Chapter 293
Chapter 293:
“He built a cage for you out of lies,” Dallas said, his voice dropping to a lethal whisper. “He’s not a savior, Adella. He was your jailer p>
Jailer.
The word clicked into place like a lock snapping shut. That was exactly what he was. And jailers didn’t deserve mercy. They deserved a riot.
“Then I want my jailer to pay,” I declared, the conviction steeling my spine.
Dallas’s eyes flared with a savage light. He pulled me flush against his body, his bloodied arm wrapping around me like a band of iron.
𝖴𝗽𝖽𝖺𝘁еѕ е𝘃𝖾𝗋𝘆 𝗐𝗲𝖾𝗄 𝘰ո ѕ.𝘤o𝘮
“Then we will burn his world to the ground,” he vowed.
The promise hung in the air, heavy with the scent of impending war. I rested my head against his shoulder and listened to the steady, powerful beat of his heart. I was done being the victim. I was done being the niece, the orphan, the charity case. If Braydon Hyde had wanted to keep a wolf in a cage, he should have made sure the bars were stronger.
Because now the cage was open, and I was coming for the throat.
The air outside the medical center was biting, sharp with the scent of damp earth and impending frost. It should have made me shiver, but the heat radiating from Dallas, who walked beside me like a living shield, kept the cold at bay. My hand was still tucked in his, and I could feel the raised welt of the bite mark I had left on his forearm pressing against my palm — a physical promise of our blood pact.
We hadn’t even reached Dallas’s black SUV when a figure detached itself from the shadows of the parking lot.
Braydon.
He looked nothing like the polished Alpha I had known for a decade. His hair was disheveled, his shirt untucked, and the scent coming off him was sour — like milk left out in the sun. The smell of desperation.
“Addie,” he breathed, stepping into our path. His eyes darted frantically between me and Dallas. “Thank the Goddess. I thought he had taken you already p>
I didn’t stop walking. I didn’t even look at him. My gaze was fixed on the black vehicle that promised escape.
“Adella, stop!” Braydon lunged, his hand clamping around my upper arm. The touch, once familiar, now made my skin crawl. “You can’t just leave. You don’t understand what’s coming. My parents, the Council — it’s going to be a bloodbath. I’m the only one who can navigate this. I’m the only one who can keep you safe p>
His voice carried the frantic mixture of pleading and command he had used for ten years to keep me docile. Trust me, Addie. The world is dangerous, Addie. Only I can protect you.
Before I could rip my arm away, Dallas moved.
It wasn’t fast or blurry. It was terrifyingly deliberate. He simply reached out and gripped Braydon’s wrist. With a casual flick of strength that belied the violence behind it, he forced Braydon to release me.