Chapter 404

The sheer desperation in his eyes made me swallow my pride. I nodded and stepped backward into the dark shadows of the ensuite bathroom, just as the electronic lock on the main door flashed green and clicked open. I pressed my back against the cold tiles of the ensuite bathroom, holding my breath as the electronic lock chimed. Heavy boots marched into the suite, bringing with them an oppressive, suffocating tension.

“Alpha,” Duncan’s voice was a low, dangerous rumble. “The paperwork is ready.”

I peeked through the narrow crack in the door. Duncan slammed a thick folder onto the nightstand. The Pack lawyer stood rigidly behind him, his eyes fixed on the floor.

“Sign it, Dallas,” Duncan urged, his tone laced with a toxic mixture of grief and fury. “Sever the bond. For all we know, she’s already on her way to Hyde Manor with—”

Silence stretched, thick and agonizing. I waited for Dallas to defend me, to tell his Beta the truth about the decoy. Instead, Dallas let out a ragged exhale. His voice sounded exhausted, completely stripped of the fierce Lycan energy from moments ago.

“What if… what if you’re right, Duncan?”

My heart stopped. The icy claws of betrayal tore through my chest, freezing the blood in my veins. He was giving up? After the kiss, after the truth, he was letting Duncan’s lies poison him again?

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t hide. The thought of him signing that paper — tearing us apart — overrode every ounce of fear in my body.

I shoved the bathroom door open. It hit the wall with a sharp crack.

Duncan spun around, his eyes widening in absolute shock before narrowing into pure, unadulterated hatred. “You,” he snarled, stepping toward me. “Where did the traitor—”

I ignored him entirely and marched straight to Dallas’s bedside. Dallas didn’t hesitate. His large hand shot out, wrapping tightly around my fingers. The sparks erupted instantly — a rush of warm, grounding electricity that chased away my panic and anchored me to him.

He pulled me close to his side, his stormy eyes locking onto his Beta. The exhaustion vanished from his face, replaced by the terrifying, suffocating weight of his full aura.

“She stays,” Dallas commanded, his voice vibrating with the absolute, undeniable authority of an Alpha’s Command.

Duncan fought against the invisible pressure, his jaw clenched so tight I thought his teeth would shatter. “You are blinded by the bond!” he roared, pulling a sleek Pack tablet from his jacket and shoving it toward Dallas. “Ten minutes ago — I was downstairs watching her! This is the mate you choose to believe!”

I looked at the screen. It was high-resolution security footage of the Moon Goddess Garden. A woman wearing my exact dress was wrapped in Braydon Hyde’s arms, kissing him passionately in the rain.

I met Duncan’s furious glare, my voice dead calm. “That is not me.”

“Liar!”

“Actually, Duncan — it isn’t.”

The measured voice of Dr. Liam Barber cut through the tension as he strode into the room, a tablet in hand. He didn’t wait for permission. He synced his device to the wall monitor, projecting the garden footage for everyone to see.

“Pause it right there,” Liam instructed, zooming in on the woman’s left arm as it rested on Braydon’s shoulder. “Look at her wrist.”

The skin on the screen was flawless. Smooth and completely unblemished.