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Valerie did not understand what she was feeling. She loved having Ryker around because she was lonely, and he had expressed his liking for her from the beginning, which she found understandable. He wouldn’t be around if he didn’t like her, but love was a different matter.

Her interactions with him had always been honest, and she wasn’t going to let that change. "Ryker, I like you a lot, I really do, but love is the least of my concerns."

Ryker’s face fell, but Valerie placed her hand on his comfortingly as she explained her reasons.

"My pack betrayed me, the worst being my blood sister, Scarlet. Not to mention the mate bond and Tristan setting me up."

"Just because I smile every day doesn’t mean I’m fine. My heart bleeds every time I close my eyes to sleep because all I see is how my own pack, whom I protected with my blood, turned against me."

Ryker saw the pain in her eyes, and his heart ached. She was far from the sweet woman who had been serving him a while ago; she was a scorned woman. Her voice was hard, seeking vengeance against those who had ridiculed her.

"I was humiliated and reduced to nothing. My heart bleeds every night for vengeance. If I had done the things they accused me of, then I deserved it, but I didn’t." Her eyes turned glassy, her grip tightening around his wrist.

"I was wrongly accused and punished for it." She smiled through glassy eyes, refusing to let the tears fall. "Your presence and that of your Beta, Alessia, I hope you don’t tell your Alpha about this, but the two of you are the only calmness in my heart."

Ryker’s heart warmed a little at this. His presence wasn’t useless after all, and he was glad that Valerie mentioned Alessia. It meant their relationship had reached another level.

But Valerie continued to pour out her heart, as this was the first time, she had the opportunity to do so.

"Your presence gives me hope, but please don’t expect anything from me.

If things get better for me, I will gladly reward you for all that you teach me.

But I can’t love again, Ryker. My heart is too broken to be mended. "

Ryker felt his hopes crashing down once more. Her heart was indeed too broken. Who could endure two rejections on the same day? It was almost like facing death itself.

"If you feel that seeing me after this will be awkward, I can understand. I have suffered worse things and can certainly deal with the loneliness." Valerie’s hand loosened around his wrist as she pulled it away.

Ryker didn’t know when a tear fell from his eyes. Valerie’s words broke him completely. Have you ever seen a human statue? Valerie was seeing one in front of her, and it was a weeping statue.

She kept the pain hidden, and he thought she had gotten over it, but it was far from that. She was dying inside, looking calm outwardly.

Ryker was at a loss. How was he going to win her heart? The question left him clueless. Knowing nothing about pursuing a woman, he had misread the signs. Valerie was a woman scorned.

If only he knew that his rejection would devastate her like this, then he would have found another way. Perhaps, accept and keep her with him everywhere he went. After all, Lisa was only murdered when she was away from him.

It never would have happened if they were together. But then the scene about what she did to him in Las Vegas came to mind. That was what gave him the courage to stick by his decision to reject her.

If she hadn’t done that, things would have been different. He forgave her after she apologized, and the grudge he held against her was gone. He thought about how best to make her fall in love with him.

If he told her what the moon goddess said, then Valerie might be forced to love him, and that wouldn’t give her another wolf. It had to come naturally.

"If only you can win her heart as she is, she might get her wolf back."

That terrible headache blasted his head once more as the voice of the moon goddess flooded his mind. He gritted his teeth, enduring the pain before it finally subsided. He wiped his tears. He never knew what they were before, but being with Valerie always made him lose control of his emotions.

"No, Val, I understand what you are going through, and I want to tell you that I will never leave you alone. I will wait for you to exact your revenge. I will wait for your heart to heal, and I hope that by then, you will be able to love me."

Valerie was helpless as the man before her refused to give up. She liked his presence but was afraid of hurting him with her inability to love him back. It was like facing rejection, except there was no bond to it.

"Ryker, I have too much baggage. Please move on."

Ryker would never push, and the topic would only lead to an argument between them. He tried to find out how she felt about Denzel. "I heard that last time you slapped the Alpha, and he did nothing."

Valerie scoffed. Pack members were a handful. "If they call emotional torture nothing, then be my guest. Do you even know how much it hurts to be humiliated over and over again?"

Ryker thought carefully and approached it differently since he didn’t get the response he wanted. "You missed the point. I wasn’t finished," he said, and Valerie’s brows raised, not really interested in talking about Alpha Denzel but not wanting to be rude.

"Then what more do you have to say?" she asked, forcing a smile.

"There are rumors going around that the Alpha is secretly in love with you." Ryker’s gaze held hers, and she shook her head, feeling ridiculed.

"That’s ridiculous."

"You still don’t get it." Ryker bit her bottom lip slightly. "I only want to ask you this. Should the Alpha fall in love with you, or let me put it another way. If he confesses his love to you, will you accept him?"

His heart felt uneasy at the answer she would give, but when Valerie was about to speak without any expression on her face, he figured it wasn’t going to go well.

"Please think about this carefully, Val. Alpha Denzel is deadly but also every woman’s dream. Will you accept him if he is indeed in love with you but hides it because of his enemies?"