Chapter 33: Chapter Thirty-Three

“Slave girl?” Saffron said, her eyes livid with her fury as Ryder dodged another attack of hers, twisting around so her back was now to the door, her tiny hands fisted in one of his.

“You know I didn’t mean it like that,” he whispered, his gaze softening as he backed her up against the door, his chest pressing against hers.

“I don’t know anything,” she snarled back, thrashing against his hold and pushing their bodies more into each other.

“You lied to me!” she accused, the hurt she felt clear in her voice and the way her lower lip trembled, her eyes misting with unshed tears. “I trusted you! But you…you chose to lie to me. I thought you were different, but you are just like the rest of them! Manipulative…”

“I am nothing like them!” he snapped back, cutting off her tirade, furious that she was comparing him to the other wolves when all his life, he had tried to make himself as different from them as possible.

“Have I ever hurt you or made you feel like you were lesser than me? Have I ever belittled you or made you feel like your opinion didn’t matter?” he asked, his tone softening a bit when she flinched under his ire.

She shook her head in the negative after a beat as she slackened against the door, the fight leaving her body in one breath.

Ryder spoke the truth, but it was hard to tell the difference between him and the other islanders when earlier today, the difference between him and her had been as clear as the day.

There was no world where they would be accepted as one.

Ryder would always be the superior one between the two of them.

“Don’t try to make me the villain of your story, darling,” he warned, his breath whispering against her cheeks as he leaned in to whisper into her ear. “It is a role I enjoy playing in other people’s lives, but not one I want to play in yours.”

He leaned back then, his gaze locking with hers, allowing her to see the truth of his words in his eyes and the promise in his gaze.

Saffron shivered in his arms as she gazed at him, finally seeing the real threat he posed to her as she caught a glimpse of the predator that lurked beneath his skin.

Was she so stupid that she didn’t actually feel threatened, but instead felt safer than ever in her entire life?

How was it possible that the son of the man who posed the greatest threat to her life made her feel safe when he too was dangerous in his own rights?

“Why am I here?” she asked finally.

“For your safety,” he whispered softly, the palm of his free hand moving over to her neck where he gripped her in a firm but gentle hold.

He ran his thumb along the column of her throat as he began to purr, his wolf urging him do it, even though they both knew that she wasn’t their intended mate nor was she his omega.

Alphas had the ability to purr for their females to keep them calm during an intense situation.

His wolf choosing to do this for her, a mere human, meant the wolf had more affection for her than Ryder had originally thought.

Ryder didn’t want to think about what it meant. At least not right at this moment, not when he had her in his arms.

Maybe later, when her scent wasn’t clouding his senses and her body heat wasn’t engulfing his too.

Saffron stilled beneath his hand, unsure of what he was doing. The sensations he evoked in her as strange and foreign as the soft rumbling sounds he was emitting.

“What…what are you doing?” she croaked, lifting her gaze to meet his, her brows furrowing in confusion.

“This,” he replied, his purr intensifying beneath his words as his wolf pushed to the forefront of his mind, trying to override his control so it could be at the helm.

Nervous energy skittered through her body, rendering her body immobile as Ryder continued his soothing rumble, drawing his hand away from her nape to run his fingers through the silky length of silvery white hair.

Saffron let out a soft moan, her eyes rolling into the back of her head as Ryder’s purring finally got to her.

The sensations it evoked in her were just out of the world. And no matter how hard she tried to make sense of it, Saffron couldn’t find a conclusive thought that explained how it was possible for Ryder to make such sounds.

Saffron was tired of trying to make sense of things when it came to the Blood Moon mafia. They never added up. And the more she tried to understand them, the more she felt like she was going to lose her mind.

So for now, she was just going to enjoy this moment and not let thoughts of what was possible to interrupt them.

“Are you some kind of kitten or something?” she queried, as she inclined her head to the side to take him in fully.

“Or something,” he responded, the barest hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

She nodded, accepting that vague response of his at face value. They would revisit this conversation again, soon, when her heart and mind were not clouded with the thoughts of him, and the physical allure of his scent and dominating presence.

“What are we doing?” she whispered, closing her eyes as her head fell back against the door with a hard thump.

“I have no idea.” He shook his head, letting his forehead meet hers, their breaths intermingling, their lips only a hairsbreadth away from joining.

Ryder’s eyes flicked towards her plump lips, licking his own, as he thought about what it would feel like to take the first step forward and connect their lips to each other.

He wondered what she would taste like,e if her lips would taste just as sweet and decadent as her scent was.

Just an inch closer, he thought, and he would get all the answers to the questions that swirled within his mind.

Just an inch closer, and they would finally be able to explore that deep connection between them.

But Ryder also knew that they couldn’t.

Not like this.

Never like this.

Not when they were human and werewolf.

Not when there was someone else, someone his father intended for him to mate with.

Not when there was another lie between them.

With tremendous effort and willpower, Ryder pulled back, releasing her from his hold and putting much-needed space between them to calm his raging libido.

Saffron blinked her eyes open, wondering why Ryder hadn’t kissed her then, and why there was now this gaping chasm between them.

Saffron knew, even before Ryder could get in a word, that she had lost him to his thoughts already.

The rejection was clear in his stance, the rigidness of his shoulders, and the way his eyes were shuttered.

It was amazing how she had come to be able to read his tells in such a short amount of time.

“I will get going now,” she muttered under her breath, turning around and leaving his cabin without a second glance.

Heart heavy in her throat, Saffron took the path that led into the woods, wanting to escape until she could gather her thoughts.

What she met waiting for her, however, went beyond the realms of what she was expecting.