Chapter 229
Chapter 229:
I practically hid in the linen storeroom. The narrow aisles between the tall metal shelves smelled of clean soap and fresh cotton, offering a quiet sanctuary to calm my racing pulse.
“Hiding from the Alpha King?” a soft voice asked.
Carmella Golden stepped out from behind a stack of duvets, holding an inventory clipboard.
“He’s impossible,” I breathed, leaning against a metal cart and rubbing my temples. “So overbearing and dominant p>
A bitter, sad smile touched Carmella’s lips. “At least he’s focused on you.” She hesitated, her professional mask slipping to reveal a profound exhaustion. “Quentin came home last night smelling wrong p>
My Alpha instincts flared. “Wrong how p>
“Like a female werewolf,” Carmella whispered, her fingers tightening around the clipboard. “It was a sickly sweet, aggressive scent. He told me he hugged an older relative, but it didn’t smell old. It smelled young. Possessive. I don’t know if I’m just being paranoid because of my past trauma, Adelina, but I feel like I’m losing my mind p>
Before I could offer her any comfort, the light from the open doorway was entirely eclipsed.
𝘛𝗁е 𝗺𝗈𝘴𝘵 p𝘰p𝘶𝘭𝗮r ո𝘰𝗏𝖾lѕ 𝗼𝘯
A massive silhouette filled the frame. The air in the cramped storeroom instantly plummeted to a freezing vacuum, suffocated by a heavy, agonizing scent of rosemary, rain, and biting winter frost.
Grant Blackwell stepped inside.
He completely ignored me, the Alpha of this territory. His deep, haunted eyes locked onto Carmella with the terrifying intensity of a starving hawk. Carmella’s body went completely rigid. She shrank back against the metal shelving, her eyes wide with a primal, inexplicable fear—like a deer caught in the sights of an apex predator.
“Senator Blackwell,” Carmella breathed, her voice tight with polite panic. “Can we help you p>
Grant took a slow step forward. The sheer agony and dark possessiveness radiating from his massive frame made the air crackle.
“You will call me Grant,” he rasped, his voice a low, broken command that left no room for escape.
Adelina POV
Grant didn’t even glance in my direction. His storm-gray eyes, so similar to Kain’s yet hollowed out by years of agony, remained fixed on my CFO.
“Leave us, Adelina,” he commanded. The sheer weight of his tone was a borderline Alpha’s Command, suffocating the cramped space with the heavy scent of rosemary, rain, and biting winter frost.
My dormant Inner Wolf bristled. This was my hotel, my territory. But the raw, volatile energy rolling off his massive frame warned me not to push a starving predator.
“I’ll be right outside, Carmella,” I said evenly.
I stepped out of the storeroom, but I didn’t walk away. I slipped behind a towering metal cart stacked with spare linens in the hallway, peering through the narrow gap between the folded white towels.
Inside the dim room, Grant took another slow step forward. Carmella shrank back, her inventory clipboard pressed to her chest like a fragile shield.
“You know my name,” Grant growled, his voice cracking with a suppressed, agonizing desperation. “Say it p>
“Senator, please, I need to finish this report—” Carmella stammered, taking a frantic step backward to escape his overwhelming proximity.