Chapter 189
Chapter 189:
An hour later, The Shops at Columbus Circle were a chaotic sea of human noise. The air was a dizzying, overwhelming mix of sweet popcorn, roasted nuts, and a hundred different designer perfumes. Beside me, Jaxon’s scent — a soft, innocent blend of warm milk and fresh grass — was the only grounding thing in the crowded space.
We were heading toward the toy store, just passing the entrance of a high-end department store, when it happened.
Jaxon suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. His small hand tightened painfully around my fingers. His dark eyes dilated, and his little nose twitched frantically, sifting through the overwhelming human odors. His entire body went rigid, vibrating with a sudden, primal energy.
Before I could ask what was wrong, a desperate whine tore from his throat. He ripped his hand from mine and bolted.
“Jaxon!” I yelled, my heart leaping into my throat as he dodged recklessly through the dense crowd of shoppers.
He was sprinting toward a woman walking out of the department store. She wore a camel trench coat, her waterfall of dark hair swaying with each step. Jaxon threw his small body at her, wrapping his arms around her legs with a bone-crushing grip.
A howl ripped from the tiny Lycan pup — a sound so full of shattered grief and raw, agonizing joy that it made my own chest ache.
“Mommy! You came back p>
Shoppers stopped and stared, hands flying to their mouths in shock. The woman gasped, dropping her shopping bags as she stumbled backward, nearly losing her balance. She spun around, her face pale with absolute terror.
I froze. The breath was knocked completely out of my lungs.
𝖳𝗵𝘰𝘶𝗌𝘢ո𝗱𝗌 оf 𝗿𝖾𝘢𝖽ers o𝗇 𝗴alոo𝗏е𝘭ѕ.cо𝘮
It was Carmella Golden. My newly hired CFO.
“Jaxon, let go!” I rushed forward, grabbing his small shoulders to pull him back. “I am so sorry, Carmella — he’s just confused p>
“No!” Jaxon shrieked, fighting against my grip and burying his face deeper into the camel fabric of her coat. He inhaled deeply, his Lycan instincts overriding everything else.
Beneath the heavy, expensive perfume Carmella wore, my own heightened senses suddenly caught it — the faint, buried scent I had noticed in the boardroom yesterday. Rosemary and rain.
“It’s her!” Jaxon sobbed hysterically, tears streaming down his flushed cheeks as he refused to let go. “I know her smell! She smells like home p>
Carmella stared down at the weeping boy, her body trembling violently as the color drained entirely from her beautiful face.
Adelina POV
I grabbed Jaxon’s small shoulders, trying desperately to pry him away from my newly hired CFO. “Jaxon, please let go,” I urged, acutely aware of the whispers and the cell phones potentially being raised by the staring shoppers.
But the harder I pulled, the louder he shrieked. His tiny fingers twisted into the fabric of Carmella’s camel coat, his Lycan strength bleeding through his panic.
Instead of pushing him away in horror, Carmella dropped to her knees. Her trembling hands hovered for a fraction of a second before she instinctively buried her fingers into his dark hair. “Shh,” she whispered, her voice shaking but laced with an inexplicable, soothing warmth. “It’s okay, sweet boy. I’m right here p>