Chapter 4

Fallon POV

I braced myself for his wrath, for the crushing weight of his Alpha command to force me to my knees. But the anger I expected never came. Instead, his jaw clenched, and a storm of unrecognizable emotions-worry, a dark, primal possessiveness, and a flicker of raw pain-swirled in his stormy gray eyes.

Without a word, Kane reached out. His large, warm hand wrapped gently but firmly around my upper arm. He guided me away from the desk, leading me to the expansive black leather sofa in the center of his dimly lit office. The scent of cedar and winter frost enveloped me, thick and intoxicating.

He sat me down, then crouched in front of me, his massive frame dominating my field of vision.

"Tell me what happened, Fallon," he demanded, his voice a low, rumbling baritone that left absolutely no room for defiance.

I tried to swallow the lump in my throat, to maintain my usual professional mask, but under the intense scrutiny of his gaze, my defenses shattered. The whiskey burned in my veins, unraveling the tight knot of my self-control.

"Dan," I choked out, a ugly sob tearing from my chest. "And Laura. My cousin. I went home early and found them... in my bed." The words tumbled out in a chaotic, broken mess. I wasn't just speaking; I was purging the poison from my system. I told him about the suffocating stench of their lust, the smirk on Laura's face, the pathetic lies slipping from Dan's mouth. I poured all my agony, disgust, and rage onto him, as if he were the source of all the world's sins.

Tears streamed uncontrollably down my face. Kane listened in absolute silence. I watched his large hands curl into tight fists resting on his thighs, his knuckles turning white. A strange, heavy tension vibrated in the air between us, as if my pain was somehow bleeding directly into his chest.

I wiped my wet cheeks with the back of my hand, my vision blurring. The alcohol fueled a reckless, bitter fire inside me. I glared at him, projecting all my hatred for Dan onto the powerful Alpha kneeling before me.

"Are you all the same, Kane?" I spat, my voice dripping with venomous mockery. "Did you betray your mate, too? After all, what else do you Alphas do besides take, command, and ruin everything you touch?"

The air in the room instantly froze. It was a direct, unforgivable challenge to his honor. I saw the sharp line of his jaw snap tight. His gray eyes darkened to the color of a violent thundercloud, and I could almost hear his inner wolf, Ares, snarling at the insult.

But he didn't shout. He didn't use his Alpha's Command to silence me. Instead, he took a deep, ragged breath, forcing the beast down.

"I didn't betray her," Kane said, his voice dropping to a gravelly, haunted whisper. "Krystal betrayed me. With a wolf from another pack."

I froze, the breath catching in my throat.

"I had to Reject her in front of the entire Pack," he continued, his eyes locking onto mine with a vulnerability that seemed impossible for a man like him. He described the agonizing, soul-shredding pain of severing a sacred bond. He looked away for a fraction of a second, the shadows in the room clinging to his broad shoulders. "*Some Elders whispered that an Alpha who is mated to his Pack first, is no mate at all.*"

I stared at him, completely stunned. The untouchable, ruthless Alpha of the Blackwood Pack was a victim of the exact same treachery. In that moment, the towering wall between boss and secretary crumbled into dust. We were just two bleeding, lonely souls sharing the same ugly scar.

The profound resonance of our shared pain, mixed with the intoxicating heat of the Scotch, obliterated the last shred of my sanity. I didn't want to think about Dan anymore. I needed to feel something else-something powerful enough to burn away the sickening memory of my ruined bed. I needed oblivion, even if just for a second.

Driven by a desperate, self-destructive impulse, I reached out. My trembling fingers grabbed the knot of his immaculate silk tie. With a sudden, forceful yank, I pulled him forward and crashed my lips against his.

Kane went completely rigid. His lips were scorching hot against mine.

"Fallon, we shouldn't-" he rasped, tearing his mouth away just a fraction, his breath ghosting over my skin.

I didn't let him finish. I silenced his warning with a deeper, more reckless kiss, my hands sliding up to grip the lapels of his shirt. I poured all my desperate need into him.

A low, guttural growl ripped through Kane's chest, vibrating against my own. *Mine! Claim her!* The primal roar of his inner wolf seemed to echo in the very walls of the office. His hesitation vanished, devoured by a dark, overwhelming possessiveness. His large hands flew up, one tangling fiercely in my blonde hair, the other gripping my waist, pulling me flush against his hard chest as he kissed me back with a devastating, consuming hunger.