Chapter 28

Alyson‘s POV

Despite my constant reluctance to tell him how much I cared, nothing felt better than to curl up beside Ryan and know he was safe and warm beside me. I watched his peaceful face, happy that I'd given him some of my blood, and sure that had helped him relax and heal from his lengthy excursion.

I stayed with him all night till morning, but when he was still sleeping at noon, I left him to help Donna with some of her chores.

I invited Dylan for dinner, not to come before that because I wanted Ryan to sleep all day if need be and I feared Dylan's voice in his cabin might disturb him. I hoped Ryan would wake by the evening, and Donna and I prepared for Ryan, Dylan and I to all sit down together.

Finally, I heard stirring in Ryan's room. It was about an hour before I hoped to have dinner together, but I would have to check on him first and see if he would be up for it.

I knocked and peeked in. He was sitting on his bed, slumped over his knees with his face in his hands. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at me. When he'd returned, I had been shocked by how ghastly he appeared. This morning, the hollowness in his cheeks was not nearly as bad as yesterday.

He blinked up at me. "How long have I been asleep?"

"About a day. How hungry are you? Dinner will be ready soon?"

"Famished." His tawny eyes looked almost yellow and wolf-like, I noticed how his teeth held canines more than I remembered before. He eyed my body up and down as if he might consider me for a snack if the food wasn't ready yet.

I swayed in the door, smiling a little. "I've invited Dylan to dinner, hopefully that's ok."

His expression darkened, but he grunted a reluctant "Ok."

I continued, "I think the three of us should talk together. That's all. We really were waiting for your return. Will you tell me where you went for two days?" The more he withheld from me, the harder it was for me to trust him too. I could tell there was a lot plaguing him.

Donna set the table, but she left for the evening. I'd asked for the dinner between us three to be private.

We sat down. I was ready to talk, but it seemed Ryan was stuffing food into his mouth, especially the venison faster that he could breathe. It made sense that he would be terribly hungry, but it was a little shocking to see how his table manners had been eradicated.

Dylan and I pulled food onto our plates, and nibbled, watching his beastly appetite as he pulled food directly from the platters into his mouth. Ryan ate half of what was on the table within ten minutes before he leaned back with a full stomach and heaved a great sigh.

His face looked healthier, even I could see the muscles under his shirt were fuller again. As if noticing that we were there, he patted a napkin on his mouth, and looked between us, "So you wanted this dinner to talk, so talk?"

I smiled, happy to hear even his voice sounded better. "We want to go scouting for this herb tomorrow maybe if you're feeling up for it."

I gestured to Dylan, who pulled a sample out of his sash and placed it on the table. Ryan picked it up, sniffed it, cringed from its bitter smell, and set it back down. "I know this plant."

"You do?" I said eagerly.

"Yes, I was just scouting my entire territory and I saw a lot of it on the mountain."

"How much is a lot?" Dylan asked.

Ryan shrugged, "It seemed like a lot, but I guess I wasn't looking for that. I know the smell pretty well though."

"That's promising news," I said.

Ryan grunted. "I know you two are planning to take down Crowalt Pack this way, and it's a great idea in theory, but I don't know if it will be enough."

He'd said something like this before he stomped out and disappeared for two days. My hackles rose, Ariana grew defensive inside me in case I needed to chase him down this time. I reached for him, my hand flying across the table to grab his. He looked at me as if he didn't expect me to care.

There was so much not said between Ryan and I, and it hurt a lot. I knew that it hurt him too, but I couldn't tell him yet. I didn't know if I would ever feel ready to tell him my story. Still, I wondered if I opened up to him, he would open up to me.

"Please, Ryan, elaborate. You were talking like this before. What is going on?"

He eyed Dylan, and I knew I would not get much of the truth tonight, but I still hoped to get a little.

"I have powers, talents of the Alexanders." He said. It made sense, especially after I'd seen him faint and knew the curse was strong in him. In some ways, he defied the curse, but I had never considered that he'd have the witch's ability like Jacob. "There are some in the Crowalt Pack that are against me, and now they know where I am, I will likely have to confront them."

Terror gripped my insides and my stomach turned over. After eating food, I felt like I might throw up. I had always wanted revenge, but I had not wanted dangerous Crowalt Pack members to be after me.

Dylan had not looked shocked at anything Ryan had said, as if he were more aware than I was of this conflict. He asked, "What are your powers? I know that you can communicate through your mind a little from when we were looking for Alyson. You kept sending me mental images."

Ryan nodded, "Yes, I can do that. But I can also see pieces of the past and predict the future. It comes up to me randomly, for a long time, I have been avoiding it. The more you use it, the stronger the curse might grip you, and I didn't want to risk my health."

I swallowed the lump in my throat, knowing that with my blood, he could use his powers more and alleviate some of the consequences. I wondered if my presence and the few times he'd drank y blood, it had helped him, but he also was more bewitched.

"My visions are clear, but it's not always clear what is the timeframe of what I see and sense. I knew Crowalt was here before I smelt them, but I didn't know they would get Alyson till I received a glimpse of her distress." Ryan said. "That's how I knew to come find you, and we found you pretty quickly."

Dylan was looking more and more impressed; he couldn't help his face. He was delighted to be confided in, like he was a school boy receiving the juiciest gossip.

I felt waves of guilt and other emotions that were hard to shuffle through. I had caused this problem when I'd wandered off. I wasn't sure I was helping Ryan, or if my showing up here had only reconnected him with his past.

"I don't really understand what's happening to me, in reality. I've lived this last decade mostly like I was not an Alexander with talents and the witch's ability. But I feel more now than I ever have, I cannot ignore it." Ryan continued.

I wanted him desperately to look into my eyes and reassure me that he wanted me in his life. But it was not anything I could ask for. It might even confuse him since I would not even be his mate.

The tension in the air was thick, and it was as if both Ryan and I were in sour, depressing moods. In response to this, Dylan leaned in, "If you can predict the future… tell me about my mate? How will she look like? When might I find her?"

It was so surprisingly silly that it broke my glumness, and I even laughed.

Ryan glowered a little like he didn't appreciate the humor, but then said, "it doesn't really work like that. I don't think that's important enough to me."

Dylan teased, "It seems like it might be."

I couldn't believe he was pointing out Ryan's jealousy by implication. Ryan was looking between us as if he hated even thinking about that. I thought that I should say something else to lighten the mood, or distract him.

I grabbed the herb from the table, and said, "I want to make a little tea and drink it. Maybe, Ryan, you should try some too. I wonder if it could help you."

Ryan was about to reject the offer, when Dylan said, "Why not? I'll have a bit of whatever you're brewing."

Ryan didn't seem to want to reject it after Dylan had agreed.

So, I made it into tea. We all sipped it. The taste resonated with my past life so strongly that I almost wanted to throw it on the ground, but I made myself sip it. I wondered if I could give more of my blood to Ryan, if he would take it.

Dylan complained, "This tastes like shit."

Even Ryan almost chuckled a little. He barely sipped it, but I could see a little more humanness in his yellow eyes after. I believed it did him some good. Looking into his empty cup, he said, "This does make me feel stronger. Let's go to the mountains tomorrow."