Chapter 44
Chapter 44:
Turning around to face me, Isabelle’s smile was icy, and I decided she was no longer pretty. “I’m betrothed to him, after all. Our families have arranged it for years p>
“Betrothed? To Ryder p>
I didn’t know,” I stuttered.
Flipping her long hair, she shrugged. “Of course you didn’t. You’re just a passing fancy, Jasmine. I wouldn’t take him seriously if I were you p>
I felt a surge of anger rise up my throat at her words, but I kept quiet, not wanting to escalate the situation. My eyes stung with tears, but I wiped them before they could roll down my face, making sure not to sniffle.
Surprised was an understatement for how I was feeling at that moment. My mind was racing with thoughts, all of them centered around Ryder and Isabelle. No one had told me they were mates—not even Seraphina. I thought, a small frown forming on my face. She’d told me everything except the most important detail.
Halting at another hallway that had two turns, Isabelle pointed down the corridor, her rouge-painted fingers indicating the route I should take.
“After the fifth door on the left,” she said.
Nodding my head slowly, my thoughts were anywhere but here. I wanted to apologize again, but damn it, it wasn’t my fault. If she wanted to be angry at anyone, she’d have to direct her anger toward Ryder. After all, he’d brought me here forcefully.
I parted my lips, about to say something, when my eyes fell on the tall frame walking toward us. Folding my arms over my chest, I raised an eyebrow questioningly, my foot tapping slowly against the floor as I shot him a cold look. My eyes never left his face as I watched his expression pull into a frown upon seeing Isabelle, his lips turning downward at the corners.
His pace quickened as he approached me, brushing his fingers over my hands. He was about to wrap them around mine when I jerked my hands away. If he was upset by my actions, it didn’t show on his face.
A contemplative expression swept across his face as he stood between us, staring at Isabelle first, then at me. The tension loomed over us like an eagle about to catch its prey.
S🅔𝓮 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝓮𝓇𝓈 𝓲𝓷 g𝓪𝗅𝗇ovє𝗅𝓈.con
Now I was caught in that classic awkward situation where your current girlfriend meets your ex, but in this case, I wasn’t his girl. I was his “lady”? Just the girl he’d brought to his pack house for reasons I was yet to understand. Rolling my tongue against my teeth, my insides were brewing with annoyance as Ryder’s gaze moved past Isabelle and settled on me. His lips moved like he wanted to say something, but before he could, Kade appeared again, his eyes nervous as he sent Ryder a distressed look.
As though they had a sort of telepathic link, Ryder’s eyes widened before he nodded.
“Jasmine, go back to your room and wait for me there,” Ryder said, his back turned to me as he rushed in the opposite direction.
How typical. I almost snorted, feeling my anger spike at his words. For real? Was I some sort of obedient pet he could order around? Well, I was done playing the good girl.
“And when will you stop ordering me around?” I huffed, but Ryder was already in the distance, too far to hear what I was saying.
Isabelle stood transfixed, watching the scene unfold before her. I could feel her cold eyes on me, and without a single care in the world, I ran after Ryder. No way was I going to let him order me around.
Ryder’s speed left me panting, my feet pounding the ground as I dashed after him. I wanted to yell at Ryder to stop, to demand answers, but damn it, Lycans were fast—maybe too fast for their own good. Ryder and Kade were already disappearing into the distance, their figures blurring as they ran.
I pushed myself harder, my lungs burning with each stride as I tried to keep up.
They were too fast, too powerful. I slowed to a stop, my hands on my hips, and watched as they vanished into the trees. Even if I wanted to stop here, I couldn’t. I was lost. We were outside the pack mansion, far away from it.