Some of you couldn't read 29 so I'm just gonna re-post it sorry guys! <3 hopefully ya'll can read this. 

YOU MAY SKIP THIS CHAPTER IF YOU READ IT ALREADY

Unlike the first time I discovered something inredibly jaw dropping, like my father's random appearance, I wasn't frozen to the spot.

Instead, I felt myself burn red with anger. It felt like I was seeing the color red. Or like red was filling up my veins. It started with my toes and then to my head.

Before I could speak, Ryder obviously beat me to it.

In a flash, my father was pressed up the side of the house with Ryder's hand wrapped around his neck. For some reason, I didn't make a move to stop him. My father was ruining everything and he's only been here for a week and a half!

"You what?" Ryder growled incredibly low, with a voice of new depth. I felt myself shiver at this darker side. I knew his wolf wasn't one to be trifled with, but I'd never seen it in full throttle. I doubt this was his full throttle, yet I could tell it was getting closer. 

A man appeared at my dad's side, and I recognized him as Emily's mate. He reached for Ryder's arm, but my dad shakily reached his hand out.

"Enough Demetri," He wheezed, though his air circulation was faltering. Baffled and irate, Demetri - Emily's mate and my father's Beta - backed away, his eyes showing his want to spill my mate's blood.

My father stayed silent, accepting the fact that Ryder was strangling him. Frustrated, I stepped towards Ryder.

"Ryder," I said gingerly, placing my hand on his shoulder. Strained, he looked down at me. His eyes did something I've never seen before. They raced back and forth from blue to black, as if the two were glitching in and out for power. He's fighting for control over his wolf. Slowly, blue began to seep, chasing out the black. 

Ryder's eyes lingered on mine. Jaw clenched, he let go of my father's neck, and instead wrapped his hand in mine. Grateful for this, I simply gave it a light squeeze.  My dad bent over, placing his hands on his knees, gasping for air. I watched him with hard eyes.

"So, you bargained me off did you?" I seethed. It was my turn to be abusive. He had suffered Ryder's physical abuse, now it was time for my verbal. He glanced up at me through his dark brown hair, before standing up straight and taking a deep breath.

"Zara, you have to understand, things with Royals have always been complicated. Especially between the Gregors and the Caine's." My blood started to boil again.

"Oh well I would love an explanation," I reply with a snarky tone. 

"Okay-"

"And don't you leave anything out or else . . . or else I'll have you exiled from this pack, and those around us. Even kill you if I have to,"

It was a bold stance, given the terms. I wasn't even a full werewolf yet since I hadn't completed the shift. I hadn't completed the mating bond with Ryder, so that didn't make me a full Luna. However I felt a surge of authority pierce through me. Was this what my wolf was bringing to my new body? If so, I felt the need to be respected, and authoritative.

"What's going on?" Someone asked. I snapped my head behind me to see Mitch standing there with confusion plastered on his face.

"Did you know?" I growled. 

"Huh?" He asked absent-mindedly.

Letting go of Ryder's hand, I swiveled around to face him. 

"Did you know about the deal?" I shouted, earning the attention from everyone. Mitch's dark eyes locked on mine. 

"Let's take this inside," Demetri muttered. With a look of hurt, Mitch dropped his head before pathetically walking past me to get inside. My father's long lasting stare held no meaning after he walked inside. 

It was now just me and Ryder. I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. It seemed like it was so much easier to get angry now. Was it a wolf thing?

"I'm so sorry," I murmured, knowing Ryder would hear me. After I spoke, his arms wrapped around me, and my back was pressed to his chest. I closed my eyes in content. Why couldn't things be normal?  Was that so much to ask? 

"Don't be, you had no idea," He replied, placing his chin on top of my head. I stayed quiet for a moment. It really was unfortunate I became Ryder's mate. I came with problems. And now those problems were slowly but surely becoming his. However selfish this sounds, I would not have it any other way. I've never felt this way about anyone. Obviously because fate designed us to be together, but it feels like more than just a set up from nature. 

I closed my eyes for  just  a second as I remembered first meeting this incredible guy. Those eyes mischievously watching my every step. When he rescued me from when I dumbly stepped into Mitch's fight. He rescued me. And he continues to do so everyday.

"I really do wish things were different," I said.

"I do too. But you're here, with me. And right now, that's all I want. However," I groaned as he spoke the last word, taking a deep breath,"as stressful as things are right now, we've got to get things figured out. Things are going to end the way we want them. Stress free. Happy."

I smiled, turning my self around. I craned my neck to look at up at him. Standing on my toes, I placed a feather light kiss on his cheek, before last minute he turned his face. Laughing at the situation, I pulled back.

"I can promise you one thing Zara Harper-Caine," He said, looking down. I felt myself melt with those loving eyes. His small smile made me want to see that every day.

"Hm?" I reply lazily, entrapped the moment.

"You're going to have your happy ending. No one will stand in the way of me giving you that."

And that's how we ended up getting yelled at by everyone waiting for us upstairs for locking lips.

-

"Alright," I sat down in Ryder's leather couch that he kept in his spacious office. Ryder was leaning against the door, arms crossed. His dark eyes never left Mitch. If looks could kill, we'd be calling together a service for poor Mitch. My father was sitting against the desk, with his arms crossed. Mitch and Demetri sat in the corner, awaiting to hear more. 

"Gregors and Caine's have always had a strange rivalry ever since the two first came into power. The Caine family has always been sought to be more ambitious and aggressive. The Gregor's were softer, and compassionate." I snorted at the fact that my royal blood line seemed like the kind people hated, and the Gregor's - Mitch's family - seemed loved. Great, we were the bad guys.

"The N.W.C - National Wolf Council - has always been associated with the royal families-"

"Oh and what do they have to do with life?" I groaned, slumping back.

"The NWC still exists, they make sure wolves are kept hidden. They have a line of secret assassins and agents to carry out duties, protecting our secret. They're and incredibly powerful line of Ancient wolves - some that have been around for very long," Ryder suddenly spoke. 

"Right. And they've always expected one of the four families to fight for the right to rule. One family, the Versicis, were a very secretive family. After a decade of them trying to complete reign over all the families and wolves all over, the council took action. They decided that all four families needed to perform some sort of an alliance. And by doing this, they ordered arranged marriages between families to order a type of peace. The Versicis Luna married into the Gregor's after her mate was killed in a war. One of the sons married into the Caines, and so on . . "

"What about the last family?" I asked. 

"The Rivers." Mitch said with a chuckle.

"What's so funny about that?" 

"There is only one White in existence today. They were the weakest of families, and inner turmoil destroyed them rather than the royal families. Their son," my father chuckled, but I didn't know what was so funny,"refused to marry anyone until his found his true mate. The council didn't want this to affect the other families who had finally found peace. So, the recruited the pack mates, trained them, brainwashed them, and made them perform secret duties and killings within their pack. Only one lives, and no one knows where he is."

"Is he a threat?"

"How could he be? There's one of him, and at least thousands of each family." This time, Demetri spoke.

He continued.

"Besides. He wasn't much of a worry. Though his family legacy still lives on as one of the Four Families, he's not considered a royal though his blood begs to differ. The council doesn't care what he does, or where he is. Their newest concern, is the Caine's and the Gregor's. The Versici's have managed to make peace as best they could, and that alone is good enough for the council."

"Why do they care? It's been centuries, if not eons. Hasn't someone from the Caine family married into the Gregor family?" I asked.

"That's where things get tricky," Mitch snorted.

"What' does that mean?"

"Gregors weren't fond of Caines. They disagreed on basically everything. Whether it came to territory, hunting, or even something as simple as a grocery list. In the last 560 years, only two Gregors tried to marry into the Caine family," My father said, sighing, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Wow, are we that distasteful?" I asked with a frown.

My dad let out a laugh, followed by Mitch and Demetri. Confused, I looked over at Ryder to see him standing there, still seeming stoic. 

"Yes. But that's a whole other history lesson for another day. Each time a Gregor tries to marry a Caine, something always goes . . . awry." My father muttered.

"How?" Ryder asked.

"They always manage to die. Now, this is just talking about the two times in 560 years. Before then, superstition still lays within the two families. When a Caine marries a Gregor, someone always dies. No one knows how. Maybe the council secretly orders it or something. No one has ever found out in all our years."

"But, why would the council do that? I thought they wanted to keep the peace between everyone?" I said, rubbing my temples.

"Yes, and they'll do anything they believe will do just that. They don't care who gets in their way. If they want something, it will happen."

"That's stupid," I said blankly. Mitch chuckled, as did Ryder. When each heard the sound, they continued their "glare-off".

"Well in history, how many deaths have been recorded for each marriage?" I asked.

"For our whole reign? About 99 different cases. Each time one marries, they end up underground in a box." My father answered with a shrug.

"Then why'd you agree to this? You still haven't been honest about why you're really here." I spoke quietly, wanting the ground to eat me up. I knew my dad wasn't just here on vacation-visit. There was a reason. There's a reason for everything nowadays - or at least that's how it seems. 

"Before I asked the Gregor family for help, I decided I'd see the council. They wanted peace, and I figured I was retaining it. But they turned me away, and I realized that I had made the wrong decision. Instead of seeing you as the peace, they see you as the chaos."

Frowning, I put my hands on my cheeks, with my elbows on my knees.

"So, what they want to kill me now?" 

"Precisely," Demetri cut in.

"Unless you marry Mitch."

"But either way you're guaranteeing her death!" Ryder snarled, getting up from leaning on the wall, and suddenly at my side, someone in front of me. It was as if he was shielding me.

"I wouldn't make the agreement unless I knew I had a reason to," My father stayed oddly calm.

"Like I said, I turned Caroline - your mother, into a wolf. And bitten wolves are extremely powerful. A royal and a bitten wolf gave birth to you. Again, like I've said, you have potential that needs to be released. The small band of rogues I've had together was originally to help me get here, to you, without trouble. I've lost quite a few in the process. I wanted them to protect you. But I realized that that's only something that you can do. I thought if I took you away from Ryder, that maybe feelings wouldn't get in the way, like how they did for me . . ." he trailed off. 

So, we now knew why he was here. 

"So, you were going to train me. And you figured, that because me and Mitch were childhood friends, that I would oblige completely?" I retorted.

"At first, yes. But after meeting your mate, I realized two is better than one. We can both protect you. But, you and Mitch had to . . ."

"No. I'm not marrying you," I growled venomously, staring at Mitch. He seemed hurt but didn't show it. Or at least tried not to. I couldn't help it. I was still getting to know him. But that didn't matter anyway. I had my own mate. One that I was sure that I'd one day get married to! 

"I figured you wouldn't want to. That's why after a couple days of staying here, Ryder and I have been arguing over you training, and your wolf being released. Granted I never mentioned Mitch until now."

"Did you know?" I asked, my eyes locking with Mitch. Frowning, he nodded. "I found out a couple weeks ago. I mean, I was happy and all, but I see how you and Ryder are. But at the same time, I want to be selfish, and have you all to myself," He spoke. Flustered, I let out a growl, a foreign feeling in my throat. This was NOT the time to be talking about feelings or wanting me or whoever. This was the most terrible timing. Annoyed, I switched topics.

"So what now? How do I get my wolf to appear?" I asked.

"Zara!" Ryder growled.

"What?"

"It's dangerous. And painful. Your older than the normal age for shifting. Your bones are set in place, and your growing is nearly done. It's going to hurt, and I'm not about to see that happen." His eyes, again dark like before, dared me to speak against him.

"Ryder," I grasped his clenched hand in mine.

"You can't stop me from being all of what I am," I whispered. His angered look dissipated, and his eyes returned to baby blue. He dropped his head, looking as though he'd been defeated. 

"I know." He leaned down to the side of my head, making my face grow red at our close encounter. Again - NOT THE TIME NOR PLACE!

"And that's what scares me," He whispered huskily, before backing away, turning his back, glaring at Mitch and everyone else for one last time, before storming out, and slamming the door behind him.

Feeling horribly guilty, I stood there feeling numb.

"He'll be alright," Mitch started.

"I know he will!" I snapped at him, my voice sounding strained. I didn't like seeing Ryder upset or distraught.  It made my heart clench in fact.

"How long until they expect me and him to get married?" I asked, getting to the point.

"The end of the month."

"Well, I guess we'd better start working on getting my wolf out," I say with a distasteful sneer.

"Oh, we will," My father chuckled.

Kind of a short chapter sorry guys I'm so tired right now.

Thoughts on the whole plan? Is it dumb or is there a chance it could work? I mean, she never exactly AGREED to marry Mitch . . . so what is she going to do . .?(;

I just foreshadowed >:)

MWHAHAHAHAHAHA

Thoughts, comments!

Vote always :D

Love you all my little eggrolls! :*