Lahat ng Kabanata ng Contracted By My Ex’s Father In Law : Kabanata 131 - Kabanata 140

IRENE***The world was a blur of heat, silk, and the taste of whiskey and wine on Rowan’s tongue. We stumbled out of the living room, a tangle of limbs and desperate kisses, knocking into a side table. A lamp wobbled but didn’t fall. We didn’t stop.Somehow, we made it to the stairs. My back was against the wall as Rowan kissed me, his hands rough on my hips. Then I pushed him back, grabbed the collar of his shirt, and pulled him up the steps with me. We were both breathing hard, a frantic, ragged sound in the quiet penthouse.At the top, I didn’t know whose room we were heading to. It didn’t matter. I pushed open the first door I found—a guest room—and pulled Rowan inside. He kicked the door shut with his foot, the slam echoing.I didn’t let go of his collar. I dragged him with me until the backs of my knees hit the edge of the large bed, and I fell backward, pulling him down on top of me. The breath was knocked out of me, but I didn’t care. His weight was solid, real, and in tha

DANTEThe night in the pack house study was long and cold. The fire in the hearth had burned down to ashes hours ago, but I hadn’t noticed. Maps were spread across the heavy oak table, marked with the movements of the Northern Pack scouts. Reports from my border captains littered the surface. My head ached from the tension, from the constant, low-grade fury of dealing with old rivals testing my strength.It wasn’t just the Northern Pack. It was the council elders, their subtle questions over a formal dinner that had lasted too long. It was Seraphina, always there, a silent, elegant reminder of their influence. She had arrived before me, of course, making herself at home. The whole place felt like a trap made of tradition and expectation.By the time the first grey light of morning touched the mountains outside the window, I had a plan. A show of force, a realignment of patrols, a few pointed messages that would be delivered not with words, but with action. It would hold the peace. For

DANTEThe moment she flew into my arms, the world narrowed to the feel of her. The frantic beat of her heart against my chest, the way she clung to me—it was desperate, but not in the right way. It wasn't the desperate clutch of missing someone. It was the desperate clutch of someone trying to prove something.I buried my face in her hair, breathing in deeply. Her scent—the soft, sweet smell that was uniquely Irene—was there. But beneath it… something was off. It was faint, almost hidden. A different soap, maybe? A hint of something sharper, cleaner. It wasn't her usual scent. It was like she had tried to wash something away.When she pulled back, her smile was a bright, beautiful lie. It didn't reach her eyes. Her eyes were wide, the pupils a little too dilated. Panic. Not joy.“What's wrong?” she asked.Everything, I thought. But I said nothing. I brushed her hair back, my fingers tracing the line of her jaw, feeling the fine tremor under her skin. She was shaking.Then I looked pas

DANTEThe dining hall was a battlefield, and I had a perfect view from my throne at the head of the table. The silence that had greeted me was thick, full of guilt, fear, and smug satisfaction.I took my seat, letting the heavy silence stretch.My eyes didn’t miss a thing. Irene, sitting as far from me as the table allowed, picking at her food. Her earlier bright energy was gone, replaced by a brittle stillness. She was scared. Of me? Of this place? Or of something else?Rowan sat like a man carved from wood. He ate with mechanical precision, his eyes fixed on his bowl. He hadn’t looked at Irene once since sitting down. He hadn’t looked at me with true ease since he arrived. The guilt was a cloak on his shoulders, and it was heavy.And then there was Seraphina. The snake in the garden. She sat with perfect posture, a small, cruel smile playing on her lips as her eyes danced between Irene and Rowan. She could smell the discord. She had planted the seed of doubt, and now she was here to

IRENE****The moment Dante’s voice cut through the dark, my whole world narrowed to the cold dread pooling in my stomach. Rowan’s hands fell from my arms as if they’d been burned. We sprang apart, but it was too late. The picture was already painted in the dim light: intimacy, secrecy, guilt.“Alpha,” Rowan said, his voice impressively steady, though I could hear the strain underneath. “Miss Irene was upset after the dinner. I was merely ensuring she did not get lost in the halls. The pack house can be disorienting for a newcomer.”It was a good lie. Simple, believable, playing on my status as an outsider.I found my voice, thin and shaky. “Seraphina… she was saying horrible things. I just needed a minute. Rowan was… helping me calm down.”I forced myself to look at Dante. His face was a mask in the shadows, but his eyes… his eyes glowed with a cold, simmering fury. He wasn’t buying it. He looked from Rowan’s carefully neutral expression to my undoubtedly panicked one.He didn’t res