Fated Ties: A Werewolf Paranormal Romance Novel (The Twisted Destiny Saga Book 3) (6 page)

Ryan recognized the voice. It was definitely familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

And then its owner stepped forward in front of his wolves.

“Fuck.”

Nathanial’s gaze snapped to his. “You know him?”

“You could say that.”

He saw the Alpha smiling at him, enjoying his stunned reaction.

“We know of him only as
Alpha
. No one knows his real name,” Nathanial informed him.

“Damon Hunter.”

“The only guy to ever kick your ass,” Damon said, approaching them with his wolves at his back.

Ryan growled, “I was a kid, a teenager.”

“Shouldn’t have been a problem for a pureblood. The goddamn Wolf King.”

Ryan took Damon in. He was a huge motherfucker. All muscle. While Ryan certainly didn’t lack in that department, Damon did have a few inches on him. He had to be at least seven feet tall. He was covered with tattoos, so many, that it was difficult to see any actual skin. With his skinhead look, combined with the nasty scar etched into his right cheek, several on his chest, and another seven-inch-long one on his left forearm, he looked every bit the tough fucker that he remembered.

“It won’t be a problem now,” Ryan shot back, his words, a clear warning.

Damon smiled. And then his gaze shifted to Nathanial, who held Jada steady at his side. “Release my sister, vamp.”

Nathanial snarled at him. “She is insurance,
wolf
.”

Damon made a move towards him, but Ryan shot out his hand, pushing him back. Damon looked stunned by the power behind it. “Calm the fuck down, Damon. We’re just here to talk.”

“Release my sister and we’ll talk as much as you fucking want, Ry.”

Ryan nodded at Nathanial. He released her and, immediately, she hurried over to her brother. As she did, she threw Ryan another seductive wink. Her brother caught it and scowled at her. He gestured for her to go to his wolves behind him. She did as she was told without the slightest protest.

“Thanks,” Damon said to Ryan.

“Nathanial comes here in peace.”

Damon scoffed. “Really?”

“Yes. You think I’d lead the Vampire King here to you guys, if he didn’t? Give me some fucking credit.”

Damon considered his words as he continued to study him curiously. His gaze wandered to Orion asleep in his arms. Ryan could tell by the look on his face, that this was the first time since Damon had approached that he’d actually noticed Orion. He’d been so concerned with other things.

“He’s yours? Your
son
?” he choked out.

Ryan could see the shock all over his face.

“The bridge?” he added.

“He’s mine,” Ryan confirmed.

Damon held his gaze for a moment and then he started to laugh. It was a strained, mocking laugh. “So, what? After all these years, you’ve come back to take your throne? To take your place as Wolf King and stand with the Vampire King to unite the realms?”

“Why the hell else would I be here?”

Damon gestured to Nathanial, his hand shaking wildly with unadulterated rage as he said, “
He
killed Cornelius! That’s how all this started, how I came to lead the resistance, because of the Wolf King’s death. And now you ally yourself with him, after what he’s done? He
murdered
your father! He’s a fucking bloodsucker, Ry!”

“So simpleminded,” Nathanial scoffed.

“Don’t be a fucking idiot, Damon. Me taking my place as Wolf King of the Dark Realm will benefit wolves more than any other beings here. As for Nathanial—our issues are our own. Not yours.”

Ryan could see from the look in Damon’s eyes that he knew he was right. He knew the wolves only stood to benefit from his and Nathanial’s alliance and even from the White Realm uniting with the Dark. There would no longer be a need for a resistance, for any of them to hide. They could live their lives as free beings, once again, free from civil war after two long centuries of nothing but.
I know why you’re so damned resistant. It’s about power. You don’t want it to end.

Damon took a threatening step towards him and growled, “These are
my
wolves now, Ryan.
All
of the Dark Realm wolves. They bow down to me.”

Ryan remained calm and turned to Nathanial, gesturing to Orion. Nathanial understood and took his son from him.

Ryan stepped forward and told Damon, “A good Alpha puts the interests of his pack ahead of his own.”

Damon snarled at the insinuation. “If you have something to say, say it, Ry.”

“I just did. Release your wolves to me, Damon.”

Damon smiled with amusement. He turned to his wolves and they roared with laughter. He turned back to Ryan and told him, “You’ve been living in the human realm for two hundred years. Those wolves there are wolf-pups compared to me and my boys and girls here. You haven’t taken on a
real
wolf for several lifetimes. You’re
weak
.”

Ryan glared hard at him, seething at the challenge and Damon’s attempt to humiliate him.
Good luck with that, fucker. No one humiliates me.

He shook off his leather jacket and then stripped off his shirt until he was standing before him, shirtless. Ready for a fight.

Damon smiled at the challenge.

“You think you can take me? After last time?”

“Sounds like you’re afraid I
can
.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure. You don’t look too good, Ry,” Damon warned, gesturing to his chest.

Ryan didn’t take his eyes off him. He already knew what he was staring at: the black veins prevalent beneath his skin—another symptom of the sickness he’d been suffering since being in the Dark Realm. He’d noticed it yesterday, but he’d been preoccupied with other things and had neglected to take care of it, or mention it to Nathanial to see if he had something for it.
Whatever, it’s just a little pain.

He heard Nathanial’s gasp. He ignored it.

And then Damon’s fist came at his face. It plunged into his left cheek, like a block of cement.

He was weaker than usual and stumbled back, struggling to maintain his footing.
Fuck.

He caught Nathanial’s eye. He saw the look there. “No,” he choked out.
Don’t interfere. It has to be me. Just like a wolf must challenge an Alpha to take over his pack, I must challenge Damon now to be accepted as their king.

Another hefty punch came his way and, this time, he blocked it and pushed Damon back. He watched his eyes flash with the sign of a shift.

“We do this as men,” Ryan said quickly.

Damon cocked an eyebrow. “You have a death wish, Ry? You know you’re way stronger in wolf form. Every Wolf King is.”

Yeah, I fucking know that, asshole. But I’m having a little problem in that area right now, because of this damned sickness. I know I won’t be able to hold my wolf form long enough to kick your ass.

“Then you should have the advantage,” Ryan shot back.

“Fine with me. It’s a good thing you’ve bulked up since the last time I saw you. I’m still gonna kill you, though.”

Ryan shot a quick glance Nathanial’s way. “Hold him tightly. He won’t react well to this.”

Nathanial nodded.

Ryan lunged at Damon, driving him to the ground. He thrust his fist into his face and Damon growled as the back of his head smacked painfully onto the hard soil. He dropped his claws and raked them down Ryan’s forearms, drawing deep wounds. Ryan grunted and ripped them from his flesh.

They wrestled on the ground, before Damon thrust his boot into Ryan’s chest. The power behind it propelled him several feet back. He rolled when he hit the ground, using the momentum to return to his feet quickly.

He dropped his own claws as Damon rushed him. When he was almost upon him, he swiped them across his chest ruthlessly, shredding so deep that he knew it would leave yet more scars to add to his collection. Damon roared in response and drove Ryan into a nearby tree. As Ryan’s back jarred painfully against it, he reacted quickly and thrust out both his hands, pushing Damon back. But Damon recovered quickly and plunged his fist into his solar plexus. Ryan’s toned abs absorbed the hit well and he grinned.

And then the worst happened.

He was assaulted by a coughing fit, right there, in the middle of their fight. Damon took advantage of it quickly and wrapped his hand around his throat. Ryan gagged, his chest straining with the overwhelming need to release another disgusting, sickly cough. His lungs burned as Damon denied him, instead tightening his grip around his neck.

Ryan pushed against him with both hands, trying to force him away, but he didn’t budge.
Fuck, I’m weaker because of this damned sickness. Nathanial was right. Shit, he’s gonna kill me. I need to do something. Now!

“Taking me on when you’re sick is fucking arrogant, Ry. Even for you.”

He pressed his free hand to Ryan’s chest and scraped his claws slowly down his torso, drawing out the pain and relishing the sight of his opponent’s blood oozing from the deep wounds he was inflicting.

Ryan hissed against the searing pain.
I’m letting this asshole dominate the fight, dominate me? Fuck that. No one bests me. No one has me on my knees. I am the fucking Wolf King.

In a sudden feat of incredible strength, Ryan ripped Damon’s claws out of his chest. He thrust his arms up and out, breaking his grip around his neck. And then he kicked him back.

Damon lost his footing and crashed to the floor.

Ryan was on him in a second, digging his claws painfully into his shoulders. And then he hauled him across the forest. He smacked into tree after tree, the power behind the throw causing every tree Damon hit to come down around them, ripping completely from their roots.

As Ryan stalked out into the clearing where Nathanial, his son, and Damon’s wolves were, he heard their cries of surprise. He watched Damon stagger to his feet, his eyes wide with shock.

“Too weak for the Dark Realm wolves, am I, Damon? I am the fucking Wolf
King
! I was
made
here! This is my home, you fuck!”

As Ryan said the words, that was when he realized it was the first time he’d actually acknowledged any of that on a conscious level. And that was what had unleashed the full force of his strength. He hadn’t realized it until that moment, but he’d been holding back all this time.

He strode towards Damon. To his shock, he cowered, holding his hands out in surrender.

“You are the Wolf King,” he choked out.

The surprises kept on coming. Damon’s wolves dropped to their knees and bowed before Ryan. “Your majesty,” they spoke in collective reverence.

Ryan looked at Nathanial to find him smiling at him. He’d done it.

He noticed Orion struggling wildly in his arms, clearly disturbed by the fact that, only moments prior, his father had been locked in a battle that would normally have gone to the death.

But, as he looked down at Damon, he knew he wasn’t going to kill him.

Instead, he held out his hand. Clearly shocked, Damon waited several seconds before actually taking it. Ryan helped him to his feet. “There’s already been too much bloodshed over the years,” he explained. “Besides, I could use your strength.”

Damon smiled. “Then you shall have it.”

“Good. Now spread the word to the wolves across the realm. Their King has returned and they must pledge their allegiance.”

Damon nodded.

“I’ll come back in a few days.” He reached for his shirt and jacket and slipped them back on.

“They’ll be ready to greet you and celebrate your return, Ry.”

Ryan turned away and made his way back to Nathanial and Orion. He took Orion from Nathanial and whispered words of comfort to try to calm him down.

“You put up a good fight, Ry!” Damon called after him. “I always liked that about you.”

“The feeling’s mutual.”

As he and Nathanial started to walk away, Ryan said, “You were gonna kill them all if I’d lost, weren’t you?”

“
Before
you lost.”

Ryan’s gaze snapped to his. Neither of them said anything. Nathanial’s meaning was clear. He’d been ready to step in and protect Ryan from a pack of ravenous Dark Realm wolves. To save his
life
.

“I’m not your son,” Ryan told him, unable to look at him as he said the words.

“You are beyond
my
son, Ryan. You are everything he is not…a true king.”

A lump formed in Ryan’s throat and he concentrated on stroking Orion’s soft fur to calm him as he responded, “Thank you.” As soon as the words had left his mouth, he heard the emotion in them. The break there.
Fucking hell.
To his credit, Nathanial didn’t say anything about it.

“We need to get you back to the castle and get you cleaned up before we leave for the White Realm at nightfall.” A great advantage of living in the Dark Realm was that when it was daytime and the sky shone bright, it wasn’t actually sunlight—it was manufactured light crafted with magic. “I’m sure your wife wouldn’t be too happy to see you in such a bloodied state.”