Chapter 35: Chapter Thirty-Five

“Fuck!” Ryder cursed, as Saffron let out a pained moan, her head rolling back over his shoulder, blood dripping down her body, trailing behind them like breadcrumbs leading someone towards them.

His heart hurt for her, his wolf’s anguish over the state of her body making his head and heart feel like they were going to be split into two.

“Fuck,” he repeated, furious with whoever had attacked her so viciously out in the open with no regards to the Alpha Supreme’s order, but also infuriated with himself for making her leave alone when he knew that she wasn’t safe, not after that public display at the main hall earlier.

He should have known that something like this was bound to happen when it had been such a long time since he had called a woman to his cabin. Not since after his betrothal to Myra Vaughn had been announced. Not since the Alpha Supreme had made it clear that Ryder and Myra would be mated.

He ran a shaky hand through his hair, trying to come up with a way to help speed up her healing but also knowing that there was nothing that he could do until his friend Zayden de la Vega, a vampire, arrived. All he was left to do was purr for her and hope that the soothing sounds were enough to keep her pain at bay until real help arrived.

The purring seemed to work as her quivering stopped, her breaths evening out as she fell into a deep sleep.

Seconds later, the quivering resumed, blood seeping out of her wounds in tandem, making her cry out in pain even though her eyes were still closed.

Ryder carefully placed her on his couch before he began to pace the length of his living room, wondering what had kept Zayden from getting to him sooner.

He had called him at least fifteen minutes ago. And keeping his vamp speed in mind, Zayden should have been by his side at least eight minutes ago.

A frustrated breath left his lips, his heart in turmoil, thoughts rioting within his mind, and his wolf half trying to wrestle control from his human half.

It was a disaster waiting to happen.

He was a disaster waiting to happen.

Lord have mercy on those who had attacked her because he most definitely wasn’t going to. This time around, he was going on the offensive, and he was going to eliminate every single threat against her, his plans be damned.

She was more important.

Her life was more important.

“Get the hell out of here!” a deep voice growled, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“You should have been here sooner!” Ryder growled back as he stalked towards his longtime friend and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. “If she dies…”

“She won’t,” Zayden replied softly, well aware that his friend was only hanging on by a thread. One wrong word, and he could trigger him, which was the last thing he wanted, not when both man and wolf were hinging on insanity these days.

“Now, let me go,” Zayden placated, raising his hands in surrender. “I would have been here sooner if I could have. I got held up by something. But I’m here now. And the sooner you let me go, the sooner I can attend to her and keep her alive.”

Ryder exhaled a ragged breath, his brown eyes flashing gold for a second before they returned back to their normal color. He released Zayden’s collar before he took a step back, brushing his hand over his face.

Zayden took one long look at his friend before shaking his head, knowing that Ryder was long gone before he sidestepped him and walked towards the couch, taking in the gruesome scene before him with a perplexed expression.

He looked at the black blood oozing from one of her open wounds curiously before he crouched down beside her head, lifting his wrist towards his lips.

“Get out of here, shift, and go for a run,” he commanded, turning his head towards Ryder, his expression brokering no argument.

Ryder growled at him, his eyes flashing between man and wolf, fur peppering his arms before disappearing beneath his skin and reappearing again.

Zayden growled right back at him, channeling his inner dominant to get his friend to heel.

While Zayden was still considered a youngling at his clan and the rest of the vampire clans, he was at least a hundred years older than Ryder was, which rendered him more powerful than the werewolf.

It wasn’t often that he used his dominating side over his friend, but it was times like this, when Ryder was losing it, that Zayden had to interfere.

“Look at the state of you!” Zayden growled again, dropping his hand to his side, earning a murderous glare from Ryder. “You are a mess. Your wolf is fighting you. You have no control over both sides of yourself right now, and I need you at peak condition if we are to get to the bottom of this. Now, you either leave and do what I say, or stay and I’ll refuse to help her. The choice is yours to make.”

Ryder snarled at Zayden, wanting to take a swipe at him for what he had said but also knowing that he was right.

Ryder needed to shift now before his wolf gained control and refused to give him back the reins. It had happened once, and Ryder hadn’t been able to shift back to human form for a whole week.

It was an experience he was not eager to go through again.

“Fine!” he snapped, knowing that Zayden wouldn’t budge an inch until he gave in and also that the more stubborn he was acting, the more the chances of Saffron surviving lowered.

If he had to sacrifice his pride to keep her alive, then he was going to do that. He was willing to do whatever it took to see her whole and healthy again.

Without a second thought, he allowed the shift to take over him, not even bothering with taking his clothes off first.

One minute he was standing on his two legs, and the next, he was standing on all fours, his clothes ripped to shreds.

He let out a huff at Zayden, raising his hackles in warning before he bounded off, leaving the vampire to work on his precious human.

Zayden whirled around to face Saffron, biting his wrist with his teeth before lifting the open wound towards her lips and urging her to take a sip.

He watched the pale pallor of her skin begin to recede, as his blood worked its way into her system, replenishing her on the inside and repairing the extensive damage that was done to her body.

Never in his life had Ryder seen wolfsbane be effective on a human before, but the black blood oozing from her wounds was indicative of the poison being in her system.

As far as he knew, the poisonous flower only worked against werewolves, so for it to work on Saffron, then she had to not be human, which begged the question: who and what was she?

What had Ryder Oscura gotten himself into now?

And, was she a threat to Ryder’s cause, and by extension his, or was she an ally?

Would Zayden have to eliminate her or not?

The questions swirled within his mind as he watched her skin knit itself together, her wounds disappearing, her torn clothes and the still wet blood dripping down the floor from the couch the only indication that she had been attacked earlier.

He retrieved his wrist from her lips, before laving the wound up with his mouth, sealing it shut with his saliva.

Zayden sat back, waiting for her to wake up so that he could interrogate her and find out the truth about her existence.

If she was a threat, then…

It was better to ask for forgiveness later than ask for permission.

It would destroy his alliance with Ryder Oscura for sure, but better that than the outcome of what her betrayal would be.