Delilah POV
I followed Carter down the corridor, my heels clicking a frantic rhythm against the marble floor that echoed the hammering of my heart. I expected him to lead me to the grand staircase, up to the guest suites where he could demand his "explanation" behind closed doors.
Instead, he took a sharp left toward the servants' wing.
Carter, the guest rooms are—
He didn't answer. He pushed open a heavy oak door, and the roar of the storm swallowed my words.
Wind and rain lashed at us instantly. We were in a secluded stone portico on the west side of the estate, a place shadowed by ancient ivy and hidden from the main driveway. The temperature plummeted, the humid warmth of the house replaced by a biting chill that soaked through my silk dress in seconds.
Why are we here? I shouted over the thunder, wrapping my arms around myself.
Carter turned on me. In the gloom, his eyes were molten silver, glowing with a predatory luminescence. He crowded me against a stone pillar, his large frame shielding me from the wind but trapping me in his heat.
Because inside that house, you are Jaden's wife, he growled, his voice vibrating in my chest. "Out here, you are just the woman who ran from my bed."
I didn't know who you were! The lie tasted like ash. "I was drunk. It was a mistake."
A mistake? He laughed, a dark, humorless sound. "Your wolf didn't think it was a mistake. She called to me then, and she is calling to me now."
He was right. My inner wolf was pacing excitedly, ignoring the cold, desperate to rub against him.
Before I could deny it, he stripped off his suit jacket. The movement was fluid, powerful. He draped the heavy wool over my shoulders, pulling the lapels together with a rough jerk. The scent of him—sandalwood, rain, and pure, unadulterated Alpha—enveloped me, drowning out the smell of the storm. It was a claim. He was scenting me.
Jaden is waiting for me, I whispered, my resolve crumbling.
Jaden? Carter sneered, leaning down until his lips brushed my ear. "The coward who lets his mistress parade around with his bastard pup? Don't use him as a shield, Delilah. It's pathetic."
My breath hitched. He knew. He knew everything, and he was using it to strip me bare.
He grabbed my elbow, his grip iron-tight, and marched me toward a black beast of a vehicle idling in the shadows—a customized Range Rover Sentinel. He wrenched the passenger door open and shoved me inside.
The interior was a vault of silence and expensive leather. The storm was instantly muted. Carter slid into the driver's seat, the sudden confinement making the air thick with tension. The dashboard lights cast his sharp profile in a ghostly blue glow.
I can pay you back, I blurted out, my hands trembling in my lap. "The three hundred dollars. I'll write you a check right now. Just let me go."
Carter turned slowly. He reached into his pocket and tossed something onto my lap.
It wasn't a receipt. It was a diamond stud earring. My earring. The one I had lost in the hotel room that night.
I don't want your money, he said softly.
He reached out and seized my left hand. A jolt of electricity—that cursed mate bond—shot up my arm, making me gasp. He ignored my flinch, his thumb rubbing roughly over the sapphire ring on my finger. The ring Jaden had given me. The symbol of my cage.
I want collateral, Carter murmured.
No, I panicked, trying to pull my hand back. "Carter, you can't. Jaden will notice. He'll kill me."
Let him try.
With a brutal efficiency, Carter twisted the ring. It was tight, but he didn't care about my comfort. He yanked it over my knuckle, the metal scraping against my skin.
Stop! I cried out, but it was too late.
The ring was in his hand. My finger felt naked, a ghost of the weight remaining.
Carter held the sapphire up to the dim light, inspecting it with a look of disdain before slipping it into his breast pocket. Then, he leaned across the center console. His face was inches from mine, his pupils blown wide, swallowing the silver irises. The air in the car grew heavy, charged with a power that made my ears pop.
Alpha's Command.
You will leave him, he commanded.
The words weren't just sound; they were a physical force, slamming into my psyche, wrapping around my will like chains. My wolf whimpered in submission, bowing her head to the order.
Get out, he said, his voice returning to normal, cold and dismissive.
The locks clicked open.
I stumbled out of the car, my legs feeling like jelly. The rain instantly soaked me again, but the phantom heat of his command burned deeper than the cold. I stood on the gravel, clutching his jacket around me, staring at the empty space on my finger where my marriage used to be.
The Range Rover's engine growled, and without a backward glance, the Alpha King drove into the night, taking my ring and my free will with him.
