TRADING MY CHEATING HUSBAND FOR THE LYCAN KING novel Chapter 16

CHAPTER 12: TOUCH HER AGAIN–2

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The room shifts. Even the human reporters sense the change–the way the temperature drops, the way every wolf goes still.

“She’s not your property,” I say, and my voice drops to something lethal. Something that makes the weaker wolves in the room cower. “She was never yours, Gale. Just like you were never really hers since you spent your marriage fucking other people while she played the dutiful wife.”

The room goes dead silent. You could hear a pin drop on the marble floor.

I lean into the microphone, making sure every camera catches this.

“So here’s how this works. If you ever refer to Ember as something you own again, if you so much as think of her as your property, I will personally rip your throat out. And that’s not a threat, Crawford. That’s a promise.”

And Gale snaps.

He breaks through security with alpha speed–faster than the measly guards can track–and lunges straight for Ember. His hand clamps around her wrist, fingers digging in hard enough to bruise, yanking her toward him.

The movement is automatic. Practiced. Muscle memory.

Like he’s done it a thousand times before.

Ember flinches–whole body recoiling, shoulders curling in, head ducking in a way that speaks of conditioning and fear.

And I see red.

One second Gale’s standing, screaming, hand wrapped around Ember’s wrist. The next I’ve got him by the throat, lifting him off his feet and slamming him into the marble floor so hard the stone cracks under him like a spiderweb.

My claws are out, eyes full lycan gold, and my hand is crushing his windpipe. My wolf is howling for blood, demanding I finish this, demanding I tear him apart for touching what’s mine.

The room goes completely silent except for Gale choking, gasping, clawing uselessly at my wrist.

I lean down, putting my face close to his, making sure he sees the promise of death in my

eyes.

< CHAPTER 12 TOUCH HER AGAIN 2

+25 Points

“Touch her again,” I whisper, voice lethal and calm, “and I’ll kill you where you stand. Slowly. Painfully. In front of everyone you’ve ever known.”

I release him and he collapses, gasping for air, scrambling backward on his hands and knees like the pathetic worm he is. Security finally manages to grab him, two guards wrestling him into submission while he sobs and chokes.

I turn to Ember, checking the damage. Her wrist is already purple, perfect finger–shaped bruises forming on delicate skin.

Something dark and murderous settles deep in my chest. The way she flinched felt more like muscle memory than surprise. Instinct born from repetition.

This isn’t the first time he’s grabbed her like that. Probably not even the hundredth.

Fucking hell. Does he…

I certainly hope not, because I’m going to destroy him. Completely. Utterly. Until there’s nothing left.

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