Chapter 158
Chapter 158:
First: Katherine at the engagement gala, her smile sickly sweet as she forced the fork toward my lips — the cake laced with silver and mango, a double dose of poison meant to erase me. I remembered the burn in my throat, the convulsions, the darkness closing in.
Second: Katherine in the shopping plaza, her hand connecting with my cheek in a slap that echoed off the marble walls. The humiliation, hot and sharp, as she reminded the world that I was nothing — just a wolfless girl who deserved to be put in her place.
Two attacks. Two attempts to break me.
And Dallas had been there for both. He had pulled me from the brink of death at the gala, breathing life back into my lungs when my heart had stopped. And now he had erased her family’s legacy entirely, burning their wealth to ash as payment for a single slap.
He hadn’t merely been angry. He had seen both acts for what they were — declarations of war against what belonged to him.
“Adella, are you there?” Braydon’s voice cracked, desperate now. “Did you tell him? Did you sic your beast on us? You have to fix this! Tell him it was a mistake p>
I looked at Dallas. He was no longer watching the window. He was watching me — waiting. Not asking me to fix it. Waiting to see if I would accept his offering. Not just for the slap, but for every wound Katherine had tried to inflict.
A strange sensation bloomed in my chest. Not the fear of being hunted. The awe of being so fiercely protected. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t facing the world alone. The man beside me wasn’t a monster I needed to escape — he was a guardian who had just proven, in the most absolute terms, that my safety and honor mattered more to him than the economy of a rival Pack.
“I can’t fix it, Braydon,” I said, my voice steady and cold, surprising even myself.
“You bitch! After everything we did for you p>
“Katherine should have thought about that before she tried to kill me,” I cut him off, the words tasting like sweet venom. “Before she put her hands on me. He was simply protecting what’s his p>
The 𝘣𝖾s𝘵 𝗋𝘦𝗏і𝖾𝗐s 𝗈𝘯 ѕ.𝖼𝘰𝘮
I tapped the red button. The silence that rushed back into the car was deafening.
I sat there, heart pounding — not with fear, but with the adrenaline of understanding the depth of his devotion. He hadn’t asked for my permission. He hadn’t sought my approval. He had simply seen injustice done to me, again and again, and erased the source from existence.
Dallas moved then. He reached out, his large, rough hand cupping my face, his thumb tracing the skin of my cheek — right where Katherine’s hand had struck me. The touch was so tender it made my breath catch.
He leaned in, his dark eyes swirling with a possessiveness that felt less like a cage and more like the most secure fortress in the world. He lifted my hand to his lips and pressed a slow, lingering kiss to my knuckles, his gaze never leaving mine.