Chapter 294
Chapter 294:
The air grew heavy, thick with the intoxicating, suffocating scent of ancient cedar and pure, unadulterated power. He placed a hand on the railing on either side of me, caging me in. He leaned down, his massive frame blocking out the moonlight, until his lips were mere inches from my ear.
“You think I was lying to her?” Kain whispered, his voice dropping into a dangerous, gravelly growl that sent a violent shiver down my spine.
I froze, my breath catching in my throat as the heat of his body radiated against mine.
“No, little wolf,” he murmured, his nose brushing against my jawline as he inhaled my scent deeply. “I was making a promise to the beast inside me. And he always collects on his vows p>
Jase POV
𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝗻
The Alpha Office at Davenport Tech was usually my sanctuary, but today it felt like a tomb. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, Manhattan’s gridlocked traffic crawled below, oblivious to the fact that my entire life had imploded.
On my massive curved monitor, the wedding video played on a silent, endless loop. The metallic, sour scent of my own shame and anger hung heavy in the air. My Inner Wolf was pacing relentlessly, humiliated and desperate for an anchor.
The heavy glass door clicked open. Kira walked in, her eyes red-rimmed, playing the part of the exhausted, traumatized victim to perfection. She dropped a thick folder onto my minimalist black desk.
“I found proof, Jase,” she said, her voice trembling. “An independent tech Pack analyzed the footage. It’s a deepfake. Adelina used Kain’s resources to frame me out of pure jealousy p>
I stared at the pages. As a tech CEO, it took me exactly three seconds to spot the glaring inconsistencies in the code strings they provided. It was garbage. But I didn’t throw it in her face. Instead, I leaned back and set a trap.
“It doesn’t matter anymore, Kira,” I lied smoothly. “The Continental Pack Council just contacted me. Because of the Blackstone family’s overreach, they’ve decided to indefinitely suspend any investigation into the video p>
I watched her closely — but more importantly, I breathed in.
Beneath her sweet, floral perfume, the sharp, acrid scent of her anxiety vanished, instantly replaced by an overwhelming, undeniable bloom of pure relief. She thought she had gotten away with it.
“Oh, thank the Goddess,” Kira breathed, reaching for my hand. “We can finally put this nightmare behind us. We can start planning our future again p>
I pulled my hand away. “I’m postponing all our plans indefinitely. I have work to do p>
The relief in her scent soured into confusion, but she didn’t push. As soon as the glass door shut behind her, I shoved her fake report into the heavy-duty shredder. My Inner Wolf snarled, disgusted that we had ever let this woman’s deceit blind us.
I turned back to my computer, bypassed three firewalls, and accessed my encrypted server. I pulled up the old Pack background check files I had run on Adelina years ago, scanning through her childhood psychological profiles.
As I read, a memory I had violently repressed struck me like a physical blow.
The silver-lined vault.