Free Web NovelChapter 52: Chapter 52 Well, Crazy Ex’s Late-Night Meltdown
Christina’s POV
I was half-dead on the couch,scrolling through dog videos for inspiration,when someone started pounding on the door like they were trying to break it down.
Akira stirred inside me. "Danger?" she questioned, suddenly alert.
"Probably just annoying," I replied.
I hadn’t ordered food. Ysolde wasn’t coming tonight.
And you needed a building pass just to get on my floor, so that left...
Sighing, I opened the door, Akira already growling inside me.
Yep. Arrogant Niall, looking like someone had pissed in his crystal wine glass. The Alpha of the Frostpelt Pack stood there with his jaw clenched, fury radiating off him in waves.
"Nope," I said immediately and went to slam it shut.
He shoved a foot in. "You dodging me now, Chrissy? I’ve got something to say!" His dominance aura tried to push against me, but after his rejection, it barely worked.
"Say it. Then leave." I folded my arms across my chest, steeling myself.
"If you married that guy just to spite me, you win. Fine. You win. I’m here now. You got what you wanted."
I laughed. "You think I got married to piss you off? Your ego is truly astounding."
"Didn’t you?" he said, jaw tight. "You’ve been into me since we were pups. You don’t just flip a switch and stop. Everything you’re doing right now is just a game."
Oh, for Goddess’s sake.
Akira snarled inside me. "This male rejected us. He has no claim."
"Niall, the day you rejected me was when my love for you died."
I leaned forward, "When you were fucking my sister on the bed we were supposed to share, while I was curled up alone in agony from the bond-break... that’s when any feeling I had for you turned to ash." freeweɓnovel.cøm
He flinched.
"Yeah, I used to be an idiot," I continued. "But I’m not anymore. So let me make this crystal clear."
He blinked, something like shock crossing his face.
"I. Am. Married. I have a new mate. A real one. Not a maybe-one-day-if-you-behave placeholder. You and I? We’re nothing. I don’t love you. I don’t even like you now. Got it? Is that enough closure for you?"
Niall just stood there, shoulders slumped, mouth half-open.
Good. Let it sting.
His breathing went weird, like someone had stuffed a sock down his throat.
"No. No way. You can’t not love me." He sounded like a broken chatbot. "You marrying Hudson Laurent? That’s the real joke. You think the Alpha of the Sabreridge Pack’s actually gonna fall for you? Maybe he played along for now ’cause you blackmailed him or whatever, but once he comes to his senses, you won’t even know what hit you before you’re out on your ass or dead."
I looked up at the ceiling, praying for patience.
Why the hell did I never notice how exhausting it was just talking to Niall?
I’d said what I needed to say.
I wasn’t wasting another breath.
"Do not come back here," I said, then turned and slammed the door—
Well, I tried to slam it.
Except his foot was still in the gap.
There was a solid "crunch."
Followed by the kind of scream that probably made my neighbors reach for their phones.
"AAAAAHH!! My foot!! Chrissy, are you trying to murder me?!"
I glanced down.
His polished leather shoe had a dent, but I didn’t see blood or bone fragments.
"Move it," I said coolly. "Or next time I’ll snap the whole damn thing."
"No!" Niall gritted his teeth and clung to the doorframe.
He grabbed my wrist hard and yanked me out into the hallway. "You think you can just shut the door on me? I’m not done talking!"
"Let go of me!" I twisted, tried to pull free, but his grip was vice-tight.
I could feel it pressing straight into the bone. "Niall! You’re hurting me, you lunatic!"
He didn’t reply. It was like he’d gone full zombie mode and couldn’t hear me.
Worse,he started dragging me towards the elevator. "You’re coming home with me!"
"The hell I am! Let go!"
Akira was ready to shift, to fight, but in this hallway, that would be disastrous. I was debating if kneeing him in the groin was worth a trip to the Elder Council when the elevator let out a cheerful "ding."
Hudson strode out, stopped short at the sight of us, then picked up his pace.
The overwhelming presence of him filled the hallway immediately. Cold fury radiated from him in waves that made even me shiver. He was right in front of me in a matter of seconds and landed a punch straight into Niall’s face.
Niall made a choked-up sound, somewhere between a yelp and a dying pigeon.
Then Hudson grabbed his shirt collar with one hand and clamped down on Niall’s wrist with the other, his eyes shifting between deep blue and the amber of his wolf.
He yanked him clean off me like peeling off a cheap sticker, a low growl rumbling through the hallway, vibrating along the walls.
"Who the fuck are you?!" Niall gasped, hunched over like a kicked bin.
He looked dazed, probably couldn’t see past the cartoon stars circling his head.
Hudson’s voice came down like a guillotine, his aura bristling with dominance that made Niall’s earlier attempt look pathetic, "Lay a hand on her again, and I’ll kill you."
Niall spat out a mouthful of blood.
He tried squinting up at the newcomer’s face.
I knew the moment he recognized Hudson, because he flinched, instinctively lowering his gaze and slightly exposing his neck in submission before catching himself.
And I couldn’t blame him.
Even I was a little scared.
Hudson said it in a completely calm voice, and I knew he’d follow through. His Alpha dominance filled the hallway. Even in his expensive suit, you could tell he was built like a fighter and used to being in charge.
Niall, for all his puffed-up ego, couldn’t even stand straight.
Panicking, he backed away a step and shouted, as if volume could make up for his lack of courage, "Chrissy is my fated mate! What I do with her is none of your business!"
That last part came out way quieter than the rest.
Even Niall didn’t believe what he was saying.
Hudson stepped forward, his eyes fully shifted to amber now.
Niall scrambled back farther.
Hudson parked himself right in front of me like a six-foot human wall, his chest pushed out in a sign of dominance that had Niall nearly cowering.
"Chrissy is my wife.You show up at my place in the middle of the night harassing her, and you think that’s got nothing to do with me?"
Niall swallowed. Loudly.
I could hear it from behind Hudson’s shoulder.
Even when he straightened up and tried to match Hudson’s height, he still had to tip his chin up just to make eye contact.
"You didn’t marry her willingly, right? If she’s got something on you, pictures or whatever, I can help. She blackmailed you, didn’t she?"
Wow. Willow Granger really had him out here reading off a script.
They’d convinced themselves I’d somehow blackmailed Hudson into marrying me.
What did they think I had on him? Dick pics? The nuclear launch codes?
I poked my head out from behind Hudson. "You are delusional."
Gently, Hudson nudged me back, his hand protective at my waist.
The next second, his fist connected with Niall’s other cheek. Dead center.
Now his face was finally symmetrical. Swollen on both sides like a rotten melon.
