RYKER

Did she love the way he kissed her more than I did?

The question burned through my mind like acid because I could not stop replaying the sounds she made under him, the way her fingers had gripped his hair while she moaned.

Was it louder than when she was with me?

Why the fuck did I even care?

I did not care if any other man had her. Or if Rowan did. She was just a means to an end, just another weapon to use against my father.

Except my hands were still clenched into fists and my wolf was still snarling to rip my brother’s throat out for touching what belonged to me.

The door shut behind Amaris and the sound echoed in the sudden silence.

Rowan turned to glare at me, his chest still heaving and his hair completely messed up from her hands. "What the fuck is your problem Ryker?"

I laughed and the sound came out more cruel than I expected. "Asking me that when you were the one just fucking her on your bed?"

He moved back toward the edge of his mattress like he was trying to put distance between us, like he knew this was about to escalate into violence. "We were not fucking."

"Oh really?" I challenged, taking a step into the room. "Then what was that exactly?"

"We were not there yet," Rowan interrupted, his voice tight.

Something about that statement made satisfaction bloom in my chest even though I tried to suppress it.

It was not like I had a problem with anyone having her, I told myself. But I had only fucked her once and it had been more pain than pleasure for her considering it was her first time. I wanted to be the one to have her the most, I wanted to ruin her for any other man who would ever touch her again.

Especially when that man was Alpha Corvin.

"Why are you acting like she is yours anyway?" Rowan demanded, crossing his arms over his bare chest.

"I am not," I defended, even though we both knew it was a lie. "I just hate how you make me look like the villain when you are actually worse than I am."

Rowan stood up abruptly, his fists clenching at his sides. "How am I worse? You have fucked her, have you not?"

The question wasn’t one I was prepared to answer and I went silent because I knew Rowan was not asking because he did not know - he was asking because he already knew the truth and wanted me to admit it.

Maybe Amaris had told him. Maybe he could just smell it on both of us. Either way there would be no point in denying it.

But I kept quiet anyway, watching him.

"I was in her room this morning," Rowan continued when I did not respond. "I know what a room smells like after sex. And you have definitely been involved in that room Ryker."

"So is that why you wanted to have her too?" I shot back. "To get your share of her as well?"

"She is my mate," Rowan stated firmly, taking a step toward me. "She is our mate."

I scoffed and felt anger surge through me at the reminder. "You are engaged. Are you forgetting that part?"

"And you being single makes this better?" Rowan countered, taking another step closer. "Or are you forgetting that she is mated to our father?"

"I am not forgetting," I snarled, my hands clenching tighter. "And I do not fucking care because I will have her and ruin her before he can ever touch her."

Rowan closed the distance between us almost completely now, his face inches from mine. "Can you even hear yourself? What does that even mean, ruin her? Why would you want to do that?"

"You know why," I stated, meeting his glare with my own and refusing to back down.

"Because Dad caused Mom’s death," Rowan responded, his voice dropping to something dangerous. "That is why you want Amaris. Because she is Dad’s mate-to-be." He paused and his expression shifted to one that looked almost like pity. "Do you hear how fucked up your reasoning sounds?"

I rolled my eyes because here it came, the lecture from my perfect brother about morality and doing the right thing.

"There you go again being all high and mighty. You know you hate him just as much as I do. You just want to be Alpha more than you want revenge. That is why you will not break up with Lila despite how much you clearly want Amaris."

Rowan was quiet for a long moment and I could see the internal war playing out across his face, the struggle between what he wanted and what he thought he should do.

His jaw clenched and unclenched repeatedly while his eyes darted away from mine.

"Well," he finally said in a tone that sounded like defeat, like resignation to something he could not change, "then it is a good thing she is leaving."

The words hit me wrong, made something in my chest constrict uncomfortably.

"I am not going to let her leave," I stated firmly, my voice coming out harder than I intended.

Rowan actually chuckled but there was no humor in the sound, just bitter acknowledgment of how impossible our situation was. "What are you going to do? Stop her from leaving? Beg Dad to keep her?"

He poked a finger into my chest hard enough to hurt, hard enough to leave a mark.

"News flash, Alpha Corvin does not listen to anyone."

I smirked because he was right that our father would not listen to words or pleas or rational arguments.

But actions were a different story entirely.

"She will not leave if she does not get to leave," I responded, keeping my voice deliberately cryptic.

Rowan stared at me with confusion creasing his forehead, his eyes narrowing as he tried to decode what I meant. "What the hell do you even mean by that?"

He paused and shook his head like he was clearing it.

"You know what, I do not even want to know because knowing you it is something either illegal, dangerous, or morally compromising."

Perfect. He was already talking himself into it without even knowing what "it" was yet.