He had to be difficult.And Arielle had promised me that she would ende
Arielle’s POV‘Angel.’Hearing Richard’s voice through the mind link that we both shared made me raise my head and stop writing what I was attending to on my patient file.‘I’m here,’ I replied, waiting to hear what else he was going to say. ‘Is everything okay, babe?’There was enough of a pause after I asked that question that I began to wonder what was wrong. Had something happened?But then I heard his voice again in my head.‘I need to see you. Now.’The tone of his words made tingles run down my back as I tried and failed to conceal how my body reacted to my mate, who sounded extremely attractive right then.I looked down at my hands, glare at the patient’s file that was open right in front of me.Could I skivvy off work today?Dare I?Besides, I needed the rest, and the date night last night had beeen interrupted and overtaken by a series of unfortunate events. So why not take the plunge and spend time with my mate now that he clearly wanted to?‘I can meet you in a few minutes
Richard’s POV:The next day dawned bright and early for me, and I had never felt more content.The night with Arielle had been magnificent, and it had done enough to cool my nerves on the issue with the Rogues.Alas, the dinner and long night I had spent with my mate had not been enough to stop me from groaning at the prospect of today.Standing up from my bed, I couldn’t help but glance at the other side, with smooth sheets over the bed. One day, I told myself, one day I would be taking that doctor to my bed, and she would never leave.Until the time when Arielle finally did end up in my bedroom, I was going to have to push through the rest of the day alone.Still, I couldn’t help but reach out to her through the mind link, and call out in my mind, ‘Angel.’I heard nothing at first, except for a hum in my head that sounded like some sort of static. But I knew that she was on the other end, so I waited.Finally, she then said, ‘Richard, good morning.’It sounded as if she was just get
Instead of going to work like I had initially wanted to after I got dressed and ready for the day, i was leaving the clinic, walking down the street towards a place I had only been to once in the Pack Compound.I needed to see Ethan. Richard had told he that he was being difficult, more than once, and to be honest, I felt pretty guilty about it.If Ethan could switch sides and join the Redding Pack I’m going against Leon and the rest of the Rogues, it would be a big benefit to us.Being Leon’s right hand man, Ethan was certainly one of the only other Rogues who would be privy to Leon’s secrets and plans.So, it had to be him.And somehow, I had to find a way to convince him to join us. That was the only way that he would also be spared from punishment by Richard and Darren.Upon reaching the smaller pack house that was at the end of the street, I noticed that there were three warriors patrolling round the house. Were they placed here because of Ethan?I doubted that wasn’t the case.I
Richard’s POV:‘What happened, Richard? Is everything okay?’ Arielle replied to my request, and I unwittingly raised my brows at her tone.I could practically tell the emotions that were flowing through her body; curiosity, and a little bit of anxiousness, undoubtedly.I sighed out loud, still physically in my study.Darren, who was seated on the couch, gave me a confused glance. I shook my head, concentrating instead on the feeling of the mate bond inside of me.‘Nothing happened, but I need you to come to the study. There’s some things that I need to tell you,’ I added the last sentence as a by-the-way, hoping that my mate would get the hint.She did, which was evidenced by the way that she responded immediately with, ‘I’m coming.’But then she added by way of asking instead of a statement, ‘Can Ethan come with me too?’I tensed, feeling my frustration rise at the mention of that Rogue friend of hers that had yet to even do anything to help our cause. He was, clearly to me, nothing