Chapter 436
“A blood-debt is a claim, girl,” Gigi interrupted, her tone turning to absolute ice. “Stronger than any treaty. As long as you feel you owe him, he owns a piece of your soul. Dallas wasn’t paying for your life — he was trying to buy back your freedom.”
The breath was knocked from my lungs. The anger that had been boiling inside me instantly evaporated, replaced by a crushing wave of realization. Dallas hadn’t been cold. He had been desperate. He was trying to sever the invisible chains Braydon was wrapping around my neck, using the only weapon an Alpha King knew: overwhelming power.
“Braydon is playing a dangerous game,” Gigi continued, rising and moving toward the window. “And he is not acting alone. Elder Malcolm is using this tragedy. He is parading Katherine Parrish around as the heroic, grieving fiancée to garner sympathy from the outer territories.”
I frowned as the pieces began clicking into place. “Why?”
“To force a Parrish Pack representative onto the Blackwood Pack War Council under the guise of strengthening alliances,” Gigi sneered. “It is a coup, Adella. A war fought with whispers and pity.”
She turned to face me, her eyes blazing with a fierce, calculating light. The battlefield had just expanded far beyond a hospital room.
The battlefield Gigi had warned me about was draped in silk and dripping with diamonds.
The Blackwood Pack Art Gallery had been transformed for the annual Luna’s Hope Charity Gala. Masked guests moved like elegant shadows beneath the crystal chandeliers. The air was thick with champagne, expensive perfume, and the overwhelming, territorial pheromones of hundreds of wolves.
I stood near the mahogany bar, keeping my spine perfectly straight. I was no longer the naive girl crying in a hospital room.
“It really is a tragedy, Adella,” a sickly-sweet voice purred from behind me.
I turned to find Katherine Parrish draped in crimson silk, her hand resting strategically on her collarbone to ensure the massive diamond engagement ring caught the light. Her scent — overripe jasmine and smug satisfaction — made my nose wrinkle.
“To be thrust into this world completely wolfless,” Katherine continued, her voice dripping with theatrical sympathy clearly intended for the eavesdropping aristocrats around us. “The Alpha King needs a strong wife. Someone who can actually bear him a powerful Lycan heir. It must be exhausting, knowing your bloodline is a dead end.”
A few weeks ago, those words would have shattered me. Tonight, they barely left a scratch.
I met her gaze and channeled every ounce of Gigi’s icy composure. “A true bond is chosen by the heart, Katherine. A purchased one is chosen by a checkbook. I wonder which holds longer.”
Katherine’s smug smile faltered, her face draining of color.
“You think you’re so untouchable,” she hissed, dropping the sweet act entirely. “Braydon is handing me the keys to the Hyde Pack’s core assets. We are building an empire while you play dress-up.”
I let out a soft, dismissive laugh. “You are getting his money, Katherine. But I have the loyalty of the entire Blackwood Pack. Enjoy your checkbook.”