Chapter 262
Chapter 262:
Panic overrode reason. I lunged sideways, my hip slamming into my mother’s old drafting desk. My fingers scrambled blindly across the surface until cold metal bit into my palm—a heavy brass letter opener shaped like a feather.
I gripped it like a dagger, leveling the dull tip at his chest. My hand shook violently.
“Back off,” I warned, my voice cracking. “I am not property. And I am not yours p>
Jarred didn’t flinch. He simply laughed—a dry, humorless bark. “Feisty. Good. The ritual requires a bit of fight p>
He took another step forward, his eyes gleaming with cruel anticipation. Behind him, Silas stood by the door with folded arms, his face a mask of cold indifference.
Just as Jarred’s hand closed around my wrist, a shriek tore through the night, shattering the tension like glass.
“Silas! He’s here! Oh goddess, he’s here p>
Maeve stumbled into the doorway, her face completely drained of color, her chest heaving. She looked as though she had seen something worse than a ghost.
“Who?” Silas snapped, his head whipping toward her.
“Braydon Hyde!” Maeve screamed, her voice shrill and fractured. “He’s at the main gate! He tore the intercom box right off the post p>
𝘕𝗲𝘸 𝖼𝘩a𝗉𝘁е𝘳𝘀 𝖾𝘷𝘦𝗿𝘺 𝘸𝖾𝘦𝘬 𝗼ո
The name landed like a physical blow. Even Jarred froze, his grip on my wrist loosening just enough for me to wrench my arm free.
“Hyde?” Jarred snarled, turning on Silas. “You didn’t tell me the Hyde Pack had a claim on her p>
“They don’t!” Silas stammered, sweat beading on his forehead despite the cold. “She knows him, that’s all. It’s nothing p>
“Nothing?” Maeve cried, her voice climbing toward hysteria. “He has a convoy of SUVs, Silas! If he finds out we’re selling her to a Rogue, he’ll slaughter every one of us before the moon rises p>
Jarred looked from the terrified couple to me and back again. He was a predator, but he wasn’t suicidal. A Rogue operation, however vicious, couldn’t stand against the organized military force of the Hyde Pack.
“I don’t wage wars with Alphas,” Jarred spat, backing away from me, his eyes narrowing. “Not for a broken thing like this p>
“Wait, Volkov—” Silas started, reaching out.
“Shut up,” Jarred growled.
He moved toward the back of the studio, where a smaller door opened onto the cliffside garden path. At the threshold he paused, one hand on the latch, and looked back at me. The hunger in his eyes hadn’t faded—it had simply been postponed.
“The deal stands, Thorne,” he hissed. “I will collect what is owed to me. If not today, then when the Alpha tires of her p>
The back door slammed. He dissolved into the shadows and the rain.
I stood motionless in the center of the room, the brass letter opener still clutched in my fist. My chest heaved as I tried to make sense of the sudden shift in the air. The shark had fled, driven off by a bigger predator.
Silas and Maeve were already rushing back toward the main house, arguing loudly about how to manage the situation, leaving me forgotten in the dark.
I stared at the open door, then at the darkness beyond where rain lashed against the cliffs.
Braydon Hyde was here.