Chapter 51: Chapter Fifty-One

“Is that a way to greet an old friend, Saffron?” Alex Vaughn remarked, his tone condescending as he peered over her shoulders towards the inside of the bedroom. “I thought you had better manners than that.”

“You are no friend of mine,” she hissed, glaring daggers at him.

“I beg to differ,” he replied, unaffected by the hostility she was throwing his way. “Now, don’t you have better manners?”

“I do in fact have better manners than that,” she quipped, crossing her arms over her chest, as she used the bulk of her body–or lack thereof–to block off his view of the bedroom. “I’m just not partial to the family that seems hell-bent on ending my life.”

“One would call you a hypocrite Saffron,” he replied, his lips lifting up into a half smile, as he regarded her with eyes that spoke more than his words did. “After all, you are colluding with the son of the man who poses the greatest danger to you.”

It was the first time she was seeing his smile, even though it was barely one, and it set her back a bit, making alarm bells ring in her head, before his words registered with her.

A hypocrite? He dared to call her a hypocrite?

Who was the biggest hypocrite of them all? Alex Vaughn was who.

“Have you taken a look in the mirror lately?” she asked, her tone mocking, as she mimicked his half smile. “I think it would tell a different story.”

“Have you always been like this?” he queried, his brows furrowing as he sized her up.

“Always been like what?” she queried, quirking her eyebrows up. “Assertive?”

“Quirky.”

Saffron shrugged a shoulder, her lips pinching tightly, her gaze turning hard as she stared at him.

“What do you want Alex?” she asked on a sigh, uncrossing her arms and letting them fall by her side, as she leaned against the doorframe, refusing to let him entry into the room, which he seemed keen on doing.

“Won’t you let me in?” he asked a question of his own, instead of answering hers.

“Do you always answer a question with another one?” she asked, irritation clear in her tone, as she glared at him again.

He shrugged, before opening his mouth to say something then paused, his brows pinching with confusion. He tilted his head sideways a little, closing his eyes, as if he was trying to concentrate on listening to something.

Saffron watched him, her confusion mirroring his, before she mimicked him, and tried to listen to what he was listening to.

Apart from their breathing, and the creaking of the old ceiling fan in hers and Kiera’s bedroom, she couldn’t hear any other sound.

She snapped her eyes open, her irritation mounting up. Just as she opened her mouth to scream at him to leave the vicinity at once, his eyes snapped open abruptly, and he grabbed her arm roughly, pushing her into the room, and closing the door behind them with a loud thud.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” she yelled, rubbing the spot on her arm where he had manhandled her. “Do you…”

The rest of her words got swallowed in her throat, as he slapped the palm of his hand over her mouth, urging her with his eyes to keep her mouth shut.

It wasn’t the plea in his eyes that made her agree to stop talking. Rather, it was the panic that she saw shining in his eyes, as clear and vivid as the sun outside.

What the hell was going on?

When he made no move to release her mouth, she rolled her eyes, before nodding her head to indicate that she was going to play his little game.

Satisfied with her response, Alex released her, and indicated once again with a finger pressed over his lips that she doesn’t make a single sound.

Saffron rolled her eyes again, before using her hand to mime zipping her lips shut.

Alex tilted his head towards the door, while Saffron sat on her bed, and crossed her legs beneath her, her gazed fixed on him, as she placed her chin over her palm.

She had no idea whether it was a game he was playing, or if the panic she saw in his eyes was attuned to a real danger, a danger that he had brought right up to her door. But, she was willing to wait him out, for now.

She had nothing better to do today, apart from strategizing her escape plan, which his impromptu visit was delaying her from doing. But, that could also wait a bit.

When moments have passed, and there was no change, Saffron huffed out a breath, to which Alex turned around sharply to glare at her, before returning to his vigil over the door.

She huffed again, before rearranging her body on the bed, so she was now laying down and staring up at the ceiling, like she had been doing earlier.

When she heard the thud of his body against the door, she craned her head sideways to look at him.

“Do you mind telling me why you are here, or has the danger not passed yet?” she asked.

“The danger is real,” Alex snapped, raking a hand through his hair, before he blew out a breath of frustration.

“I never said it wasn’t.”

“Can you just,” he blew out another breath, before gesturing a hand at her, to indicate her laid out position on the bed. “This is a serious conversation. Can you sit down? Please?”

Saffron quirked an eyebrow, before she sat up, and faced him once again. “Happy?” she sassed.

“Very.”

“Now, tell me what you came here for, before I announce your presence to any who would listen to me. And I take it you don’t want that to happen, do you?”

Alex scowled, but he didn’t say a word to confirm or deny her statement.

“I will scream if you don’t start talking,” she warned, her tone brokering no argument.

“Your life is in danger,” Alex stated. “I came here to warn you.”

“My life is in danger?” she asked incredulously, a giggle escaping her lips, before it turned into a full-on laughter.

When her laughter abated, she turned a hard gaze on him.

“Now, why don’t you tell me why you are really here, because we both know that my life being in danger isn’t exactly something new. And let me warn you, before you lie to me, I will gladly give up your…”

“It’s in more danger than it already is,” he snapped, effectively cutting off her tirade. “The Alpha Supreme has been working on something that threatens the lives of every single living thing on this island and…”

A loud howl from outside had Alex tensing him up, his gaze flying towards the window, before he returned it to Saffron.

“Tell Ryder that the mutations are real,” he whispered urgently, before he turned and ran out of the room, leaving Saffron with more questions than she had had before.

“Wait,” she called out, running after him, but there was no trace of him to be found. It was like he hadn’t even been there in the first place.

It was only as she returned to the room, that she noticed a scrunched up paper right by the door.

She bent and picked it up, unwrapping it to find a set of numbers addressed to Ryder.

She had no idea what Alex meant when he said the mutations were real. But, since it was message meant for Ryder, he would know what it meant.

And who the hell was the Alpha Supreme? How was he endangering her life, and the rest of the Blood Moon gang?

Also, why did it disturb her to know that the gang responsible for her captivity was in danger? Shouldn’t she be celebrating?

This danger might be her ticket out of Blood Moon gang territory. But she felt sick at the notion of the danger that lurked around the corner, a danger that could end the Alpha’s reign of tyranny.

She felt a certain sense of responsibility to the gang however. Perhaps, she should deliver Alex’s message to Ryder?

Or maybe, she should let him figure it out on his own? After all, he was the gang’s heir, and future leader.

Saffron stared at the paper in her hand, a paper that weighed more heavily on her palm than it actually did, before she folded it neatly and dropped it inside her drawer, beneath her folded clothes.

She would think about it later. For now, she needed to figure out her escape plan, before her life became forfeit.