Chapter 31: Chapter Thirty-One

Saffron laid awake in her bed, until the early morning hours, tossing and turning, as she tried her best not to think about that moment in the dark when she had been pressed chest to chest with Ryder, and the sensations that connection had evoked in her.

She tried hard not to think about that twinkle of mischief in his eyes when he had kissed her, and bade her goodnight. Or the way he had felt, pressed up against her.

Yes, it had been nothing more than a kiss on the forehead, but it had been a kiss nonetheless.

Her very first kiss.

It was hard not to swoon at the thought of it.

Though there were butterflies still taking flight within the pits of her stomach, Saffron couldn’t help the unease that churned in her stomach too, overshadowing the feelings of excitement she felt.

Though Ryder had looked out for her more often than not, she couldn’t help but wonder if he was going to keep her little night trip to the archives a secret, or rat her out to the Alpha. After all, his loyalty belonged to his boss, and not to her–his boss’s slave–even though she wished it did.

And, she had broken the Alpha’s rule, which to her knowledge, no one had ever dared to, until her.

She puffed out a breath, as she rose from the bed, fatigue and weariness in her bones, a yawn escaping from her lips.

“Where did you go to last night?” Kiera queried, blinking her doe eyes innocently at Saffron, as she crossed her legs over each other while sitting on her bed.

“Gosh!” Saffron rasped, startling at Kiera’s voice. She hadn’t noticed that the younger girl had been awake when she had slipped out of bed last night, neither had she thought that Kiera would be awake now. “I didn’t see you there, Kiera. You scared me!”

“Where did you go to last night?” Kiera repeated her questioned, ignoring Saffron’s outburst, just like she tended to do with everyone.

Saffron frowned, unsure of how to answer Kiera without giving herself and her mission away.

Ryder had warned her against telling anyone about her late extracurricular activity. Even though he hadn’t said much, the warning had been clear in the inflection of his voice, and the sternness in his eyes.

She knew the warning had been as much for his benefit, as it was for her. There were consequences to be suffered, should the Alpha find out that Ryder had caught her breaking not only one but two rules, and hadn’t reported her but chose to save her instead.

So, she wasn’t about to give herself away to Kiera, even though it hurt her to lie to the girl.

Lying in general irked her. But this once, she was willing to do it, if it meant saving her skin, and Ryder’s.

Saffron schooled her expression into one of cool indifference, as she responded to Kiera’s question, “I went to the outhouse.”

“The outhouse?” Kiera parroted, her lips turning down into a frown, as she tilted her chin sideways to get a better look at Saffron. “But you hate going to the outhouse.”

“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” Saffron replied, lying through her teeth. But, she had already gone down the road, there was no use backtracking, even though she fought hard to hide the grimace that threatened to take over her face, just at the mere thought of relieving herself at the outhouse.

Kiera hummed in response, obviously not buying into what Saffron was selling, but having the grace to not call her on it, and letting her get away with it, this time.

Bleary-eyed, Saffron slipped off of her bed, as another yawn broke out from her lips.

Her gaze went to her slippers which were now caked with mud, before she glanced back at Kiera, alarmed, only for her to huff at Saffron before she strolled out of their bedroom, leaving Saffron to stew in her lie.

They both knew that there was no mud to be found at the outhouse, or the path that led there.

Shaking her head, Saffron slipped her feet into a clean pair of shoes–the ones she had been wearing the day she had been taken from her house–before she too strolled out of the bedroom, and walked towards the hall, for breakfast.

Saffron was surprised to see a lot of the slaves awake this early in the morning. But what was more surprising, was the buzz that seemed to echo in the hallways, as she walked towards the kitchen.

There was an air of anticipation that seemed to circulate at every turn but more than that, there was a bit of trepidation in it too, which made Saffron’s stomach knot with unease.

What the hell was going on at the slave quarters this morning?

“Do you have any idea what’s going on today?” One of the slaves, Zeph asked, as he sidled into step with her, his brows furrowed in concentration.

“I know just as much as you do,” Saffron shrugged, the unease in her stomach hitting a crescendo.

Judging by the accusing expressions exchanged between the slaves, Saffron had to guess that whatever was going on had something to do with her sneaking out last night.

She should have known that it would not have gone unnoticed.

“Did you hear a door creaking the night before?” Ana–another slave–queried, as she walked up to Saffron and Zeph, her expression thunderous. “If whoever had snuck out last night lands us all in trouble, I’ll kill them myself, before the Alpha does.”

“I didn’t hear anything,” Zeph responded, shaking his head in the negative.

“Me neither,” Saffron added, shaking her head reverently, as she swallowed past the lump in her throat, hoping that would at least deter them from accusing her.

It was the first time Ana was speaking to her, and the last thing she wanted was to make her an enemy.

She had heard horror stories about the woman from Kiera. Whether they were true, or not, Saffron did not want to chance it.

“We are to go to the main hall,” Ana spoke, startling Saffron out of her thoughts. “The Alpha’s heir has an announcement to make.”

‘The Alpha’s heir?’ Saffron thought.

The Alpha has an heir? Why didn’t she know about him/her?

‘It’s irrelevant to you. Why don’t you try to focus on saving us from the hole you’ve dug for us the night before?’ The voice snapped, the sharpness of its tone making her stumble on her feet.

“Whoa there!” Zeph uttered, as he helped steady her back. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, choosing to ignore the voice’s directive.

The voice was right, but she wasn’t about to let it know that.

With a sharp inhale of breath, Saffron paced her thoughts and followed the other slaves streaming outside, and into the main hall, which was situated at the opposite side of the courtyard, overlooking the archives’ building.

She tried hard not to look towards the building, as guilt lanced in her heart, thinking that one wrong move would out her as the guilty party, and have the Alpha’s wrath descend on her.

Swallowing hard, she looked past the stream of slaves and islanders alike, and into the enormous hall, stopping dead in her tracks, when her gaze found Ryder standing on the dais, his expression one of utter dominance, and leadership, Hael standing by his side.

Saffron could feel her heart breaking into tiny pieces, as she came to the realization that the man she was slowly fallen in love with was not just a part of the mafia gang that held her against her will, but was also the heir of said mafia gang, and set to inherit it, once his father had died, or decided to step down.

Her Ryder Oscura was the Alpha’s son.

The Alpha who had made her life a living hell.

That Alpha.

The feeling of pain and betrayal was swift. And Saffron made sure that he saw the murder in her eyes, once their gazes have clashed, before she went to stand at the back of the room, together with the other slaves.