Chapter 531
He picked up a shot glass of tequila, his eyes sweeping over Dallas before landing heavily on me. He raised the glass, his voice carrying that undeniable, commanding edge of a warrior.
“To unresolved business,” Vance toasted, his tone deliberately provocative. “And to Mates who can’t seem to decide if they’re together or tearing each other apart.”
I glared at him, my blood boiling at his audacity. But the humiliation from the stairwell still burned in my chest. Without breaking eye contact with the Gamma, I grabbed my own shot glass and downed it. The tequila scorched my throat—a welcome distraction from the ache behind my ribs.
Beside me, Dallas shifted. His large hand reached out instinctively, his fingers brushing the bare skin of my back in a fleeting moment of comfort. But the second the sparks ignited, he yanked his hand back as if I had burned him.
The rejection stung worse than a physical blow. The alcohol rushing through my veins finally gave me the reckless courage I needed.
“Why did you stop?” I demanded, keeping my voice low but letting every ounce of raw emotion into it.
Dallas didn’t look at me. “It was a mistake, Adella. The stairwell—it shouldn’t have happened.”
“You’re a liar,” I hissed, leaning closer. “You can’t lie to the bond, Dallas. I felt it. So why are you acting like I don’t exist? Is it because you can’t? Is the great Alpha King broken?”
Dallas finally turned his head. For a fraction of a second, the impenetrable mask slipped. His dark eyes were entirely consumed by an unspeakable, devastating sorrow that made my breath hitch.
“Just say the word,” I pleaded, my voice breaking. “Tell me to stay, Dallas. I’ll walk away from Julian. I’ll break the contract right now. Just tell me you want me.”
He stared at me. I could see the war raging behind his eyes—a desperate battle between the mate who craved me and the King hiding a fatal secret. But then the ice returned, freezing over his features until there was nothing left but a cruel stranger.
“Julian Thorne can give you a life,” Dallas said, his voice eerily calm, each word slicing through my heart like a silver blade. “A Pack. Pups. He’s a whole Alpha. I am not. The Goddess was wrong. Go to him, Adella. Be his Luna. It’s a better deal.”
The air vanished from my lungs.
A better deal.
The sheer cruelty of his words shattered whatever was left of my fragile heart, twisting my love into a blinding, agonizing fury.
“You bastard,” I choked out.
My hand shot out and grabbed the crystal glass of ice water from the table. With a violent flick of my wrist, I hurled the freezing water directly into his face.
Dallas didn’t flinch. He didn’t even blink. He simply sat there as the ice-cold water soaked his expensive silk shirt, droplets trailing down his pale, chiseled jawline like the tears he refused to shed.
I stood up, my legs shaking, and looked down at the man who had just destroyed me.