Chapter 284 Breakfast Interrupted

    Third Person POV

    ? = b54/b% €

    +8 Pearls

    The question hardly mattered–if Alpha Henry hade all the way here, then he was already certain Aubrey was inside. Whether Charles opened the door or not, the alpha had a hundred ways to force it open.

    So Aubrey didn’t hesitate.

    “Open it.”

    Even if… she wasn’t ready to face him yet.

    The moment the door swung wide, Henry’s gaze locked on her. He strode inside without so much as a nce at Charles. But when he moved to cross the room, Charles stepped into his path.

    “Alpha, what do you think you’re doing?”

    Henry’s eyes softened with worry as they flicked to Aubrey. But when she deliberately turned away, refusing to look at him, frustration surged. He dragged his gaze back, his expression hardening, fury aimed at Charles.

    “Move.”

    But Charles’s anger burned just as hot. Their fragile morning peace had been shattered, and he wasn’t about to let it go so easily.

    His voice, sharp where it was usually calm, rang with usation. “Do you even know where I found her? On the side of the road! She was out of her mind, broken. What did you do to her? You say you love her, but your love leaves her wounded and lost?!”

    Henry’s reply was ice. “Our business isn’t yours to meddle in.”

    He brushed past, heading straight for Aubrey. Charles’s fists tightened, the instinct to stop him rising–but what right did he have?

    By status, Henry was the alpha of Shadowmoon Pack, ruler of them all.

    By bond, Henry and Aubrey shared a closeness Charles couldn’t touch.

    And he… he was only a friend. A friend she had just barely epted.

    In that moment of hesitation, Henry was already at her side.

    “Aubrey?”

    He reached for her shoulder, careful, his voice lowering with each word. “I came to bring you home. Whatever I did wrong, please…e back with me first.”

    Aubrey lifted her head, her eyes meeting his.

    And in an instant, memory surged–those fortress walls, the endless rosemary, three years of living hell. Shadows from her past life wed up through her chest, choking her breath.

    Her gaze sharpened, edged with killing intent.

    Chapter 284 Breakfast interrupted

    “No. I’m not going back.”

    Henry’s eyes red, fury sparking like flint. But just as quickly, he swallowed it down.

    “Fine. Then we won’t go back.”

    A Fends

    With that, he dropped heavily into the chair beside her. His broad frame took up half the table’s space, one arm draping across the back of her chair in a gesture that was both casual and suffocatingly possessive.

    Charles’s face darkened at once.

    The quiet storm in his gray eyes hardened to a predator’s gleam, the edges of his nails lengthening almost imperceptibly.

    He drew a deep breath, then stepped forward. Rather than sitting, he nted both hands on the table, leaning in. His posturecked an alpha’s searing dominance, yet it carried its own weight–a pressure born of steadfast guardianship–directed squarely at Henry.

    “Alpha,” Charles said, voice low, “this breakfast, I prepared for her. Just one te. And I don’t believe Ms. Mary invited you to share it.”

    Henry’sugh was short, derisive. His gaze flicked to the carefully ted meal, then back with the effortless arrogance of an alpha. “One te? Perfect. I’m not hungry. Watching Aubrey eat is enough. As for an invitation…”

    He turned his head, eyes locking on her. His tone softened, but the steel in it remained.

    “Aubrey. Will you ask me to leave?”