Chapter 63: make him jealous

Ryan looked at Hazel with amusement, as if he couldn’t believe she was standing in front of him and speaking to him like that. However, Hazel wasn’t in the mood to care about his feelings, especially after everything he had done to her. She walked closer to him, her eyes narrowing as a low growl escaped her throat.

"Do you think I will forgive you if you die?" she asked angrily.

Ryan raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised by her question, but before he could respond, Hazel pointed a finger at his chest and continued, "If you die, I will hate you even more, idiot! Do you understand me? You don’t get to hurt me and then expect me to feel sorry for you just because you’re dead!"

For a moment, Ryan stared at her before he burst into laughter. He lifted his hand as if he wanted to rough up her hair the way he used to do when they were younger, but Hazel immediately moved away from him, making his hand stop in the air.

His smile faded slightly as he lowered his arm.

"You really thought I wanted to kill myself and ran here because of that?" he asked, looking at her with disbelief.

Hazel rolled her eyes so hard that she almost gave herself a headache. "Don’t flatter yourself. Juliet told me you were here, and I came because I wanted to talk to you." She paused, studying his face before raising an eyebrow. "And she told me everything, including the fact that you knew who my mate was. So, why didn’t you tell me?"

Ryan’s expression changed, and the amusement in his eyes disappeared. He looked away for a moment before giving her a bitter smile.

"I was warned not to interfere."

Hazel stared at him as if he had just told her the moon goddess had personally asked him to steal her shoes. Then she let out a short laugh filled with disbelief. "You expect me to believe that?" she asked. "Who on earth would tell you not to interfere with my life? Were you waiting for someone to give you permission before you could tell me the truth?"

Ryan raised an eyebrow, looking completely unbothered by her anger. "The High Priest warned me. If you don’t believe me, you can ask her yourself."

Hazel blinked, and her expression changed immediately. "The High Priest?"

Ryan nodded. "It turned out that a dark witch had been spying on us whenever we talked. She was listening to our conversations, and the High Priest warned me that interfering could make things more dangerous for you. I wasn’t supposed to tell you anything about your mate until the situation was safe."

Hazel fell silent as she tried to process his explanation. She could understand that there might have been reasons for keeping the truth from her, especially if a dark witch had been watching them, but that didn’t make the way he had treated her any less painful.

She folded her arms across her chest and looked at him coldly.

"Still, that was the cruelest way you could have broken up with me. You made me feel as if I meant nothing to you, Ryan. You could have at least explained that something was going on instead of making me believe you had simply stopped loving me."

Ryan sighed, his expression growing serious as he listened to her. "Would you really have let me go if I had told you that you needed to find your mate? Hazel, don’t you remember what you told me before? You said you would give up your mate for me, even if you eventually found him."

Hazel opened her mouth to argue, but the words refused to come out. Instead, she looked away, remembering the girl she had been back then and how certain she had been that loving Ryan was all she needed to be happy.

A small, embarrassed grin appeared on her face.

"I was so stupid then," she admitted.

Ryan chuckled softly, but Hazel barely noticed because her thoughts had already drifted to someone else. She remembered Caius’s silver eyes, his cold voice, and the way he could make her heart beat faster simply by standing near her. She had spent days trying to convince herself that she could admire him from afar and wait for him to reject her, but the truth was that she missed him terribly.

A quiet sigh escaped her lips as she imagined what he might be doing at that moment.

Ryan noticed the change in her expression and cleared his throat loudly, trying to bring her attention back to him. "Since you’ve finally decided to let me go, why don’t I help you make things move a little faster between you and your mate?"

Hazel turned toward him with suspicion. "What are you talking about?"

Before she could move away, Ryan suddenly pulled her into a tight hug, wrapping his arms around her so firmly that she had to struggle to free herself.

"Ryan! What are you doing?" she demanded, pushing against his chest.

"Stay still and let my scent remain on you," he replied, holding her in place. "I want to know how sensitive that white wolf really is."

Hazel’s eyes widened. "Have you lost your mind? Let me go!"

Ryan only laughed, looking far too pleased with himself as he tightened his arms around her for another moment. He knew exactly what he was doing, and the thought of Caius discovering another man’s scent on his mate was enough to make him want to test the Werewolf King’s patience.

Hazel finally managed to push him away, glaring at him as she fixed her clothes. "If Caius kills you, don’t come looking for me!" she warned.

Ryan smiled innocently. "Why would I? You just told me that you’d hate me more if I died."

Hazel stared at him in disbelief before turning around and walking away, leaving Ryan laughing behind her. She had no idea what he hoped to achieve with his foolish plan, but she had a terrible feeling that she was about to become part of another one of his stupid games.

And if Caius discovered what he had done, if he care, Ryan might finally learn that some jokes were not worth making.