Chapter 270
Chapter 270:
“I am not prey!” she shouted back, pushing against my chest. The contact seared us both, the mate-bond flaring hot and bright between us. “I am the bait, Dallas. It’s the only way. I need him to admit what he arranged with Silas. I need to know what they want with my blood p>
“I forbid it.” I used the Alpha Voice, letting the command roll off me in waves of power that would have driven any wolf to their knees.
Adella just stood there. She stepped forward, wrapped her arms around my waist, and buried her face in my soaked shirt.
“Please,” she whispered against my chest. “I need to do this. For my mother. For myself. I can’t only be the damsel you rescue, Dallas. I need to be the one who ends it p>
Her scent—lilies and rain—filled my nose, working on the beast inside me like a sedative. Ragnar’s rage softened into a low, possessive hum. She was using our bond against me, and every part of me knew it. Every part of me let her.
I exhaled slowly and rested my chin on the top of her head. “You are a dangerous woman, Adella Everett p>
“I have to be,” she murmured.
𝘛𝘩𝖾 𝘣𝗲𝗌𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝖺𝖽i𝗻𝗴 𝖾𝗑р𝗲𝗋і𝖾ո𝗰𝖾 𝘰ո
“Fine,” I conceded, the word tasting like ash on my tongue. “But you do not go alone. I will be your shadow. And if Volkov so much as breathes on you the wrong way, I will burn that club to the ground with him inside it. And you will live with the consequences p>
She pulled back and looked up at me, relief softening her face. “How did you find me so quickly tonight? Silas said no one knew I was here p>
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, tilting the screen toward her. A blinking red dot pulsed steadily against the map.
“I put a tracker in your necklace the night of the Gala,” I admitted, without a trace of shame. “The signal went dark when you entered this room—the lead paint in the walls, most likely. I accessed the estate’s perimeter cameras immediately after. I saw Volkov’s SUV. I saw Braydon p>
Her eyes widened. “You were watching the whole time p>
“I am always watching,” I said. It was a promise, not a boast.
I removed my suit jacket and draped the heavy, expensive fabric around her shivering shoulders. It engulfed her, wrapping her in my scent—cedar, power, and Lycan musk. A warning to anyone who dared come close.
I looked around the miserable, drafty studio. There was no possibility of leaving her here alone—not with Volkov and Silas still circling like vultures in the dark.
“We stay here tonight,” I said, moving to the dusty velvet sofa and pulling her down beside me.
“Dallas, you can’t p>
“I am not leaving you in this cage alone, Adella,” I growled, pulling her flush against my side and trapping her in my heat. “Sleep. I’ll keep watch p>
Outside, the storm raged on. But the real danger was the silence waiting for us at dawn.