Chapter 37
Chapter 37:
I wanted to run. Every instinct in my body screamed at me to flee, to get away from the predator now stalking toward me. But my feet were rooted to the spot.
Dallas stopped inches from the medication on the floor. He bent down, his movements fluid and lethal, and picked up the box. His large hand engulfed it, the cardboard crinkling under the pressure of his grip.
“Explain yourself,” he barked. “Why did you buy this? Do you really not want my child p>
I swallowed hard, my throat dry as sandpaper. “I ordered it p>
“I know you ordered it, Adella. My security team flagged a ‘Potential Bloodline Threat’ the moment the transaction cleared.” He took a step toward me, and I instinctively stepped back, hitting the wall of the elevator. “What I want to know is why p>
“Because of the contract,” I stammered, clutching my purse like a shield. I tried to summon the logic that had seemed so sound this morning. “Article 1 — no complications. I’m fulfilling my end of the deal, Dallas. I’m protecting us both p>
He stopped, tilting his head slightly. The golden light in his eyes flared brighter. “Protecting us p>
“I don’t want to trap you,” I said, my voice gaining a fraction of strength. “I won’t be a breeder, Dallas. I won’t be locked away because of a biological accident. I didn’t want… complications p>
The air in the room seemed to vanish.
𝖱𝗲𝖺𝗱 𝘵𝗵𝖾 𝘭𝖺t𝖾𝘀𝘵 𝘁𝗿e𝘯d𝗌 𝗈𝘯
“Complications,” he repeated the word, tasting it, then spitting it out like poison. “You call my heir — my flesh and blood — a complication? You think I would treat you the way the Hydes did? Like a vessel to be locked in a cage p>
“I didn’t mean p>
“You are rejecting me,” he snarled, the human mask slipping further, the heartbreak in his voice sharper than the anger. “You are rejecting the gift of the Moon Goddess. You are trying to scrub my scent, my essence, from your body as if it were a disease p>
“It’s not rejection — it’s sensible!” I cried out, panic rising. “We aren’t really Mates, Dallas. We have a deal p>
“Forget the deal p>
He moved faster than my eyes could track. One moment he was five feet away; the next, his hand was wrapped around my wrist.
The contact was electric. A jolt of sparks — painful, pleasurable, undeniable — shot up my arm and straight to my heart. It was a cruel reminder of the bond I was trying to deny.
He didn’t give me a chance to pull away. He dragged me, not gently, away from the safety of the elevator.
“Dallas, stop — you’re hurting me p>
He ignored my plea, marching me across the expansive living room toward the kitchen. His grip was iron, his stride long and purposeful. I stumbled, struggling to keep up, my heels skidding on the polished floor.
He hauled me into the kitchen and spun me around, slamming my back against the cold, hard edge of the granite island. He caged me in, planting both hands on the counter on either side of my hips and leaning down until his face was inches from mine.