Chapter 574
Hours later, the black SUVs pulled up to the sprawling, gothic fortress of the Marshall Estate. Rain lashed against the stone steps. Standing beneath the grand portico, draped in a black silk dress, was Dosha.
Her smile was cold and dripping with the triumphant arrogance of a victor. After throwing a venomous glare at Dallas, her eyes dropped to my pregnant belly.
“So, this is the future of the Marshall bloodline,” Dosha sneered, her voice echoing in the damp air. “A mongrel whelp from a crippled Lycan and a wolfless.”
A primal, maternal fury I didn’t know I possessed erupted in my chest. I stepped directly into her personal space, my chin held high.
“Listen to me very carefully, Dosha,” I said, my voice dropping to a quiet, deadly whisper that surprised even me. “I hold the Luna’s Decree of Regency. If you ever speak of my child like that again, I will have you physically dragged from this estate and cut off every cent of your Marshall funding. Do not test me.”
Dosha’s smug smile vanished. Her eyes widened with genuine shock, her Inner Wolf clearly sensing the authority I now wielded. She scoffed, muttered something about me growing a spine, and stepped aside.
We bypassed the foyer and headed straight for Kaelen’s master suite. The cavernous room smelled of bitter herbs and the unmistakable, heavy stillness of a dying man. Kaelen lay motionless on the massive four-poster bed, the medical monitors beeping erratically.
The moment Kaelen’s heart monitor began to blare a frantic warning, Dosha rushed into the room with a feigned sob and turned immediately to the three estate lawyers standing in the corner. “Freeze all the trust accounts! As his primary caretaker, I am taking over his medical and financial—”
“Shut your mouth,” Dallas growled.
He didn’t look at her. He kept his eyes on his dying father, but the sheer, crushing weight of his Alpha’s Command slammed into the room. Dosha choked on her own words, her knees buckling slightly.
“I have rights!” she shrieked, fighting the command.
Dallas’s eyes flashed silver. Vance, he linked, the command resonating through the room. Clear the room. If she resists, throw her off the balcony.
Vance Decker didn’t hesitate. He seized Dosha by the arm, ignoring her furious scratching, and dragged her out, the lawyers scrambling behind them. The heavy oak doors slammed shut.
Dallas stepped up to the bed. Kaelen’s breathing had reduced to a shallow rattle. Then the old Alpha’s eyes fluttered open — cloudy, unfocused, but searching. With a trembling, agonizing effort, he reached out and pressed a cold, heavy object into Dallas’s palm.
A brass key, old and worn.
“Key…” Kaelen wheezed, his voice barely a ghost of a whisper. “3… basement…”
Kaelen’s hand went limp and dropped from the edge of the bed. The heart monitor flatlined into a single, continuous, piercing tone.