“Ryan, what are you doing?” Echo asked, still trapped in his embrace.
She could feel the suffocating pressure of his presence as he kissed her neck, sending tingling sensations through her. She smacked his back, her voice laced with surprise and a hint of fear.
Ryan raised his head and locked eyes with her. In a low, commanding voice, he said, “Echo, you bear my mark now. For the rest of your life, even in death, you’ll only die by my hand.”
His fingers gently traced the bite, and though he didn’t know tenderness, he knew possession. What he wanted, he marked as his own, and he would make sure it stayed that way.
Echo shivered under his intense gaze. In the past, Ryan had always been cold and domineering, but she never thought he would truly hurt her if she ever left. Now, with this declaration, so firm and unwavering, she had a terrible feeling that her life would be forever intertwined with his.
Ryan noticed Echo staring at him in shock. His lips curled into a cold yet satisfied smile as he pulled off the wolf-shaped ring he wore and slid it onto her finger. Pressing it firmly, the ring, made of some unidentifiable material, tightened around her finger, locking it in place.
Lifting Echo’s confused face, Ryan spoke slowly and clearly. “This is a symbol of the Dark family. By giving it to you today, I’m acknowledging you as one of us, as mine. From now on, you’ll stand alongside Hawk and the others. Don’t disappoint me.”
He patted her cheek and, without hesitation, scooped her up in his arms and carried her out of the bathroom.
From the moment she had gripped his hand tightly on the plane, Ryan hadn’t opened his eyes, but he felt everything through her touch-how firm, how desperate she had clung to him, relying on him in fear.
As long as she remained loyal to him, and saw him as her master, nothing else mattered.
Echo was a woman he would never let go. Once he set his eyes on someone, they would be his forever.
As Ryan held Echo in his arms, their bodies brushed against each other with every step.
Feeling the heat from their skin contact, Echo’s face turned bright red. She didn’t have time to process what Ryan had just said and exclaimed, “Put me down! I can walk myself, just let me go!”
Unfortunately, Ryan wasn’t the type to listen to her.
Lying in bed, with Ryan having just treated her wounds, Echo glanced around the empty room. She looked at the wolf ring on her finger, which she couldn’t take off, and flopped back onto her pillow, letting out a long sigh.
Things had gotten so far from what she originally imagined. The more time she spent with Ryan, the more she realized how powerful and domineering he was. Getting away from him was proving to be no easy task.
Just as she was sighing, her stomach growled loudly, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten anything all morning after being tossed around.
Feeling hungry, she rubbed her belly and decided she didn’t want to sleep anymore.
Food was more important than anything else, and she’d deal with everything else later. So she got out of bed and headed toward the living area.
“Come here.” Ryan, who was looking down at something in the living room, didn’t even bother to lift his head when he spoke.
Echo knew that Ryan had an incredible sensitivity to his surroundings, and she figured her presence wasn’t a big deal. After a brief hesitation, she walked over.
“I’m hungry,” she said as she sat next to Ryan, noticing he was surrounded by a bunch of jumbled papers that she couldn’t make heads or tails of. Following her instincts, she spoke up.
Ryan didn’t reply, and just as Echo was about to raise an eyebrow, a middle-aged man, looking like a butler, suddenly appeared at their side. He bowed slightly and said to Echo with a humble expression, “Miss, what would you like to eat? Just let me know your preferences.”
Echo raised an eyebrow at this. She hadn’t received such treatment when she first arrived.
Glancing at the wolf ring on her finger, she straightened up and confidently rattled off her order: “Roast turkey, French foie gras, cheese cake, soup…”
“Understood, Miss. Please wait a moment,” the butler said, bowing again as he quickly exited the room.
Echo couldn’t help but touch her nose, realizing her status had definitely improved.
“Boss, Echo’s test results are in.” Bill walked up to them, holding a piece of paper and moving quickly toward Ryan.
“Any issues?” Echo asked, her voice quick with concern.
Bill was about to answer with a smile when he noticed the ring on Echo’s finger. He stopped, staring at her in surprise.
Echo raised an eyebrow and simply placed her hand in front of Bill’s face, saying, “Is there a problem?”
“No,” Bill quickly replied, snapping back to reality and grinning widely at her.
“Speak,” Ryan said coldly, lifting his head to look at Bill.
Bill cleared his throat and said seriously, “The blood test is normal, with no signs of radiation.”
Echo breathed a huge sigh of relief at hearing that; it was exactly what she wanted to hear.
“However, this blood type is quite rare. So far, there haven’t been many cases discovered in the world; it’s a rather special and uncommon type,” Bill added, pinching the test report in his hand before handing it over to Ryan.
Ryan frowned slightly as he took the report and started reading.
“Boss, Mr. Adolph is requesting to speak with you,” Tiger said, appearing out of nowhere with a faint smile on his face as he reported.
Ryan’s face darkened as he coldly said, “I’m not answering.”
Echo glanced up at Ryan, a bit puzzled. But once the food was quickly brought out, Ryan’s presence couldn’t compete with the delicious dishes in front of her. Without worrying about why, she dove into the meal.
Tiger smiled faintly and said, “I already told Mr. Adolph that Boss won’t help him anymore, but Mr. Adolph insists that you take the call.”
Bill, shaking his head, chimed in, “If it weren’t for Boss helping him recover his goods and dealing with that huge problem for him, I’d like to see how he’d handle things. And now he’s back asking for more help? Mr. Adolph must really want to get smacked.”
Ryan coldly replied, “Let him deal with it himself.”
“Ryan, if I could handle it on my own, do you think I’d be asking for your help?” Suddenly, Adolph’s voice came through.
Tiger and Bill turned to see Cobra walking over with a phone, the volume cranked up, looking exasperated.
Ryan shot a cold glance at Cobra before replying in a low voice to Adolph, “Then why do I even need you?”
Adolph’s voice was full of helplessness. “Ryan, the situation in the Middle East is so complicated. I don’t have the power to open the airways to get my shipment through. Ryan, please step in and help out, or the goods won’t arrive on time. Seriously, man.”