Chapter 13
The sun was setting as Ryder and I waited in line to ride the Himalaya, chatting it up about anything and everything. He was a ton of fun to be with, laughing loudly when I told him about my fight with Bryn while stuffing his face with caramel corn. He told me all about himself; information such as the fact that his father was Beta—meaning second in command to Axel's uncle—and since he had just turned eighteen, he was training to join the soldier ranks of the pack. I told him all about my brother and how I came to live at Valhalla and how I'd met Axel.
"Next! Come on, you two, you want to ride or what?!" a lovely shifter female shouted at us as we waited on the platform to board the ride. Laughing that we'd gotten lost in conversation, Ryder and I went to take our seats.
"You go in first, so I can take your weight against me and not the other way around," Ryder said, smiling. I'd ridden the Himalaya a thousand times while growing up at home, but this one was like the ride at home on steroids.
"Don't get any ideas. I'm wise to why you chose this ride." I glared playfully at him as I took my seat.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Ryder said, grinning as he folded his big body into our car then placed his arm on the top of the seat behind my head as he pulled the safety bar to rest on the tops of our thighs. Unbeknownst to me, a clump of his hair had come out of the band and was resting on my shoulder, thinking the hair was my own I tucked it behind my ear, pulling his head to mine.
"Oh," I breathed as his lips were a mere inch from mine. "I'm sorry. I thought it was my hair," I said, blushing and quickly returning his hair to its rightful place. Although he didn't move away, his eyes began glowing slightly. He was about to kiss me and I knew it. What I didn't know was if I wanted him to kiss me. Thankfully, the ride started and I didn't have to make up my mind as it started flinging us both back and then, as expected, flung me into his body.
Both of us laughed as the ride sped up even more while we went round and round. When his arm came to rest around my shoulders, holding me firmly to his side, I could feel the muscles in his arm flexing; he was strong, very strong.
When the ride ended, we stood to leave then noticed that our hair had tangled together from whipping around. We laughed some more as I tried to figure out what was mine and what belonged to him. Once straightened out, we walked down the exit ramp as I tried to manage my mangled mane, seeing as how the Celtic knot had failed to hold during the ride. Watching me, he finally asked if he could help.
"And how do you propose to do that?" I asked, smiling.
He pulled the tie from the back of his hair and came around behind me to fasten it in mine. "This will hold it. I've tried ties of different thickness and this one does the trick every time."
I opened my mouth to thank him when Axel approached us, fiercely angry. "Ryder, you have stooped to a new low," Axel growled.
Ryder calmly continued with his task then stepped around me to face his accuser. "You left your date alone in a strange pack while you went to consort with your on-again-off-again ex." She was his ex? Now I was really pissed.
"I was back in two minutes and you'd taken off with her. It was witnessed by many in the pack and you know that isn't cool."
I stepped up beside Ryder, taking his arm just to piss Axel off as punishment for putting me in this predicament. Ryder smiled smugly at Axel as I spoke, "Why don't you run back to your girlfriend. Ryder and I are having a good time. Don't spoil it."
"She isn't my girlfriend, Kylie. I swear. I wouldn't have left you if she didn't need to speak with me." Axel ignored Ryder and pleaded with me with his eyes.
We were drawing attention and this was obviously thoroughly embarrassing Axel. I felt bad and started to relent, unhooking my arm from Ryder's. I had come here with Axel and leaving with another guy was pretty low, however when his ex showed back up, handing him an ear of corn which he took, my bad feelings were replaced with irritation.
"Looks like your non-girlfriend wants to eat with you." Taking Ryder's arm once more, I nudged him to leave. "See ya around, Axel." And we stalked off.
"You okay?" Ryder asked as we took a seat on a bale of hay.
Keeping my eyes on the blazing fire before us, I replied, shrugging, "Sure, it’s not as if Axel and I were a couple or anything. I hardly know the guy." That wasn't exactly true.
My pride had taken a serious hit, not that I wouldn't survive it. I certainly would, though part of me still would take a great deal of satisfaction by ripping the redhead’s hair out by the roots. My nails were curling just thinking about it.
Glancing up at Ryder to see if he noticed my desire, I was surprised to find that, not only had he not noticed, but that his face was also lifted toward the full moon, his nostrils flaring wildly. As I continued to study his strange behavior, his face changed before my very eyes. I tried not to shriek because looking around at the others seated around us their faces were doing the exact same thing. It was odd and I'm not sure if I could ever give an accurate description of what I was witnessing, though I'll certainly try.
You know how a hologram card works? Well, I studied holography for a science fair project last year and it was fascinating. Holography is a technique that enables three-dimensional images to be made. It involves the use of a laser, interference, diffraction, light intensity recording and suitable illumination of the recording. The image changes as the position and orientation of the viewing system alters in exactly the same way as if the object were still present, thus making the image appear three-dimensional. That’s the best way to describe the changes I was seeing on the shifters around me. I couldn't quite focus on one specific form.
While I was pondering this, the howling began. Loud, eerie wolf-like howling that caused ever cricket, frog and other creature that inhabited this area to fall silent, at which point, Ryder turned toward me with golden-yellow eyes I didn't recognize. Whatever was viewing me from behind those eyes wasn't the same person I'd been having a blast with a short time ago, and I swear he licked his elongating fangs as his eyes narrowed slightly.
"Ahhh, the hunt," Ryder said chillingly, leaning closer to me.
"Time to go!" was whispered from behind me as my arm was jerked up by an adamant Geira, hauling me out of there. Even though I didn't understand what was going on or why Geira had us running as if our lives depended on it, I enjoyed the exertion. The feeling of the cool night air whipping around me was simply exhilarating and I was slightly disappointed when she slowed her pace and came to a stop.
"Where are we?" I asked, glancing around at the barren landscape with a couple of log cabins off to the side.
"This is the white zone; Alpha territory. This area is off limits for the hunt," Geira said nonchalantly and began stretching.
"Is that supposed to mean something to me?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. "What was happening to the shifters? Ryder looked at me like he wanted to devour me."
She smiled disturbingly at me. "Oh, he did, in a completely different way than you’re referring to that is. It’s the full moon; it brings out the beast within them. Zane will hunt me down shortly, so let’s make quick work of this lesson." She appeared absolutely thrilled at the prospects of being hunted down. Okay, now I understood her meaning of devour quite clearly.