Chapter 157
Chapter 157:
I climbed into the leather seat, the warmth of the car wrapping around me instantly. Dallas shut the door, sealing me inside his world, and I watched Hyde Manor shrink and disappear through the tinted glass.
The adrenaline of our race back to the stables had faded into a steady, humming warmth beneath my skin, but the tension in the air remained. We sat in the back of Dallas’s armored SUV, the world outside blurring into streaks of burnt orange and violet as the sun descended behind the city skyline.
The interior was a sanctuary of silence and expensive leather, smelling faintly of Dallas — rain, cedar, and the dark, spicy musk of an Alpha in complete control. He sat beside me, one hand resting casually on his thigh, his gaze fixed on the passing scenery. But I knew he was alert. His energy filled the confined space, heavy and charged in a way that made my heart race with a strange, thrilling awareness.
My phone vibrated against the leather seat, the harsh buzzing shattering the quiet.
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I glanced down. Braydon.
My stomach twisted — a reflex born of years of conditioning. I reached to silence it, but Dallas’s hand shot out, his fingers wrapping gently but firmly around my wrist.
“Answer it,” he commanded softly. His obsidian eyes met mine, devoid of anger but burning with cold, calculated intensity. “Put it on speaker p>
I swallowed the lump in my throat and tapped the screen.
“Adella!” Braydon’s voice filled the cabin, shrill and laced with a panic I had never heard from him before. “Where the hell are you? Do you have any idea what is happening p>
“I’m gone, Braydon. I told you p>
“I don’t care about you leaving!” he screamed, his composure completely fractured. “I’m talking about the Parrish Timber Group! They’re ruined, Adella! Ruined p>
I frowned and glanced at Dallas. He didn’t blink. A ghost of a smirk played at the corner of his lips — cruel and beautiful.
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“The stocks hit zero an hour ago! Every major contract — construction, export, everything — was voided simultaneously. Marshall Enterprises pulled the investment, and everyone else followed like terrified sheep!” Braydon was hyperventilating now. “My father is furious. Katherine is hysterical. Her family is bankrupt, Adella. Gone in an afternoon p>
My breath hitched. I looked at the man beside me. Dallas Marshall, the Alpha King, sat with the stillness of a predator watching a carcass bleed out.
“Why are you telling me this?” I whispered, though the answer was already forming in the back of my mind.
“Because of the message!” Braydon spat. “When my father called to beg, every investor repeated the same line. It’s circulating through every Pack in the region right now p>
“What line p>
“‘A lesser she-wolf laid her claws on the King’s property p>
The air left my lungs.
The memory hit me in two sharp, distinct flashes.