Chapter 261

Chapter 261:

“Silas, please,” I whispered, looking up at him from the floor. “She was your aunt. I am your blood p>

For a single second, his expression wavered. Then a sweep of headlights crossed the lawn in the distance, and his fear returned, hardening his features into stone.

“Jarred Volkov will be here in five minutes,” Silas said, his voice hollow. “Behave, and maybe he’ll let you keep the journals p>

The heavy door slammed shut. The lock clicked, sealing me in the dark.

I scrambled to my feet and pounded on the wood until my fists ached, but the sound was swallowed whole by the roaring wind outside.

I was trapped. And the shark was coming.

Adella

Five minutes. That was all it took for the lock to turn again.

I had barely managed to scramble to my feet, my back pressed against the cold stone wall of the studio, when the heavy oak door creaked open. The storm outside howled, but it was the silence inside that terrified me more.

Silas entered first, looking smaller, diminished. And then the other man stepped in.

Intense romance on.com

The air in the room soured instantly. It wasn’t merely the smell of wet dog or unwashed skin—it was the scent of old dried blood and rotting earth, the stench of a Rogue. A wolf with no code, no pack, and no soul.

Jarred Volkov was massive, his leather jacket straining against shoulders too broad for a human frame. A jagged scar ran from his temple to his jaw, pulling his lip into a permanent, mocking sneer. He didn’t spare a glance for Silas. His dark, predatory eyes locked onto me immediately, stripping away my composure layer by layer.

“She’s smaller than I expected,” Jarred grunted, his voice like gravel grinding against itself. He stepped closer, his heavy boots thudding against the floorboards. “You said she was of the Everett line. She looks like a stiff breeze would snap her in half p>

“She is of the line,” Silas said quickly, his voice trembling with pathetic eagerness. “Her mother was pureblood. The genetics are there, Volkov. Even if the wolf is dormant p>

Jarred hummed—a low, vibrating sound deep in his chest. He began to circle me, inhaling the air. I fought the urge to gag as his scent washed over me in nauseating waves of musk and old violence.

“The legends say the blood of a White Wolf can be awakened,” he murmured, more to himself than to Silas. “With the right ritual. Pain opens the mind. Fear calls the beast. If I can crack her open, I won’t just have a mate. I’ll have a weapon p>

My blood turned to ice. He didn’t want a wife. He wanted a test subject. He wanted to torture the wolf out of me.

“Your cousin has a debt to pay,” Jarred said, stopping inches from me. He reached out, one calloused hand moving toward my face. “And you, little wolf, are the price p>

“Don’t touch me p>