He pushed a hand through his mussed hair. “So the cagey bastard isn’t giving me 24 hours. Smart move. I’d have done the same.”
David stole a glance at the bedroom door. “But you have made her your mate…”
“Not fully. She does not yet bear my mating mark.”
“Then sir, Ryder, you must do it soon. You said it yourself, Kara Mitchell is the only female who will unite the pack and stop those who wish to usurp you as the leader. You need her as your mate to secure your political position. This is why you chose to mate with her.”
Ryder narrowed his eyes, troubled by the Lupine’s words. Sex with Kara had been explosive and mind-blowing. He’d wanted her for years. But had he chosen her as a mate because of political reasons?
He loved her.
But did he love the power, the damn pack, more? A bitter laugh rose in his throat. All those years her old man loved his mate more than the pack and Ryder had damned him for it.
Now he understood the heated bonding between mates, and how a mate must come first in a male’s life, even before pack. She must. Because without Kara, he would become an empty shell.
David’s eyes widened and he stepped back. Ryder felt a draft of cool air. Aw shit…
He turned. The door stood wide open, Kara, clad in his thick robe, stared at him with a shocked expression.
She’d overheard everything.
Dark and Deadly: Eight Bad Boys of Paranormal Romance by Jennifer Ashley, Alyssa Day, Felicity Heaton, Erin Kellison, Laurie London, Erin Quinn, Bonnie Vanak and Caris Roane
CHAPTER 9
Ryder used her.
The betrayal shattered her. Kara stared at her lover, whose tightened expression showed the truth of David’s words. He only wanted her as a symbol of her family’s power, to secure his newfound position as alpha. She was a political pawn.
Seeing her expression, David raced down the hallway. She stepped back as Ryder walked into the bedroom and shut the door.
“You don’t want me as your mate. You needed me to keep the peace, to bring the pack together.” She gulped down a breath, feeling rage and grief claw her throat. “You used me as your political pawn. All those words you said to me in bed, to seduce me so you could secure your position as alpha.”
“I did,” he admitted.
“Bastard.”
Ryder's gaze darkened.
She raced for her clothing and began to dress. “Screw you. You can have the pack, everything. I’m gone.”
His fingers snagged her wrist. “You’re not leaving here.”
“Try to stop me.”
“Come here.” He took a deep breath. “Please.”
She joined him at the mirror, trembling with fury.
“Yes, I used you. But not as a political pawn. I used you because all those things I said are true. You are beautiful, Kara, and you can’t see it. No way in hell am I ever letting you return to Aiden’s ranch. Broken, a shell of yourself. That’s not you.”#p#分页标题#e#
“I’m going home.”
“This is your home.” Ryder clasped her chin and forced her to turn to the mirror. “Look at yourself. See yourself through my eyes. You’re not a crumbled female who remained broken by her father. You’re strong, proud and a leader. I need you. I will not let you hide anymore, as Aiden allowed. You need the light, Kara, not the darkness.”
Doubts filled her. He sounded convincing and sincere, but how could she believe him when he’d admitted to using her?
“You need me for the pack. That’s why you wanted to mate me.”
Pressure increased on her jaw as he squeezed his hand slightly. Ryder’s gaze glittered fiercely. “Godsdamnit, I need you for me, Kara. Can’t you see? Do I have to spell it out for you? I love you, damnit!”
An odd fluttering began in her chest. Her gaze collided with his in the mirror. She saw his ruffled, dark hair, damp with sweat, the sleek firmness of his cheeks, the curve of his kiss-swollen mouth. And then she saw his eyes, his beautiful, mesmerizing gaze that caressed her like the touch of his warm hand.
A gaze filled with tenderness and love.
Courage filled her to admit the truth she’d denied herself for so long. Denied herself out of fear of being hurt far more than her father ever hurt her.
“I love you too,” she confessed. “I’ve always loved you and leaving this place tore me apart more than anything my father did to me. But I never thought you could love me because my father made me ugly.”
Ryder bent his head and kissed her temple, his mouth quivering. He settled a warm palm over her beating heart. “You’re beautiful to me, inside and out. You have a gentle heart filled with love and strength and courage and this is what I see every time I look in your eyes. I see a female who will always fight for justice. And you love this pack as much as I do, you’ve cared for them when they were beaten down and you helped them to stand straight and proud.