Page 58 of Ryder

I blinked crusted tears away as I stared out the window.“Where…where are we?”Beyond the windows were derelict-looking buildings, which clearly weren’t derelict because I could see people standing on doorsteps and grubby curtains blowing out of open windows.My skin prickled as awareness bloomed.“Jude, where are you taking me?”

“Exactly where I was told to.”

There was a grim set to his jaw.Jude was a happy, playful sort of guy.I didn’t recognize the stranger sitting next to me, gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles.

Beyond the car window, the people turned to watch our passage.“How much farther do we need to go?”

“We’re about five minutes away.”

My laugh was nervous.“I really wish I’d stayed out of it.”

How was it possible for this place to exist?We hadn’t crossed the barrier yet.Litter billowed in the wind, plastic bags, bits of paper, old rags.Cars in every flavor were parked haphazardly, some missing wheels, some missing doors, and some being openly stripped.I felt like I’d stepped into a darker, more sinister, alternate reality.As if to emphasize the stark, desolate environment, the clear blue skies cast the area into glorious, detailed relief.

Jude was driving way too fast, and there was a slight reckless edge to it that made me grip the door handle a little tighter.I also wanted to tell him to put his foot down and go faster.

“Is that…sirens?”They sounded faint but getting closer.

“Yeah.We lost them for a bit, but I’m guessing they’ve got eyes on us somehow, because they’ve picked us up again several times.”

My mind blanked out and then rushed back with a painful jolt.How were we going to get out of this?We were being followed.We were in the worst neighborhood in the city.How could this possibly end well?“I’m so sorry, Jude.”

“Hey.”He reached across the gap to place his hand over mine, giving it a squeeze.“It’s not your fault, Emma.I wasn’t going to let them take you.I don’t know how, but Sloane, you know what she’s like.No way will she let Jace abandon you here.I just need to get to the destination they gave me.”He took a right at the intersection and then ground to a screeching halt.“Fuck!”

“Back up!”

Blocking our path was a black SUV.The doors swung open, and alphas surged out, only not the kind of alphas I was familiar with.These alphas were in royal blue tactical uniforms.They were official.This should have comforted me in a neighborhood that was so evidently criminal.

It did not.

Jude threw the car into reverse and then came to another juddering halt.

“FUCK!”

Behind us was another SUV with more alphas piling out.They looked equally official, with gas masks over their faces, and were holding… “Is that a fucking baseball bat?”Jude muttered.

The door beside me was ripped open, and a squeal tore from my lips.On the other side, Jude cried out as he was plucked from the vehicle.I kicked and wrestled as my assailant fumbled for the seatbelt catch.It popped off, and then he was on me, only he wasn’t tearing me out like Jude.The man above me wasn’t wearing a mask, and his face twisted before my eyes from one of blank neutrality into a feral beast.

I screamed as he pinned me down and reached for his belt.

My omega heat scent was sending him straight into a rut!

I kicked and punched as his thick scent saturated the air.There was something off about it, something that made me want to vomit.Around us was a cacophony of violence—roars, snarls, and the meaty thud of blows.The alpha was ripped off me, the momentum tearing me from the car and sending me sprawling to my hands and knees.

I looked up in time to see a bat swing.The alpha who’d tried to take me buckled under the savage blow and crashed to the floor.The masked alpha came down over him, bloody bat in hand.More brutal blows followed, and blood splattered across the tarmac, me, and the alpha wielding the bat.

He stopped, turned, and focused on me.

My breath trapped in my lungs.

I recognized those shoulders, that hard body I’d become intimately acquainted with over three hot days and nights of pleasure.

The alpha in the mask was Ryder.

* * *

Ryder

She was in shock.

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