Free Web NovelChapter 172: Chapter 172
Irina’s POV
The heavy, armored door of the massive SUV slammed shut.
It sounded exactly like a thick iron vault sealing forever. I was completely trapped. Through the dark, bulletproof glass, I watched two of Nicholas’s heavily armed guards carelessly grab my meager belongings from Mia’s rotting porch.
They tossed them violently into the trunk of the multi-million-dollar vehicle. Two cheap, black plastic garbage bags. That was it. That was my entire existence. My faded, oversized clothes, a few half-empty packs of cheap diapers, and a handful of worn-out plastic baby toys. Tossed into the dark like literal trash.
I didn’t even get to say a proper goodbye to Mia. I was violently ripped from the only safe haven I had ever known.
I pressed my bruised spine forcefully against the freezing leather door of the backseat. I pulled the heavy, dark wool blanket up tightly to my chin, trying to hide my trembling, battered body. My bare feet were completely numb against the luxurious floor mats.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the center of the seat.
Nicholas was holding my son.
The most dangerous, ruthless Alpha on the continent, a bloodthirsty mafia king who executed men with his bare hands, was cradling a tiny, fragile six-month-old baby. His massive, scarred hand fully supported the back of Luka’s small head. His thick, muscular arms formed an absolute, impenetrable cage around my child. His bespoke, dark designer suit entirely dwarfed the faded blue baby blanket.
And Luka wasn’t scared at all.
He didn’t sense the suffocating, lethal aura that made grown men drop to their knees. The gentle, powerful hum of the massive engine and the overwhelming scent of dark rain and ozone completely soothed him. Within minutes, Luka’s heavy eyelids fluttered shut. His tiny chest rose and fell in a steady, peaceful rhythm. He fell fast asleep right against the monster’s violently beating heart.
The ride was completely, agonizingly silent.
It was a thick, dead silence that aggressively choked the air right out of my lungs. Nicholas didn’t say a single word to me. He didn’t even glance in my direction. His pitch-black eyes were entirely glued to Luka’s sleeping, chubby face.
He was absolutely obsessed. He stared at my son with a dark, primal hunger. The sheer, terrifying possessiveness rolling off his massive frame made my blood run freezing cold. He wasn’t just holding a baby; he was claiming his heir.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to lunge across the plush leather, claw his dark eyes out, and violently snatch my baby back.
But I couldn’t move a single muscle.
The mate bond was a heavy, suffocating iron chain wrapped tightly around my throat. My inner wolf whimpered desperately in the dark corners of my mind, absolutely terrified of his dominant presence, yet sickeningly drawn to his blistering heat. I sat there, shaking uncontrollably, completely paralyzed by my own biological submission.
The massive SUV finally slowed down.
Through the tinted window, the towering, terrifying iron gates of Rosewood Manor loomed heavily in the gray morning fog.
My stomach violently dropped. Absolute, blinding panic clawed brutally at my tight throat. I was back. I was physically back in the epicenter of the werewolf mafia empire. The exact place where my nightmares had completely shattered my soul.
The heavy vehicle parked smoothly in the circular stone driveway.
A guard instantly ripped my door open. The freezing autumn wind harshly whipped my pale face. I scrambled frantically out of the car, my bare, dirty feet hitting the icy stone pavement with a pathetic slap.
Nicholas stepped out gracefully right behind me.
He didn’t hand Luka back to me. He didn’t even offer. He just tucked my sleeping baby securely against his broad chest, his massive frame blocking the wind, and started walking toward the towering oak doors.
"Follow," Nicholas commanded.
One single, gravelly word. A brutal, absolute Alpha order.
I had absolutely no choice. I stumbled desperately after him like a broken, invisible shadow. We walked into the pitch-black, freezing foyer of the manor.
The exact same foyer where he had completely dominated me against the stone wall just hours ago.
A violent, sickening shudder ripped straight through my fragile spine. The ghost of his blistering touch burned my skin all over again. I wrapped my trembling arms tightly around my waist, fighting the overwhelming urge to completely dissociate.
Nicholas didn’t stop. His heavy boots thudded loudly against the marble floors.
We climbed the sweeping grand staircase. Heavily armed pack warriors and mafia guards lined the dark, expansive hallways. Every single one of them instantly bowed their heads in absolute submission as Nicholas passed.
None of them dared to look at me. I was wearing a dirty, oversized t-shirt and a dark blanket, walking completely barefoot. I looked like a pathetic beggar. But I was the King’s mate. I was his ultimate possession.
Nicholas led me deep into the east wing of the massive manor. The air grew colder. The shadows grew incredibly thick. He finally stopped in front of a set of heavy, towering mahogany doors.
He pushed the double doors open effortlessly with his free hand. He walked inside.
I hesitated on the threshold for a fraction of a second. My heart hammered a frantic, terrified rhythm against my ribs. My breathing turned shallow and ragged. But my son was in there. I forced my numb, freezing feet to step into the room.
It was a massive, opulent suite.
It was lavishly decorated with thick Persian carpets, heavy velvet curtains, and dark, expensive antique furniture. But it wasn’t a bedroom. It was a perfectly designed, gilded cage. There were no balconies. The high glass windows were locked tight, overlooking a sheer, deadly drop to the stone courtyard below.
Nicholas walked straight to the center of the massive room.
With a terrifying, unnatural gentleness that completely contradicted his violent nature, he leaned his massive frame over the enormous king-sized bed. He slowly lowered Luka onto the soft, luxurious mattress. He carefully pulled a thick, dark silk duvet up to Luka’s tiny chest.
Nicholas lingered there for a long, agonizing moment. His large, heavily scarred fingers lightly, almost reverently, brushed the dark, messy hair off Luka’s sleeping forehead.
Then, Nicholas straightened his massive back.
He turned slowly to look at me. The fleeting softness was completely, instantly gone. His pitch-black eyes were entirely cold, calculating, and absolutely ruthless. He looked at me not as a mother, but as a flight risk.
He didn’t say a single word to me. He didn’t offer a single explanation.
He just walked right past me. The blistering, suffocating heat of his massive body brushed lightly against my shivering shoulder. My inner wolf violently craved his touch, but I flinched away, completely terrified.
He stepped out into the dark hallway.
Two massive, heavily armed mafia guards instantly stepped out from the shadows. They stood rigidly at attention, flanking the heavy mahogany doors like stone gargoyles.
Nicholas looked at them. His jaw was clenched dangerously tight.
"Nobody goes in," Nicholas commanded smoothly, his deep voice carrying absolute, lethal authority down the silent corridor. freewēbnoveℓ.com
His dark, merciless eyes flicked to me one last time through the open doorway, completely locking me inside my new hell.
"And she absolutely does not come out. If she steps one single foot out of this room, I will skin you both alive."
"Yes, Alpha!" the massive guards barked in perfect, terrified unison.
Nicholas slowly reached for the heavy brass door handles. He stared blankly at my pale, trembling face.
"And her meals," he added coldly, his voice entirely devoid of any emotion. "Leave all of her meals at the door. Let her get it herself."
