All Chapters of Ride Or Ruin The Biker Who Owned My Soul: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Elara’s POVThe countdown on Ruin’s phone reached nine minutes and forty-two seconds.The numbers glowed against the dark screen like a heartbeat measuring the distance between life and death. Mara’s face filled the frame, pale but determined, while Ivan stood behind her with the gun pressed calmly against her temple.“Do not even think about going alone,” Ruin said.His voice sounded controlled, but fury sharpened every word. “I have to,” I replied.“You will not.”“If we do nothing, she dies.”“If you go alone, you die,” he said.The blunt certainty in his tone made my chest tighten and the timer reached nine minutes and twelve seconds.“Ivan wants to separate us,” Ruin continued. “That means he does not feel confident facing me directly.”“Then let him think he has what he wants,” I said.Ruin stepped closer, his eyes dark and intense.“You are not bait,” he said.“I am already bait,” I replied.Silence fell between us. The timer reached eight minutes.Ruin lifted the phone again a

Elara’s POVThe name Anya surfaced through the pain like something breaking through ice. The moment the name formed clearly in my mind, my breath left my lungs.I gripped the edge of the balcony railing to steady myself. “Elara.” Ruin’s voice carried both command and concern. “What did you remember?”I swallowed. “Anya,” I said. “The child’s name is Anya.”Axel stiffened beside us. “The photo did not include a name,” he said.“I know,” I replied. “But I remember it.”Ruin studied my face carefully. “From where?” he asked.The memory flickered in fragments. A small hand wrapped around my finger. Laughter in a sunlit room, and a lullaby whispered in Russian.“I do not know exactly,” I admitted. “But she is not random. She is connected to me.”The wind moved around us, but I barely felt it. Ivan’s message echoed in my head.She remembers soon. “He wants you unstable,” Axel said. “He wants you chasing ghosts.”Ruin shook his head slightly.“No,” he said. “He wants her awakening.” The word

Elara’s POV“Elara Volkov, surrender yourself immediately.”The voice from the loudspeaker echoed across the compound like a verdict already decided.My body went still because the name struck deeper than the threat, Volkov.A surname I did not remember claiming, yet one that felt buried somewhere inside me like a locked door beginning to open.Ruin stepped in front of me instinctively.“You stay inside,” he said.“What is happening?” I asked.“The Bratva council,” he replied. “Ivan does not move alone.”Below us, floodlights illuminated the compound yard. Armed men in tactical gear surrounded the gates in disciplined formation. Their vehicles blocked every exit.Axel’s voice came through the intercom.“They are requesting negotiation. They are not firing.”“Yet,” Ruin said.I forced myself to breathe steadily.“Why did they call me Volkov?” I asked.Ruin hesitated.“That is Ivan’s family name,” he said.My stomach dropped.“No,” I whispered.“You were not born into it,” he added quickly. “

Elara’s POVThe gunshot shattered the world, and the sound returned in fragments before my vision did. I heard shouting, boots striking tile, and the metallic crash of furniture overturning. My ears rang violently, and my lungs refused to pull in enough air.“Ruin!”My voice tore out of me before I knew whether he was alive. A body collapsed beside the bed with a heavy thud. I forced my eyes open and saw Ruin standing over the fallen attacker, blood splattered across his shirt and jaw. His chest rose and fell like a storm trying to break free from his ribs.The man who had fired the silenced pistol lay motionless on the floor.Ruin had moved faster than death. Two of his men flooded into the room, weapons raised. They scanned the corners with brutal efficiency before lowering their guns.“Clear,” one of them said.Ruin did not respond. He stared down at the assassin as though the body might rise again. His hands trembled, not with fear but rage or with something darker that I could fe

Elara’s POVThe smell of antiseptic clung to the room long after the doctors left. I sat beside Ruin’s bed, watching the steady rise and fall of his chest as though the rhythm alone could keep him alive. The machines surrounding him hummed quietly, each sound reminding me how close I had come to losing him.The explosion outside the estate had stopped as suddenly as it began. Axel and the club had secured the perimeter, but tension still pressed heavily against the walls of the house.Ruin had not woken, not once. His face looked different in sleep. The hardness that usually defined his features had softened, revealing exhaustion he would never allow anyone to see while conscious. A faint line of pain remained between his brows even in unconsciousness.I reached for the basin of warm water the nurse had left behind.“They will return in an hour,” the nurse had said earlier. “Keep the wound clean if the bleeding seeps through.”Her instructions echoed in my mind as I dipped a cloth int