Chapter 24: Zero Need for His Commands

The exact hour the feast concluded, Dominic step forward to aggressively deploy his vanguard service, offering to escort Clara’s pack back to their destination.

"There is zero need for disruption. My own hands can summon a human transport."

Clara evaluated the mental text Hazel Brooks had transmitted earlier; her ally had already yielded to a deep slumber within her own quarters. Fearing Leo’s scent would compromise her rest, Clara’s strategy dictated she steer her pup straight to a luxury hotel suite.

But Dominic’s predatory intellect decoded her silent intentions within a single breath. "The sanctuary you occupied previously belongs to the female lawyer who received the pup at the gates, correct? You have just breached our borders from the outer human realm, your pup’s sire is absent from the territory, and consequently... your design is to anchor a young child inside a public hotel?"

Observing his sharp calculation grid, Clara abandoned all attempts to mask her trail, granting him a flat nod of affirmation. "Indeed. The human sectors maintain long-term luxury vaults; the arrangement is highly efficient. My presence shall only occupy these territory lines for a brief season to finalize a few relic ledgers before vanishing back to exile."

"A public hotel?" Dominic’s commanding features darkened by a dangerous fraction. A lone female guiding a fragile, unbonded pup into a chaotic, unsecured domain; his protective wolf fiercely rejected the lack of security.

He demanded the exact coordinates of the establishment, and keeping his lips sealed, gestured authoritatively for Clara to guide Leo inside the armored vehicle.

Yet, before many miles had trickled through the hourglass, Clara mapped the reality that the fleet's trajectory carried zero alignment with the navigation data displaying on her crystal screen.

"Your vanguard has compromised the coordinates. This road is an error."

Dominic’s large hand tightened against the leather steering wheel, a brief hesitation freezing his knuckles before his baritone cleaved the silence. "Abstain. I hold a private, vacant penthouse sanctuary within this sector. My fleet is steering your path to those coordinates tonight."

Clara felt a sudden wave of pure disbelief, wondering if her auditory senses had short-circuited. "What did your lips just declare?"

"A lone female guarding a pup inside a common human hotel is an invitation to predators. It lacks absolute security."

"And what relevance does that carry to your station?"

Dominic offered a flat, smooth reply. "Evaluate the domain first to see if it pleases your inner wolf. Should the layout fail to secure your favor, my authority shall execute alternate residential commands."

The ice wrapping Clara’s features turned completely freezing; her private operations required zero commands from his supreme throne. To compound her fury, he had initiated this tactical redirection without offering a single telepathic warning beforehand.

She was neither an ally running within his pack covenant, nor a subordinate tool bound to his corporate empire; he possessed zero sovereign leverage to dictate her path!

"Your commands are void. Execute an immediate halt at the approaching crossing and release us from your perimeter."

The absolute absence of warmth within her baritone caused a sharp, sudden pang to pierce Dominic’s cold chest.

Did her inner wolf despise the material density of a private penthouse?

Or did a secret human male anchor his scent inside that public hotel, waiting to claim her proximity the exact hour she escaped his orbit?

The deeper Dominic’s mind brooded upon the calculation, the faster a dark, unnamable fire corrupted his veins, threatening to breach his restraint. A feral impulse urged him to execute her precise command—slamming the brakes at the next intersection and violently casting her out into the wilderness.

But at that exact, volatile threshold, Leo’s soft, milk-toned voice vibrated from the rear seating. "Daddy, abstain from unleashing your dominant anger against Mommy’s spirit, please."

Dominic froze, his dark amber gaze tracking upward to capture the pup’s reflection within the mirror.

The miniature wolf sat flawlessly rigid and poised, his soft, porcelain face molded into a remarkably solemn expression, though his dark midnight eyes harbored a distinct trace of silent pleading.

The child was an absolute marvel; every single syllable he articulated bypassed Dominic's defenses, striking the exact center of his cold heart.

The raging fire that had just compromised his rationality was instantly suffocated, like roaring embers buried beneath a sudden mountain cascade.

Dominic softened his commanding register to an unprecedented degree, addressing the boy softly. "Leo, my wolf harbors zero anger toward your Mommy’s spirit. Rest your anxieties. Accept a private sanctuary inside your Daddy’s stronghold tonight alongside your Mommy; does that selection please your inner wolf?"

This time, the brilliant little pup did not immediately grant the supreme Alpha an answer.

He retreated deep into his cognitive grid, evaluating the landscape for a long, calculating sequence before offering a thoroughly cautious response.

"Leo’s loyalty remains bound to Mommy’s decree."

Through his hidden mind-link, he had covertly intercepted his mother’s internal consciousness; her spirit was currently pulsing with an absolute, detonating fury toward his father’s arrogance. Had his voice granted immediate submission to the Alpha King's trap, his Mommy would have exploded like a high-tier pack explosive!

Consequently, forgive my retreat, Daddy-King; Leo must realign his aura with Mommy tonight. Waaah...

Hearing her pup decline to blindly endorse the Alpha King's authority for the first hour, the heavy wrath choking Clara's chest dissipated by a minor fraction. Evaluating the landscape logically, Dominic’s intrusive maneuvering was ultimately engineered to guarantee Leo’s preservation; transporting a recovering pup into a chaotic human establishment did pose significant environmental complications.

Sizing up the spatial matrix, she pitched a measured inquiry through the silence. "Map the coordinates of this penthouse. What distance separates us from this stronghold?"