All Chapters of Barren? Honey, I'm Just Getting Started: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

- WILLOWDexter didn't even blink. His dark eyes weren't brown anymore; they were burning with an ancient, terrifying, pitch-black shadow flame."You picked the wrong room, Alpha," Dexter's voice rumbled with a deep, lethal, demonic roar that made the entire building shake to its foundation.Callum stared down at Dexter's face through his red-rimmed, oxygen-starved eyes, his throat working as he choked out three terrified words."The... Shadow... Commander..."Dexter tilted his head, his grip tightening around Callum's windpipe until a sick, wet cracking sound echoed through the room."Full marks for guessing," Dexter whispered softly with a dark, wicked, terrifying smile spreading across his lips. "Now let's see how well you fly."Callum’s boots kicked wildly against the empty air, his fingernails scratching frantically at Dexter's heavy leather wrist as he choked for oxygen."You're... you're not..." Callum gasped, his face turning a terrifying shade of purple as his eyes bulged out

- WILLOWI leaned my head against the dark window in the back of the armored SUV, watching the neon city lights of Luidel fade into the thick, mist-covered pine trees of the western ridge. Behind the wheel, Marcus was driving silently, while Dexter sat right next to me, his long legs stretched out, casually tossing an unlit cigarette from hand to hand."Are you gonna tell me where we're going, or do I need to jump out at the next red light?" I asked, looking over at him.Dexter gave me a low, lazy chuckle, catching the cigarette between his fingers. "Relax, Willow. We're crossing the Wraithmoor line. My private estate is twenty minutes up the pass.""Your estate," I repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Not a guard barracks? Not a tool shed with three rusty wrenches?""Hey, the tool shed had character," Dexter smirked, turning his dark eyes toward me in the dim interior light. "But no. You've been cooped up in Noah's high-rise for a month playing quiet clerk. You need a break, real food, an

- WILLOWAn older, imposing man walked smoothly into the house, pulling off his black leather driving gloves. He was tall, with sharp graying hair, well-built frame, and a cold, ruthless posture that matched Dexter's perfectly. He wore a heavy wool coat with silver elder crests pinned to his collar.Dexter's dad, Lord Lambert."You're getting sloppy, Dexter," Lord Lambert said, his deep, booming voice echoing off the high concrete walls. "It took my men ten minutes to clear your perimeter team."Dexter stood in the center of the entry hall, his feet planted wide, his hands shoved casually into his coat pockets. He looked up at his father with cold indifference."You broke my front gate, Dad," Dexter said softly, a dangerous, mocking smirk touching his lips. "That's gonna cost you a lot of gold pieces to fix.""Don't play games with me, boy," Lord Lambert snapped, stepping closer and dropping his gloves onto the foyer table with a loud thud. "You missed three high council briefings thi

- DEXTERIn the Lambert estate dining hall.I was sitting back in a high-backed mahogany chair, my black leather boots stretched out under the table, casually picking at a piece of dry bread. Across the white tablecloth, my stepmother Edith was staring at me as if I had just dragged a dead rodent into her pristine dining room.Next to her sat my father, Lord Trevor Lambert, wearing his formal high council vest and reading through a stack of regional trade ledgers like I didn't even exist."Look at you, Dexter," Edith snapped, her sharp voice slicing through the clinking of silver forks. "It’s barely ten in the morning, and you look like you’ve been sleeping in an alley. You couldn't even put on a decent suit before coming to see your father?""I was busy, Edith," I said smoothly, taking a slow bite of bread and leaning my elbow on the armrest. "Some of us actually have work to do before noon.""Work?" Edith let out a shrill, hysterical scoff, dropping her silk napkin onto her plate.

- WILLOWThe heavy oak doors to Noah’s private office clicked shut behind us.Noah didn't even look up from behind his massive mahogany desk when we walked in. He was leaning back in his leather chair, holding a crystal glass of amber liquid in one hand and flipping through a thick blue folder with the other. "You two took your sweet time," Noah said, setting his glass down with a soft clink. "I was about ten minutes away from sending a squad to pull you out of the burger joint.""Willow was eating," Dexter said smoothly, dropping into one of the plush velvet armchairs across from the desk and kicking his long legs out. "And I don't disrupt a woman when she's dealing with a double bacon cheeseburger.""I was processing high-society garbage," I corrected, sitting down in the chair next to Dexter and setting my crossbody bag on the floor. "Which, by the way, tasted worse than the food."Noah raised an eyebrow, a small smirk playing on his lips as he looked between the two of us. "Ah. S