Chapter 134

Chapter 134:

I caught her wrist. My grip was tight, bordering on painful, leaving no room for argument. I pulled her back until her face was inches from mine.

“Forty-eight hours,” I said, my voice dropping to a lethal whisper. “You have until Sunday at midnight. If you haven’t found what you’re looking for by then, you get out. No arguments, no excuses. You walk out that door and you don’t look back p>

Her eyes widened. “Dallas, the evidence p>

“I don’t care about the evidence.” I cut her off, my grip tightening. “I care about you. If that safe doesn’t open, if those ledgers aren’t there, you leave. We find another way. Understood p>

She stared at me, searching for a bluff. She found none.

“Understood,” she breathed. “Forty-eight hours p>

I pulled her close, pressing my forehead against hers. “Every six hours. Safe. If I don’t hear from you, I’m coming in. No waiting, no negotiating p>

“Every six hours,” she repeated. “Safe p>

T𝗁е 𝘣е𝘴𝗍 𝗋е𝖺𝗱i𝘯g eхp𝗲𝗿𝗶e𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗻

I released her wrist slowly, my fingers lingering on her skin as if memorizing the texture. “Go. Before I lock the doors and throw away the key p>

She didn’t look back. She grabbed her coat and hurried out into the hallway.

I watched her go. The moment the elevator doors slid shut and cut off her scent, the silence of the office crashed down on me like a collapsing ceiling. It felt like a tomb.

I squeezed my eyes shut, the image of her stepping into that metal box burning behind my lids. Ragnar paced furiously in my mind, snarling at me for letting our mate walk away.

She is unsafe. She is unprotected, the beast hissed.

I opened my eyes, irises flashing gold. I wouldn’t leave her unprotected. Not for a second. I reached out with my mind, the telepathic link snapping into place with the force of a whip crack.

Vance.

My Gamma answered immediately, his mental voice sharp and alert. Alpha?

I want eyes on Hyde Manor, I commanded, projecting the order with icy clarity. Twenty-four hours a day. Every exit covered. A scope on every window of her floor. If a bird lands on her windowsill, I want to know about it.

A brief pause followed — Vance likely processing the legal and political danger of surveilling a rival Pack’s estate.

Understood, he replied. Who do I report to?

Only me. I severed the link and walked to the window, staring out at the rain-slicked city below. If Braydon Hyde makes a move, I want to know before he finishes the thought.

Somewhere out there, she was moving away from me. But I would be watching. Always watching.

Adella’s POV

Two days inside Hyde Manor, and I had learned exactly two things: the servants were loyal to Braydon, not Victoria, and the study was always locked.

I had managed to slip past the maid twice, only to find the heavy oak door bolted each time. On the third attempt, I got lucky. A delivery man left the service entrance propped open, and I slipped through the kitchen, up the back stairs, and into the east wing before anyone noticed.