Chapter 4 The Mountain Safehouse

Rosa's POV

The cold wind cuts through my soaked clothes, but inside my skin, I am burning alive.

My arms lock around Ryder's heavy waist, my fingers digging into the wet leather of his vest. My head throbs from the vision of the man with the silver ring.

The words came before I could stop them, and I wait for Ryder to yell at me. I wait for him to call me crazy, the way Garrett always does whenever my headaches make me say things I do not understand.

Instead, Ryder twists the handlebars hard to the left.

The heavy motorcycle skids across the wet asphalt, its tires cutting off the main highway onto a dark trail lined with towering pine trees. He does not head toward the river bridge. He turns away from it completely, taking us deep into the black shadow of the mountain.

He believed me.

The realization hits my chest harder than the freezing rain.

This dangerous stranger, an Alpha King who could crush my throat with one hand, listened to my voice and changed course without hesitation. Nobody has ever believed me. For four years, my words were treated like noise, my thoughts dismissed as Omega nonsense.

"Where are we going?" I shout into his back, my voice shaking from the cold and the fever in my blood.

"My private house on the ridge," Ryder calls back over the roar of the engine, his voice deep and steady. "It is behind a scent barrier. Garrett's trackers cannot smell you up there."

My stomach tightens.

Another wave of slick heat pulses between my thighs, hot and heavy, making me press my face into the crook of his neck. His scent fills my nose... rain, cedar smoke, and dark earth.

My inner wolf sits up in relief. My feverish body wants to melt into him, to strip off our wet clothes and press my skin flat against his, but my human mind is still terrified.

Ten minutes later, the motorcycle slows down as we pass through a massive iron gate hidden in the trees. The gate swings open automatically, closing tight behind us. A large log house sits on the side of the mountain, surrounded by high stone walls.

Ryder cuts the engine in front of the porch. The sudden silence of the night is heavy, filled only by our rough breathing and the rain falling on the tin roof.

Before I can move my legs, Ryder swings his foot over the bike and reaches for me. His large hands slide around my waist, lifting me off the seat like I weigh nothing.

The moment my body presses against his chest, a soft whimper escapes my throat. My legs wrap around his hips by instinct, my hands grabbing his shoulders as heat twists my lower belly.

"I have you, Rosa," he whispers, his breath hot against my ear.

He carries me up the wooden steps, kicks the front door open, and steps into a warm, dark living room. He pushes the door shut with his heel, the iron lock clicking into place with a solid thud.

The house is warm, smelling of dry oak and woodsmoke. Within three seconds, the sweet, heavy scent of my heat fills the air, completely erasing the smell of the storm outside.

Ryder carries me into a large bedroom at the back of the house. He sets me down gently on the edge of a massive bed covered in dark blankets. My legs give out, and I collapse back against the pillows, my heart hammering as my chest heaves for air.

"Stay still," Ryder says, his voice low and tight.

He drops to his knees in front of me. His large hands move to my boots, unbuckling the wet leather and pulling them off my feet one by one. His fingers brush against my bare ankles, and every place his skin touches sends a sharp shock of electricity straight to my core.

I gasp, my toes curling into the mattress.

He does not touch me with force. He does not grab me the way Garrett's men always did when they dragged me out of the kitchen. His large, calloused hands move with a slow, careful patience that makes my eyes sting with unshed tears.

"Why are you doing this?" I ask, my voice barely a whisper in the quiet room. "Why did you turn the bike around when I talked about the bridge?"

Ryder stops.

His hands rest on my calves, his thumb pressing lightly against my skin. He looks up at me, his dark eyes are glowing with a faint, golden light in the dim room.

"Because you are my mate, Rosa," he says, his voice dropping into a rough growl that vibrates through the floorboards. "And because my wolf knows you are telling the truth, even if you do not understand it yourself."

My breath catches in my throat. He tilts his head, his nostrils flaring as he takes in the smell of my skin.

"Garrett has been poisoning you," he continues, his jaw tightening until a muscle jumps in his cheek. "What he gave you also kept your wolf asleep. But your blood is fighting back now. Your heat is breaking open, and if I do not help you clear the poison, your fever will burn you out."

He stands up, his massive frame towering over the bed. He reaches for the bottom of his wet leather vest, pulling it over his head and tossing it onto a chair. His dark shirt comes off next, revealing a chest covered in intricate black tattoos and battle scars.

My eyes widen. My mouth goes dry. The physical power coming off him is suffocating, dominant and terrifying, but my Omega body arches toward him on its own.

Ryder leans over the bed, placing his hands beside my head, pinning me beneath his shadow. His face is inches from mine, his breath smelling of rain and dark cedar.

"I am going to get you a clean shirt and a warm blanket," he tells me, his gold eyes locked onto mine. "And then I am going to sit right next to this bed and stay here until your fever breaks."

I stare up at his dark face, my head throbbing again as my strange headaches fight through the fever. But this time, it is not a headache.

A voice speaks inside my head. It is not my own voice. It is deep, dark, and filled with a terrifying, possessive heat.

She looks at me like she expects a strike, his inner thoughts echo in my mind, clear as a bell. I will tear Garrett Reyes apart with my bare hands for what he did to her. She is mine. She has always been mine.

My eyes go wide with pure shock. My hand flies up to cover my mouth as I gasp out loud.

Ryder freezes.

His gold eyes narrow as he watches my face, his posture going dead still above me. He looks at my shaking hands, then down at my wide, terrified eyes.

"Rosa," he whispers, his voice turning deadly quiet as he realizes what just happened. "What did you just hear?"