"Why are you so angry? It was just a harmless suggestion." Jayden asked.
Ryder himself didn't know why he was so angry, it was a normal thing. Female prisoners were usually sent as concubines to high ranking wolves. But, the thought of someone else touching her and making love to her made him so angry. It provoked a blinding anger in him.
"She won't be a concubine, make another suggestion." Ryder said.
"She can be a household servant" a woman said as she walked inside. She was Helena, she was Ryder's aunt.
"I am sorry for eavesdropping. I was just passing by when I heard you two discussing." she said.
"Do you think she should be an household servant, aunt Helena?" Jayden asked.
"I think so love, give her a room in the house and let her help me around the house" Helena replied.
"I dont think that is a good idea, she should be given a more harsh punishment that befits her crime" Ryder said.
Helena resisted the urge to roll her eyes, this nephew of hers could be a bit pig headed. "Come on now Ryder, the girl has suffered a lot. I am sure she must have learnt her lesson by now." Helena said.
"Come on Ryder, just keep her here at least you can keep an eye on her" Jayden added.
"Fine, go and get her, give her the details of her work." Ryder said.
"sure." Jayden said.
Jayden went out of the pack house and went to the prison to get Ava.
When he got to the prison, he saw Ava on the floor, wrapped up in a blanket that looked familiar to Jayden.
She looked up when he came in. "Thanks for the blanket" she said. Jayden was sure that he wasn't the one who brought the blanket so who could it be?
He took a closer look at the blanket, it was Ryder's blanket, and it still had his scent. So Ryder had been the one that had brought the blanket.
"did you sleep well?" Jayden asked.
"kind of"
"Ryder has said that you are to be an household servant and take care of the house chores. Come with me" Jayden said.
Ava stood up and folded the blanket. Then she tried to hand it over to Jayden.
"it's okay, you can keep it" Jayden said.
They walked in silence back to the pack house. Before they got inside, Jayden stopped Ava. "he doesn't really like you that much so avoid doing anything that would annoy him"
"I understand completely" Ava replied.
They got inside and met Ryder and Helena. Ryder's eyes narrowed when he saw how close Jayden and Ava were standing. He glanced at the folded blanket in Ava's hands and his eyes narrowed even further.
"You are to help out Helena in the house. Don't try to disrespect her" Ryder said.
"I won't."
"good. Helena will show you to your room."
Ryder turned around and left. "come here child, I will show you to your room."
Helena took her to the room and Jayden went to the kitchen. He took some food from the kitchen, put it in a bag and walked out of the house to the forest. He went to the same house, he knocked on the door but nobody came outside. He put the food outside and walked away.
Some few minutes after he left, the door opened and someone came outside. The person looked in the direction Jayden had left.
"foolish fool, when will you stop coming here." He took the food inside and locked the door.
Helena showed Ava to her room, it was a small room, it had just a bed and a small table.
"You are free to decorate it anyhow you like it" Helena said kindly.
Ava nodded and said nothing. "You know Ryder isn't always like this. It's just that he really cherishes his sister so much and the fact that you hurt her made him angry" Helena said.
"aren't you angry at me too?" Ava asked.
"I raised Lily, and I know her very well. She isn't as innocent as her brother thinks she is. And if there is anything that I know is that life isn't black and white, you might have your faults too but everything that happened isn't entirely your fault. Have a shower, I will get you some clothes" Helena said. She patted Ava's shoulders.
She walked away and left Ava to her thoughts. Ava sat on the bed and hugged the blanket closer to herself.
For some reason, the smell of the blanket made her feel safe.
She thought about Ryder, she couldn't help it. Thoughts of him constantly filled her head. She couldn't help but think about him. She regretted giving Lily an hard time. If she had been a little nicer, things wouldn't be like this now between she and him.
............................................................
Dustin Shields came out of the car and looked around. He had driven for a long time and he had finally reached his destination.
He didn't want to be here but he had no choice. He had to do this to save Ava.
He walked to the gate and pressed the door bell. "I am here to apply for a job" he said into the speaker.
"Come in" a voice answered from the speaker.
The gate opened and Dustin walked inside. He went inside the main house and met a man.
"what specie are you?" he asked.
"werewolf" he answered.
"what pack are you affiliated with?"
"None. I am a rogue"
"Are you sure you can do this kind of work?"
"very sure. There is nothing that I can't do. As far as money is involved"
"good. You will be perfect for this job then."
Ava came out of the bathroom, she was thankful that the bathroom was inside the room, the thought of bumping into Ryder with just a towel was a bit uncomfortable for her.Helena had told her earlier that only Ryder, Jayden and her occupied the house along with any visiting werewolf or any of the pack members who had accommodation issues.Her work wasn't that much, preparing food for the family, doing laundry and cleaning the house. It was a far better option than being shackled in creekwood pack and seeing Jax and Lily being lovey dovey every day. She saw that Helena had left some clothes on the bed for her.She picked out a pair of jeans and a shirt and quickly put them on before putting the rest clothes in the wardrobe.She left the room and went down the stairs, she found Helena in the kitchen making breakfast, she was accompanied by Jayden. Ava lingered in the door way unsure of how to interrupt them. Helena looked up and saw her,"come here dear, don't act like a stranger" she
Vivian smiled at Ava. "you are nice, I like you" she told Ava.The acknowledgement of this little child meant the world to Ava."thank you Vivian, I think you are very nice as well"Ava stood up from her crouching position.Vivian held her hand, "come on, let's go to the forest. I know all the herbs and where they can be found""Then I will have to depend on you to show me everything" Ava told her.The three of them continued walking to the forest.They got to the forest and started picking some herbs. They had picked some herbs when Helena got a message from Ryder through the pack mind link."Helena. We have some visitors, I need your help with refreshments" he told her."okay, I am on my way" she told him.She looked at Ava and Vivian, they hadn't even picked up half of the herbs they needed."what's wrong Helena?" Vivian asked when she noticed Helena's worried face."nothing, it's just that Alpha Ryder needs me to come back to the pack house and do something for him immediately and
"I am okay Vivian" Ava assured her."are you sure? Your face looks swollen" Vivian said."I am okay Vivian. What about you? Are you okay?" Ava asked her."I am fine" Vivian answered.Vivian looked at Ryder, "thanks for coming to rescue us alpha Ryder"Ryder smiled at her. "you are welcome Vivian, next time do not engage with such people, go and call someone else for help so you don't get hurt, okay?""okay alpha Ryder" Vivian answered. Ryder smiled and ruffled her hair.Ryder looked at Ava, her face was swollen and her shirt had been torn during her struggle with the man earlier. He could see her fair skin which was exposed.He unbuttoned his shirt and handed it to her."cover yourself up" he told her trying his best not to ogle at her."Thanks" Ava muttered as she took the shirt from him and wore it. "did you think of fighting back at all? You were in the fucking guard force back in creekwood pack" Ryder asked angrily. "I am a prisoner, I don't have a right to fight back against me
For the past couple of weeks, Ryder had completely ignored Ava. It was as if to him, she did not exist.As Ava washed the dishes that morning after breakfast, she pondered what had brought about this character change. She didn't know why but she missed his scalding remarks and glares. Now that the only thing she got was his indifference, she felt uncomfortable.Or should she stir up trouble so that he would pay attention to her? She thought to herself.But what could she do that would be sufficient enough to get his attention. She thought long and hard until she got a brilliant idea or so she thought.She finished washing the dishes and arranged them. She dried her hands and went to implement her great plan.Some few minutes later, Ava was outside taking a walk. This was against the rules. Ryder had warned her strictly not to come out on her own.As Ava walked, she looked around. The few times she had come out, she hadn't been privileged to look around.Now she had all the time and le
Ryder carried Ava home. Helena, Vivian and Jayden who had joined them were shocked to see Ryder bring her home bruised."What happened to her?" Helena asked."a group of four girls claimed that she insulted them and they beat her up in retaliation" Ryder replied as he carried her to the room.Helena brought her bag of medical supplies to the room. Ryder gently lay her on the bed."Damn! They bruised her up badly" Jayden said."will she be okay?" Vivian asked worriedly as she stroked Ava's hair."she will be fine sweetie" Helena assured her.Ryder left them so he could change his shirt which was stained with blood."thank the goddess that Ryder found her on time" Helena said."Don't you guys think it's strange?" Jayden asked.Helena looked at him, "what is strange?""anytime Ava is in trouble, Ryder is always the first to sense it and save her" Jayden answered."what's strange about it? It is just a coincidence" Helena said."is it really a coincidence? The last time, he was hosting a
Ryder stood up and leaned closer to Ava on the bed."Do you think any of this is a joke?"Ava was a bit scared now, she had never seen Ryder this angry before."I don't think it's a joke" she managed to say."Do you have any idea how scared I was when I didn't see you or how worried I was when I felt your pain?"Ava kept quiet and didn't say a thing because she honestly didn't know what to say. Ryder was worried about her? Why was he worried about her? Didn't he hate her?"please don't get into trouble again, do you hear me?" Ryder pleaded in a whisper. She nodded in response. "I want to hear you say it""Yes, I hear you" she answered."Now lie down and get some rest" he told her as he helped her lie comfortably in the bed. "Ryder?" Ava called his attention. "Yes""those girls you took down their names, one of them, her name is Hannah didn't join them in beating me. She even tried to dissuade them. Don't punish her along with the rest""I have heard you. Now rest."Ava nodded and r
The atmosphere in the pack was full of excitement. The only thing anybody could talk about was 'the hunt''The hunt' was a yearly event held in the pack. All the pack members shifted to their original wolf form. They then hunted for wild animals which they ate raw.'The hunt' was usually held at night when there was a full moon. Hunting under the night sky with the moon shining down on them was a great thrill which the wolves enjoyed a lot."I love 'the hunt' so much" Vivian said happily.Ava looked at her curiously. "why? Are children allowed to join the hunt?" she asked."of course not, children aren't allowed to join the hunt" Vivian said."So why are you excited about the hunt?" Ava asked in confusion."the kids go to the forest and pretend they are adults and hunt, Ryder places toys and goodies on hidden areas for them to find." Helena explained."that is so nice of him" Ava said."Hmmm! It also keeps the kids busy during the hunt.".Helena replied."What did the kids do during th
Ava tried to keep herself busy, she watched movies. When she was tired of that, she decided to read some books.She went to the library to get a book. When she got there, she picked a book of fairy tales that looked interesting and was about to leave when she tripped and fell down with the book. She bent down to pick up the book when she spotted something dusty underneath the bookshelf. She pulled it out, to her surprise it was a photo album.She took the album out and used a rag to clean the surface, why would the album be underneath the shelf and be so dusty? She thought to herself.Ava examined it, it looked like it hadn't been open in a long time. She shrugged and opened it to look at it.The first picture she saw was of a young man and woman, if not for the fact that it was an old picture and the clothes they wore was old fashioned. She would have thought it was Ryder and another woman. The resemblance between Ryder and the man was much.This man must be Ryder's father, Ava thoug