Chapter 335
Thirty minutes later, I stepped out of the private elevator and into the lobby. I had traded my soft sweaters for a tailored black dress that commanded authority, my hair pulled back tight. I felt like an imposter, but I held my head high.
The heavy glass doors of Marshall Tower slid open, and I stepped out onto the sidewalk. The city noise was a dull roar, but the air tasted wrong — not the crisp morning it should have been. It smelled sour. Like rotting fruit and desperation.
“Going somewhere, Luna?”
The voice made my skin crawl. I froze, my hand hovering over the door handle of the waiting black SUV.
Braydon Hyde stepped out from behind a concrete pillar. He looked nothing like the polished Alpha heir I had known. His suit was rumpled, his eyes bloodshot, his jaw clenched tight. The charm was gone, replaced by a naked, ugly malice.
“Get out of my way, Braydon,” I said, my voice icy. “I have nothing to say to you.”
“Oh, I think you do,” he sneered, stepping closer. The security detail tensed, hands moving to their earpieces, but I waved them off. I didn’t need guards to deal with him. “I heard you took him back. The big, bad King. How romantic.”
“I chose my mate,” I corrected, channeling every ounce of confidence I had. “Something you’ll never understand.”
Braydon laughed — a harsh, barking sound entirely devoid of humor. “You think he chose you? You think this is some fairy tale where the beast falls for the beauty?”
He moved into my personal space, his voice dropping to a venomous whisper. “He didn’t choose you, Adella. He’s bound to you by his father’s crime.”
I frowned, confusion flickering through my anger. “What are you talking about?”
“Alpha Kaelen Marshall,” Braydon spat the name like a curse. “The man everyone worships. He did something unforgivable years ago — something that would shatter this fragile alliance of Packs if it ever came to light. And do you know who helped him cover it up?”
He paused, savoring the look on my face.
“Your mother. Luna Elara Everett.”
My breath hitched. “You’re lying. My mother was a saint. She was a White Wolf.”
“Exactly,” Braydon hissed, his eyes gleaming with triumph. “She used that holy power to bury his sins. Your mother’s silence protected his bloodline, and now he’s using the mate bond to ensure yours. You’re not his Mate, Adella. You’re a liability — a chain forged from his family’s shame.”
The world tilted on its axis. The conviction in his voice, the specific detail about my mother, clawed at the fresh scab of my trust. Dallas had told me he had secrets. He had told me he failed my parents. Was this what he meant? Was I just a loose end he had to tie down?
“I don’t believe you,” I said. But my voice trembled.
“Of course you don’t,” Braydon said, stepping back and reaching into his jacket. “But I have proof. Come with me, and I’ll show you exactly what your King is hiding.”