20
NESS
Iwanted the best for my pack, but as we walked back to Ryder’s car, I wondered what that meant. Alvin stood a hundred feet back, his back hunched as he watched us. He whistled, and the wolves rallied around him. I could see Harvey, standing at the head of the pack. While the others eyed Ryder with varying degrees of fear, Harvey watched me.
If I was going to save my pack, then I would have to burn half of it to the ground.
How I would do that, I wasn’t sure. I dug my fingers into Ryder’s chest. He tightened his grip on me.
“It sucks,” I whispered meekly. “I hate having to be saved.”
Ryder grunted. He wouldn’t look at me. The tightness of his jaw betrayed an emotion that I couldn’t quite decipher. Something rattled through his mind, but he wasn’t going to tell me.
“Why aren’t they attacking?” I asked softly as I peered over Ryder’s shoulder.
After a moment, he growled, “They’re a bunch of cowards.”
I turned my attention to Alvin, still hunched and breathing hard. Ire writhed like a twisted dark thing inside my soul. It reached up my throat and coated my tongue as I spoke.
“I hope you go down kicking and screaming under the claws of the ones you should have protected. I hope you know the pain you’ve caused.”
Ryder’s steps faltered, but only for a moment. He didn’t stop. He didn’t turn around. He kept moving forward, away from this fight. I buried my head in his shoulder and breathed in his scent. The twisted, dark thing inside of me settled and disappeared again. Empty once more, I yearned for the company of my hound. I missed her dearly.
Cerri opened the car door so Ryder could tuck me into the backseat. I wanted to protest that I could walk on my own, but my vision swam as he set me down. I swallowed my words and closed my eyes.
I heard my father’s muffled voice outside the car. He asked Ryder something in a hushed tone. I couldn’t understand their conversation from where I sat. Though I wanted to sit forward and listen in, I couldn’t bring myself to move yet.
When I cracked my eye open, I watched Dad nod. He looked down the street to where Alvin waited. Fear gripped me and squeezed my lungs tight. He couldn’t go back. I wouldn’t let him.
I grabbed for the seat in front of me, so I could pull myself upright. Cerri protested, but I did it anyway. By the time I could lean between the seats, Dad had walked away. I opened my mouth to ask where he was going, but Ryder threw himself into the seat in front of me. Cerri put the seat back and climbed into the car as Ryder took off. The engine revved and the tires squealed before I heard Cerri’s door shut.
Alvin’s house disappeared behind the trees. Soon, we found ourselves in a residential part of Lakesedge. The view around me made my chest clench. This should have been home, but the view left me unsettled.
I wanted to take Vi up on her offer and let her burn Alvin’s house to the ground, but I needed whatever Alvin had hidden in there.
“Every time I think I’m going to leave,” Ryder growled. “Every damn time I think I’m going to leave, something happens to you.”
“It’s not her fault,” Cerri said softly.
Ryder snarled. The sound echoed in the small space. I jangled my cuffs to shut them both up. This thing needed to come off. I couldn’t bear having it on me any longer.
I slumped in the backseat of Ryder’s muscle car. Though I couldn’t smell much with the cuff still around my wrist, Ryder’s scent still wrapped around me. If someone had asked why his presence made me feel so safe, I might have mentioned Ryder’s dragon or his kindness. But, as I stared at the back of his head, I knew there was more to it than that.
The world outside became a blur. Ryder pressed a little too hard on the gas, but I wasn’t about to complain.
“We can’t go ahead with the plan,” Ryder announced.
I bolted upright. “Excuse me? Why not?”
He jerked the steering wheel. I slid to the left before I caught myself on the back of his seat.
“I’m not letting you get into that situation again.” Ryder said it with such finality one could have assumed he was my mate.
“Listen here, you oversized lizard,” I snapped. I was too damn tired for anyone to tell me what I could and couldn’t do. “That asshole has something hidden in his basement. People don’t keep cots in their basement for the fun of it.”
Cerri twisted in her seat. We locked gazes as she bit her lip. “I…I don’t think I want to know what you’re implying.”
Alvin hurt people. I didn’t know why he kept them in his basement, but I had to figure it out. Once I knew what he’d been up to, I could show the pack. They hadn’t come to Alvin’s hunt, so there was hope for them yet.