Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Adelia

The silence in the penthouse was heavy, weighted with the scent of roasted rosemary and the ozone-charged storm that was Dallas Marshall’s natural aura. Sitting at the massive ebony dining table, I felt like an imposter in a king’s court. The city lights of New York glittered through the floor-to-ceiling windows—a sprawling galaxy beneath our feet—but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the man at the head of the table.

Dallas sliced his steak with surgical precision, his face a mask of perfect indifference. Beside me, Azalea was vibrating with barely suppressed fury.

“You should have seen him, Dad,” she said, stabbing a potato with her fork. “Braydon Hyde grabbed her arm like he owned her—in the middle of a public store. You can’t just blacklist him. You need to crush him. Burn the Hyde Pack to the ground p>

The fork froze halfway to my mouth. A cold spike of terror cut straight through my appetite.

Burn it to the ground.

“No,” I whispered, the word escaping before I could stop it.

ո𝗈𝗏еlѕ 𝗶n 𝘵𝗋еո𝘥 𝘰𝘯

Dallas paused, his knife resting against the porcelain with a soft clink. He lifted his gaze, his obsidian eyes locking onto mine. “No p>

My hands had begun to tremble. I hid them in my lap and gripped the linen napkin. “Please, Dallas. You can’t destroy the whole Pack p>

“They hurt you,” Azalea said, her brows knitting together. “Why would you defend them p>

“It’s not Braydon I’m worried about,” I said, my voice unsteady. “When the Hyde Pack absorbed my parents’ territory, they took in the families who worked our land—the elderly, the wolfless, the ones too weak to fight back. They are still there, living in the shadows of the estate. If you declare total war, if you destroy their economy or their homes, they are the ones who will suffer first p>

I looked at Dallas, pleading silently. I was asking a monster to show mercy—a businessman to set aside profit and vengeance for the sake of people who couldn’t protect themselves.

Dallas set his knife down. He lifted his wine glass, swirling the dark red liquid, watching the legs run slowly down the inside of the glass.

“Do you think I am a blunt instrument, Adelia?” His voice was low—a velvet rumble that seemed to vibrate through the floor itself.

“I don’t know,” I admitted.

“I don’t carpet bomb,” he said, his eyes dark and unreadable. “I use a scalpel. My war is with the Hyde bloodline, not with the dirt they walk on or the people they subjugate.” He took a measured sip, his gaze never leaving my face. “I have done my due diligence. I know exactly who lives on the Moonstone Creek estate. No harm will come to the innocent p>

I blinked, genuinely stunned. Due diligence. He spoke as though he had studied the demographics of a fallen pack more thoroughly than I ever had. A strange warmth bloomed in my chest—confusing and unwelcome. Why would the Alpha King concern himself with a few dozen displaced workers?

Before I could ask, a sharp buzz from the wall panel cut through the room.

The intercom crackled to life. “Alpha Marshall. We have a situation in the lobby p>

Dallas didn’t glance at the panel. “Report p>

“It’s Braydon Hyde, sir,” the head of security said, his voice tight. “He’s demanding entry. He claims Miss Everett is a ward of the Hyde Pack and that we are unlawfully detaining her p>

The blood drained from my face. My fork clattered onto my plate.

He’s here.

Phantom fingers seemed to bruise my arm all over again. The air in the room thinned. I could smell Braydon’s cologne in my memory, feel the ghost of his hot breath on my neck. I pushed my chair back, the legs scraping harshly against the floor.

“He found me,” I whispered, panic seizing my throat. “He’s going to take me back p>

“Sit down, Adelia.” Dallas’s voice wasn’t raised—it didn’t need to be. The sheer authority packed into those three words made my body comply before my mind could process the command.

Dallas stood. He didn’t look angry. He looked bored. He crossed to the intercom panel with the fluid, unhurried movements of a predator who has never once needed to rush, and pressed the talk button.

“Put him on p>

A moment later, Braydon’s voice filled the room—distorted by the speaker but unmistakable in its arrogance. “Marshall! Send her down. You have no right to keep her. She belongs to the Hyde Pack. If you don’t release her, I’ll p>

“You will do nothing.” Dallas’s voice dropped an octave, threaded through with a growl that raised the hair along my arms. It was the Alpha’s Command—pure, distilled dominance. “Listen closely, boy. You are trespassing on my territory. You have exactly sixty seconds to remove yourself from my building p>

“You can’t threaten me!” Braydon spluttered, though his voice had already begun to waver. “I want to see Adelia p>

“If you are not outside these doors in sixty seconds,” Dallas continued, his tone glacial and absolute, “I will consider it an act of war. I will have you arrested for cross-pack trespassing and harassment of the Alpha King’s Mate. And then I will personally come down there and remove your head from your shoulders p>

Silence stretched over the line. Heavy. Suffocating.

Then came the sound of shuffling feet. The connection clicked off.

Dallas released the button and turned back to the table. The lethal darkness in his eyes receded, replaced by that impenetrable calm.

“Eat your dinner, Adelia,” he said, returning to his chair as though he hadn’t just threatened to execute a rival heir.

I stared at him, my heart still hammering. “He could still come up. The elevators p>

“The elevators require a retina scan,” Dallas said, picking up his knife. “Currently, only three people in this world have clearance to access this floor. Myself, Azalea, and you.” His expression softened by the smallest degree. “The contract isn’t just paper, Adelia. It’s a wall. And nothing gets past my walls p>

I looked at the man sitting across from me. For years I had feared Alphas—their power, their tempers, the casual cruelty of their authority. But as the scent of cedar and storm slowly wrapped around me and displaced the fear from my chest, I understood something that unsettled me far more than any threat Braydon could make.

I wasn’t afraid of Dallas Marshall.

For the first time in my life, I felt safe.

And that was far more dangerous than fear had ever been.