Chapter 216
Chapter 216:
The smell was sharp, medicinal. It clashed with the scent of Moonflower that Dallas always said I carried, but right now I wanted to drown that flower. I wanted to burn the garden down.
I took a long swallow. The liquid fire seared my throat — a welcome distraction from the cold knot in my chest. I coughed slightly, the heat spreading through my veins, dulling the sharp panic that had been building since I first saw Braydon’s face.
“Adella p>
My name was a warning. Low. Dangerous.
I didn’t turn around. I stared at the city lights blurring through the floor-to-ceiling windows, clutching the glass like a lifeline, and took another sip — larger this time, letting the warmth settle deep in my stomach.
“I need to erase him,” I said, my voice thick. I sank down onto the plush rug and leaned my back against the cabinet, the glass resting on my knee. “I need to scrub my brain the way I scrubbed my skin. This is faster p>
I heard his footsteps approach — heavy, deliberate. The predator closing in.
Dallas stopped in front of me. I looked up, my vision slightly swimming. He towered over me, a god of shadows and judgment, his jaw clenched tight, a muscle ticking in his cheek as his gaze moved from the glass in my hand to my flushed face.
He didn’t look angry. He looked tormented.
“That is not a cure,” he growled softly, the sound wrapping around me like a warning. “It is a poison p>
“Maybe,” I whispered, swirling the liquid and watching the light catch in the amber depths. “But right now, poison feels a lot like medicine p>
𝖡𝗲 ра𝗿𝘵 𝗈𝘧 о𝘶𝗋 с𝗼𝗆𝗺uni𝗍𝘺 𝘰𝘯.со𝗆
I raised the glass again — defying the Alpha King, defying the concern burning in his eyes — desperate to drown the voice in my head that still spoke in the ghost-tones of my past.
Dallas
Poison feels a lot like medicine.
Her words were a jagged blade sliding between my ribs. I watched Adella raise the glass again, her hand trembling, her eyes swimming with grief and the amber liquid she was using to drown it.
Stop her, Ragnar snarled at the back of my mind, pacing the cage of my consciousness. She is hurting. Comfort her. Claim her.
I didn’t need my wolf’s command. I moved before she could take another sip, my hand wrapping around hers. The contact sent a jolt of electricity straight to my core — the mate bond singing its ancient, demanding song. I pried the crystal glass gently but firmly from her fingers and set it aside on the cabinet, out of reach.
“No more,” I said, my voice rougher than I intended.
Adella swayed, her balance compromised by the alcohol. She looked up at me, and the raw vulnerability in her hazel eyes nearly brought me to my knees.
“Why do you care?” she slurred, a bitter laugh escaping her lips. She pressed a finger against my chest, right over my beating heart. “I’m just a burden, Dallas. A broken, wolfless thing. That’s what Braydon always said. That’s what his mother thinks. I’m just… a charity case p>