Chapter 19: No matter the cost, I will meet you

"A tactical reception transpired during the initialization of the winter cycle; it was not your person who directly transmitted the decree to my unit, Alpha. Perhaps your mind was heavily consumed with the pack expansion campaigns, so you have no memory of the event," Anna rasped out, forcing the explanation through tight lips, her frantic gaze shifting erratically, completely lacking the courage to hold Dominic’s intense stare.

"Alpha King, the sacred dishes have entirely breached the perimeter of your table. May your bloodline feast in tranquility."

Just then, a dining attendant cut through the heavy atmosphere, removing the registry parchment from the table with a respectful warning.

Matriarch Evelyn seized the opening to launch a ruthless, absolute decree to vacate the territory. "Enough. The pack must harvest its prey now. Your lingering scent disrupts Clara’s tranquility; withdraw back to your own coordinates."

An expression of absolute, horrified shock capsized Anna’s beautiful features.

Her intellect short-circuited as to why the formidable Matriarch, who had been projecting such a warm and submissive smile toward her only moments ago, had suddenly transformed into an entirely different predator—desperately forcing her immediate banishment from the den, when she was the exact entity who had physically captured her wrist and pulled her into the seating!

"Grandmother, whether an additional lower wolf anchors her form at our table carries zero weight to my peace."

Clara finally unmasked the true strategy transpiring before her. Matriarch Evelyn belonged to the legendary class of smiling foxes; her superficial mask coaxed a target into false security while her ancient mind remained flawlessly sharp and calculating.

Consequently, Clara chose to seamlessly realign her aura with the Matriarch's plot, delivering a brutal social lesson to the corporate trainee.

She would force Anna to register with absolute certainty that at this specific table, her low-ranking presence was the only discordant element.

"Then may your bloodlines feast in tranquility; my form shall no longer disrupt your space."

Observing that Dominic maintained absolute, freezing silence with zero intent to deploy his dominant authority to shield her standing, Anna could only rise to her feet with unyielding resentment, executing a thoroughly humiliated retreat from the lounge.

Yet the exact cycle her spine turned to their position, her fingers clenched into a violent, bloodless grip.

It was entirely that rogue female's fault—deploying weaponized, enchanting illusions to compromise Dominic's pristine focus.

Sooner or later, she would ensure Clara Thorne paid a devastating tribute for this insult!

Shifting her calculations, she comforted her wolf with the reality that she had secured an isolated mating feast with Dominic for the following twilight; she would robe herself in the most alluring garments to utterly ensnare his primal senses, proving that a young, fierce female carried an infinitely sweeter prize than an expired rogue!

The exact second Anna’s scent cleared the perimeter, the atmosphere surrounding the velvet cushions grew uniquely thick.

Clara completely disregarded the icy, majestic posture radiating from Dominic, dedicating her full life force to carving the finest game and engaging the Matriarch in fluid, affectionate dialogue.

Midway through the feast, however, a sudden telepathic frequency from Hazel Brooks breached her device.

"An absolute emergency grid has triggered! The little pup is demanding your scent at all costs; his inner wolf is fighting my restraint, and I cannot lock down his coordinates."

"Identify your tracking line; I shall steer his form to your location immediately."

Clara instinctively masked the audio receiver with her palm, casting a sharp, defensive glance up at Dominic’s chiseled face.

Registering zero volatile fluctuations in his resting aura, her racing pulse finally found a fragile peace.

"I am currently consuming prey at an external lounge. The exact hour the banquet concludes, I shall return to the den; initiate his discharge from the medical facility first."

In truth, her survival instincts fiercely rejected the concept of Leo cross-contaminating with Dominic’s space again.

Furthermore, with the supreme Matriarch anchoring the table tonight, a sudden intrusion of her unbonded offspring was a severe breach of pack protocol.

Yet, the precise moment the word "discharge" cleaved the air, Dominic’s wolfish ears pricked up with absolute, predatory intent.

"Has Leo's system collapsed again? My vanguard shall retrieve his form."

Clara paralyzed, her emerald eyes widening. Why was this supreme beast displaying such aggressive, unnatural initiative? Had his predatory senses unraveled a hidden strand of her bloodline secret?

Evelyn captured the essence of the exchange from her seat, her features smoothing into a joyful smile. "Clara, does your little pup require his mother’s aura? Has his system processed nutrients tonight? Command his presence to our coordinates at once; we shall ledger several juvenile feasts to the table and observe which prey captures his fancy!"

Across the link, Hazel’s tone vibrated with absolute, exhausted defeat. "It is an impossibility, Clara. I have deployed every ancestral bedtime lore, yet Leo refuses to yield; he is shedding silent, pathetic tears, and it is breaking my maternal armor."

A strange ripple disturbed Clara’s thoughts, her intellect snagging on a massive contradiction.

During their seasons of exile in the outer human realm, whenever an unexpected relic tracking assignment forced her to anchor Leo inside the enclave’s child sector for an entire sun cycle under the custody of her colleagues, his wolf had consistently maintained flawless autonomy, never once collapsing into such a desperate, frantic demand to isolate her scent. Something was profoundly wrong.