Chapter 431
A twisted, dark thrill coiled deep in my chest, temporarily numbing the fire in my shattered leg. Estevan’s stupidity had cost me my mobility — perhaps even my ability to shift — but it had handed me something infinitely more valuable: Adella’s eternal guilt.
“Give me your phone,” I demanded coldly. “Call your father. Put him on speaker.”
Katherine fumbled with her encrypted device, her fingers shaking so badly she nearly dropped it. When the Alpha of the Parrish Pack answered, his voice gruff with sleep, I didn’t waste time with pleasantries.
“Alpha Parrish,” I said, my tone dead and even. “Your son just tried to assassinate the Alpha King’s wife. But I am feeling generous. You will use your network to spread a rumor immediately: the brake failure was an inside job from the Blackwood Pack. The target was Dallas Marshall. Adella was just collateral damage.”
“You dare threaten me, boy?” the old Alpha growled through the speaker.
“Do this,” I continued, ignoring his posturing, “or hand Estevan and the undeniable proof of his treason directly to Dallas Marshall. We both know what the Lycan King will do to your entire bloodline.”
The heavy, suffocating silence on the line was all the confirmation I needed. A moment later, the old man muttered his bitter submission. I ended the call and tossed the phone back to Katherine.
“Get out.”
She scrambled from the room just as the heavy double doors swung open again.
The intoxicating scent of moonflowers and rain drifted into the sterile suite, tainted heavily by the bitter, suffocating tang of pure guilt. Adella stood in the doorway, looking small and utterly shattered.
I instantly buried the calculating predator beneath my skin. I let my shoulders slump, allowing the genuine agony of my injuries to surface on my face, and looked at her with wide, relieved eyes.
“Braydon…” she whispered, her voice breaking as she stared at my suspended leg. She walked to the bedside, tears spilling down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”
I forced a weak, breathless smile and reached a trembling hand out to her. “You’re alive,” I murmured softly. “That’s all that matters.”
“But your leg — the doctor said you might never shift again. Your future as an Alpha…” She covered her mouth, a wounded sob tearing from her throat.
I let a shadow of profound grief cross my face and looked away toward the blank wall. “My wolf… it’s a heavy price,” I whispered, making sure my voice cracked at precisely the right moment. “But I would pay it a thousand times over to keep you breathing.”
I slowly turned my head back to her and let my eyes shine with unshed tears, pouring every ounce of vulnerability I could muster into my gaze. “Please — don’t leave me alone with this. Not yet. I just need to know you’re safe. That’s all I have left.”
Adella crumbled. She stepped closer and gently took my trembling hand in both of hers, her tears falling warm onto my skin. “I won’t leave you, Braydon. I promise. I’ll stay right here until you’re healed.”