Chapter 144
Chapter 144:
My blood froze. Adelina. The gala. I swallowed hard, my mind scrambling for a lifeline. “It — it was a misunderstanding. Carolyn was upset. It was merely a mother’s discipline p>
The temperature in the room plummeted. Kain’s scent spiked, turning from a heavy pressure into a solid, suffocating wall of lethal intent. My knees buckled under the sheer force of his aura.
He crossed the distance between us in a blur of unnatural speed. He didn’t touch me. He didn’t need to.
“You call a handprint on my Luna’s face ‘discipline’?” Kain’s voice was a deadly, quiet hiss that echoed in the hollows of my skull. “I call it an assault. An act of war p>
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t speak.
“Listen to me very carefully, Bryan,” Kain continued, his gaze piercing straight through me. “If your mate so much as breathes in Adelina’s direction again, I won’t just bankrupt you. I will bring a motion before the Pack Council. I will strip you of your title, your lands, and your Pack. I will exile the entire Parrish family as Rogues p>
Rogues.
The word tore through my mind like a silver bullet. My Inner Wolf let out a broken, terrified howl and went completely silent. To be a Rogue meant being hunted, starved, and stripped of all protection — a fate worse than death. I collapsed to the floor, my hands trembling violently against the cold stone. I had absolutely nothing left.
Kain looked down at me with utter revulsion, then turned his back, dismissing my existence entirely.
“Fletcher,” he commanded, his voice carrying easily through the vast room. “Take out the trash p>
Fletcher hauled me to my feet by my collar and dragged me toward the elevator. My mind was a chaotic blur of terror and rage. Kain had spared my life, but the executioner’s axe still hovered over my neck. And the woman holding the rope was my own wife.
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Bryan POV
The ride back to the Parrish Estate was a blur of suffocating panic. I burst through the double doors of our penthouse, my chest heaving. The air inside was thick with Carolyn’s scent — faded florals laced with a bitter, oblivious resentment.
She was sitting on the velvet sofa, casually sipping a martini as though our entire world hadn’t just been incinerated.
I crossed the Persian rug in three strides and slapped the crystal glass from her hand. It shattered against the wall, an olive rolling across the expensive floorboards.
“Bryan! Have you lost your mind?” she shrieked, jumping to her feet.
I grabbed her shoulders, my fingers digging into her silk blouse. “You stupid, arrogant woman,” I roared, my Inner Wolf howling with the pathetic terror of a hunted animal. “Your little slap just cost us everything. Kain Blackwell bought the Hudson Yards lot in cash just to spite me. He froze our accounts. We are ruined p>
Carolyn blinked, her face paling, but her stubborn vanity refused to yield. “That’s impossible. It’s just a Mating Contract! Everyone knows he loves his Beta p>