Chapter 162: Everything

My entire body jerked in panic as I spun around, nearly screaming when I found myself nose-to-nose with Sayan. Silent as a shadow, he had been standing right behind me, his face an unreadable stone mask. Placing his heavy, warm hands onto my trembling shoulders, he guided me forward with firm, unyielding intent, nudging me through the swinging double doors.

Stepping into the living room, I was temporarily blinded by the glow of the fireplace. As my sight adjusted, the scene before me turned my blood to ice.

Madam Arden was on the plush carpet right at Magnus’s feet. On her knees. Bowing her head like an obedient hound before a ruthless master, her white-knuckled fingers clung desperately to the fabric of his dark trousers.

Magnus sat in his armchair, casually leaning back. But the instant I entered his line of sight, the apex predator within him awoke. Rising to his feet and towering over the frozen blonde like an imposing, crushingly heavy mountain, he didn’t give her so much as a glance. He simply stepped right over her and walked straight toward me.

Closing the distance, he stepped behind me. His powerful arms wrapped possessively around my waist, pulling me flush against his granite-hard chest. Leaning down, Magnus dragged his nose along the curve of my neck, inhaling my scent in a deep, ravenous breath. The stark contrast between his icy composure a moment ago and this scorching, intimate devotion made my knees buckle.

"My soul..." he whispered against my skin, the deep vibration of his voice sending a wave of searing heat straight down my spine. "You heard everything. This filth was ready to slaughter you for her own ambition."

He lifted his head, locking a heavy gaze steeped in primal darkness onto Madam Arden. Realizing what had just transpired, the blonde curled into herself, her polished composure disintegrating in an instant. Her face turned ash-gray, her eyes stretching wide in animal terror.

"I’ve been after her family for a while now, but her father is a slippery one," Magnus said coldly. "Now, I have something to hold over his head to make him bow his head."

"What shall we do with her?" Magnus asked after a pause, softly stroking my belly as if we were discussing what to have for dinner rather than deciding a person’s fate. "We could do exactly what she intended to do to you. Hand her over to those who know how to handle these things. Dump her like trash. Is that what you want?"

I felt a sudden wave of nausea. The Alpha aura emanating from him was so heavy, so thoroughly saturated with real, tangible lethal intent, that I knew he wasn’t joking. With a single word or a nod from me, this woman would never set foot outside the mansion again. He had orchestrated this entire scene—drawing those filthy confessions out of her—solely to reveal her true face to me, giving me full authority to render judgment.

"I..." My throat was bone-dry, the words scraping against my vocal cords. "I don’t want to hurt anyone. No blood, Magnus. Please."

With a low grunt, he pressed his lips to my temple, leaving a warm, tender kiss that felt dizzyingly surreal amidst the surrounding madness. Outside the sanctuary of his arms, the rest of the world felt like a minefield.

"Yes... you’re right, my soul. Your hands shouldn’t be stained by such filth."

Lifting his eyes to Sayan, who stood motionless by the entrance, Magnus transformed in an instant. The trace of softness vanished, replaced by the cold, merciless demeanor of the pack’s High Alpha.

"Exile her from the country before dawn and conduct an interrogation. Bring in the proper men for the task. It is vital that the Arden family grasps the weight of their actions and the full scope of their consequences. Strip her pack of all their border assets. Make it explicitly clear: if her father dares ask a single question, or if this trash ever utters my female’s name again, I will burn their entire damned pack to the ground. To the very last ash."

Magnus didn’t glance at her or address her directly again, treating her as if she were completely invisible.

"Understood," Sayan gave a sharp nod. Stepping toward the weeping, hysterical female, he hauled her roughly to her feet and dragged her toward the exit.

Only when their footsteps faded down the long corridor did Magnus slowly turn me around to face him. His heavy palms rested on my shoulders, gently stroking me to soothe the tremors I could no longer suppress.

"You’re trembling."

"I was terrified..." I whispered, searching his dark-gray, stormy eyes, which now held only an endless, pitch-black obsession. "Out in the hallway. I thought you genuinely wanted to get rid of me. I didn’t know how to act around her earlier today, or whether I had the right to throw her out... I didn’t know what standing I even had in this house..."

His brows furrowed into a stern line, his fingers sliding gently up my neck to entangle in the hair at the nape of my neck.

"Listen to me very carefully, Jane. I presented you as my Luna," Magnus declared in a deep, commanding voice that resonated through every fiber of my being, forcing my undivided attention onto him. "Remember this forever: you have permission to do anything. Absolutely anything. In this house. Within the pack territory. Within the entire Upper City."

He leaned in closer, sharing my breath, erasing every barrier and distance that had accumulated between us over the years.

"You are my woman. You are the Luna of the pack. My true soulmate. Never dare to doubt yourself again. You cannot physically make a mistake, because whatever you choose to do will always be right. If you want to throw someone out, throw them out. If you want to tear this house down to its foundations, break it—I will simply build you a new one."

Bowing his head, he pressed his forehead against mine, enveloping me in his signature scent of dark tobacco and wild honeyed pine. His dominant Alpha aura wrapped around me like a shield of absolute, impenetrable protection, soothing my body and mind in a warm, protective cocoon.

"I am always on your side, Jane. I will always stand behind you, shielding you from the entire world. Whatever you want. Anything at all. Just do it. And I will be right beside you to support you and resolve any problem you face. Do you understand me?"

"Yes... But tell me, what services was that woman providing you?" I asked in almost a whisper, catching his bitter, faint smile as he pulled me tighter against him. His body tensed in an instant, turning harder than steel.

"Promise me you won’t run away from me when I show you something," he whispered softly against the crown of my head, bathing my skin in his hot breath.

"There..."

"Shh. Don’t say anything. Let’s check on our son first, and then I will show you everything."

Grasping my hand firmly, he led me into our bedroom, where our son was fast asleep, swaddled tightly in the blankets. I froze in shock upon spotting Caramel by the bed—the beast pricking her sharp ears up the moment we entered.

"Magnus, she’s not a domestic pet. What if she bites him?" I gasped in a panic, ready to rush into the room at any moment.

"She won’t touch either of you. Caramel is microchipped and responds exclusively to my commands. She knows your scent and will never harm you."

Stepping back into the hallway, he guided me toward the restricted wing—the area off-limits to everyone except him.

Toward the domed room.