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Chapter 269
At first, I think I can’t have heard that correctly.
“I’m sorry, did you say she’s your mate?” I repeat with a bewildered shake of my head.
I didn’t realize Ryker and Karolina even knew each other.
They certainly haven’t made their relationship public knowledge, and I wonder why that is.
“Yes, it’s true,” Ryker says, going to pour himself a second
drink. “You are surprised. I was also, when I first came to this
country and met her.”
I want to ask so many questions, but I keep my mouth shut.
It’s not really any of my business, and it may not have any bearing on what’s happening within the
Council and what happened to Aaron.
Then again, it might have everything to do with it.
“Though we are mated, it has been somewhat contentious,” Ryker continues, and I’m glad he’s giving
some explanation, so I’m not left with something else I need to dig into. “I don’t
agree with much of what your Council and Karolina does and believes. They have strayed too far from
the Old Ways.
Meanwhile, Karolina believes I am stuck in the past and
the traditions that don’t serve us any longer in this modern
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world. But, without traditions, who are we as a species? In the
absence of traditions, there is chaos, and I think your Council
aptly proves that. So yes, while we might be mates, it is not exactly a happy occurrence for either of
us.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Ryker,” I murmur, and I actually mean
1. it.
For every couple who finds something amazing like the relationship Aaron and I had, there are other
couples on the opposite end of the spectrum who are enemies or can’t see eye to eye on the important
things, and I wonder why the Moon Goddess paired them as mates when they will never be able to get
along.
It’s clear that is what’s happened for Ryker and Karolina, and I can only imagine how difficult it must be.
Live with a mate who will never understand you, maybe never even like you, let alone love you, or
break the bond and risk never having another mate in your life again?
Not many wolves get second chance mates.
I’ve heard of it happening, but I’ve never met anyone in real
life who has been blessed like that.
“Now, Leah Luna,” Ryker says, clearly ready to change the
subject. “I assume now that we’ve lost Aaron, you’ve come to ask my help in tracking down the missing
Al technology your father and brother were foolishly responsible for creating.”
I stop dead in my tracks at his words.
“How did you know?” I demand, wondering–not for the first time–if Ryker has the ability to straight up
read people’s minds like it’s rumored the Alphas of the Old Country used to
be able to do.
“Aaron brought me in on the problem a few weeks ago,”
Ryker responds, which puts an end to my question about
mind–reading.
“Oh,” I reply, wondering why Aaron never mentioned it. Maybe he just forgot with everything else going
on around us.
Then, obviously, his main priority was keeping Ethan safe by keeping him a secret from the world.
“Then you know everything I need you to know. That we
have to find it before it falls into the wrong hands–if it hasn’t already–and I have absolutely no idea
where it could be.”
Ryker nods thoughtfully. “Aaron had some suspicions that
were confirmed before Tobin’s death–that the Council were
involved.”
“As do I,” I reply, even though I’m now reluctant to bring these suspicions to life, given the startling fact
that Karolina is Ryker’s mate.
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But I’m here, and my options are getting narrower and narrower. I either lay everything out on the table
and hope Ryker can help me, or I walk away now and don’t use one of the last resources I might have
left.
“Karolina said something to me, while I was being held by the
Council before Aaron’s trial.”
Ryker doesn’t respond, other than to look at me with a questioning expression, and I know I’m about to
tread onto dangerous ground.
“It wasn’t so much what she said,” I push on determinedly. “It
was how she said it. I think she knows something about the tech. Maybe even where it ended up if
Tobin had it.”
Ryker stares at me for a long moment, and I think this is all probably about to go bad.
“You’re right,” Ryker eventually replies. “Karolina definitely knows something about the Al tech. There is
a very good possibility she even knows where it is.”
I can’t believe Ryker is confirming my suspicions.
He and his mate really must not get along at all.
“However,” he says, and I think I may have spoken too soon. “As much as I do not agree with Karolina
or your Council, it is not honorable, nor my place, to meddle in their affairs. I am
not taking the side of my mate or her corrupt Council. But, know this Luna Leah. If you go after my
mate, I will consider
you my enemy.”
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