Chapter 238
Chapter 238:
“I have to meet with the Continental Pack Elders before the summit begins,” he announced, his tone shifting back to that of the untouchable Lycan King. “The King must hold court before the festivities p>
He leaned down and pressed a brief, chillingly polite kiss to my forehead. Before I could even process the sudden distance, he turned and strode out of the den.
I walked out to the floor-to-ceiling windows of the penthouse. The Manhattan sky was a bruised, stormy purple. Far below, I watched Kain’s silver Aston Martin shoot out from the underground garage. It roared onto the avenue like a furious beast, merging violently into the dense traffic.
A sharp, agonizing sting of abandonment pierced my chest. He wasn’t driving like a King heading to a diplomatic meeting. He was driving like a man desperate to escape his contractual obligations and rush into the arms of his true mate, Fletcher Banks.
уo𝘶𝘳 d𝘢𝗂𝘭𝘆 𝘥o𝘀e o𝖿 𝗻𝘰𝘷𝖾𝗅𝘴 𝗼𝗇
I turned away from the glass, my heart encased in absolute ice. I didn’t need his arm. Blake Davenport was waiting downstairs in the SUV, and I was going to walk into that lion’s den exactly as he had dressed me—like a queen who felt absolutely nothing.
Adelina POV
The ride to St. Jude’s Academy for the Predestined was a blur of silent anxiety. I sat in the back of the SUV next to Blake Davenport, the heavy scarlet silk of my gown feeling more like armor than a dress.
The vehicle pulled up to a side entrance of the academy, the tires crunching against the ancient cobblestone. I stepped out into the crisp night air, my eyes scanning the imposing gothic architecture that had once been my personal hell.
About fifty feet away, near the VIP entrance reserved for Continental Council members, a sleek, unmarked black sedan idled under the dim, yellow glow of a wrought-iron streetlamp.
My breath hitched.
Standing beneath the light was a towering, broad-shouldered figure. Kain. He was supposed to be in a closed-door meeting with the Elders, yet here he was, staring intently at his phone. I took a step forward, the urge to demand why he had lied burning in my chest.
But as Kain raised his arm to adjust his tie, the streetlamp illuminated his stark white cuff.
My blood ran entirely cold. Smeared across the pristine fabric was a powdery, reddish-brown stain that looked like dried blood. But I had spent years hiding in the restricted section of the academy’s library; I knew exactly what that texture was. Crushed Wolfsbane. A lethal, agonizing poison used by Rogues to weaken and torture wolves.
Before I could even process the sheer terror of why the Lycan King was covered in poison, Kain quickly buttoned his suit jacket, completely concealing the stain, and vanished through the heavy VIP doors.
“You okay, Lina?” Blake asked, stepping up beside me and following my gaze.
“Yeah,” I lied, my voice trembling slightly. “I just thought I saw someone else p>