The Alpha King's Reluctant Bride (Ava and Grayson) novel Chapter 43

-Grayson’s POV-

I saw red.

Everything blurred together as my rage took over. Two men fell lifeless before me, meant to guard the operation but th were nothing more th

The red burned brighter when I walked in and saw her. Ava. Tied to a chair, unharmed-physically, at least–

but my we didn’t care. He wanted blood. And not just theirs.

Ricardo.

Even with those men dead and the fool that had tried to sell her off dead, even with Ava safe in a hotel room right now, 1 wolf clawed at me in motion. He would suffer, and I’d be there to watch him bleed.

“No one touches what’s mine!

That sentence kept playing on a loop in my head. But she wasn’t mine. Not really. Ava Pierce wasn’t mine.

The night had fallen, casting a dim glow across the city. I stood by the window, staring at nothing, trying to calm the beas inside me. I was cl “I’m sorry.”

Her voice cut through the silence like a whisper, but it hit me hard. My shoulders stiffened, but I didn’t turn. I didn’t want i look at her. I was m at myself, at her, at everything. Luca hadn’t suffered enough, not for what he had done. Not for wh he would’ve done if I hadn’t been there.

Control

1 lived for control, thrived on it. But it was slipping, evading me more and more each day. Especially around her.

“I was stupid,” she continued, her voice small, barely above a whisper. “I was really stupid. I shouldn’t have followed a complete stranger. I w

Her words dug into me, twisting the knife in my gut. I finally tumed my head, my eyes locking onto hers. The anger was

there, simmering just beneath the surface, and I made sure she could see it. She had her knees pulled up to her chest, those eyes of hers shifting between colors like they always did when she was anxious or scared.

Good.

I needed her to feel the weight of her mistake. I needed her to understand the gravity of what had almost happened.

She sighed, breaking the silence as she pushed herself off the bed. “I want to take a shower. Please is there anything for me

to wear?”

Lignored her question. “Do you know what would’ve happened I hadn’t found you in time?” My voice came out cold, harsher than I intended She flinched, but I wasn’t done. She needed to hear this.

“I would’ve been dead. Or sold off to a man named Ricardo Sylvester, she whispered, her voice trembling.

So, the bastard had mentioned Ricardo. I clenched my fists, struggling to keep my anger i

thick with tension, and the weight of what could have happened still hung in the air.

in check. The air between

“You don’t get it, do you?” My voice was sharp, cutting through the silence like a blade. “There are men out there-

dangerous men. Worse than you can imagine. You were lucky today. If I hadn’t found you, Ricardo would’ve had you trust me when I say, y Her face paled, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. She needed to understand.

“And this isn’t just about today. If you’re going to be my wife, Ava, it makes you a target. Everyone who wants to get t will go through you. Y

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