Chapter 437
I didn’t give her a chance to respond. I turned and walked away, leaving her fuming in the center of the gallery. For the first time in my life, I felt like a true Queen.
Dallas POV
“It is an absolute insult!” Gigi’s voice cracked like a whip through the dim lighting of her private study at Marshall Tower.
I sat across from her massive mahogany desk, my bad leg stretched out, the brace aching with a dull, persistent throb. The gala had ended an hour ago, but the political war was only just beginning.
“Braydon and Katherine’s union is a blatant power play by Elder Malcolm,” Gigi snarled, pacing the floor. “He wants to use their combined wealth to buy out the War Council.”
“Then we let them think they’ve won,” I said, my voice a low, calm rumble.
Gigi stopped pacing, her sharp eyes narrowing.
“We publicly bless the union,” I explained, leaning forward. “We give the Hyde Pack the Moonstone Creek Valley as a wedding gift. But the condition of that gift is simple: the Parrish Pack must publicly vote against every single one of Elder Malcolm’s proposals to limit my authority at next week’s Council meeting.”
Gigi stared at me, the gears turning in her brilliant, ruthless mind. Slowly, a shark-like smile spread across her face. “You give them the land, but you strip Malcolm of his allies. You isolate the old snake.”
“Exactly.”
An hour later, I was alone in the penthouse study. The city lights bled through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting long, cold shadows across the room. I was rubbing my aching thigh and calculating my next moves for the Council when a sharp, encrypted pulse hit my mind.
My King, we have a problem.
It was Duncan Whitaker, my Beta. His mental voice was tight with a panic I rarely heard from him.
Report, I commanded.
The Silver Scythes have accepted a contract. Their target profile matches Adella. They are already on the move.
The blood in my veins turned to absolute ice. Ragnar slammed against my ribs with a deafening, terrified roar. Wife. Protect.
The Silver Scythes. A ruthless faction of Rogue mercenaries notorious for torturing their targets, armed exclusively with pure silver weaponry. If they were coming for Adella, the penthouse, the Tower, and the entire Pack territory were about to become a bloodbath.
I gripped the armrest of my wheelchair, my claws extending and digging deep into the leather until it tore. I couldn’t fight an army of silver-wielding assassins while shielding her in the crossfire. She was too vulnerable.
There was only one way to keep her safe. I had to get her out of the Pack. I had to make her run.
I closed my eyes, swallowing the agonizing bile rising in my throat.
Initiate Plan B, I sent to Duncan, my Alpha’s Command laced with a cold, dead emptiness.
I was going to push her away. I was going to make her hate me. I would shatter her heart into a million pieces and force her to leave before the Silver Scythes ever reached our borders. I would become the monster she always feared — just to keep her breathing.