Chapter 168

Chapter 168:

My study at Hyde Manor was usually a sanctuary of silence, smelling of aged oak and power. Today it reeked of desperation and stale perfume.

“Braydon, please! You have to do something!” Katherine Parrish slammed her manicured hands onto my desk, her knuckles white. Her usually immaculate hair was disheveled, her eyes red-rimmed and wild. “Marshall is destroying us! He froze our accounts this morning. My father is talking about bankruptcy. He’s going to lose the Pack lands p>

I swirled the amber liquid in my glass, watching the light catch the crystal. I didn’t look at her. My mind was miles away — in a penthouse in the city, imagining Adella wrapped in the sheets of the Lycan King.

My wolf snarled, pacing in the back of my mind. Mine. She is mine.

“Braydon! Are you listening to me?” Katherine shrieked, her voice cracking.

I finally lifted my gaze. She looked pathetic. A week ago she had been the perfect accessory — a high-ranking Alpha’s daughter, suitable for securing strong alliances. Now she was just noise.

𝗥𝗲со𝘮meո𝘥 𝘵𝘰 у𝗈𝗎𝘳 f𝗿i𝗲ո𝗱s

“I heard you, Katherine,” I said, my voice dangerously calm. “Marshall is retaliating because you were foolish enough to strike his guest. You brought this on yourself p>

“I am your fiancée!” she screamed, tears streaming down her face. “We have a contract! You are supposed to protect my interests p>

I stood slowly. The movement alone was enough to make her flinch. I walked around the desk and loomed over her. She smelled of fear and sour sweat — nothing like the intoxicating blend of vanilla and rain that used to cling to Adella.

“A mating contract is a merger of assets, Katherine,” I said coldly, my eyes boring into hers. “Your Pack is ash. Your father has nothing left to offer me. The contract is void p>

Her mouth fell open. “You… you can’t do that. We are to be Mated next month p>

“I never intended to Mark you,” I sneered, savoring the way the color drained from her face. “You were a placeholder. A distraction to make Adella jealous. But frankly, you aren’t fit to polish her shoes. Even wolfless, she had more dignity in her little finger than you have in your entire bloodline p>

Katherine’s face twisted in fury. She raised her hand to slap me — just as she had slapped Adella.

I caught her wrist in mid-air, squeezing until I felt the bones grind together. She cried out and dropped to her knees.

“Get out,” I growled, shoving her away. She stumbled back, clutching her wrist, her chest heaving.

She looked up at me then, and the fear in her eyes gave way to pure, unadulterated hatred. “You will die alone, Braydon,” she hissed, backing toward the door. “No true Luna will ever accept the Mark of a coward. You deserve nothing p>

She turned and fled, her sobs echoing down the hallway.

I slammed the heavy oak door and sealed myself back into the darkness. Good riddance.

I returned to my desk and opened the top drawer. Beneath a stack of financial reports lay a photograph. I pulled it out, my thumb tracing the image.