Chapter 469
Chapter 469:
Thorne closed his eyes, a single tear of absolute defeat tracking down his dirt-smudged cheek. He was trapped between social death and physical annihilation. Slowly, his shaking hand reached out and pulled the folder to his chest.
Grant turned his back on the broken man and walked out into the freezing alleyway.
Before severing the connection, Grant opened a secondary channel to my Beta. “Fletcher,” Grant transmitted, his mental voice crisp and clinical. “Target has been advised. Compliance expected within twenty-four hours p>
“Understood,” Fletcher’s loyal response came instantly.
The Mind-Link snapped shut, leaving me alone in the quiet of my office. Marcus Thorne was a ghost. The threat to Adelina was permanently eradicated.
But as the mental connection faded, I caught a fleeting echo of Grant’s thoughts. His calculating Lycan wasn’t dwelling on Thorne’s demise — his mind had already shifted to his own captive Mate, Carmella. Tomorrow, my brother would execute his own ruthless domestic agenda, severing her ties to her human family with the exact same cold, surgical precision he had just used to destroy an Alpha.
Carmella Golden POV
The Tudor-revival architecture of the Hawthorne Estate looked as though it were decaying beneath the pale winter sun. The air smelled of dead leaves and the cloying, distinct scent of my adoptive parents’ Beta ambition.
I sat rigidly on the edge of the antique velvet sofa in the drawing room. Grant stood directly behind me, his large hand resting possessively on my shoulder. His suffocating scent of rosemary and rain filled the space — a heavy reminder of the contract I had signed just twenty-four hours ago.
Across the low glass table, Charles and Eleanor Hawthorne stared at the thick, leather-bound folder Grant had just tossed down.
𝘞𝘩𝗮t 𝗲𝘷er𝘺𝘰n𝖾 𝗂𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮di𝗻𝗴 𝗼n
“As of yesterday afternoon, Carmella and I are legally bound,” Grant announced, his voice a smooth, vibrating rumble that commanded absolute attention. “Inside that folder is a formal commercial alliance with the Blackstone Pack, along with a trust fund that will elevate the Hawthorne name to the upper echelons of our society p>
Eleanor’s eyes widened with naked greed. Charles leaned forward, practically salivating over the documents.
“In exchange,” Grant continued, the temperature in the room dropping to a glacial chill, “you will maintain absolute silence regarding Carmella’s accident seven years ago and the true parentage of my son, Jaxon. You will never contact my wife again unless summoned p>
“You can’t do this!” Ferris Hawthorne shot up from his armchair, his face flushed. “This isn’t a gift, Blackwell. You’re buying her life. You’re isolating her p>
Ferris reached out, trying to grab my arm and pull me away.
He never made it.
Grant didn’t raise his voice or lift a finger. His golden-flecked eyes simply locked onto Ferris. A wave of pure, terrifying Lycan dominance crashed into the room. Ferris choked, his cowardly Beta Inner Wolf instantly crushed into submission. He collapsed back into his chair, trembling violently, unable to draw a breath beneath the Alpha’s unseen boot.
“Take the deal, Charles,” Grant whispered, his tone lethal. “Or I will erase the Hawthorne bloodline from the map before dinner p>
Charles didn’t hesitate. He snatched the folder and offered a sickeningly eager smile. “We accept, Senator. Completely p>