Chapter 261 The Ghost Station

Chapter 261 The Ghost Station
The first thing that returned to Lyra was the taste of blood in the back of her throat.

She groaned, her eyelids feeling really heavy as she tried to lift her head.

The strike Dax had delivered to the back of her neck was still throbbing violently, sending waves of pain straight down her spine.

She tried to move her hands to rub her aching neck, but her wrists wouldn't budge and she could feel the pressure around them.

Lyra snapped her blue eyes open as she took in her surroundings. She wasn't on a bike anymore, she was sitting upright, tightly bound to a thick, rusty iron support beam in the center of what looked like a large desolate warehouse.

The roof high above her was full of broken glass panels that barely allowed any air or sunlight into the place.

Although it had been years since she last saw the place, she remembered it as an old supply depot owned by the IronFangs, situated in a completely secluded canyon miles outside the town territory. But it hadn't been used for many years since the northern trade changed routes.

"You're awake," Dex muttered to her left.

Lyra’s head snapped toward the sound and saw that he was still wearing his flannel shirt, the sleeve rolled down.

"Dax," Lyra gasped and yanked her wrists against the heavy ropes binding her to the iron beam. "What the hell is going on? Have you completely lost your mind? Untie me right now!"

Dax stopped just two feet away from her face and let out a harsh, dry laugh that sounded more like a sob. "Lost my mind? No, Lyra. For the first time in my entire life, my mind is completely clear. I am finally taking what belongs to me."

"Are you completely crazy?!" Lyra screamed and thrashed violently against the support beam. "You kidnapped the Luna of your own pack! Do you have any idea what Ryker is going to do to you when he finds this place? He will literally rip your throat out with his bare teeth! Take me back home right now, Dax, or the consequences will be death!"

"Don't talk to me about my brother!" Dax suddenly shrieked, slamming his fist against the rusty iron beam right above her head. He dropped his liquor bottle, the glass shattering across the concrete as he grabbed her by the shoulders, his face just inches from hers. "I don't care about Ryker anymore! I don't care about his Alpha title, and I don't care about his rules! It is completely unfair, Lyra! It is unfair that my brother gets to be with you!"

"Dax, let go of me—"

"No!" he screamed. "I have loved you since the exact moment you came back from the south! I watched you stand in that dining hall, so beautiful and strong, and my brother just treats you like a prisoner! He scolds me like a child, he blames me for Rex, he blames me for Sylvester, and he gets to hold the most perfect woman in the world while I get absolutely nothing! I’ve been living in his shadow for thirty years, Lyra, and I am done letting him take everything from me!"

Lyra stared into his wild eyes and saw that he'd gone mad.

He clearly didn't think this through and he wasn't willing to listen to anything.

She needed to change her tactics immediately. She needed to make him lower his guard and release her. And right now, playing along was the only option.

Lyra stopped thrashing against the ropes and let out a soft, trembling sigh.

"Dax..." Lyra whispered. "Please... don't yell at me. And you're hurting my shoulders."

Dax froze, his fingers twitching against her jacket as he looked down at her face, completely caught off guard by the sudden gentle tone. "What?"

"I’m sorry," Lyra murmured. "I only screamed because I was scared when I woke up in the dark. But... you're right, Dax. You're completely right about your brother."

Dax slowly let go of her shoulders. "What are you saying, Lyra?"

"I’m saying Ryker is overbearing," Lyra said, forcing a small, affectionate smile onto her lips as she leaned her head forward toward him. "He does treat me like a prisoner. He’s always trying to control my hybrid form, and he never listens to any advice. He’s so blind by his own Alpha pride that he doesn't see what's right in front of him. But you... you always love me and try to protect me.”

Dax nodded, his large hand reaching out to touch a strand of her tangled hair. "You... you mean that, Lyra? You don't hate me for taking you from the gate?"

"How could I hate you for wanting to protect me from that overbearing monster?" Lyra lied smoothly and prayed he wouldn't notice the deception. She gestured weakly with her bound wrists against the iron beam. "If you truly love me like you say you do, Dax... then please, just release these ropes. Let me stand up. We can talk about this like partners. I don't want to be tied up like a criminal in front of you."

Dax stared at her hands, his fingers moving toward the knots on the rope. For a beautiful second, Lyra thought the trick had worked perfectly.

But just as his hand touched the rope, Dax suddenly froze and snapped his hand back, stepping three feet away.

"No... no, no, no," Dax muttered. "You’re lying to me. You’re trying to gaslight me, just like Ryker does. You love him. I saw how you looked at him when you got back from the human town. You're just saying these things so I will let you go so you can run straight back to his bed!"

"Dax, I swear I'm not lying!" Lyra cried out. "Look at me! I am right here with you!"

"I don't trust you yet!" Dax yelled, spit flying everywhere. "I’m going to let you sleep here for the night, Lyra. Let the cold air clear that lying tongue of yours."

He stepped back. "But you need to know one thing before the sun comes up. Tomorrow morning, everything changes. I am never, ever taking you back to my brother. Ryker has had his time as the ruler, and he’s lost his right to you. Tomorrow, we are going to run away from this valley entirely. We’ll go past the southern border, past the witch ridges, far away where nobody from the IronFangs can ever track us. We’ll build our own territory, just the two of us. We are going to have a beautiful, happy life together, and you will finally learn how to love me back for real."

"Dax, don't do this!" Lyra shouted as he began to walk away. "You can’t just leave me here chained to a beam! Dax!"

He slammed the door shut.