Chapter 37
Chapter 37:
Jase POV
The sterile, fluorescent lights of the precinct waiting room buzzed like a trapped fly. The air reeked of cheap bleach, stale coffee, and the sour sweat of human criminals. I sat on the hard plastic chair, rubbing my wrists where the cold steel of the handcuffs had bitten into my skin. The metallic ozone of my enraged Alpha scent was suffocatingly thick, bouncing off the concrete walls.
The heavy door clicked open. Kira Parrish hurried in, her cloying jasmine perfume instantly battling the precinct’s stench. She looked frantic, clutching her designer coat around her.
“Jase,” she breathed, rushing to my side. “I came as soon as the bail was posted p>
I didn’t look at her. My jaw was clenched so tight my teeth ached. “Babe Vincent didn’t Mark her. He didn’t even touch her. Someone else took my Omega p>
Kira swallowed hard, her eyes darting nervously. “I know. I found out the truth, Jase. It’s worse than we thought p>
I finally snapped my gaze to her, my Inner Wolf clawing at my ribs. “Tell me p>
“She didn’t choose to marry anyone,” Kira whispered, her voice trembling with perfectly manufactured pity. “Adelina got involved with Babe Vincent’s underground crowd. She racked up massive debts—gambling, maybe worse. When she couldn’t pay, a ruthless Lycan King bought her debt. He didn’t marry her out of love, Jase. He bought her as collateral. She’s a prisoner in a golden cage p>
𝖩𝗈і𝗇 𝗼𝘂𝗋 𝘤𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂nіt𝗒 оո
The words hit me like a physical shockwave.
A prisoner.
The agonizing betrayal that had been burning a hole in my chest instantly evaporated, replaced by a blinding, righteous fury. She hadn’t rejected me for a stronger male. She was a victim. My defective, wolfless Omega had stumbled into the dark, and now she was being held hostage by a monster to pay off a gutter rat’s debt.
My Inner Wolf stopped its frantic pacing and let out a deep, resonant howl of purpose. Trapped. Save her. Ours.
“He forced her to slap me, Jase,” Kira continued, a fake tear slipping down her cheek. “He forced her to steal my family’s shares to expand his empire. She looked so dead inside p>
I stood up, the sheer force of my Alpha aura making the human guard outside the glass flinch. The dark, obsessive flame in my chest roared back to life. I wasn’t the villain who had pushed her away. I was the only one who could save her.
“I’m going to tear his empire to the ground,” I vowed, my voice a lethal, vibrating rumble. “And I’m bringing her home p>
Adelina POV
The next afternoon, I sat behind the wheel of the dark gray Porsche Panamera, idling at the curb outside The Oak Room. The engine purred with a terrifying, suppressed power.
I watched the heavy brass doors of the elite club swing open. Kain stepped out onto the sidewalk, looking devastatingly handsome in a tailored charcoal suit. But he wasn’t alone. A tall, striking blonde man walked beside him. I recognized him from the Blackstone files—Fletcher Banks, Kain’s Beta.
Fletcher laughed at something Kain said. Then, with a casual, intimate familiarity, he reached up and gently adjusted the collar of Kain’s shirt. Kain didn’t flinch. He didn’t pull away. He simply stood there, allowing the touch.
A strange, sharp pang hit my chest, but I quickly smothered it beneath a wave of profound relief.
Of course.