All Chapters of THE ALPHA'S BARGAINED BRIDE : Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

The engine growled under Kai’s grip, low and rough like some beast waiting to be unleashed. I sat behind him, my arms still stiff where they should have been loose. He glanced over his shoulder, smirking like I was just a kid too afraid to get on a carnival ride.“You’re not gonna fall off, Larissa. Relax,” he said, voice teasing, one hand drumming against the handlebars. “Or you could hold on tighter. I don’t mind.”I rolled my eyes, though I don’t think he noticed, and gave in, sliding my arms a little firmer around his waist. Heat pooled in my cheeks at how solid he felt. Damn it, why did he have to be built like a brick wall?“Better?” he asked.“Just drive before I change my mind,” I muttered.That was all he needed. With a wicked grin, he kicked the bike into motion, and we shot forward so hard my stomach lurched into my throat. I clamped onto him like my life depended on it. The wind slapped against my face, my hair streaming wild behind me, and for a second I forgot how to bre

Sera nudged my arm with her basket, nearly spilling the apples she’d just stuffed into it.“Tell me why every guy in the training yard thinks flexing their arms is the same thing as flirting,” she said, rolling her eyes.I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. “Because it works on you. Don’t even lie.”“It does not.” She made a face, shoving a strand of hair behind her ear. “Just because that beta—what’s his name again, the one with the too-perfect jaw”“Rowan,” I supplied, smirking.“Yeah, him. Just because he asked if I wanted water and I said yes doesn’t mean anything. I was thirsty.”“You were blushing,” I teased, lowering my voice just enough for her to groan. “You nearly spilled the water on yourself too.”She gasped and swatted at me. “You’re the worst.”“And you love me for it.”We were still laughing when the scent hit me. Sharp. Familiar. A thread of the past that wrapped around my lungs before I could take another breath. My feet stopped cold, the sound of the market fading unde

I woke because of the light, a pale stripe slicing across my eyelids. For a second the world felt slow and soft, like I was under water and everything moved easy. Then a warmth pressed against my arm, steady and real, and my breath hitched.Kai was still asleep, arm tossed over his face, chest rising and falling against mine. I curled my fingers around the edge of his sleeve without thinking, memorizing the steady rhythm of him. There was a ridiculous part of me that wanted to stay exactly like that forever, tucked into the space where none of my nightmares could find me.My mouth felt like I’d swallowed fire and water in the same breath. Last night was a blur of lips and heat, of fingers mapping the places I had kept closed for too long. The memory made something in me small and bright. I let it sit there, not trying to name it.He shifted then, not waking, just moving closer until I could feel the scrape of his beard against my cheek. He mumbled something that sounded like my name h

Sleep didn’t find me that night. I lay in the apartment’s dim quiet, the ceiling above me blurred by shadows of passing headlights. Every time I shut my eyes I heard it again, his voice raw but unyielding. Family. That single word had carved itself into me, echoing through every pulse of my veins.I twisted under the blanket, restless. My chest felt heavy, like something was pressing down on me from the inside. The walls seemed closer than they should have, the silence too sharp. Kai had insisted on staying near, but even when he finally left with the promise to be back at first light, his warning stayed behind, heavier than his presence had been. Do not believe him. Do not let him near you again.And yet I couldn’t stop replaying the way those gray eyes had searched for me, desperate, like I was the last thing tethering him to this world.The door clicked softly, and I sat up quick. Mira stepped inside without knocking, carrying a blanket draped over her arms.“You look like hell,” s

Kai POV**Larissa’s voice followed me even when she was silent. It was in the way her eyes burned, that wild mixture of fear and hope that pinned me where I stood. She wanted the truth. No, not wanted—she needed it, like air, like her whole body would collapse if I kept it from her any longer.“You can help me,” she said, her voice cracking but steadying again with every word. “I know you can. I have seen you do it before, Kai. Please… just do it.”I shook my head, every muscle in my body rigid. “You don’t understand what you’re asking.” My throat was tight, my hands flexing by my sides. “This isn’t some trick, Larissa. If I touch your mind with my claws, if I drag what you buried back to the surface… it could break you.”Her lips trembled, but she didn’t look away. She stepped closer, and I hated how her nearness softened my defenses, how her scent filled my lungs and made me forget reason. “I am already breaking,” she whispered. “I wake up in the night drowning in screams I cannot r