Chapter 172
Chapter 172:
“I want him to feel his Inner Wolf whimper as his empire turns to ash,” I growled, my eyes tracking the plummeting red line. Miles away, in the sunroom of the Parrish Estate, I knew Bryan Parrish was likely dropping his morning coffee — watching the brown liquid spread across his pristine tiles as his stolen wealth evaporated in seconds.
But financial ruin wasn’t enough to soothe the beast beneath my skin.
I glanced down at the live news feed on my tablet. The camera was trained on the side entrance of The Wolfe Hotel. The heavy doors pushed open, and Adelina stepped out into the morning gloom, heading toward her waiting black Porsche to deliver her killing blow to the police precinct.
The crowd of protesters surged against the barricades, their faces twisted with manufactured hate.
Then it happened.
A projectile flew through the air. An egg struck Adelina directly on the shoulder. The shell shattered, thick yellow yolk dripping down the lapel of her pristine black suit jacket like an ugly, mocking scar.
My vision bled into a blinding, molten gold. A deafening roar erupted in my skull, my claws elongating and biting deep into the metal casing of the tablet.
𝖱𝗈𝗺аnce novе𝗹s 𝘰n
But on the screen, my beautiful Luna didn’t flinch. She didn’t cower. She didn’t even blink. She simply swept her glacial, unyielding gaze across the screaming mob, her dignity absolute, and stepped into the back of the Porsche.
The news feed cut to a zoomed-in shot through the car’s tinted window. With terrifying, methodical calm, Adelina slipped off the ruined blazer, sealed it inside a plastic garment bag, and pulled a spare, immaculate black jacket from the seat beside her. She slipped it on, completely unfazed.
Her resilience was breathtaking. But to my Lycan, it was a match thrown directly into a powder keg.
I replayed the footage. I watched the slow-motion impact of the egg hitting her shoulder.
“They touched her,” I whispered. The words were entirely devoid of warmth, carrying only the freezing, absolute promise of a graveyard.
I turned to my Beta. The atmospheric pressure on the balcony plummeted to a lethal vacuum.
“Take it to ten dollars,” I commanded.
Fletcher froze. His citrus scent spiked with sheer shock as he looked up from his screen. “Alpha, a drop that severe won’t just bankrupt Parrish Holdings. It will trigger a total liquidation. They will be wiped off the map. They will have absolutely nothing left p>
I stared at the massive screens, watching the red numbers bleed out across the digital board. My Lycan finally purred, satisfied by the promise of absolute destruction.
“Good p>
Adelina POV
The yolk on my ruined blazer was a distant memory by the time I stepped into the sterile, fluorescent-lit observation room of the precinct. Through the two-way mirror, the interrogation room looked like a cold metal box.
Zack Rutledge sat bolted to the steel chair. Even through the ventilation system, I could catch the sour, rotting stench of his fear — the unmistakable scent of a cornered Rogue.
Sheriff Xander stood over him, tapping a pen against the metal table. He had just finished playing the thermal video Leo Vance had provided.
“It’s a misunderstanding,” Zack stammered, his arrogant musician persona completely shattered. “I was just moving the case. I didn’t smash anything p>