Chapter 5

Liv POV

The suffocating tension in the grand foyer shattered the moment Aaron scrambled to his feet. Seeing me standing there, a desperate, manic relief flashed across his tear-streaked face. He lunged forward, his fingers closing like a vice around my arm.

"Liv, listen to me! Let me explain!" he pleaded, his voice cracking. "It was Vivienne! She seduced me!"

My stomach violently heaved. The touch that used to bring me comfort now made my skin crawl. His familiar scent of *sunlit grass and musk* was completely soured, reeking of pathetic lies and the phantom stench of gardenia.

"Let go of me," I choked out, trying to yank my arm away.

Before Aaron could tighten his grip, the atmospheric pressure in the room violently snapped. The scent of *winter-bitten cedar and ancient leather* flared into pure, unadulterated murder.

I didn't even see Kaelon move. He was just a blur of dark, lethal motion. In the blink of an eye, he was standing directly between us, his massive frame completely shielding me. He placed a single, casual hand flat against Aaron's chest, halting his son's momentum as if he had hit a brick wall.

Kaelon didn't look at me. His steel-gray eyes, now blazing with a terrifying, unnatural gold, were locked onto his son.

"Get. Your. Hands. Off. Her."

The words weren't spoken; they were a physical force. The Alpha's Command rolled through the marble hall, vibrating in my teeth. Even though the command wasn't directed at me, my entire body erupted in goosebumps.

Aaron's face drained of all color. He snatched his hand back as if my skin had burned him to the bone.

Trembling against the sheer force of his father's aura, Aaron's humiliation finally twisted into explosive rage. "Why do you always push me away?!" he screamed, his voice echoing off the vaulted ceiling. "For your empire? For the Pack's territory? When have you ever actually looked at me?!"

Kaelon remained dead silent, his jaw set like carved granite. That silence was a weapon, and it drove Aaron completely insane.

Whipping his toxic glare around Kaelon's broad shoulder, Aaron locked eyes with me. "And you!" he spat, his face contorted with ugly venom. "I gave you everything an Omega could dream of! A chance to be a Luna! And what do you do? You hide like a coward because you can't even wake your own wolf! You're a *wolfless* freak! You don't deserve any of this!"

Every word was a silver blade sliding precisely into my deepest, most agonizing insecurity. I flinched, my breath catching in my throat.

I saw the muscles in Kaelon's back instantly lock. The last microscopic trace of fatherly tolerance vanished from his posture.

"You are a disgrace," Kaelon's voice was absolute ice, devoid of any emotion. He took a slow step forward, the sheer weight of his presence forcing Aaron to stumble backward. "You have not only humiliated yourself, but you have disgraced the Blackwood name."

Then, Kaelon unleashed the full, crushing weight of his Alpha's Command. It sounded like thunder breaking inside the room.

"Leave. Now."

The shockwave of the command physically hit Aaron. He staggered back, a pathetic, humiliating whimper tearing from his throat-the sound of his inner wolf, Maverick, submitting to the Alpha King.

Aaron shot me one last look of pure, venomous hatred, then turned his glare to his father. "Don't think this is over! You're abandoning your own blood for a *wolfless* bitch. The whole Pack will be watching!"

He turned and bolted out the heavy oak doors, disappearing into the morning chill.

When the doors slammed shut, a deafening silence fell over the foyer. I was left entirely alone with the most terrifying, powerful man I had ever met.

My heart hammered against my ribs. I forced myself to speak, my voice barely above a whisper. "You didn't have to do that."

Kaelon turned slowly. The golden fire in his eyes had receded, replaced by a dark, fathomless intensity that made my pulse race.

"My wolf would have torn his throat out," he rasped, his deep voice vibrating with a dark, magnetic pull. "I had to."

The raw honesty in his words made my blood run cold. He took a deliberate step toward me, his tone softening but still laced with undeniable authority. "This is no place for you, Olivia. Not while you are unprotected."

I tightened my grip on the Ferrari keys until my knuckles ached, forcing myself to meet his intense gaze. "I just came to drop off the keys. I'm going upstairs to get my things, and then I'm leaving."

Kaelon's eyes dropped to my white-knuckled grip. He gave a slow, barely perceptible nod and stepped aside, clearing the path to the grand staircase.

I walked past him, my bare feet silent on the marble. But as I placed my hand on the mahogany banister and began to climb, the heavy, possessive weight of his stare burned into my back, following my every step into the shadows of the second floor.