Chapter 117. The Facade

Connie POV

I smirked despite the heat gathering behind my eyes—every glare in the room fixed on me, accusing, judging, hating. But I refused to shrink back. If they expected fear from me, they would have to dig deeper; I had long learned how to hold my ground, even while tremors of panic crawled beneath my skin.

Adam lingered by the bar, his spine painfully rigid, his eyes like twin flames daring me to speak again. I felt a spike of dread as I noted the shimmer in his gaze—the wolf beneath his façade was awake, prowling.

"Apologize… he’s dangerous… you already have what you want from Kane… don’t anger them." My own wolf gave a low grumble of warning in my head. But I couldn’t bring myself to grovel. Instead, I planted a hand on my hip and dug in my heels, lips curving in a mocking little smile. I was still stinging from Kane’s reluctance to finally make this official—to realize I was the better choice, not that good-for-nothing runaway who wreaked havoc everywhere s