Page 86 of Shaped By Darkness

To be fair, it probably is, but if I've never heard any of this, how can she expect the rest of them to know? Most of them aren't from here. Serena doesn't remember shit from before she washed up on the shore, and Ryker… well, I don't know what he does or doesn't know, but he seems sheltered and just as clueless as the rest of us.

“She is mother to the day and the reason mortals have the ability to shift into beasts!”

Theo seems to be upsetting herself the more she speaks as she realizes we don’t know any of this.

With a groan, she turns her attention back to Serena. “I suppose next you're going to tell me you don’t know where you came from?”

Serena stiffens, and everyone in the room notices; we all know Serena's past.

"I—"

Whatever Serena had been about to say is drowned out by Ryker as he groans and falls to his knees. He'd released Serena, but she's still holding him, and as a result, she also goes down. He manages to keep her from hitting the hard floor by moving her to sit on his knee.

He cradles his head in the hand that isn't keeping Serena upright, his face set in a grimace that screams pain, but he doesn't make another sound.

"Ryker." Serena's voice is full of concern as she presses a hand to his cheek. The rest of us move in, looking for what might have caused him to drop, but I don't see anything.

He doesn't answer her. She looks up, her eyes meeting mine, full of worry and...

Fuck.

She loves him.

I knew it was possible with the way she is around him, but I'd hoped it was one-sided, that he loved her and she only looked at him as a friend. Maybe that he wasn't even capable of the emotion.

It would seem even monsters can fall in love.

Without a word, Ryker lets his hand drop from his head, carefully grasping Serena's waist to move her off his knee. Serena sinks her teeth into her bottom lip as she reaches for him. He pulls away, pushing to stand once again without so much as looking at her, and I see the pain that flashes in her eyes.

I don't like the guy. Just a few days ago I would have rather him dead than close to my mate, but now, fuck, I hate to see her sad.

Ryker makes his way toward the door but doesn't make it far. I'm not the only one who can't stand to see Serena upset. He picked the wrong group of men to do that around.

Blair steps in his path, and Ryker attempts to step around him, only for Blair to mimic his movement.

"What are you doing? I wasn't aware this conversation was over," Blair says, his tone calm but his eyes blaze, and I know he's upset. The guy is usually hard to piss off, but Serena is his weakness. It's something we all have in common.

"It is now." Ryker grits out, and it seriously sounds like it pains him to speak.

"Ryker, what's wrong?" Serena demands, moving to stand between Ryker and Blair, her head held high so that he has no choice but to meet her eyes. In doing so, I see them for the first time since he hit the ground.

Cold, white, dead, just like—

Serena gasps, smacking a hand over her mouth as she takes an involuntary step back into Blair's chest. With a hand on her waist, he steadies her, silently offering her his support and strength.

"Ryker," Serena murmurs, her voice so full of emotion that Ryker looks away.

"I have to go, and you need to go back to the castle where you'll be safe," he growls. I hear the demand, the hint of order just below the surface. I don't think Ryker's ever demanded anything of anyone in his whole life, let alone a woman like Serena.

He'll learn eventually, though.

"No." That one word is full of so much sass that I can't stop the smile that pulls at my lips. Looking around at the others, I see I'm not the only one.

Serena doesn't do well with demands. I know that all too well.

"What do you mean, no? It's not safe. Draven is calling me. I have to go, and you need to go back to the castle and stay safe," Ryker rambles, his words sounding panicked as he closes the distance between them. "I need to know you're safe, Serena." His hands close around her biceps, pulling her face close to his, but she doesn't so much as flinch.

Growls and snarls fill the small space with his hands on her, but nobody moves.

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