Chapter 403
His chest heaved, his hands gripping the bedrails so hard the metal groaned. “I saw you, Adella! Duncan linked me. I saw you in the Moon Goddess Garden with Braydon. You let him touch you while I lay here dying! You’re a liar!”
“Look at me, Dallas!” I stepped closer and grabbed the scratchy fabric of my janitor’s uniform. “If I was in the garden with Braydon three minutes ago, how did I get up to the twenty-second floor in this disguise? How did I get past your guards?”
He blinked. The absolute certainty in his eyes faltered for a fraction of a second.
“It wasn’t me,” I pleaded, my voice breaking as I closed the distance to his bedside. “Braydon hired a Rogue named Suki. She’s a decoy. He faked that photo in the rain, and he orchestrated whatever Duncan saw downstairs. Dr. Liam Barber figured it out. He gave me this disguise and sneaked me in because he knew your Lycan was destroying you over a lie.”
Liam.
The name hung in the tense air between us. Dallas knew Liam. He knew the Pack doctor’s unwavering integrity.
Dallas stared up at me, his chest rising and falling erratically. He searched my tear-streaked face, looking for any trace of deception. But all he found was desperate, frantic honesty — and the exhausting, stubborn love that refused to let him go.
The rigid walls he had built out of pain and lies shattered all at once. A choked, broken sound escaped his throat.
I didn’t hesitate. I threw my arms around his neck and buried my face in his shoulder. His large, calloused hands came up immediately to grip my waist, pulling me as close as his injuries would allow.
When our lips crashed together, the sparks ignited instantly — a violent, beautiful electricity that arced across my skin and soothed the agonizing ache in my chest. He tasted of copper, mint, and salt. The kiss was desperate, a frantic reclamation of our souls that silenced the raging beast within him.
“I’m so sorry,” he breathed against my lips, his forehead resting against mine. “I should have known. I should have trusted you.”
“We’re going to fix this,” I whispered, my fingers tangling in his dark hair.
Before he could reply, the heavy stomping of boots echoed in the hallway outside.
“Alpha!” Duncan’s muffled voice barked through the thick oak door. “I have the Pack lawyer. We are initiating the Rejection. Now.”
Dallas’s body went rigid. The vulnerable mate vanished, instantly replaced by the calculating Alpha King. He knew Duncan was blinded by misplaced loyalty and rage — and right now, that made his Beta incredibly dangerous to me.
“Hide,” Dallas ordered, his tone dropping to a low, urgent whisper. “Get in the bathroom.”
“Dallas, no — I’m not running from him—”
“He’s out of his mind with anger, Adelia. He thinks he’s protecting me. Let me handle him first. Please. Go.”