Chapter 3

Clio Shepard POV:

The rear window slid down, revealing Deacon's murderous face and me tucked intimately against his half-bare, muscular chest.

Pierce froze, his arrogant sneer vanishing. He stared in absolute disbelief. Everyone knew his uncle, Alpha Logan, never allowed a woman within ten feet of him, so why was his despised ex-fiancée in such a compromising position with the most feared man in the country?

Demian stepped out of the driver's seat, his massive frame towering like an iron wall in front of the SUV. "Young Master Pierce, you are making too much noise."

Pierce's knees trembled in terror. "U-Uncle Deacon? What is she doing in your arms?" He quickly pointed at me, trying to flatter Deacon. "Clio, you have a lot of nerve! How dare you disrespect my uncle while he is ill? Are you looking for death?" He turned a fawning smile back to Deacon. "Uncle Deacon, please rest assured. I will drag this shameless woman away and beat her to death immediately!"

Deacon's blue eyes flared with lethal anger, but before he could act, I leaned deeper into his embrace. Looking up at him with fake innocence, I pouted and whined, "Honey, someone is bullying me."

Deacon played along perfectly, his hand stroking my waist. "He is ruining my mood."

Pierce panicked. "Uncle, do not be fooled by her! She is purposely getting close to you because of your poor health and limited mobility!"

I gasped softly. "Oh my. He sounds like he is cursing you to die."

Pierce nearly dropped to his knees in terror. "I absolutely do not mean that! Please do not listen to this woman's slander!"

I buried my face in Deacon's chest, muffling my laughter. "Now he is calling you brainless and saying you have no judgment."

Deacon's mouth twitched. Finally losing his patience, he spoke with icy authority. "My future wife and I haven't seen each other in days and are simply sharing a tender moment. You repeatedly interrupt your elders. You have no manners."

"Throw him into the border river to cool his head," Deacon ordered.

Demian moved like a striking panther, grabbing the front of Pierce's tailored suit jacket and lifting the grown man off his feet with one arm. Pierce let out a high-pitched shriek, kicking his legs wildly in the air, completely helpless.

Just then, Hessie limped up the road in her ruined dress. Seeing Pierce dangling in Demian's grip, her face twisted with horror and resentment. She rushed forward to beg for mercy. "Alpha Logan, please let Pierce go! It's all a misunderstanding! Do not let Clio fool you!" She pointed a trembling finger at me, trying to ruin my image. "She is a manipulative liar who had a bastard with a rogue and seduces men everywhere!"

Deacon glanced at her with utter disgust. "No wonder you two like each other. Birds of a feather. Throw her in the river too. Neither of them is allowed out for two hours."

Demian flicked two fingers. Two Apex shadow guards stepped out from the roadside trees, grabbing Hessie by her arms and dragging her kicking and screaming alongside Pierce. Two heavy splashes echoed from the embankment, followed by choking gasps and frantic thrashing in the icy water.

The surrounding crowd of Silvercrest guards was terrified into absolute silence. I looked up at Deacon and asked casually, "Soaking in freezing water for two hours, do you think they will survive?"

"Then it is a perfect cleanup," Deacon replied.

I chuckled out loud, thinking to myself that this ruthless, cold-blooded man suited my taste perfectly.

Before Deacon could speak again, a small, choked whimper came from my side. Kain curled into a tight ball on the seat, his little face flushed an alarming scarlet as his breathing turned shallow and rapid.

My stomach dropped. I immediately pressed two fingers to his tiny wrist. The frantic chase in the cold night air had triggered the congenital genetic defect in his heart. I tore open a small porcelain vial from my bag, tipped out a bitter-smelling black herbal pill, and gently pushed it between Kain's lips. Pressing my thumb against the center of his chest, I channeled a warm stream of White Wolf energy into his meridian to dissolve the medicine straight into his blood.

Across the seat, Deacon narrowed his eyes, staring intently at Kain's furrowed brow.

"The boy's genetic deficiency is severe," Deacon said suddenly, an odd, tight edge entering his low voice. "Who is his father?"

"Some nameless wandering rogue who died in a ditch five years ago," I said flatly, slamming the door shut on his curiosity.

Deacon let out a cold snort. For reasons I couldn't fathom, the air pressure around him plummeted at my answer, his jaw clenching as a wave of raw hostility toward a dead stranger rolled off his shoulders.

Within a minute, the flush on Kain's cheeks faded, and his breathing evened out. I looked up at Demian, who had just climbed back into the driver's seat.

"Turn the car around," I said. "Drop me off at the main gates of the Silvercrest estate."

Twenty minutes later, the vehicle rolled to a halt before the towering wrought-iron gates of the manor. The gates were chained shut, the courtyard beyond dim and quiet.

I patted Kain's back, laying him gently on the wide leather seat, and looked at Deacon. "Watch him for five minutes. I have some family accounts to settle."

"Need my men to blow the gates off their hinges?" Deacon asked.

"No need," I said, pushing the door open. "I prefer doing it myself."

I walked up to the locked iron bars, slid a silver probe into the keyhole, and flicked my wrist. With a sharp click, the heavy brass padlock popped open.

I raised my boot and kicked the iron gate wide open, striding straight into the cage that had trapped me for five years.

With my son safe and my new powerful ally secured, I turned my gaze toward the towering mansion. It was time to collect the debts owed to me, and I was going to make them pay in blood.