Chapter 257

• Third Person's POV
• The air in the dimly lit office was thick with tension, the scent of lingering Alpha dominance clinging to the corners like smoke. Quentin's breath brushed against Celestine's ear, low and deliberate, carrying the faint, primal scent of his own pack. "A useless whelp, versus the heir of a bright future for a great family. Miss Ward, if you had to choose... which would you pick?" His words dripped with that peculiar mix of Alpha challenge and predatory amusement.
• Celestine froze, her muscles taut under the strain of both fear and instinct. His meaning cut sharp through the haze of pain still wrapping her midsection. She leaned back slightly, instinctively away from his proximity, yet in the delicate, retreating posture she assumed, she only seemed more fragile, more enticing-a wildflower trembling in the cold moonlight.