The Rejected Werewolf Princess by Didiadeyemi

RYKER'S POV

Juan was trying to act unaffected but every few seconds, he would glance at the entrance. He stuffed his hands in his pockets trying to hide how much he was twisting his fingers. I could almost smell the anxiety rolling off him in waves Aurora and Audrey were seated next to Damien. He was pointing out clouds to them and every other second, they would giggle loudly. Riley was seated on her own with her legs crossed and her hands folded in front of her. I could sense something was wrong with her but I couldn't put my finger on it. There was just something off, something dark and twisted that I could feel inside of her. I tried to ignore it but my eyes were drawn back to her each time. Whatever it was, it was bad.

“You look more worried than I feel,” Juan murmured and I snapped my eyes back to him. “You look pale and sick to your stomach.”

I snorted. “No one can look worse than you today, I assure you. Have you seen what you look like?”

“I'm just excited, it feels like I have been waiting for this for years,” he whispered. “Il get to finally say that she’s mine and she is carrying my child.”

I resisted the urge to tell him that she was carrying his children, not his child, but I couldn't say that without telling him how we came about it which would therefore mean that he would fixate on the shadows that Audrey drew behind me. I knew what it meant, it was whatever I got from Reina, I just wasn’t ready to share it yet.

Juan suddenly stilled. “She's coming.”

I turned in time to see Camilla and Christine walking down. They both looked gorgeous and it might have been my bias but I was unable to pull my eyes from my mate. Her eyes were brimming with happiness and pure glee, you could have argued that she was more excited than the actual couple. She walked Christine down to the aisle where the priest was waiting and after a tearful hug, she came over to where I was so that we could take our seats.

“This is beautiful,” she whispered to me. “It came out even better than I expected and Christine loves it so it is an added bonus.”

“You did an amazing job,” I assured her. I wasn't sure how she managed to pull it off in less than two days but she did. “You look gorgeous.”

“Thank you,” she turned back to Christine and Juan with a smile on her face. The priest was wrapping their hands with the scarlet thread now and giving them the goblet to drink from. “I'm just so happy for them, I don’t even have the words for it”

She continued speaking but I couldn't hear her anymore. It was like time slowed down for me. I could hear the pounding of my own heart in my ears and I felt a strange wind brush over me. I looked around trying to see if anyone else might have felt it but no one else did. Their eyes were fixed on the happy couple. It was at that moment I noticed something weird.

I could feel their life- not their hearts, the very essence of their life inside of them. It was different, it looked like colors shaped over their bodies. With Camilla, it was a soft blue color, it reminded me of the waves, gentle but they had the option to be brutal. Audrey's was pink, soft and gentle, Aurora's was grey, there was something off about it, i almost felt unnatural but I couldn't put my finger on it.

With Riley, it was red, but there were traces of black in it. I knew instantly it was that darkness I felt inside of her. I managed to tear my eyes away from them to Christine and Juan but my eyes fell on Christine. Hers was a vibrant orange pulsing with life but right over her stomach was pure white, only- one was fading. As soon as I noticed it, everything went back to normal and I had to clutch my chest to catch my breath.

Camilla turned to me. “Are you alright? They just finished the ceremony. Did you hear the vows they said to each other, it was-"

I couldn't wait to hear the rest of what she had to say. It was probably disrespectful and I knew I would have to eat my own hand later to apologize but there were more important things at stake. I rushed over to Christine and grabbed her arm. She turned to me with concern.

“Is everything okay?” she asked but I couldnt respond to her.

“You need to see the physician right now,” I told her and she looked taken aback. “I cannot explain it but something is wrong with one of your children.”

“One of my-" she glanced over at Juan. She was trying not to panic but I could see the worry in her eyes. “What are you even talking about?”

“I'll explain later, do you trust me?” she nodded.

“Of course I do, you know that, but this is absurd.”

“Just trust me on this one too,” I whispered and it looked like she was going to refuse but at the last minute, she nodded. She pulled Juan with her as they rushed over to the physician. I could feel the stares of the others on me but I couldn't focus on it, there was something else I needed to do. “Damien can you please watch the girls, Camilla you might want to be with Christine right now, I'll catch up.”

“Ryker, what is going on?” even Camilla looked spooked and uneasy. I realized I had acted like an insane person and needed to offer up an explanation and I planned to, I just needed to do this first.

“I'll explain later, just go."

They all rushed out leaving just Riley and I. She sat cross legged and unmoving in her spot. “Am I not important enough for you to give orders to?”

“That's not it," I moved over to sit next to her. Sometime during the panic, the priest had disappeared too leaving jus both of us. I held out my hand to her and she hesitated first before taking it.

I could feel the darkness in her thrumming alongside the darkness in me. They wanted to connect, like kindred spirits and I wasn’t sure how I knew, but I knew it would hurt. I wrapped my arms around my sister, making sure she was completely leaning on me before dropping my voice to a whisper.

“I'm sorry,” I told her before willing the darkness to me. I wasn’t sure how I knew what to do, it just felt like second nature. She jerked against me trying to get free but I refused to let her go. No sounds left her lips, only small groans of pain until suddenly, she stopped.

I felt the darkness slide out of her and into me and once again, I was able to see the shimmering color around her. It was a vibrant red once again, as I knew it should be. I made the mistake of looking down at my hands and instead of colors, there were shadows swirling all around me, just like in Audrey's image.

I closed my eyes willing the image gone and thankfully when I opened them again, they were but Riley was passed out in my arms. I lifted her gently wondering how I was going to explain to Damien what had happened. This entire day was taking a drastic turn, I didn’t plan to explain anything to anyone for the next few weeks but here I was throwing it all to the wind because I wanted to help everyone.

I carried Riley back to her room and when Damien opened the door, he looked between the two of us in confusion before asking. “Do I want to know?”

“Not really,” I said and he sighed.

He gently took her out of my hands. “I know you won't hurt her and that is the only reason I'm not saying a word. Something is going on here and I cannot believe I am about to say this but I am glad that we are leaving tomorrow s I don’t have to watch it unfold.

He slammed the door in my face and I exhaled deeply before making my way over to the physician's quarters. Camilla was pacing outside and when she saw me, she rushed over to me.

“I have been waiting for you,” she whispered harshly. “What the hell was that outside?”

“How is Christine?” I brushed off her question because I truly didn’t have the answer to it. “Is she alright? How is Juan?”

“I don't know, the physician says that something was wrong and he is trying to fix it but don’t ignore me, Ryker. What the hell happened out there?”

“I don’t know.”

“How did you know that something was wrong with her baby and why the hell did you tell her that it was two?”

“I don't know,” I sounded like a broken record but I didn’t know what else to say. “I just saw it and I knew.” “What do you mean you saw it?” she asked but I remained silent.

She grabbed my arm and pulled me towards a secluded corner. If I didn’t want to go with her, I would have fought but I was too tired to fight with her. I wanted to make sense of things as much as she did, I just didn’t know how. Once she saw that we were alone, she turned to me with her arms crossed over her chest.

“Ryker, I need you to explain this to me.”

“I saw something wrong with her baby and I saw something wrong with Riley. I knew if I didn’t speak, it would get worse so I did. I didn't think about it, I just told her”

“But what did you see, Ryker? I need you to help me understand because right now, you are on a little island on youl own and I don’t know what is happening so if you could please help me understand so that I can-"

“I saw their life force. I saw their aura and one was dying, okay? That is what I saw.”