Chapter 22
Chapter 22:
The sun was beginning to set, bleeding crimson and violet across the sky. I walked past the infinity pool without stopping, my feet carrying me on instinct toward the lake.
The old wooden pier was exactly as I remembered it—weathered grey planks stretching out into dark, still water. I walked to the very end, the cool breeze whipping my hair across my face and drying the tears I hadn’t realized were already falling.
I was free. I was home.
“I knew you’d come here p>
The voice crawled out of the treeline, slithering across the sound of the water like something cold and wrong.
I spun around.
Braydon Hyde stepped out of the forest shadows. He looked nothing like the polished, arrogant Alpha heir I remembered. His designer suit was torn at the shoulder, his hair wild, and he smelled of damp earth, stale sweat, and something rotten—the sour stench of desperation gone feral.
“Braydon,” I breathed, my blood turning to ice. “How did you get past the perimeter p>
“The old smugglers’ tunnels,” he sneered, stepping onto the pier. The wood creaked ominously beneath his weight. “Your father sealed them years ago, but I unsealed them. Just in case.” He stopped a few feet away, his eyes raking over me with a manic, feverish hunger. “You look different. Stronger p>
𝗥𝖾𝘢𝗱 𝖿re𝖾 𝗇o𝘃𝖾l𝗌 𝗼ո
“Get out,” I said, though my voice betrayed me with a tremor. “This is private property. My property p>
“It’s his property!” Braydon spat, throwing a violent gesture toward the house where warm lights now glowed in the gathering dusk. “That monster. That Lycan freak. Do you know what he is, Adelia? He’s a butcher in a tailored suit p>
“He is twice the man you will ever be,” I retorted, stepping back toward the far edge of the pier.
Braydon’s expression fractured—anger crumbling into something pathetically close to pleading. “Adelia, please. I know I made a mistake. But I can fix it. I’ll reject Katherine—right now, if you ask me to. I’ll make you Luna of the Hyde Pack, just like we planned p>
“We never planned that, Braydon. You planned that.” I squared my shoulders, the fear in my chest hardening into cold resolve. “I don’t want your title. I don’t want your pack. And I don’t want you p>
“You don’t mean that,” he whispered, moving a step closer.
“I do,” I said, my voice carrying clearly across the water. “I belong here. With my Mate p>
The word landed between us like a drawn blade.
Braydon went completely still. The pleading drained from his face, replaced by a darkness so total it looked as though something behind his eyes had simply gone out. His jaw locked. A low growl built in his chest.
“Mate?” He let out a short, broken laugh. “You think he’s your mate? You stupid, naive girl. You are mine p>
“No,” I said.
“You are mine!” he roared.
Before I could move, he lunged. His hand shot out, fingers digging into my arm with bruising force, yanking me forward hard enough to threaten bone. The sour stench of him flooded my senses as he wrenched me into a violent, suffocating grip.
Adelia