Chapter 14
Chapter 14:
“It’s Braydon Hyde, sir,” the head of security said, his voice tight. “He’s demanding entry. He claims Miss Everett is a ward of the Hyde Pack and that we are unlawfully detaining her p>
The blood drained from my face. My fork clattered onto my plate.
He’s here.
Phantom fingers seemed to bruise my arm all over again. The air in the room thinned. I could smell Braydon’s cologne in my memory, feel the ghost of his hot breath on my neck. I pushed my chair back, the legs scraping harshly against the floor.
“He found me,” I whispered, panic seizing my throat. “He’s going to take me back p>
“Sit down, Adelia.” Dallas’s voice wasn’t raised—it didn’t need to be. The sheer authority packed into those three words made my body comply before my mind could process the command.
Dallas stood. He didn’t look angry. He looked bored. He crossed to the intercom panel with the fluid, unhurried movements of a predator who has never once needed to rush, and pressed the talk button.
“Put him on p>
𝖳r𝖾𝗻𝗱𝘪𝘯𝗴 𝗻ovеl𝗌 о𝗻.сo𝗺
A moment later, Braydon’s voice filled the room—distorted by the speaker but unmistakable in its arrogance. “Marshall! Send her down. You have no right to keep her. She belongs to the Hyde Pack. If you don’t release her, I’ll p>
“You will do nothing.” Dallas’s voice dropped an octave, threaded through with a growl that raised the hair along my arms. It was the Alpha’s Command—pure, distilled dominance. “Listen closely, boy. You are trespassing on my territory. You have exactly sixty seconds to remove yourself from my building p>
“You can’t threaten me!” Braydon spluttered, though his voice had already begun to waver. “I want to see Adelia p>
“If you are not outside these doors in sixty seconds,” Dallas continued, his tone glacial and absolute, “I will consider it an act of war. I will have you arrested for cross-pack trespassing and harassment of the Alpha King’s Mate. And then I will personally come down there and remove your head from your shoulders p>
Silence stretched over the line. Heavy. Suffocating.
Then came the sound of shuffling feet. The connection clicked off.
Dallas released the button and turned back to the table. The lethal darkness in his eyes receded, replaced by that impenetrable calm.
“Eat your dinner, Adelia,” he said, returning to his chair as though he hadn’t just threatened to execute a rival heir.
I stared at him, my heart still hammering. “He could still come up. The elevators p>
“The elevators require a retina scan,” Dallas said, picking up his knife. “Currently, only three people in this world have clearance to access this floor. Myself, Azalea, and you.” His expression softened by the smallest degree. “The contract isn’t just paper, Adelia. It’s a wall. And nothing gets past my walls p>
I looked at the man sitting across from me. For years I had feared Alphas—their power, their tempers, the casual cruelty of their authority. But as the scent of cedar and storm slowly wrapped around me and displaced the fear from my chest, I understood something that unsettled me far more than any threat Braydon could make.
I wasn’t afraid of Dallas Marshall.