Wrongfully Claimed

Chapter Sixteen

Warning: Explicit content in this chapter. Please read with caution.

The impulse to go outside and see what Ryder was doing raced through Aurora's body at this moment after she heard another round of gunshots being fired off since he'd been gone.

There was a sudden bang and then the sound of a man howling out in pain, followed by another loud explosion erupting in the air.

Minutes later, Ryder returned and stormed past her without saying a word to her. He slammed the door behind him and bolted it shut.

He leaned against the wall, clutching to his shoulder blade, as though he had been shot, his chest rising and falling much like hers was doing right now as if their bodies and emotions were in sync with one another.

Aurora's face went white the closer he stumbled towards her. Ryder had been hurt badly. She noticed him limping on one leg the longer he staggered across the kitchen to get to her, struggling to maintain his balance.

He had slight red cuts running down the one side of his left cheek and there were blackish-blue contusions underneath his eyes, as though he'd been punched in the face several times.

"Go to my wardrobe and grab the first aid kit," Ryder groaned, sweeping the chair from underneath the table and collapsing in it while he winced through the pain. "Hurry!"

Aurora's heart started racing in her chest and she spun around, almost losing her balance from the impact of his tone, and fled to the room.

She began mindlessly digging through his wardrobe, searching for the first aid kit, until she, at last, found the large transparent box with a red cross on the top of the lid sitting at the bottom of the cupboard.

She leaned over to pick it up and padded back to the kitchen, tempted to go check on Sebastian. She wanted to make sure he was okay, but the sound of Ryder's unbearable, loud groans in the kitchen, spurred her to step on it and get to him faster.

As soon as she caught a glimpse of Ryder, she noticed him, tearing off a piece of his shirt and using it as a gauze.

Blood was gushing from his shoulder blade and he kept having to wrap the shirt that was acting as a bandage on his shoulder tighter to constrict the blood flow.

She took in a deep breath and handed him the medical supplies, faltering as she pulled away and tried to walk away from him, but he grabbed her wrist the second she did and turned her around to face him, preventing her from leaving.

He raised his thick, dark eyebrows and looked at her pensively.

" What's wrong...you mad at me now?"

Aurora nodded, threading her fingers through her hair." I would like to know what the hell is going on?" Who were those people?"

Ryder rolled his heavy, inflamed eyes as if he didn't want to discuss it with her and let out a dismissive grunt, shrugging his shoulders.

"It don't matter none. What matters is I took care of the problem."

"Really?" she questioned him, not feeling overly confident in his words." Because, from the looks of it, I'd say they took care of you."

He glanced at her and took out the contents from the box before slamming it down on the table hard, sending a tremor of terror down her spine.

"Look, if you tryin' to get riled up -- its workin', so just drop this would ya!" he lightly warned her. "Like I said, I took care of the problem and that's all you need to know."

"Why won't you tell me?" Aurora cried, her chest heaving up and down, the harder she breathed in and pressed him with questions." Those men obviously wanted you dead. The question is why? Why do they want you dead?"