Chapter 209
Chapter 209:
Before I could ask what he was doing there, a thick, intoxicating wave of ancient cedar and crackling ozone flooded my mind.
Adelina, Kain’s deep, vibrating voice echoed through our mind-link, carrying the absolute, unyielding authority of a King. The Sanctum is now under my protection. No one with the name Parrish is to enter these halls. They are a threat to my Luna’s bloodkin. You are safe.
My breath hitched. I looked at the towering Blackstone Warriors standing guard outside the glass window. My mother and stepfather had just thrown me to the wolves — but my Mate, an ocean away, had built an impenetrable fortress around my only remaining soft spot.
The freezing ice encasing my heart all night finally cracked, letting a terrifying, undeniable warmth bleed through.
Jase POV
The harsh, gray morning light filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows of my Davenport Tech office, offering absolutely no warmth. Dust motes danced in the sterile air, mingling with the suffocating scent of my own cold, metallic ozone. My Inner Wolf was pacing relentlessly, snarling at the humiliating memory of Adelina standing in the Parrish dining room, radiating a terrifying, primal power I had never seen in her before.
“Jase p>
A pathetic whimper broke my dark thoughts. Kira shifted on the leather sofa across the room. Her cloying jasmine scent, usually so overpowering, was thinned out by the sour stench of pure fear and the lingering smell of the neutralizing salve on her thigh.
“Is she going to be arrested?” Kira asked, her voice trembling as she clutched a throw pillow to her chest. “Adelina, I mean. My father said he was handling it, but she’s insane, Jase. She could come back p>
I stared at her pale, tear-stained face. A wave of visceral disgust coated the back of my throat. She was the catalyst for this entire disaster — a liability that had dragged my Pack’s reputation through the mud. But as I looked at her trembling frame, my Alpha instincts recognized the only play I had left. I needed to regain control. I needed to leash the liability before she bled any more of my secrets to the press.
“She isn’t coming back,” I said, my voice a dead, hollow void. I walked over to the sofa and looked down at her. “We are getting married at the end of the month, Kira. A private ceremony. You will move into my estate, and you will be under my absolute protection p>
𝗥e𝘤o𝗺𝘮end ѕ.𝗰о𝘮 𝘵𝗼 𝘺o𝘶𝗿 𝖿𝗋𝘪еո𝖽𝘴
Kira’s eyes widened. The sheer, desperate relief that washed over her face was almost sickening. “Really? Oh, Jase, thank you!” She reached out, trying to grab my hand.
I stepped back, avoiding her touch. It wasn’t a proposal born of love — it was a collar forged in fear. “Stay here and rest,” I commanded coldly. “I need to visit the Silvermoon Sanctum. Elder Maeve is dying, and I have appearances to maintain p>
It was a lie. I didn’t care about the old woman. I needed to see the battlefield. I needed to know exactly what kind of fortress Adelina had built around herself.