Chapter 84
Chapter 84:
The intoxicating warmth of his touch instantly turned to ice in my mind. He wasn’t touching me out of love. He was fulfilling the protection clause of our Mating Contract — pitying a broken, wolfless asset who had almost died because she was too weak to fight back.
Panic, sharp and suffocating, seized my chest. I couldn’t let myself fall for a man who was only pretending. I violently flinched, ripping my hand from his grip and shrinking back against the hospital pillows.
Kain froze. His hand hovered in the empty air. For a fraction of a second, a flash of pure, unadulterated agony shattered the glacial mask of the Lycan King — a look of such profound devastation that it made my breath hitch.
“I’m sorry,” I blurted out, my voice raspy and frantic, desperate to rebuild the professional wall between us. “I ruined your London trip. I know you canceled it because of me p>
Kain slowly lowered his hand, his jaw clenching so hard a muscle ticked near his ear.
“And the cruise,” I babbled, the residual silver toxicity making my thoughts race. “I completely messed up the vacation I booked for you and Fletcher. I’ll fix it. I’ll rebook a better suite for you both as soon as I’m discharged. I promise, Kain. I’ll make up for this inconvenience p>
The atmospheric pressure in the room plummeted to an absolute vacuum.
Kain stood up. His massive frame towered over the bed, but the protective warmth radiating from him had vanished, replaced by a terrifying, freezing void. I could physically feel the violent tremors in his chest — his Inner Wolf roaring in absolute, agonizing frustration. He dragged a heavy hand through his dark hair, fighting a brutal internal war to keep his Lycan from tearing the room apart.
When he finally looked at me, his eyes were pitch-black and entirely devoid of emotion.
“Just rest, Adelina,” he said, his voice a hollow, mechanical rasp.
𝖣i𝗌𝘤ove𝗿 𝘩𝗂𝗱d𝘦𝗇 𝘨e𝗆ѕ 𝘰𝘯.со𝘮
He turned his back to me and walked over to the massive bulletproof window, staring out at the dark parking lot, putting an insurmountable, freezing chasm between us. I pulled the thin hospital blanket up to my chin, my heart aching with a profound, confusing sorrow. I had maintained our boundaries, just as I was supposed to — so why did it feel like I had just shattered both of us?
Kain POV
The reflection in the bulletproof glass showed the fragile, pale woman lying in the hospital bed behind me. My chest felt like it had been ripped open with a silver blade.
She had flinched. She had looked at my touch as if it were poison, then immediately apologized for ruining a fictional vacation with my Beta.
My Lycan was thrashing against my ribs, howling in blinding, desperate agony. Mate rejects us. Mate thinks we belong to another. I gripped the cold steel of the windowsill, my fingernails elongating into thick, black claws that gouged deep grooves into the metal. I had to force the beast down. She was recovering from silver poisoning — her dormant wolf was too weak to handle the crushing weight of my true aura.