173 Chapter 173
Betrayed by Blood
Cain exhaled, rolling his shoulders as he leaned back in his chair. The meeting had finally ended. Xander and Nathan had just left after finalizing the terms with the Silvermoon Pack, and for the first time in what felt like hours, silence filled the office.
He glanced at the documents on his desk, absently drumming his fingers against the polished wood. The alliance was set. Things were moving. He could only imagine Alaric’s face when he hears that Silvermoon and Vehiron were now one.
A knock at the door pulled him from his thoughts. His brows furrowed.
“Come in,” he called.
The door creaked open slowly, and the woman stepped in carefully. Cain arched his eyebrows when he realized who it was. Avery’s cousin, Jasmine.
Her posture was different from before, meek, almost hesitant. Her hands were folded in front of her, and her head was slightly bowed. The smugness he’d seen in her before was replaced with something softer.
“You?”
Jasmine looked up slowly, her lips palmed into a thin line. “Alpha Cain,” she began.
Cain frowned, “What are you doing here?” He snapped, “Do you even-” he didn’t get to complete his words as she practically jumped right in front of him in a rush.
“W–wait, please. I only want to talk to you.”
Cain’s fingers twitched against the desk, his patience already wearing thin. His gaze swept over Jasmine, noting the way she nervously fidgeted with the belt of her coat. There was something off about this. This sudden shift in demeanor, the uncharacteristic meekness in her posture. He didn’t buy it.
“If you have something to say, say it,” he said flatly.
Jasmine swallowed hard, then, as if steeling herself, she took a slow step forward. “I just… I wanted to speak with you privately. About Avery.”
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Cain’s gaze darkened at the mention of Avery. “What about Avery?”
Jasmine fidgeted, swallowing hard. “I- I just wanted….to make sure you know the
truth.”
Cain didn’t react, his expression unreadable as he leaned back in his chair. He could feel the lie before she even spoke it.
Jasmine hesitated for a moment, as if choosing her next words carefully. Then, she forced a weak smile and took another slow step closer.
“Avery never told you about Lucian, did she?”
The name meant nothing to Cain, but he kept his expression blank. Jasmine tilted her head, watching him closely. When he didn’t react, she continued. “I didn’t want to say this but…I just…I see the way you act with Avery. How much you care about her. I see the way you look at her…” she paused for a second, licking her lips. “I don’t want to see you hurt when I know you are being lied to.”
Cain didn’t move, didn’t so much as blink. His expression remained unreadable, but his patience was wearing dangerously thin.
“Lucian is her ex–boyfriend? The man she was supposed to be married to….They were fated mates….at least, that’s what everyone thought. But Lucian rejected her, and she…
well, she didn’t take it well.”
Cain’s jaw twitched.
Jasmine continued. “She threw a fit once she found out he knew who she truly was. She accused him of betraying her and tried to tarnish his image to the entire pack. She didn’t get her way and threatened him instead. Her lies were exposed before everyone, and her pending marriage to him was canceled. She couldn’t take it, She always hated not getting her way, and this caused a huge rift between us all. She still thinks we betrayed her, but the truth is we never did. Now, I saw her going to see Lucian in his cell. I knew she was back to her old ways and just had to tell you.”
Cain exhaled slowly. He had spent enough time around liars to know when someone was spinning a tale, and Jasmine reeked of deceit. He’s also done his findings, and while he might not know Lucian by name, he knows she was supposed to get married to some coward who left her for the bimbo in front of him, but instead of calling her out immediately, he simply leaned forward, resting his forearms on the desk.
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“Is that so?” His voice was deceptively calm.
Jasmine nodded eagerly, as if she truly believed he was considering her words, “I just…
I couldn’t watch you fall for her lies. She’ll never tell you the truth herself, and I
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couldn’t watch you confine to fawn over a woman who still carries her ex in her heart. I
know she still wants him. It’s Avery. That’s what she does.” She paused, taking another step closer as she licked her lips seductively. Her fingers started to toy with the rope
of the coat.
“You don’t deserve someone like Avery, Alpha. You deserve more, better. You deserve a woman who knows what she wants, a strong, beautiful, assertive, and intelligent woman. A woman who you will be proud of. She straightened up, loosening the coat; it fell to the ground with a soft thud, leaving Jasmine in nothing but her lacy underwear.
“You deserve a woman like me, Cain.”
The silence that followed was deafening.
Cain’s gaze dropped to the discarded coat on the floor, then dragged slowly up Jasmine’s body. His expression didn’t change. If anything, his face became even more unreadable, his eyes were dark and cold.
Jasmine stood before him, chest rising and falling as she awaited his reaction. She expected something….desire, curiosity, even amusement. Instead, Cain only stared, tilting his head slightly, as if considering the pathetic display in front of him.
Then he moved.
One second, Jasmine was standing too close, her voice dripping with false concern. The next, his hand was in her hair, yanking her forward so hard she barely had time to gasp before she slammed against the desk.
She let out a startled cry, her hands grasping at his wrist. “C–Cain-”
“You come into my office,” he murmured, his voice like ice. “You insult my mate, spin pathetic lies, and then you think you can throw yourself at me like some desperate whore?”
Jasmine flinched. “I-”
In a second, he slammed her against the wall. His hand shot out, gripping her throat with effortless strength. He didn’t squeeze, didn’t even apply pressure; he didn’t need
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- to. The sheer dominance rolling off him made Jasmine’s breath hitch, her pulse racing beneath his palm.
“You disgust me,” he said flatly.
Jasmine whimpered, her hands grasping at his wrist, her confidence completely shattered.
Cain’s lip curled in disgust. “Did you really think I wouldn’t see through you? That I would be tempted by someone like you?”
“I’ve already investigated Avery’s past,” he continued, “I know exactly what you and your pathetic family did to her. And you think you can stand here and lie to me?”
Jasmine’s eyes widened. “No, I—”
Cain released her so suddenly that she stumbled back, clutching her throat as she gasped for breath.
He grabbed her by the hair again, and with ease, he yanked her toward the door.
Her feet barely touched the ground as he dragged her, ignoring her pitiful attempts to free herself.
The moment he threw the door open, heads turned.
Avery. The head guard. The head maid. Several others lingering in the hallway.
Their eyes widened the second they saw a half–naked Jasmine. Cain flung Jasmine forward. She hit the floor hard, her knees scraping against the floor, a strangled whimper escaping her lips.
“Since you clearly have nothing better to do,” he said, his voice cutting through the stunned silence, “you’ll spend the next several weeks doing manual labor. Maybe that will keep you from getting ideas like this again.”
Jasmine gasped, lifting her head in horror. “Alpha, please, I—”
Cain ignored her. His gaze flicked to the head guard. “Take her,” he ordered. “If she tries anything else, I won’t be so merciful.”
The guard stepped forward, grabbing Jasmine’s arm, ignoring the pathetic desperate
cries she let out.
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Cain barely spared her another glance. Instead, he turned his attention to Avery. “Come with me.”
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