Chapter 336
Chapter 336:
Carter froze, the drunken smile instantly sliding off his face as Kain’s ancient cedar scent erupted into a suffocating, blood-chilling storm of pure Lycan fury.
“Excuse us,” Kain growled, his voice a dark, vibrating rumble that sounded more beast than man. “My wife needs to use the powder room p>
He didn’t wait for my response. His large hand clamped around my wrist like a steel vice, and he hauled me out of my chair with a brutal, unyielding force that completely ignored my wolfless fragility.
“Kain, stop!” I gasped, stumbling in my heels as he dragged me away from the table and pushed through the heavy double doors into the estate’s dimly lit hallway.
The thick Persian rug absorbed the sound of our footsteps, but it could do nothing to absorb the sheer panic radiating from him.
“You’re hurting me!” I cried out, trying to pry his fingers from my wrist.
Kain stopped dead in his tracks. He looked down at his hand, then at my skin, and dropped my wrist as if he had been burned by silver.
P𝗗𝗙𝘴 o𝗻
I rubbed my aching arm, staring up at him in absolute shock. The impenetrable, composed mask of the Lycan King had completely shattered. His chest was heaving, and his ancient cedar scent was a chaotic, suffocating storm of terror and frantic desperation. He looked like a cornered animal.
“I… I have an urgent business call,” Kain stammered. The lie was so clumsy, so painfully obvious, it felt like a slap to the face.
He took a step back, his golden eyes wide and unfocused. “Go to the restroom, Adelina,” he ordered, his voice dropping into a heavy, oppressive frequency that bordered on an Alpha’s Command. “Do not wander. Stay there until I come for you p>
Before I could demand an explanation about the tattoo—or why the timeline of his breakdown aligned so perfectly with the year he first caught my scent—Kain turned on his heel and vanished down the shadowed corridor with the terrifying speed of a predator hunting its prey.
I stood alone in the quiet hallway, my heart hammering against my ribs. He was hiding something massive. Something that terrified him enough to hurt me.
I didn’t turn toward the powder room. Driven by a sudden, burning need for the truth, I lifted the hem of my silk gown and followed the chaotic trail of his ancient cedar scent into the shadows.
Kain POV
I didn’t stop moving until I reached the heavy oak doors of the estate’s private study. I kicked the door open with enough force to crack the wood.
Lance Sterling jumped, dropping his cigarette onto the expensive Persian rug. He had barely turned around before I crossed the room in a blur of Lycan speed. My hand clamped around his throat, lifting him off his feet as I slammed him hard against the dark wood-paneled wall.