Chapter 328
Chapter 328:
I don’t move.
Enzo, on the other hand, does. He throws the car into park, steps out, and slams the door behind him, his expression colder than I’ve ever seen.
“She doesn’t want to talk to you, Alpha Ryder,” Enzo says, his tone so sharp it could cut glass. “So, I’ll give you the honor of stepping the fuck out of the way p>
Through the window, I watch Ryder’s jaw tighten, his fists clenching at his sides as if he’s trying to keep himself together. Good fucking luck.
“Enzo, please,” Ryder says, his voice quieter now, almost pleading. “I just need to talk to her. Just five minutes p>
“Five minutes?” Enzo scoffs, crossing his arms. “You had years to talk to her. Years to tell her the truth. And now you think five minutes is going to fix all this p>
I hate that Ryder looks so… broken. Because it makes my own heart feel like it’s being ripped apart all over again. But I don’t have time for that.
I shove the door open and step out, squaring my shoulders as I meet Ryder’s gaze.
“Ryder,” I say, my voice cold enough to freeze over hell. “Go back to your pack p>
“Jasmine, please,” he says, taking a step closer. “Don’t do this. I can explain p>
“Explain?” I cut him off, my voice rising. “You want to explain now? After months of lying to me? After I had to find out about your brother from him?” I gesture toward the pack house, my hand trembling. “You don’t get to fucking explain, Ryder. Not anymore p>
His mouth opens, but I don’t give him the chance.
“You think ‘I was trying to protect you’ makes it better?” I snap, my chest heaving. “It doesn’t. It makes it worse. Because you didn’t trust me. And there’s no love without trust p>
The look in his eyes almost kills me, but I can’t stop.
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“You’re just like them,” I say, my voice breaking on the last word. “Just like everyone else who’s ever lied to me, betrayed me, made me feel like I wasn’t enough. You’re no different p>
That does it. He stops, his shoulders slumping as if my words have finally sunk in.
I turn back to Enzo, nodding once.
“Let’s go p>
Without another glance, I climb into the car and shut the door. And when the car finally pulls away, I let the tears fall.
Ryder POV
Hell? Give me a better fucking definition, and I’ll tell you that whatever it is, it’s still not close to what I’m going through. This? This isn’t just hell. This is annihilation, destruction, the fucking emptiness swallowing me whole.
Three sleepless nights. Three goddamn nights without Jasmine.
Her laughter? Gone. Her smile—the one that lit up my entire world, that made me believe for a brief, fragile second that I could actually survive this life? Gone. Her soft body pressed against mine, her hand running through my hair when the weight of the world was too much to bear? Fucking gone.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I’m screwed. Completely and utterly screwed. The world feels hollow, a black pit of nothingness closing in on me from all sides. I feel empty, like someone ripped my soul out and left me with this husk of a body that barely knows how to breathe without her.