Chapter 244
Carmen froze when she heard Riley’s answer, her chopsticks suspended mid–air.
So… Duke was one of Lucien Duskgrave’s people?
Then why had he been running with Theo Hale?
Finished
Her mind snapped back to the day she’d conned Duke out of a hundred thousand credits. The heat of unease curled low in her stomach.
She had no qualms about bleeding arrogant, predatory Alphas for every coin they were worth–wolves like that deserved it. But Duke… he had been different. Quiet. Sharp–eyed. Protective of Riley.
And Carmen had never wanted to cheat anyone who might protect Riley.
Now the money burned in her memory like a brand. She wanted it gone–back in Duke’s hands before Riley ever found out. Because if Riley learned she’d taken it, there would be more than disappointment in those storm–gray eyes. There would be distance.
She ducked her head, emotions shifting too fast to name. Mechanically, she kept lifting noodles to her lips, but every bite tasted like ash.
After the meal, Carmen stayed to help Riley clear the dishes.
She was quiet—unnaturally so—and because Riley’s hearing was lost to the world, she didn’t speak much either.
The kitchen was filled only with the sound of running water and the faint clink of ceramic.
When everything was put away, Riley led her into the embroidery room.
It was where Riley lived, aside from the necessary hours spent eating and sleeping.
Bolts of colored thread filled the shelves, sunlight catching on their sheen. Riley sat at her frame, hands steady and precise, pulling life from silk with each stroke of the needle.
Carmen’s chest ached.
—
Riley excelled at everything she touched, even this a skill she had learned behind iron bars, in a place where wolves were stripped of rank, name, and pride. In five short years she had risen to a master’s level, yet if she’d never been caged… with her brilliance, an Mooncrest High graduate like her could have ruled any path she chose.
Carmen took a seat nearby, her gaze fixed on Riley. The morning sun spilled over Riley’s shoulders, turning her hair to molten gold, her skin to porcelain. She looked like something out of an old noble’s portrait–an Alpha’s daughter born in another century.
Unable to resist, Carmen pulled out her phone and snapped a picture. She tucked it away quickly, then sat again in silence, mind racing.
She had to find a way to return Duke’s money.
And she had to figure out how to make enough in one year to fund her escape abroad, all before Riley finished this massive piece.
By the time she surfaced from her thoughts, it was already midday.
Carmen stayed for lunch with Riley before heading straight back to Ashmoor Academy.
That afternoon passed in its usual rhythin–Riley stitching, Carmen sitting through lectures.
When the sun dipped low, bleeding orange across the horizon, Carmen left class to find her phone buzzing.
She didn’t bother masking her irritation when she answered.
“Carmen, miss me?” The voice on the other end was slick with false charm.
12.54 PM Pp.
Chapter 244
“If you’ve got something worth saying, spit it,” she snapped.
There was a pause. “…Wow. Harsh.”
@
Finished
In the Hale household, Jace Hale sat with his father and older brother, phone on speaker. Carmen’s voice crackled through the room, drawing a round of laughter from both the elder and younger Hale men.
The reason for the speakerphone was simple–this was a “family meeting,” called by Alpha Hale himself, with one purpose: deciding which son would finally step into the company and prepare to inherit the pack’s sprawling business empire.
Theo Hale leaned back in his chair, uninterested. “I’m a doctor. I’m not trading my work for boardrooms and power games.
“I’m too young.” Jace said lazily. “I want to play a few more years. You’re nowhere near retirement, Dad–why panic now?”
The Alpha’s growl was low and sharp. “Because one son hides in a clinic and the other runs wild with rogues and drunkards. When I step down, which of you will lead? You think I can hand the pack to strangers?”
Jace grinned at his brother. “You should quit the clinic. Running the pack’s business empire would give you more time for golf. And my luxury–filled life depends on you, big brother.”
Theo shot him a flat look. “I heal people. I don’t run companies. You go.”
“I’d rather have my fangs pulled.”
“Then neither of us will.”
Alpha Hale’s nostrils flared. The very idea that the future of the Hale Pack—the empire his forefathers had built–might crumble because his heirs refused the call… it was almost enough to make his wolf rise.
“Fine,” he said at last, voice dripping with menace. “If you won’t inherit, you’ll marry. And then you’ll give me grandpups. If I can’t trust my sons, I’ll raise my successors from the cradle.”
