Ryder
I shared a look with Bri.The caller had hung up on me. It’d been a woman, that much I could tell. She hadn’t identified herself. How the hell was I supposed to know who her employees were?
Bri took her phone back. Probably just as perplexed as I was, she stared down at it with a scowl. When she met my gaze, I gave a shrug because I didn’t have any answers.
“She said she’d help you break the pact.” Bri gestured to the medallion around my neck.
“That doesn’t mean anything if she won’t tell me who she is. I’m not playing any more games with the supernaturals around here. They’re all manipulative bastards.”
“But you could escape. Isn’t that what you wanted?” Bri’s voice lifted hopefully.
I narrowed my eyes at her. “I thought you wanted me to stay here. What are you getting at?”
She grinned. Though I was tired of people trying to use me and force me down their paths, I knew that Bri only had my best interests in mind. Despite our past, she’d never stopped being my friend. Bri cared about everyone in her life, even if she made a few mistakes along the way.
“This place is going to need a leader,” Bri said. “When this pack finally gets rid of their current asshole Alpha, there’s going to be a power void. I think it would be good for you to fill it. The only way you can do that is if you don’t owe any allegiances to other leaders. You have to stand on your own.”
“There’s a power vacuum back home, too. Do you want me to fill that one? I don’t think anyone there wants me back. They shouldn’t want me here, either.”
Why would they want someone as dangerous as myself? This pack had spent enough time under the control of a tyrant. I didn’t want them to fear me as well.
The sound of two cars pulling into the driveway outside distracted me. Bri cocked her head and raised a brow as her attention slid toward the driveway.
My stomach hit the ground. Ness had left a while ago. I should have gone after her. I’d been too wrapped up in my own thoughts. She was never safe by herself in this city. I should have known better.
I burst through the door and leapt down the front steps. Ness clumsily jumped from the Jeep. Before she could move, I lifted her off her feet and hugged her tight. Her weight in my arms settled the beast that’d started to riot inside of me.
She let out a tired laugh and sank into me. My heart gave a hard thud. What had happened to drain the fight out of the feisty hound? I spared a glance at the others, her coworkers who were lingering.
The half-demon got out of her Jeep. Vi, I think her name was. Embers sparked in the air around her, betraying the anger that she must have been pushing down. I wanted to warn her that she needed to be careful because we weren’t in Lakesedge, but I doubted Vi could do much more than what she was already doing to suppress her fire.
The other woman, Addie, didn’t get out of her car. She surveyed everyone, her attention on Ness for several heartbeats. Addie seemed to let out a sigh and sink into her seat. I gave her a nod. She could go home. Ness was safe here.
I would tie her to the damn bed to make sure she couldn’t leave again.
“Good night, everyone.” Bri gave a wave before jogging back to her SUV parked by the curb.
Though I wanted to ask her why she was running away, I kept quiet. To my beast, all that mattered was the woman in my arms right now. Ness slouched and pressed her head to my neck. I shifted my hold on her to cradle her gently.
Vi smirked and lifted her chin suggestively.
I wanted to say that it wasn’t like that, but I wasn’t sure anymore. With my hand firmly pressed to Ness’s lower back, I didn’t know if I could let her go any time soon. I needed to stop letting her run off with her half-cocked ideas.
The stink of rot tickled my nose. I cringed and fought back a gag.
“What the hell do I smell?”
Vi gestured to Ness. “I’m kind of curious to know what’s in the box, too.”
The box?
Ness leaned back and revealed a small, yellow gift box. There was no ribbon, but I could see the corner of tissue paper sticking out from under the lid. The smell radiating from it made me flinch. I couldn’t drop Ness, or I would have covered my nose with my hand.
“What the hell is in that?”
Ness made a sound, low in the back of her throat, as she stared at the box. Pain stretched her expression tight—not physical pain, but emotional pain. “It’s her finger. One of the girls he killed.”
“He knows.” I tightened my grip on her as fear tried to wedge its way into my mind.