BACK TO MY PLACE

 

 

Laura POV

 

 

Silence stretched between us, so thick and heavy I could hear the faint crackle of his burning cigarette. My heart was beating like a trapped bird against my ribs. 

 

I kept waiting for the catch, for him to laugh, for him to pull back and tell me this was all part of the sick game Ryan was playing. But Alpha Ryder didn't smile.

 

 He just stood there, his massive tattooed frame blocking out the warm glow of the candles, watching me with those piercing gray eyes that seemed to look right through the skin and bone of my chest.

 

"Why?"

 

The single word spilled out of me, raw and barely audible over the sound of my own unsteady breathing. I pulled his heavy leather jacket tighter around my shoulders, shielding myself from his gaze.

 

 The fabric smelled of dark cedar, cold rain, and faint smoke. It seemed so dominant it almost drowned out the dull, nauseating ache of the broken mate bond tearing at my insides. 

 

I was a fat, bruised slave wrapped in stolen lingerie. I was rejected, disgraced, and sold off like cattle on a stage. Powerful Alphas didn't look at things like me and offer a crown.

 

Ryder didn't blink. He lowered the cigarette from his lips, exhaling a thin trail of gray smoke towards the dark wood ceiling.

 

"Because Ryan Princeton is an idiot," he said softly, his voice a low, rough vibration that made the floorboards beneath my bare feet hum. "And because I don't bid a million dollars on anything I intend to leave in the dust."

 

I swallowed hard, the sting of Sasha's slap still throbbing across my cheekbone.

 

"I am nothing to Silvercrest. I have no standing, no family, no pack power. If you think buying me gives you leverage over Ryan, you are wasting your time and your money. He doesn't care what happens to me. He dragged me here himself."

 

"I know what he did," Ryder replied, his voice dropping an octave, turning deadly quiet. "I was in the room when he let them put the blindfold on you. I watched him sell you to the highest bidder."

 

A fresh wave of shame burned behind my eyes, but I forced my chin up, refusing to let another tear fall in front of a powerful Alpha.

 

"Then you know I'm useless to you."

 

Ryder took one slow, deliberate step closer. He was so tall I had to tilt my head back just to keep eyes on his face. He didn't reach out to touch me, but the sheer heat radiating off his body was overwhelming.

 

"Ryan Princeton is a coward who hides behind his father's title," Ryder said, his eyes scanning my face, lingering for a second on the bruise blooming on my cheek. "He saw a threat in you, Laura. He saw something he wasn't strong enough to hold on to, so he tried to break it before anyone else could see its worth."

 

My breath hitched.

 

"There's nothing to break. I am already broken."

 

"No," Ryder murmured, his sharp jaw clenching as he took one last drag from his cigarette and stubbed it out in the glass tray on the nightstand. "You're angry, and anger is something I can work with."

 

He gestured towards the plush velvet armchair near the unlit fireplace, giving me space as he stepped back.

 

"Sit down, Laura," he commanded softly, though the authority in his tone left no room for argument. "Your legs are shaking, and we have a long night ahead of us before we step foot out of this room."

 

And that placed me in a curious state.

 

"What are you going to do with me?" I questioned, because I could not understand why he, in his right senses, would make such a mistake as trying to do anything for me. "Why would the Butcher of Moon River buy a fat, disgraced slave at an auction just to offer me a throne I don't even have?" I added, just in case he did not hear me the first time.

 

He sat beside me and gave a slight groan before staring straight at me.

 

"I don't know what you want me to say to you, but you're no longer a slave, and Ryan is the fool who gave away something priceless," he reminded me.

 

Just then, a knock came at the door, and I instantly tensed up. Was this it? Was this the test? Was Ryan finally going to reveal to me that everything was a plan and he wanted me to actually calm down to show me who he really was? I couldn't wait for it to all be done, so as to face my humiliation once and for all.

 

But the moment Ryder told the person at the door to come in, I noticed it was just a guard who quickly bowed to him.

 

"Alpha, the ride is ready. We can leave now."

 

And with that, Ryder instantly stood up, stretching his hand out to me to take it, while the guard left the room, leaving both of us in silence.

 

"Are you sure of this?" I asked.

 

But he still gave me a faint stare. I couldn't tell what was going through his mind. His emotions were very hard to read, and he looked like someone who was so complicated. I couldn't tell if following him was going to be another of my worst mistakes, but I knew I had to do it.

 

I took his hand, and Ryder led me through the underground casino. Just when we got close to the door, Ryan walked right in front of us. I stood behind Ryder, not ready to be dragged again for another mystery by Ryan.

 

Ryan made a smug comment. "I don't understand. Why exactly would you take trash like that? She's useless."

 

His statement did not clearly mean anything to Ryder, who still held a tight clutch on my hand and did not break the glare between him and Ryan.

 

"She's useless to you. You lost her. You don't have to keep reminding yourself what you lost," Ryder said bitterly to Ryan.

 

Ryan went silent with just that single threatening warning. At that moment, I realized the contrast between Ryan's cowardly behavior and Ryder's sheer authority.

 

The moment I stepped into the car, I watched as we drove right out of the one place I thought I would never be able to leave, and now I was finally going to be free.

 

I tried to relax a bit before Ryder muttered softly to me, "No one is going to hurt you, and if they dare, I will kill every one of them."