Chapter 579
I slammed the heavy parchment shut. The sharp crack echoed over the popping flames in the stone fireplace.
Dallas, leaning heavily on his crutches by the hearth, flinched. His golden eyes darted to me, instantly reading the betrayal on my face.
“Adella—”
“What is this Protectorate Clause?” I choked out, tears blurring my vision as I rushed toward him. “You think I want another Alpha? You think I need some stranger to guard our pup because I don’t have a wolf?” I grabbed the lapels of his shirt, my voice breaking into a desperate sob. “I don’t need another Alpha, Dallas. I only need you alive. I need you here with us.”
The raw agony in my voice shattered his stoic facade. Dallas dropped his crutches. They clattered loudly against the hardwood floor as his massive arms wrapped around me, taking my full weight. He buried his face in my hair, his chest heaving. Through our bond, I felt Ragnar finally settle into a profound, absolute peace.
“I’m sorry,” Dallas rasped, his voice thick with emotion. “I’m so sorry, my love. I will live. I swear it to you.”
He pulled back just enough to look into my eyes, then reached over to the desk, grabbed the cursed document, and tossed it straight into the roaring fire. We watched the parchment curl and turn to ash.
Then Dallas picked up a heavy raven-quill pen and the official Pack registry file Duncan Whitaker had prepared. Without hesitating, he bit into his own thumb. A drop of rich crimson Alpha blood welled up. He smeared it onto the nib of the quill and handed it to me.
My hand was steady as I pressed the blood-ink to the parchment, signing my new name: Adella Marshall.
The mate-bond flared, sealing our equality. But before we could even breathe in the victory, the heavy oak door swung open.
Vance Decker stepped into the study, his expression tight with tension. “Alpha. Luna. Forgive the intrusion, but we have a situation.”
Dallas shifted, instinctively pulling me behind his broad frame. “Report.”
“It’s Dosha,” Vance said grimly. “She’s been on a hunger strike in The Vault for three days. She’s demanding to see Luna Adella Marshall, or she swears she will starve herself to death.”
A lethal, molten gold ignited in Dallas’s eyes. Ragnar’s murderous fury resonated through the room. Dosha knew exactly what she was doing — a high-profile Alpha Female starving to death in our prison would give the Elders the perfect excuse to challenge Dallas’s reign.
“Then let her die,” Dallas snarled, his voice laced with the crushing weight of an Alpha’s Command.
“No.”
My voice cut through the heavy air. Both men turned to stare at me.
“Absolutely not, Adella,” Dallas growled, his protective instincts flaring. “She is a manipulative serpent. I won’t let her near you or our pup.”
.