Chapter 435
Chapter 435:
I stared at my adoptive cousin, my anger cooling into a sharp, icy suspicion. This wasn’t the protective concern of a family member. This was the disproportionate, desperate terror of a man afraid that a colossal secret was about to be unearthed.
“Get out of my apartment, Ferris,” I said, my voice dead flat. “Now p>
He opened his mouth to argue, but the cold finality in my eyes made him back down. He practically fled out the door.
His unnatural panic, combined with Grant’s obsessive presence and my inexplicable bond with Jaxon, formed a suffocating knot in my chest. I couldn’t trust my family. I couldn’t trust my own broken mind.
An hour later, I was lying on the plush leather recliner in Dr. Alistair Finch’s dimly lit office.
“Follow the red light, Carmella,” Dr. Finch murmured, his calm, measured voice grounding me as the EMDR light bar tracked back and forth. “Let your mind drift back to the block. What do you see p>
I closed my eyes, my breathing turning shallow. The warm office faded, replaced by the freezing chill of a winter night.
𝖱𝘰𝗆a𝗻𝗰𝖾 𝘢𝘯𝘥 р𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗂о𝗇 𝗼ո 𝘨𝗮𝗹ո𝗼𝗏𝖾𝗅ѕ.𝖼o𝘮
“Snow,” I whispered, my fingers digging into the leather armrests. “Heavy snow against gothic windows. I’m in the Sterling Memorial Library at Yale. In the dark alcoves p>
“Good. What else p>
Suddenly, my lungs seized. A horrific, metallic stench invaded my senses. “Burning,” I choked out, tears leaking from my closed eyes. “It smells like burning silver. It’s everywhere. It’s in my blood p>
Then came the sound — a sound that tore through my very essence. The agonizing, soul-shattering howl of my Inner Wolf being violently ripped away from me. I writhed on the recliner, gasping for air as the phantom pain of becoming wolfless struck me like lightning.
“Carmella, stay with me,” Dr. Finch urged. “Who is there with you p>
Through the blinding pain of the memory, a shadow loomed over me. A man trapping me against the cold stone wall. His scent overpowered the burning silver — a heavy, suffocating wave of rosemary and rain, dripping with a dark, predatory obsession.
“Look at his face,” Dr. Finch guided.
The blurred features in my mind suddenly snapped into terrifying focus. A sharp, aristocratic jawline. Predatory hazel eyes that flashed with a dominant, golden Lycan glow. And there, just beneath his left earlobe, a distinct dark mole.
My eyes flew open. A blood-curdling scream ripped from my throat.
It was Grant.
The gentle, grieving Lycan Senator who had been holding me as I cried for Jaxon was the phantom from my nightmares. He was the monster who had cornered me in the dark.
“Carmella!” Dr. Finch shouted, reaching for me.
“Don’t touch me!” I sobbed hysterically, ripping the sensor wires from my fingers. The betrayal and horror were a physical sickness in my stomach. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t stay there.
I scrambled off the chair, ignoring the doctor’s frantic questions, and bolted out of the clinic. The freezing Manhattan air hit my face, but it did nothing to cool the burning realization coursing through my veins. I flagged down a yellow cab and threw myself into the backseat.