Chapter 35
Chapter 35:
He straightened, and his expression returned instantly to the mask of cold indifference he wore like a second skin. In the distance, the rhythmic chop of rotor blades began to cut through the morning air.
“Azalea will take you back to the city. I have Pack business to attend to p>
He turned and walked toward the helipad at the edge of the lawn, where a sleek black helicopter sat waiting. I watched him go, the signed paper pressed to my chest. I had won the battle. But the way my heart was hammering against my ribs suggested I was losing something far larger.
Ten minutes later, the helicopter was a fading speck against the pale sky, and Azalea came bouncing onto the patio in a floral sundress, croissant already in hand.
“Oh my goddess, Adelia—did you see Dad leave? He’s in such a mood today.” She dropped into the chair he had vacated, entirely unbothered. “So, since we’re heading back to the city, can we stop by that boutique on Fifth? I need something for the Alpha Summit next month p>
“Sure,” I said, pulling out my phone. “Give me a minute p>
I angled the screen away from her, my pulse climbing.
𝘋о𝗐𝘯l𝘰𝘢𝗱𝗮b𝗅𝖾 𝘗𝖣𝖥𝘴 𝘰𝗻
Fragments of the night before flickered through my mind—his hands on my waist, the raw way he had said my name, the ache I had woken up with and refused to examine too closely. I remembered enough. Enough to understand that something had happened. Something that existed entirely outside the contract.
And as a wolfless human with no pack, no protections, and no leverage, I could not afford to take the risk.
If I was pregnant—if I carried the Alpha King’s child—I would never be free. I would become a vessel. A breeder. Locked in the gilded cage permanently, valued only for the heir I carried. The contract would be irrelevant. The land charter would be irrelevant. I would be irrelevant, except for what grew inside me.
My fingers were unsteady as I opened the pharmacy app.
I found what I needed and added it to the cart. I selected same-day delivery to my apartment address in the city. I would be there before the driver arrived.
I tapped through to checkout.
Order Confirmed.
The breath I had been holding left me all at once. It was done. A small, quiet act of self-preservation. I had taken back the one thing the contract couldn’t protect.
I slipped the phone into my bag and arranged my expression into something that resembled calm.
“Ready to go?” I asked, turning to Azalea.
“Do you think red is too bold?” she mused, already scrolling through her phone as we walked toward the car. “Or is that the whole point p>
“That’s the whole point,” I said.
I stepped off the patio and toward the waiting car, feeling fractionally lighter—completely unaware that somewhere in the digital infrastructure of the Marshall estate, my quiet, private transaction had just registered as a declaration of war.