^ Picture of Roman and his wolf, Ryker

"I won't wander, I won't let go. 'Cause there's more life in my bones than you give me credit for."
~Lewis Capaldi, 'Let It Roll'

~~~

*Ryland's POV*

The chilling growl makes everyone freeze. Even Leon, whose head snaps up at the sound. River whimpers in my mind, cowering low.

The sound is disturbing enough on its own, but a heavier sense of dread forms deep in my gut.

"Oh shit," Lucca whispers. "Guys, it's probably that crazy wolf I told you about. Fuck, I knew it wasn't just a rumor."

"This is not the time for one of your crazy stories," Ronnie hisses quietly.

"Maybe it wasn't so crazy," I say, nodding towards the top of the stairs. A shadow casts on the wall; the obvious form of a large wolf. Landon protectively steps in front of me, as Leon does the same for Lyn.

Bones crack and fabric tears as Enzo shifts, and his wolf, Everette, stands tall. Ronnie and Lia follow suit until Valeria and Odessa are standing side-by-side, guarding those of us in human form.

The growl rumbles again, and I grip Landon's arm tightly. He looks back at me, glowing blue eyes wide with worry.

"It's probably one of those bastards who left me down here," Leon growls, starting to advance towards the stairs. Lyn grabs his arm, yanking him backwards.

"What did we just talk about?" Lyn hisses.

"This is different! I have to protect my family."

"Your family wants you to stay here. Whatever that thing is, it hasn't attacked us. There's no point in provoking it. Let's just wait and see if it leaves."

Leon grumbles, clearly unhappy with that plan, but stays next to his mate. We hold our breath, waiting to see what the wolf does. It paces around for a while, the growls growing quieter and quieter. Eventually, the shadow vanishes altogether.

"Let's go," Landon commands in a whisper. The group starts heading up the stairs, with the wolves in front to make sure the coast is clear. I'm about to follow them when I notice Mateo kneeling on the floor, unmoving.

"Mateo?" I call out gently, unsure of how to handle this. When he doesn't respond, I try again. "Mateo, we need to leave before that wolf comes back."

"Leave me," he mumbles almost inaudibly.

I grab his wrist. "Come on, we need to go."

"Let go," Mateo growls, ripping his arm out of my grasp. "Leave me here."

"What? No."

"Why?" He raises his head to look at me; his dark eyes void of everything except for pain. "What's the point? I can't go back. It's only a matter of time before everyone finds out that I killed Easton. Leon may have spared my life just now, but that doesn't mean I'll be welcomed back. And when Silas finds out? Ryland, I stayed with their family for years after what I did. If Leon doesn't kill me, Silas will."

Kneeling in front of him, I tell him, "I'm going to be the one to say this, because I doubt anyone else will." He furrows his brows, and I carry on. "What Easton did to you was unfair. He shouldn't have put you in that situation. You pulled the trigger, but he killed himself. You don't deserve to die because of it."

More tears fill Mateo's eyes. "There's not a single day that has gone by where I haven't thought about that day. I thought that if I continued to serve the Butler family, protect Leon and his mate, that I could somehow atone for what I did. But I can't. I know that, and Silas will too. He'll kill me, Ryland, and I won't stop him. It's better if you leave me here. I'll find my own way back to the pack and receive my punishment."

"Mateo—"

"Please," Mateo cuts me off. "You should go. Trust me when I say that no one will question why I stayed behind."

I stare at him, stricken with pain for the man before me. Am I supposed to hate him for what he did? Maybe. I certainly hate the pain it caused Landon. So why can't I bring myself to hate him? All I can feel is empathy for the man whose best friend backed him into a corner and forced a gun into his hand. The man who now has to live with the guilt of murdering his Alpha, when said Alpha was begging to be freed of his suffering.

Standing to my feet, I start heading for the stairs and stop at the first step. "Whatever happens to you," I say quietly, "don't go down believing you deserved it."

"Ryland?" Mateo calls out. "I'm glad Landon got a second chance to have a mate. And I'm glad it's with someone like you."

I smile sadly before heading up the stairs, noticing the group has already left the church. I chuckle dryly to myself and shake my head. If they leave me behind, Landon's sleeping on the couch for a fucking week. Okay, three nights. One night. I can't stay mad at him for very long.

The broken shards of glass crunch under my feet as I walk through the disheveled chapel. Part of me wants to turn around and drag Mateo out to the car, but I don't. He's made his decision, and as much as I might disagree with it, I have to respect it.

A menacing growl stops me dead in my tracks, and my blood runs cold. River stands alert, ready to jump into action if needed. Slowly, I turn around, feeling the blood drain from my face.

A large wolf with matted black fur crouches on the other side of the sanctuary. By the glowing red color of his eye, I instantly know this is the feral wolf Lucca had mentioned. The wolf stalks closer to me, keeping his head low to the ground as it growls.

The closer it gets, I'm able to see his eyes more clearly. Only one eye is red, while the other is... blue.

A startling blue color, I might add. I'm lost in a daze while staring at it; feeling as if I've seen that particular shade of blue before.

I gasp, my hand flying to my mouth. There's only one person I've met that had heterochromia, specifically with an eye of that color.

Roman.

The breath feels like it's been knocked out of me as River snarls in my head. I'm frozen to my spot, too shocked to move. Roman is the feral wolf from Lucca's story? Lucca said an Alpha wolf got involved with dark magic, and was cursed. Is that why our punishment was so severe when he rejected me? Is the curse why he rejected me in the first place? So many questions swirl in my mind that I'll most likely never get answers to. I feel dizzy, hardly noticing the large wolf moving closer to me.

My first instinct is to run, but that would involve turning my back to a feral wolf, which would be incredibly stupid. My second instinct is to scream for help, but that could startle him and spur an attack.

Before I can weigh the pros and cons of both options, Roman sniffs the air, and my breath hitches. Fear makes me hyperventilate when I realize he probably recognizes me based on my scent.

'Our scent,' River whimpers. 'Fuck, Ryland, run!'

Roman's eyes glow brighter as a snarl rips from his throat, and he charges forward. I scream, stumbling backwards when I trip over an old pew. I try to put my hands out to catch myself, causing the glass shards to dig into my palms. I hiss in pain, clutching my bleeding hands to my chest. Hot air hits my cheek, and I slowly raise my head to see Roman standing over me, baring his sharp canines with saliva dripping from his muzzle.

"R-Roman," I stutter, scooting back away from him. "I don't know if you can understand me, but please. You don't have hurt me or anyone else. We're not here to hurt you."

Roman's eyes flash as he releases an animalistic snarl; a wordless threat that manages to shake my core.

'We should shift!' River insists.

'No!' I shout back. 'If I shift, he'll think I'm attacking. I need him to know I'm not a threat so we can get away.'

Before I can reach out to Landon through our mind link, Roman yelps in pain when a torn off chunk of wood hits him with a loud thud. Shaking his head violently, he backs away from me and turns to his assaulter.

"Over here!" Mateo shouts, waving a second chunk of wood. Roman barks furiously, crouching down in preparation to pounce at Mateo.

"Mateo, no!" I protest seconds before the church doors burst open. I whip my head around to see Landon standing there; his oceanic eyes wide with fear.

"Ryland!" He shouts, running towards me. "Look out!"

I swivel back around, screaming as Roman's massive claws swing down at me.

~~~

Don't judge my horrible editing skills with that photo of Ryker

I don't know why I bothered naming his wolf. It's not like he ever told Ryland his wolf's name

Thoughts??

If you're curious why Roman's eye stayed blue even after he went feral, it'll be explained when I write "Cursed Alpha" in the Anthologies book

Q: Guilty pleasure?
[trashy reality shows]

See you next time!
-Gumbie