Chapter 17
Calhoun’s pov~
Tristan pulled up in the new car just as the sun was burning the edge of the morning sky. The moment I stepped out, I could feel the shift. Eyes darting, whispers circling, people too afraid to meet my stare yet too desperate to look away. The air reeked of curiosity and fear, and I couldn’t give a damn about any of it. My mind wasn’t here with them, it was locked on Carmela and the lesson she was about to finish learning.
My shoes struck against the marble floor as I marched down the corridor. Guards lined the walls, standing where I had ordered them to keep watch since last night. Carmela had been on her knees through the hours, the cold and rough ground gnawing at her skin while she broke piece by piece.
The moment I announced myself with a single word, “Move,” the air shifted. The guards snapped to attention and bowed their heads. “Alpha,” they echoed in unison.
And then Carmela… turned. Slowly, like a dying flame clinging to its last ember. Her eyes were hollow now, no trace of that mischief, that fire that used to glimmer in them. She looked like she had been wrung dry of every ounce of pride. She tried to rise, scrambling pathetically, but her legs betrayed her, sending her crashing face-first back onto the floor. The guards didn’t even flinch to help her. They knew better.
Tears poured down her face, the sound of her sobbing cutting through the silence. My chest didn’t stir. Pity was something she had long burned from me.
But then, instead of bowing her head and accepting defeat, she lost her fucking mind.
“Elodie!” she shrieked, her voice cracking. “Elodie is nothing but a filthy whore! A scheming, disgusting bitch who bewitched you, Calhoun Damaris! She put a spell on you! Because I know you—” she clawed at the air, her spit flying with her words— “you would never touch me, never hurt me! You love me, not that conniving slut p>
The entire corridor froze. Every whisper, every breath fell silent as her words rang through the air. I felt the shift deep inside me, my wolf snarling, growling so loud it thundered in my skull. My eyes flashed amber, the beast inside clawing to get out, to rip her throat wide open and end the noise once and for all.
I clenched my fists, forcing myself to cage him in. Not yet.
The staff had gathered now, hovering like moths drawn to the fire of madness unraveling before them. Carmela turned her wrath on them, shrieking with veins bulging in her throat.
“What the fuck are you staring at?!” she screamed. “All of you! Fucking parasites! Laughing at me?! Mocking me?! Just wait till I stand again I’ll make each and every one of you pay p>
Her laughter was manic, a shrill, broken sound that crawled down the walls.
I was about to silence her myself when, to my surprise, the atmosphere shifted. Several of my employees, those who had worked closest with Elodie, stepped forward. Their faces were twisted with fury.
“You’re nothing but a liar, Carmela!” one shouted.
“Elodie did nothing but serve Alpha with loyalty!” another barked.
“She obeyed every command, endured your cruelty while you taunted her every day!” a woman snapped, her voice trembling with long-repressed rage. “We all saw how you cornered her, degraded her, tried to break her, while she kept her head down and took it for the sake of peace p>
“You’re the whore!” another spat. “Elodie was pure. You’re filth. Always have been p>
Voices began to overlap, battering Carmela from every side.
Carmela didn’t stop. She kept spitting her venom, tears running down her cheeks, mascara streaking down her face like black rivers.
“Whores! Just like Elodie!” she shrieked. “How much did she pay you to be on her side? Or… did she spread her legs for you too p>
The last words hit the air. Gasps erupted around the room. My blood boiled. My claws ached to sink into her.
“CARMELA I roared, my voice breaking through the chaos.
Heads snapped toward me. Everyone froze. Then, like frightened rats, they scattered, leaving only her. Tears were streaming down her face, and she shrank back as if death itself had come for her.
But she wasn’t finished. Snorting, trembling, she pointed at the staff who had dared speak against her. “Thank goodness you’re here! That asshole there! And you!” She jabbed a finger at each of them, voice shaking, wild. “Fire them! Fire them, Calhoun! How dare they talk back to me p>
Her desperation made her almost unrecognizable, mentally frayed, unhinged.
The staff paled. They thought I would protect her, as I had in the past. I ground my jaw. Slowly, I narrowed my eyes at her.
“This?” I said, low, and dangerous. “This is what you’ve been doing? Locked up here? Made to kneel, forced to reflect on your actions? And this is the lesson you’ve learned? Barking at my staff like some deranged beast?” My amber eyes bore into her. “Have you not learned? When you dare speak Elodie’s name from your filthy mouth, you’re digging your own grave p>
Her face drained of color. But I wasn’t done. My voice didn’t waver.
“I heard everything they said. And they were honest. You tried to ruin my company, hurt an innocent woman, because of your petty, vicious jealousy. If anyone is to blame for your downfall… it’s you. No one else p>
Her sobs grew louder, her mascara still running in streaks. She lowered her head, shivering. I leaned closer, so close she could feel the cold weight of me pressing against her.
“And until now, I didn’t see how truly vicious you are… how blind I was.” I let the words sink, poison in her ears. “To be perfectly honest… I love Elodie. Not you p>
The room went silent. Staff gasped, hands over their mouths. Carmela froze. Dead. Eyes wide. Her Heart stopped.
I stepped closer. Closer. My Amber eyes locked on hers. “Everything I felt for you,” I whispered, “is gone. Replaced by disgust. I want you out of my life. Forever p>
She laughed. Through tears, she continued. “Seriously?” she hissed. “You think you’re breaking up with me now? You think I don’t know what had been going on? You screwed her for years, Calhoun, without ever acknowledging her publicly. The minute I showed up, you dumped Elodie like yesterday’s trash. YOU are the one who broke her, not me p>
Gasps ricocheted through the office again. Her serpentine smirk curled across her face. My body froze.