Chapter 170
Adrian’s hand slammed down on the table with enough force in make the silverware jump. His eyes blazed with fury as he tented to his mother.
Who posted this garbage?” he growled.
Lilian shook bei head slowly, “I don’t know. Could be one of your competitors. De maybe just some rabid fangirl of Alpha Xavier or Alpha Leon.” She took souther sip all he wine. “Yong women can be quite vicious when it comes to their fantasies being threatened.”
Adrian’s jaw clenched as he scrolled through more comments on his phone. ‘I’ll have Garrett wipe every trace of these lies from the internet. Every. Single
I could feel the rage rahating off him in waves. His protective instincts were in mendrive, and while part of me loved him for it, I could let my drama devall his campaign. Not when we’d come in lat
“drian,” I said, placing my hand over his. T Tine,”
He looked at me in disbelief. “Tine? Skye, they’re calling you-
I know what they’re calling me.” I forced a smile. “You know what? I’ve never had this many women jealous of me before. I’m choosing to compliment. Clearly, I must be doing something right if they re this threatened.”
Lillian’s eyebrows rose slightly, the first genuine reaction I’d seen from her all evening. She studied me carefully.
take it as a
“Interesting” she murmured. “I trust my intuition, and my intuition tells me you’re not the type of woman these posts claim you are.” She set down her wine glass with deliberate precision. Im Adrian’s mother. He’s my only child. I don’t want to see him hurt.”
I met her gaze directly, understanding what she wasn’t saying. She’d seen the posts about Leon bring my true mate. She had questions, Concerna
understand.” I said quietly. “After the election is over, I’ll immediately break the mate bond with Lean. You have my word.”
Something shifted in Lillians expression. The tension around her mouth eased, and she gave me the first genuine smile of the evening. Relief, maybe. Or approval.
As Adrian and I were leaving the restaurant. I noticed several girls pointing at me and whispering. One even pulled out her phone to take a photo. Adrian walked over and stopped the two young women before they could tapture anything.
n the ride back to the hotel, Adrian muttered,
- “When I find out who did this, I’m going to cut off their hands.”
On
I leaned against his shoulder. “Come on, don’t be angry anymore.”
But I was secretly worried whether this gossip would affect Adrian’s campaign. We had come to the final stage, and ablutely nothing could go wrong now,
We found Garrett in the hotel lobby, looking in good spirits. I guessed Morgan must have recovered. His laptop bag was slung over his shoulder, and he was chatting animatedly with kyder.
“Lydia set me up with a roon, Garrett announced, grinning. “Apparently, I’m worth keeping around.”
Ryder clapped him on the shoulder “This calls for a drink! Come on, I know just the place-
“I’m afraid that I have in wait, Adrian interrupted. “Carrett, I need you to handle something. Now.
The serious tone wiped the sale from Gurietta faor. “What a wrong?”
Adrian handed him his phone, already open to the WallWatch page. I watched Garrett’s expression darken as he scrolled through the posts. When he looked up at me, his face was tight with anger.
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Chapter 170
Garrett was already pulling out his laptop, netting up on a nearby coffee table. His fingers flew across the keyboard, lines of ende I couldnt understand falling the screen.
Rookie job,” he muttered after less than ten minutes. “They registered the cd yesterday. Posted from… He squinted at the screen. “The Silver Moon Lodge Ram ran 1 he traced without hacking their system, but the IP address is definitely fom there.”
The Silver Moon Lodge. My stomach drepped.
“Maya.” I breathed
Adrian’s head snapped toward me. “The woman from Leo’s team?
was already pulling out my phone, jabbing at her contact. It rang onser before going straight to voicemail. Declined.
mhila
My fingers shook slightly as I typed out a text:
Meet me at the bar in Silver Moon Lodge lobby. Now. Or I tell Leon exactly what you’ve been doing ar
The response came within seconds: Fine.
I stood abruptly, fury finally overtaking the shock. “I need to deal with this.”
Not alone,” Adrian said, already moving to fo
to follow me.
I didn’t argue. Part of me wanted to handle Maya myself, woman to woman. But the rational part knew Adrian’s presence would carry more weight. An Alpha protection meant something, even to someone as petty as Maya.
The Silver Moon Lodge bar was mostly empty at this hour Maya sat in a corner boath, shoulders hunched, stirring her drink with vicious little movements
“Why?” I asked without preamble as I slid into the seat across from her. Adrian remained standing, a looming presence that made Maya shrink back slightly.
the shrugged, not meeting my eyes.
- s. “I was in a mood. Didn’t think anyone would actually care about some random posts.”
“Didh 1. (hink?” Adrian’s voice was sharp. “Or didn’t care?”
Maya’s eyes flashed. “I deleted them already, okay? What more do you want?”
“A public apology.” Adrian said. “Posted from your real account. Taking full responsibility for the Bes
“No way.” Maya shook her head violently. “If I do that, Leon will know it was me. You promised you wouldn’t tell him!” She pointed an accusing finger at me.
Adrian leaned forward slightly. Then I suggest you prepare for a lawsuit. Defamation of character is serious business. And as a member of Alpha Leon team, I’m sure the media would love to hear how his supporters are spreading lies about other candidates mates.”
He straightened, taking my hand. “Your choice.”
leave. Her hands clenched into fists on the table. Fine. I’ll do it. I post the stupid apology”
Maya’s voice cracked as we turned to le
The relief I felt was short–lived. We were almost at the bar entrance when a familiar scent hit me. Pine and winter frost. My wolf stirred uneasily.
Leon walked through the door, his dark eyes pediately finding mine. Time seemed to slow as our gazes m
Lillians warnings echoed in my mind. The rumors. The speculation. The last thing I needed was another photo of Leon and me together for people to twist.
I gave him a brief nod, nothing more than basic acknowledgment, and tightened my grip on Adrian’s hand. We moved to walk past him.
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Chapter 170
“Walt,” León y voice was sharp with varenim, ti ihh how you treat someon
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