Chapter 158: Mystery
"I explicitly said this wouldn’t happen." He slowly withdrew his fist from the wall. Blood was already welling along his knuckles, and as I stared at it, I realized with terrifying clarity just how razor-thin the line was between control and total carnage. "Who signed off on this?"
"The head of the city council," Sayan answered in the same dry tone, running a hand through the hair at the back of his neck. "They moved fast behind our backs. The entry clearance took effect first thing this morning."
"This morning, is it..." Magnus let out a short, dark chuckle that sent an icy shudder trailing down my spine. "They’ve completely lost their survival instinct."
"Magnus..."
He turned his head toward me. The blinding fury in his eyes had subsided slightly, but something dark and deeply destructive lingered underneath—and that was what frightened me most.
"Go back to the kitchen, Jane."
"No. I want to know what’s happening."
For a second, I thought he would simply refuse to answer—tell me it wasn’t my concern, that I didn’t need to know, that he would handle it all himself just as he always did. But something in my voice or the set of my face made him hesitate.
He stepped toward me, closing the distance slowly until he stood right in front of me.
"Nothing you need to be afraid of," he said smoothly, though the tight set of his jaw betrayed the comforting lie. "Just someone who thinks he can set foot in my territory without my consent."
"And that’s enough to make you punch a hole in the wall?" I asked, nodding toward the cracked plaster.
"That’s enough to make me punch a hole through more than just a wall." The corner of his mouth twitched—not into a smile, but into something menacing and cold.
Sayan exhaled loudly, clearly believing his Alpha’s diplomatic skills left much to be desired.
"We don’t have an exact arrival date yet. Just a timeframe," Sayan explained, addressing me directly this time. "But this isn’t a casual visit. He’s not coming here to rest."
Something in his words struck a raw nerve.
"Is ’he’ coming here because of me?" The question spilled out before I could stop it.
A heavy silence fell over the hallway. That brief pause told me more than any verbal response ever could.
Magnus flashed Sayan a look so frigid it could freeze blood—a silent warning not to speak another word without permission—before turning his focus back to me.
"It doesn’t matter why he’s coming. What matters is that he will never reach you."
"Reach me?" I took another step forward, completely forgetting about breakfast, the kitchen, and Matthias sitting alone at the table. "Magnus, who is he?"
He remained silent for a few agonizing seconds, but in that fleeting window, a dozen terrifying possibilities bloomed in my mind, making me sick to my stomach. Someone from a rival pack? Someone from his past? Someone who opposed my return to his side? Or...
"Jane," Magnus murmured, wrapping a hand around my forearm. Not painfully, but with a firm, grounding grip. "I will handle this."
***
"Mom, but she’s so pretty! Don’t you see?" my son’s voice rang out with such genuine, disarming offense that I swallowed hard, trying yet again to pull him away from the enclosure of this "pretty" Caramel—whom my child had apparently been petting!
My blood ran cold. My stomach twisted into a tight, agonizing knot, because the mere sight of that beast triggered a primal, paralyzing horror deep within me.
A combat Doberman?! Seriously?!
Calling that structure an enclosure was a joke; creatures like that could easily leap over a ten-foot fence, and right now, her massive, fanged maw was hanging casually through the flimsy railing.
Sayan clearly wanted to feed my child to this killing machine. There was no other explanation. She wouldn’t just bite off a leg—she would swallow him whole and not even choke on the bones!
Gripping Matthias’s small wrist with trembling fingers, I tugged him back toward me, feeling a sharp chill slide down my spine.
"Let’s go feed the fish... Or let the turtles out for a walk," I gasped out, my voice betraying my sheer panic with a traitorous tremor.
Matthias had definitely gained weight and grown taller lately. Either that, or his father had drained every last drop of energy from me overnight, leaving me so exhausted I could barely stay on my feet. Who knew what those wolves were truly capable of? In any case, I had almost no strength left to resist my own son.
"Mom, you’re such a scardy-cat," my son snickered. With a swift twist, he broke free from my grip and sprinted toward the house, his quick feet vanishing into the doorway in a flash.
Magnus had left with Sayan a few hours ago, leaving behind a brief, non-negotiable command before departing: Do not leave the grounds under any circumstances, even with an escort. Stepping nervously from one foot to the other, I decided it wasn’t worth tempting fate.
After all, I had everything to lose. I had Matthias, and I had no right to make reckless mistakes—a single misstep on my part could prove far too costly. Far too costly.
As we walked along the paved stone paths, I kept casting wary glances toward the huge glass dome rising in the distance, wondering what on earth was hidden beneath it. We hadn’t found the time to discuss it, and after everything that had transpired between us, asking questions had been the last thing on my mind. Yet it was utterly impossible to peer through the frosted, darkened glass panels. The mystery was fiercely intriguing.
Curiosity coiled through my mind like sharp, lingering threads: what could an Alpha like my true mate be hiding in a place like that? Probably something frightening. Or perhaps, on the contrary, something immensely valuable.
The sudden purr of an approaching car yanked me out of my lingering thoughts. Turning around and squinting through the hallway’s panoramic window, I knew instantly it wasn’t Magnus. Nor was it Sayan. The vehicle was far too delicate for their brutal, blood-soaked world—a sleek, gleaming light-cherry car with smooth, almost predatory curves. It looked like a woman’s car. But who would come here in the Alpha’s absence?