Chapter 42
Lumi
The cold from the concrete brick wall was slowly seeping through the thin green silk of my dress, chilling right to the bone.
My heels were discarded sowhere near my feet, and my knees were tucked tight against my chest as the tears kept flowing, hot and ssy.
The loud, muffled bass from inside the club was still thumping against my skull, a brutal reminder of how horribly wrong this night had gone.
*"Everything I’ve ever done... was because of Neve."
Ren’s words kept repeating in my head like a cruel loop. It shouldn’t have hurt so bad. I was the one who told him he was just a boy.
I was the one who threw my age in his face. But hearing him admit that I was nothing more than a chore he did for his sister felt like a slap.
I pushed myself up against the wall, my limbs heavy and clumsy from the alcohol. The street was dark, the alley even darker, and the city felt completely massive and terrifying around . I didn’t have my purse. I didn’t have my phone. I didn’t even have a coat.
I stumbled out toward the mouth of the alley, my bare feet stinging against the cold pavent. I tried to squint through the darkness, hoping to spot a taxi, but the street was mostly empty except for a few distant headlights.
Suddenly, a shadow stepped out from the side of the building.
"Well, well. Look who got dumped out in the cold."
I froze, my heart leaping into my throat. Through the foggy blur of the alcohol, I recognized the face.
It was him. The stranger from the dance floor. The look in his eyes wasn’t confident or flirty anymore. It was bitter, humiliated, and incredibly angry.
"Get away from ," I slurred, trying to step around him, but my balance was completely shot.
"Where’s your little boyfriend now, huh?" the man hissed, stepping directly into my path and blocking the sidewalk. He slled heavily of cheap whiskey and sweat.
"He think he can just disgrace walk away? And you... you think you can just use to make a point and then leave?"
"I don’t want anything to do with you," I said, my voice shaking as I backed away until my shoulder hit the cold brick wall again. "Leave alone. I’m going ho."
"You’re not going anywhere by yourself looking like that," he said, a nasty, predatory smile spreading across his face. He reached out, his large, rough hand clamping tightly around my bare upper arm.
The touch made my stomach turn. It wasn’t like the dance floor. This felt real, dangerous, and completely terrifying.
"Let go of !" I scread, pulling back with everything I had, but the alcohol made weak. My feet slipped on the pavent.
"Co on. I’m taking you ho," the man grunted, his grip tightening until it painfully bruised my skin. He began to forcefully drag down the dark side street toward a parked sedan. "Let’s see how much your little protector cares when you’re in my car."
I thrashed against him, open-palm striking his chest, but he was too heavy. The world was spinning in dark, terrifying patches. I opened my mouth to scream for help, but the sound caught in my throat.
One second, I was being violently pulled forward, my bare feet scraping against the floor.
The next second, the air completely vanished.
There was a sound like a rushing wind, followed by a terrifying, fleshy thud that echoed off the buildings.
The grip on my arm vanished so instantly that I stumbled forward, crashing to my knees on the cold ground.
I scrambled to turn around, coughing as I pushed my hair out of my face.
The stranger was on the floor. He had just been hit but I don’t know who. The truth was that I knew who it was before looking up.
He lay under the dim amber glow of a distant streetlamp, bleeding heavily from his nose and mouth, his body twitching silently as if he were completely half-dead.
Standing over him was a monster.
Ren’s chest was rising and falling in violent, ragged movents. His eyes weren’t dark anymore—they were glowing with a terrifying, wild amber light that belonged entirely to his wolf. His hands were curled into fists, dripping with the stranger’s blood.
"I told you not to touch her," Ren said. His voice didn’t even sound human. It was a deep growl that vibrated through the gravel beneath my knees.
The stranger didn’t move. He just groaned, completely incapacitated.
I sat on the cold ground, my breath hitching in my chest as I stared up at the massive silhouette of the man who had just left to freeze.
"Ren..." I whispered, my voice small, broken, and completely laced with the heavy alcohol in my system.
But Ren didn’t look at . Not even for a fraction of a second.
The wild, glowing amber in his eyes slowly faded back into pitch black, but his expression remained a completely frozen, angry mask.
He didn’t offer a hand to help up. He didn’t ask if I was hurt. He didn’t look to see the bruises forming on my arm where the man had held .
He just turned on his heel and started walking back toward the main street, his heavy leather jacket shifting with his broad shoulders.
I stood there, completely confused, my mind swirling with a thousand conflicting emotions. He had left. He had literally driven away.
But he had co back. He had co back for , even after all the horrible, venomous things I had scread at him in that alley.
I didn’t move. I just stayed frozen on the concrete, staring at his retreating back.
He stopped walking and tilted his head slightly, his profile sharp and completely unreadable against the city lights.
"Are you coming or not?" he asked. His voice completely flat, devoid of any warmth, any anger, or any emotion at all. It was the voice of a stranger.
A heavy lump ford in my throat, a mixture of sha and the lingering effects of the shots..
"Ohhh," I said sloppily, my voice sounding incredibly small and embarrassed as I scrambled to my feet, grabbing my heels from the ground and running to catch up with his dark, silent shadow.
The car ride back to the apartnt was suffocating. The only sound was the low, steady hum of the engine and the occasional click of the turn signal as Ren navigated the dark streets.
I sat slumped against the passenger door, my bare feet pressed against the floor mat, clutching my discarded heels to my chest like a shield.
My head was pounding from the alcohol, but the sheer terror of what had just happened in that alleyway had sobered up just enough to realize how horribly things had escalated.
I kept glancing over at Ren. His large hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were completely white, and his eyes never strayed from the road ahead. The blood on his knuckles had dried into a dark, terrifying crust.
He ca back, my mind kept whispering through the foggy haze. He actually turned the car around and ca back.
He was furious with —that much was obvious—but he hadn’t left .
When the car finally pulled up to the apartnt building, the silence beca even heavier.
He turned off the ignition, pulled the key out, and opened his door without saying a single word. He didn’t wait for . He didn’t co around to open my door.
I watched him walk toward the door, his broad shoulders tense beneath his leather jacket.
A sudden, desperate wave of panic hit my chest. I didn’t want this silence. I wanted him to yell at . I wanted him to look at , even if it was with anger. Anything was better than this cold, agonizing indifference.
As I opened the passenger door, a toxic, reckless thought popped into my drunk brain.
If he won’t talk to , I’ll make him look at .
The mont my bare feet touched the pavent, I let my knees buckle on purpose. I let out a soft, sloppy gasp, intentionally stumbling forward and letting my heels drop to the ground.
"Ouch..." I whimpered, making sure my voice sounded as weak and helpless as possible.
It worked. He froze instantly. He didn’t turn around imdiately, but his shoulders dropped slightly before he exhaled a long, heavy breath.
He walked back to where I was leaning heavily against the side of the car, pretending I couldn’t even stand up straight.
Without a word, he reached down. He didn’t carry this ti, but he wrapped one large, warm arm securely around my waist, pulling my side flush against his hard chest to support my weight.
My skin ignited where he touched , that familiar, electric jolt sizzling through my veins despite the alcohol.
"Can’t walk," I mumbled against his shoulder, letting my head loll back.
He didn’t reply. He just kept his grip tight, practically anchoring to his side as he guided through the lobby and up the elevator.
I could feel the rigid tension in his muscles, the way he was deliberately keeping his face turned away so our eyes wouldn’t et.
When we finally stepped inside the apartnt, the entire place was completely empty.
There was no sign of Neve. Her coat wasn’t on the rack, and her shoes weren’t by the door.
My foggy brain rembered her squealing about her boss flying across the country for her.
She had obviously followed him, choosing to spend the night elsewhere, leaving Ren and entirely alone in the quiet apartnt.
Ren steered directly toward the sofa, intending to drop off and walk away.
But the mont my knees touched the cushions, I tightened my fingers around the fabric of his leather jacket and didn’t let go.
User Comments
0 comments from readers