Chapter 143
Chapter 143:
Fletcher didn’t move. His eyes glazed over for a fraction of a second — a private mind-link with the King upstairs. When his focus returned, his lips curved into a smile completely devoid of warmth. It was a look of pure, practiced pity.
“The Alpha King is in a meeting,” Fletcher said smoothly, his tone laced with polite mockery. “He told me to tell you to wait here for six hours. He said it might teach you some patience p>
“Six hours?” I choked out, looking around the massive public lobby where Blackstone Pack members were already casting me disgusted, sidelong glances.
Fletcher turned on his heel and walked toward the private elevators. “Enjoy the wait, Alpha Parrish p>
I was left standing alone in the center of the cold marble floor, my Inner Wolf trembling, as the first minute of my purgatory began to tick by.
Bryan POV
The first hour was agonizing. The next five were a slow, methodical execution of my pride.
The polished marble floor of the Blackstone Tower lobby became my personal purgatory. Kain Blackwell’s scent — ancient cedar and pure, unadulterated power — hung in the air like a physical weight, pressing down on my chest. My Inner Wolf, usually proud and demanding, had curled into a pathetic ball in my mind, whimpering in absolute submission.
Every Blackstone Pack member who walked past looked at me with undisguised disgust, their scents reeking of contempt. I could feel the static of their private mind-link buzzing in the air — a silent network of mockery painting me not as a visiting Alpha, but as a trespassing Rogue.
Every hour, on the hour, Fletcher Banks emerged from the private elevators. His tailored suit was flawless, his polite smile a razor blade. “The Alpha King is still in a meeting,” he would say, his tone laced with elegant poison.
By the sixth hour, my legs were trembling and my dignity had been entirely pulverized. When Fletcher finally gestured toward the obsidian-lined elevator, I felt like a dead man walking to the gallows.
𝖸𝗼𝗎𝗋 ո𝗲х𝗍 𝘧𝗮𝘷𝗼𝗋𝗂𝗍𝗲 𝗋𝘦аd 𝘪ѕ o𝗻 𝗀𝖺𝘭ոо𝗏е𝘭𝗌.с𝗼𝗺
Kain’s apex office was a glass throne room overlooking the sprawling expanse of New York City. There was nothing on his massive obsidian desk — a stark symbol of a predator who had no need for material displays of dominance. Kain stood at the floor-to-ceiling window, his broad back to me. He didn’t bother to turn around.
“Hudson Yards,” Kain’s voice was a low, rumbling baritone that vibrated through my bones. “It’s a prime location. I think it will make an excellent sanctuary for wolfless pups p>
The words hit me like a physical blow. A shelter. He had dismantled my empire, outbid me by twenty percent in pure cash, simply to build a charity project. It shattered everything I understood about power and business.
“Why?” I choked out, my voice cracking. “We have no business conflicts, Your Majesty. I don’t understand why you are doing this to me p>
Slowly, the Lycan King turned. His eyes were voids of endless, terrifying black — no anger in them, only the cold, absolute certainty of a god regarding an insect.
“Do you consider an attack on my Luna to be a trivial matter, Alpha Parrish p>