Chapter 452
Chapter 452:
“He gave me an ultimatum, Carmella,” Grant murmured, stepping closer. His powerful Lycan Inner Wolf was practically purring beneath his skin, though his face remained a mask of sorrow. “He said I have one month to officially take you as my Mate through the Marking ceremony. If I don’t, he will use the full force of the Pack to make you disappear. You would never see Jaxon again p>
A cold dread washed over me. Almon Blackwell was a former Alpha King; his decrees were absolute. But the true horror wasn’t Almon’s wrath — it was the realization that Grant had orchestrated this entire crisis. He had leaked those photos to the Shadow Network himself. He had weaponized his father’s obsession with legacy to forge an unbreakable chain around my neck.
“You set this up,” I whispered, my voice trembling with a toxic mix of fear and hatred. “You cornered me p>
“I am trying to protect you!” Grant countered smoothly, his eyes hardening. “As a wolfless human, you have zero standing before the Continental Pack Council. If my father decides you are a threat to the Blackstone image, I cannot stop him. Marriage is the only shield I can offer you p>
“It’s not a shield, Grant. It’s a cage p>
Before he could reply, the sound of small, frantic footsteps echoed on the hardwood stairs. Jaxon.
My breath hitched as my pup ran into the living room, his small face streaked with tears. He had been listening. It was exactly as Grant had calculated.
“Mommy?” Jaxon sobbed, throwing his arms around my legs and burying his face in my skirt. His tiny body shook with the instinctual terror of abandonment. “Please don’t go. Please don’t let the scary man take you away. I want you to be my real mommy p>
𝖶𝘦e𝘬l𝘺 𝗋е𝘭𝗲𝗮𝗌еs o𝘯 𝗀𝖺𝘭ո𝗈𝘷𝘦𝗹ѕ.𝖼𝘰𝗺
The sound of his crying shattered whatever resistance I had left. I dropped to my knees, pulling Jaxon into a desperate embrace and burying my face in his soft hair. I had mourned this boy for years, believing Ferris Hawthorne’s vicious lie that my baby had died. I would rather burn in hell than be separated from him again.
I looked up over Jaxon’s shoulder. Grant was watching us, his expression perfectly composed, but the triumphant gleam in his eyes was unmistakable. He had won.
“Okay, baby,” I choked out, kissing Jaxon’s forehead while staring dead into Grant’s eyes. “Mommy isn’t going anywhere. I promise p>
The moment the words left my lips, Grant moved. He dropped to one knee right there on the Persian rug and pulled a velvet box from his jacket pocket. He flipped it open to reveal a massive, flawless diamond ring — already perfectly sized for my finger.
“Carmella Golden,” Grant said, his voice dripping with a sickeningly sweet devotion that turned my stomach. “Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife, my Mate, and the mother of my son p>
I didn’t say yes. I simply held out my trembling left hand.
Grant slid the cold metal onto my ring finger. It was heavy. It was not a promise of love, nor a vow of protection. It was a golden shackle, forged from lies, manipulation, and the tears of my child. I had willingly walked into his eternal prison — but as I stared at the glittering stone, the confusion and despair in my chest hardened into something entirely new.
Ice-cold, absolute determination.