Chapter 252
Chapter 252:
Grant moved with unnatural, blinding speed. His massive arms caught her before she could even brush the cushions. He didn’t merely catch her — he gathered her against his broad chest with an agonizing, breathtaking tenderness that completely contradicted the bloodthirsty force he had been mere seconds ago. He cradled her unconscious form as if she were made of the most fragile, sacred glass.
I stood frozen by the coffee table, my heart hammering a frantic rhythm against my ribs.
Grant turned and carried her down the thick-carpeted hallway toward the guest chamber. As he passed me, his head was bowed, his face buried in her dark hair. He didn’t know that my heightened hearing could catch the faintest of sounds.
“I have been waiting for you,” Grant whispered, his voice a raw, broken rasp meant only for the woman sleeping in his arms.
A cold shiver wrecked my spine. I stared down the empty hallway as a profound, creeping dread settled in my stomach. That wasn’t the voice of a Lycan protecting a stranger in his brother’s den. That was the desperate confession of a ghost — and I had absolutely no idea what dark history I had just dragged my best friend into.
Adelina POV
𝘓𝖺𝘁е𝘴𝘵 с𝘩а𝗉𝗍еr𝗌 𝗈𝗻
The morning sun barely pierced the heavy velvet curtains of the guest chamber. I walked in carrying a glass of water and two white aspirin on a small silver tray.
Carmella shot up from the center of the massive bed, her eyes wide with absolute terror as she clutched the unfamiliar charcoal silk pajamas to her chest. The room was saturated with Kain’s ambient, unyielding ancient cedar scent, and I could see the panic spiraling in her mind. She had no Inner Wolf to ground her — only the terrifying human realization that she had woken up in a strange bed after a devastating blackout.
“Did I…” she choked out, her scent of rosemary and rain souring with fear.
“No,” I said quickly, sitting on the edge of the Egyptian cotton mattress and handing her the tray. “You threw up on your dress last night. I changed you. You’re in the Penthouse Den. It’s the safest place in New York p>
She exhaled a shaky breath, the terror melting into profound embarrassment. She took the pills, her hands trembling slightly. “Thank you, Adelina. For everything p>
Ten minutes later, we moved to the open kitchen. Bacon sizzled on the stove, and a plate of fluffy scrambled eggs and avocado sat on the massive marble island. But the comforting smell of breakfast was instantly suffocated by a heavy, aggressive wave of pine and winter frost.
Grant Blackwell strode into the room.
He ignored me completely, his storm-gray eyes locking onto Carmella with a dark, starving intensity. “Morning, Sunshine,” he murmured, the intimate nickname rolling off his tongue with a possessive ease that made the air crackle.
Carmella stiffened. Her human pride, already battered by Quentin’s betrayal, violently rejected his overwhelming proximity. She avoided his gaze, her fingers gripping the edge of the marble counter. “I need to see if my car is downstairs. If not, I’ll call one p>