Chapter 425
Chapter 425
Third Person’s POV
+5 Pearls
Trista didn’t flinch. She looked him dead in the eye, her gaze as flat as a frozen lake. “Cassian, I would rather starve to death than touch a single thing you make. You have no idea how pathetic you look right now–the biggest joke I’ve ever seen p>
She just watched him, waiting. Waiting for the explosion. Waiting for the beast to finally tear through whatever was left of his sanity.
But looking at the razor–edged woman in front of him, Cassian felt a wave of helplessness he’d never known.
The pain in his chest was a jagged physical weight, far worse than the burning in his stomach.
“Fine,” he rasped, the word dragging out of his throat with an unbearable exhaustion. “If you won’t eat, you won’t eat. I’m taking you to the bathroom to clean up p>
Before she could fight him, he scooped her up and marched into the bathroom. He set her down, his muscles coiling and vibrating as he fought the urge to either break something or break down. “Are you washing yourself, or am I doing it for you p>
Trista could feel the frantic restraint vibrating off him. He was at war with his own skin just to keep from snapping.
She chose to ignore it.
She was running the numbers in her head: sure, her disappearance for a few days would worry her parents, but it wouldn’t ruin her.
Cassian, on the other hand, had the weight of the entire Ironthorn on his shoulders.
He couldn’t ignore the board members forever, and he couldn’t hide out on a private island and play house indefinitely.
“I’ll do it myself,” she said coldly, her hand flat against his chest as she shoved him toward the door.
Cassian stood in the doorway, his bloodshot eyes pinned on her. His voice was sub–zero. “You have thirty minutes. Don’t test me, Trista. If you aren’t out by then, I’m coming through that door–and I don’t care if I have to take it off the hinges to make sure you’re okay p>
Trista turned the lock, cutting the paranoid man out of her space.
Outside, Cassian stared at his phone. Every passing second felt like a slow–motion execution of his nerves. Thirty minutes was an eternity.
Half an hour later, Trista had changed into her pajamas and dried her hair. She sat quietly on the closed
toilet lid.
She knew that door wasn’t just a physical barrier; it was the last line of defense between her and a man who had completely unraveled.
10:31 am PD
Chapter 425
+5 Pearls
“Trista?” Cassian’s voice came through the wood, low and vibrating with Alpha anxiety.
She looked down at her hands, silent.
“Trista, are you done? Don’t make me worry.” His voice grew sharper, more frantic–the sound of a predator losing track of his territory.
Still, nothing but silence from inside.
The calling stopped. A second later, the wood groaned. With a violent, bone–jarring crash, Cassian threw his weight into the door, the hinges screaming as he forced his way in.
Trista stood up slowly, her eyes like ice. Her sheer lack of emotion was a blade that sliced right through his pride.
“I was calling you! Why didn’t you answer me?!” he roared, the feral fire dancing in his eyes.
Trista gave him a look so detached it made his heart skip a beat.
She tried to brush past him to leave, but he lunged, wrapping his arms around her from behind.
He held her with a suffocating, bone–crushing intensity, as if he could physically fuse her back into his life.
When he finally spoke, his voice was small–a pathetic, pleading whisper. “I’m sorry… Trista. I just panicked. I thought you’d disappeared again. I didn’t mean to yell p>
Trista pried his trembling arms off her. She turned and looked him right in those bloodshot eyes. Her voice was light, but it hit like a ton of bricks. “You are so fake, Cassian p>
She walked out without looking back.
Cassian swayed. For a second, the legendary Alpha strength just evaporated.
He had to grab the doorframe just to keep from hitting the floor. He stared blankly toward the bedroom, looking like a man who had already lost the war.
He slumped down onto the toilet seat–the exact spot where she had just been sitting.
He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, but his hands were shaking so violently the flame kept dancing away.
The man who controlled the most powerful pack in the region couldn’t even light a cigarette.
That night, the atmosphere in the bedroom was heavy enough to choke on.
Cassian walked in carrying a glass of warm milk.
He set it on the nightstand, trying his best to suppress the thick, frantic scent of his pheromones. “ The staff made this,” he said, his voice forced and tight. “I didn’t touch it. You can drink it p>
Trista was leaning against the headboard. She slowly closed her magazine and looked at the milk, then back at him. “Don’t you get it yet, Cassian? Anything you’ve even been near–even the air you breathe-
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0:31 am P &
Chapter 425
feels filthy to me p>
Filthy.
The word hit him like a branding iron to the soul.
The last thread of his sanity snapped.
+5 Pearls
Trista didn’t even see him move. One second he was standing there; the next, he had her pinned deep into the mattress.
His aggressive, overwhelming Alpha energy crashed down on her, making it hard to even draw a breath.
Cassian braced his hands on either side of her head, his forehead pressed against hers. His scarlet, feral eyes were inches from hers, burning with a madness that looked like it might actually consume her.
‘You think I’m filthy p>
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Sara Lili
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.