Tasting 174

174–The Angry Wolf

Nora:

“I think you’re right. I can do that for Nora,” Ryker uttered, giving me a smile, but I couldn’t smile

back at him. In my head, I was lost. Both my mates had decided to punish me for dating Brody. Or

maybe it was for my mother’s sins. I just couldn’t be sure what it was. I stayed silent and watched

them shake hands on it. Although it wasn’t clear if they still hated each other, Ryker made it very

clear that he was over me.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Brody gently caressed my cheek, but Ryker didn’t stay to see it. He

had already started walking away from us. I gave Brody a nod, and the minute he slipped into his

car, I spun to chase after Ryker.

How dare he! How dare they! What kind of messed–up game were they playing with me?

The moment I caught up to him at the entrance of the mansion, he rolled his eyes and placed his

hands on his waist.

“What is it?” He didn’t even let me start talking and asked me directly.

“What was that? You dating April?” I frowned.

“So what? You’re dating her cousin too,” he shrugged. I was still certain that one reason Ryker

chose to date my enemy was because he was jealous and upset that I was dating Brody.

“Because you were nowhere to be found and we needed to protect me. It was your father who

suggested that I date Brody,” I explained to him, but he shrugged.

174–The Angry Wi

“Okay! And I guess he made the right decision,” he sounded so nonchalant. It was not the Ryker I

was used to talking to.

“What did I do wrong?” I asked, “If it’s about me dating Brody, I will break things off with him.” I just

wanted to know what ticked them off so much. They were punishing me without even telling me

what my crime was.

“Oh, really? Now you want to cut ties with him? Back when I used to beg and request you to leave

him, you acted so arrogant and full of yourself. You were having fun juggling so many guys, but now

that they have moved on from you, you’re shocked? You want to make things right?” Hearing Ryker

talk about it just hit differently.

I was used to him being completely after me. I don’t know if it was love or what, but he would not

speak to me that way. If anything, he would express his love to me in so many different ways

before.

“So you’re only doing this because of Brody?” I asked, as if that would make sense.

“No! I just got over you. And I figured who’s the best I could date to feel loved, someone who

chases after me and doesn’t just like to be chased. That’s when I recalled April, and she seemed

like a perfect option,” he shrugged, causing my eyes to turn misty.

“You are my mate,” I uttered, “and I know what you’ll say to that. The same thing your brother said,”

I gritted the words under my teeth while a tear rolled down my cheek, “you’ll threaten to make me

look like the desperate one and ask me to transition if I claim to be mates with you.”

He listened to me attentively, and once I was done, he sighed.

“Go back to your room and rest, Nora. We all had a wild day,” his voice suddenly calmed down, but

I could still see he looked exhausted

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174 The Angry Wolf

with me.

I was deeply hurt by their actions.

“So you’re going to keep dating her? Are you going to tell everyone that she’s your fated mate like

Cain did?” It was eerie that both of them had used the same kind of excuse.

“You’ll find out soon,” he replied, then marched past me. At this point, I didn’t have anything to argue

over. It was made clear to me that they didn’t want me for a mate.

I rushed upstairs, upset tears crossed my face, and once in my room, I threw my bag aside and

grabbed a pillow.

“ARGHHHHHH!” Screaming into the pillow didn’t help. My body was having a weird reaction to the

betrayal of my mates.

I assumed it was because my wolf wanted to feel the pain and then cope with it. But we couldn’t

even do that.

I sat on my bed, shedding tears before finally twisting the ring on my finger.

“Ugh!” a painful cry escaped my lips when Akira woke up.

“No! This can’t be it. There’s no way all this happened. Both our mates, Nora. Do you have any idea

what that means? They’re not going to tell anyone about us, hence no rejection or acceptance. We

can’t live like that. We’re creatures of love; we need a mate. We need closure,” she was right, but

what could be done?

I tried every method, had so many conversations with Cain, but every time he hurt me more.

“And more than that, I need to transition,” once she added that last.

124 The Angry Wolf

part, my body flinched.

“No, Akira, just rest and calm down. Maybe think about Brody. He cares about us,” I instantly

realized I was hurting her by constantly seeking answers from those who didn’t even care about us

anymore.

“You don’t get it, Nora. I can’t hold it in anymore. It’s been so long–,” she grimaced in pain, making

my heart skip a beat.

“Akira! We’ll be on death row, stop it,” I fixed the ring on my finger and I knew I pissed her off

because the sudden loss of energy made me believe she was now doing her best to get to me.

I felt like I had upset her as well. Everything was falling apart, and I needed to find a way to be

happy, or else Akira would break free. I had. an inkling that the next time I shifted the ring on my

finger, Akira might come out to transition.

That would be my last day here if it happened.