Chapter 22
Chapter 22:
Kain’s hands settled heavily on my bare shoulders, his thumbs brushing my collarbone. The electric zap of his touch made my breath catch. His dark eyes met mine in the glass, burning with a glacial, destructive promise.
“Now,” Kain whispered, his voice a lethal caress against my ear, “we go burn it all down p>
Kain POV
The heavy mahogany doors of Le Coucou’s private dining room swung open under my hand. The stagnant air inside immediately assaulted my heightened senses—a foul cocktail of everything I despised.
I smelled Bryan Parrish first: a sour, pungent stench of greed and unearned arrogance. Beside him, Carolyn emitted a bitter, faded floral scent laced with spite. And Kira reeked of a cloying, sickeningly sweet perfume that completely failed to mask the rotting jealousy beneath it.
Adelina stood beside me, a vision of lethal elegance in her blood-red dress. I could feel the slight tremor in her fingers as she gripped my hand. My Lycan clawed at my chest, a low, possessive growl vibrating deep in my throat at her distress. Mine. Safe.
Bryan stood up, attempting to project the pathetic, borrowed aura of a proxy Alpha. He plastered on a fake, diplomatic smile and extended his hand. “Adelina. And you must be p>
𝗥𝗲𝘢𝘥 𝗳𝗿𝗈𝗺 у𝗼𝘂𝘳 𝗉ho𝘯𝘦 о𝗻.сo𝗺
I didn’t even glance at his hand. I walked straight past him, pulling Adelina with me to the head of the table. My eyes locked onto the only other actual threat in the room: Alpha Vincent.
The older Alpha was seated with his wife, a smug expression on his face that vanished the instant our eyes met. Vincent’s pupils dilated wildly. His Inner Wolf recognized the ancient, apex predator standing before him, and I could physically hear the beast whimpering in terror inside his mind. He knew exactly who I was.
“Apologies for our delay,” I said, my voice a low, carrying rumble that instantly froze the room. I kept my glacial stare fixed on Vincent. “I had to handle a minor pest on the way here. Your son, Babe, dared to put his filthy hands on my Mate at The Box an hour ago p>
All the color drained from Alpha Vincent’s face. His wife let out a muffled, horrified gasp.
“I disciplined him,” I continued smoothly, the silence in the room turning suffocating. “His ankle might need reattaching. Assuming he survives the shock p>
Vincent slumped back in his chair, utterly broken. He didn’t dare utter a single word of protest. He knew that if he challenged me, his entire Pack would be erased from existence. The Parrish family’s grand alliance was dead before the appetizers even arrived.
I turned my attention to Kira. She was trembling so violently her chair rattled.
“You occupied a den that does not belong to you,” I stated, my tone dropping to a lethal, absolute decree. “I am giving you twenty-four hours to vacate Wolfe Manor. If I find a single trace of your scent or your belongings left behind, I will personally burn them to ashes—with you inside p>
Kira let out a pathetic whimper and shrank into herself, paralyzed by the sheer weight of my threat.