Page 12 of Savage Loyalty

My breath caught in my throat, my instincts screaming at me to back away, but I refused to move. Fear and fury clashed inside me, but pride won out. I lifted my chin, meeting his hidden gaze head-on.

“Enough.”

The word cut through the tension like a blade, sharp and commanding.

The tall man stiffened, his head turning toward the voice. I followed his gaze, and my chest tightened as another rider dismounted his bike, his movements deliberate and controlled. He was tall and broad, his leather cut adorned with the insignia of the Crimson Reapers and the unmistakable patch of a vice president.

Ryder “Wraith” Kane.

His dark hair was cropped close to his head, and his piercing blue-gray eyes locked onto me with an intensity that made my stomach twist. The other Reapers fell silent as he approached, the authority he carried evident in the way they moved to give him space.

“Wraith,” the tall one said, his tone a mix of irritation and respect. “We were just?—”

“I know what you were doing,” Ryder interrupted, his voice low but firm. “Step back.”

The tall man hesitated for a moment, his jaw tightening, but he obeyed, taking a step away from me.

Ryder turned his gaze to me, his expression unreadable. “You shouldn’t be here,” he said, his tone even but laced with warning.

I lifted my chin, the defiance still burning in my chest. “I didn’t realize I needed permission to take a walk.”

His lips twitched, the faintest hint of a smirk threatening to break through, but his eyes remained cold. “You don’t. But walking into Reaper territory? That’s a choice. A dangerous one.”

“Is that a threat?” I asked, my voice sharper than I intended.

“No,” he said, his gaze steady. “It’s advice.”

The air between us crackled with tension, the silence stretching out as we stared at each other. I couldn’t read him, couldn’t tell if he was trying to intimidate me or warn me. Maybe both.

“What do you want us to do, Wraith?” the tall man asked, breaking the silence.

“Nothing,” Ryder said without looking away from me. “She’s leaving.”

I clenched my fists at my sides, my pride warring with my common sense. But I wasn’t stupid enough to push my luck. Without another word, I turned and started walking, forcing my legs to move even as my heart hammered in my chest.

Their laughter followed me down the street, low and mocking, but Ryder’s voice cut through it all, calm and firm. “Let her go.”

I didn’t stop walking until the sound of their engines rumbled back to life, echoing down the empty street, and finally faded into the distance. Only then did I let out a shaky breath, my chest rising and falling with uneven gasps. My legs felt weak, my steps faltering as I reached the edge of Viper territory. The familiar landmarks should have brought some comfort, but they didn’t. The tension clinging to me felt like a second skin, impossible to shake.

My hands were trembling, and I stuffed them into my jacket pockets to hide the evidence, even though no one was around to see. The rain had soaked through my clothes, chilling me to the bone, but I barely felt it. The adrenaline still pumping through my veins had numbed everything else.

Ryder Kane’s voice echoed in my mind, calm and deliberate, yet impossible to ignore. Unlike the others, he hadn’t mocked me or tried to scare me outright. But somehow, that made him more dangerous. There was a weight behind his words, a quiet certainty that carried more power than all their sneers and threats combined.

He hadn’t needed to say much to make his point.

He was dangerous—that much was obvious. Not just because of his position as Vice President of the Crimson Reapers or the way the others deferred to him without question. It was something more than that. A presence, a certainty, an unshakable control that demanded attention.

And that’s what left me so unsettled.

I hated how clearly I could still see his eyes—piercing blue-gray, sharp and unrelenting as if they could see right through me. Most men in his position relied on brute force or the threat of violence to command respect, but Ryder didn’t have to. His authority came from something quieter, more calculated. It was the kind of power you couldn’t argue with, the kind that made you want to look away even when you knew you shouldn’t.

I didn’t trust him—not for a second. But there was something about him I couldn’t quite put my finger on, something that gnawed at the edges of my thoughts even as I tried to push it away.

The Reapers weren’t just a threat to the Vipers. They were a threat to me, too.

The realization settled in my chest like a heavy stone, the weight of it pressing against my ribs. I’d spent years trying to stay out of club business, distancing myself from the violence and chaos that came with the Black Vipers’ name. But now, it felt like I was being pulled back in, dragged into a war I wanted no part of.

And Ryder Kane was at the center of it.

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