Chapter 5 5

Alessandra POV

I had barely taken a single step toward the heavy oak door when a shriek, sharp and guttural like a dying vulture, shattered the suffocating silence of the suite.

"You will not walk away from your duty!"

Nonna Maria lunged from her chair with a speed that belied her withered frame. She snatched the heavy leather ledger and the iron ring of keys from the mahogany table, her claw-like hands trembling violently. She shoved them toward my chest, trying to force the burden back onto me. The stale stench of her medicinal herbs instantly soured, turning rancid with sheer, unadulterated panic.

I didn't flinch. I simply took a calm, deliberate step backward.

With nothing to support them, the heavy ledger and the keys slipped from her frail grip. They hit the polished marble floor with a deafening *crash* that echoed through the room like a gavel striking wood.

"I wonder," I began, my voice dropping to a whisper so cold it seemed to freeze the very air in the room. "If Damien Blackwood heard that the Stone Pack not only broke a Blood Oath to a dying White Wolf, but also squandered her entire inheritance... do you think The Wraith would find it an amusing piece of gossip? Or a stain that needs to be erased?"

The name hit the room like a physical shockwave.

Nonna Maria froze entirely. The blood drained from her wrinkled face, leaving it a sickly, ashen gray. The sheer, primal terror of the Lycan-a predator so far above an Alpha that he was practically a god of death-gripped her throat. She stood there, shaking uncontrollably, her mouth opening and closing without a single sound. Beside her, Cecelia looked utterly terrified, her artificial rose scent souring as she realized the lethal political game she had just been dragged into.

"You're just a wolfless waste!"

The shrill voice broke the tension. Kandi leaped up from her antique armchair, her face twisted in an ugly sneer. Her cheap strawberry hard candy scent spiked, turning acrid and bitter with jealousy.

"You think you can threaten us?" Kandi spat, marching toward me. "You smell like human money and dirt! You know nothing about Pack honor. Cecelia's father is a judge. That's real power! Angelo is going to throw you out like the trash you are!"

I looked at Kandi, taking in her flushed face and the arrogant tilt of her chin. A dark, unsettling smile curved my lips. My dormant White Wolf blood hummed beneath my skin, steady and absolute.

"Human money and dirt," I repeated softly, my eyes trailing over her outfit. "That's an interesting perspective, Kandi. Especially considering that the Parisian silk dress you are wearing, and the two-carat diamond studs in your ears, were purchased last Tuesday using the Silvermoon trust fund."

Kandi's sneer faltered. She blinked, her hands instinctively flying to her ears.

"Take them off," I commanded. My voice wasn't a scream; it was a quiet, absolute decree that left no room for defiance.

"W-what?" Kandi stammered, her bravado crumbling.

"Take them off. Now, Kandi," I said, my gaze pinning her to the spot like a specimen on a board. "And then go beg your 'honored' new Luna for something to cover yourself."

Total silence descended upon the room. Kandi's face flushed a deep, mottled purple. She trembled from head to toe, completely paralyzed by the sheer magnitude of the humiliation. She looked toward her brothers for help, but Geno and Boone were staring at me with wide, wary eyes, their inner wolves instinctively submitting to the sudden, overwhelming dominance radiating from a supposedly wolfless woman.

And Angelo? He just stood there, his jaw tight, watching me with a blank, unreadable expression. His scent was a confused mess of anger and misplaced arrogance. He actually thought this was a performance-a desperate, dramatic plea for his attention.

He had no idea that this wasn't a tantrum. It was an execution.

I didn't wait for Kandi to strip. I had already stripped them of the only thing that mattered: their false superiority. Without another word, I turned my back on the pathetic remnants of the Stone family and walked out the door.