Chapter 3

The elevator in the pack headquarters was dead silent.

I could feel the stares of the other pack members—cautious, prying glances, mixed with a hint of gleeful excitement.

The doors opened. The chatter in the hallway died instantly.

"Good morning, Alpha." Sarah, the receptionist, forced a smile, but her eyes darted away.

I ignored her.

Elara was already waiting for me at my office door.

"Blackstone sent another email," she said in a low voice. "They're demanding a formal response by this afternoon, or else—"

"Let them wait."

I pushed open my office door. Marcus and Chloe were already sitting inside.

They really couldn't wait.

"Emilia!" Marcus shot to his feet, his face a mask of fake concern. "We were all so worried about you. This whole online firestorm came out of nowhere."

Chloe sat on the couch, eyes red-rimmed, playing the part of a fragile victim.

"Alpha," she started, her voice small, "I never meant for it to get this big. I just..."

"You just what?" I strode past them and dropped into my chair. "Decided that ten thousand dollars in cash is less meaningful than a twenty-eight-dollar trinket?"

Marcus and Chloe exchanged a look.

"Emilia, that's not the right way to put it," Marcus said, taking on the tone of a pack elder. "The Moonflower ornament is our heritage. You can't put a price on that."

"Heritage?" I sneered. "Marcus, how much is your heritage worth? When I was paying for your son's university tuition, you didn't seem to care much about it."

Marcus's face tightened. "That's different—"

"How?" I snapped. "When the money was coming from my pocket, you couldn't thank me enough. Now that it's a choice between cash and a worthless trinket, you've suddenly found religion?"

Chloe finally broke.

"Alpha, we're not greedy!" she stood up, her voice shaking. "We just want the pack to keep its traditions! The entire North American werewolf community is watching us. If we give up the Moonflower ornaments, what will the other packs think of us?"

"Other packs?" I stood up slowly. "Chloe, you've been in this pack for three months. Do you have any idea how much money other packs give their members each year?"

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

"Zero," I said, hitting every syllable. "Other packs give their members zero dollars a year. They hand out those worthless trinkets and let their people figure out how to survive in the human world on their own."

"But at least they keep their traditions—"

"Tradition doesn't pay the rent!" I slammed my hand on the desk. "Tradition doesn't buy medicine! And tradition damn well doesn't stop our cubs from getting torn apart in human schools!"

The office fell silent.

Marcus cleared his throat. "Emilia, I understand your point of view, but the situation is out of control. The pack is emotional, and the noise online is getting louder. I think the best solution is to... compromise?"

"Compromise?"

"Give out the cash and the Moonflower ornaments," he suggested cautiously. "That way we take care of the practical needs and also maintain tradition."

I looked at him, then at Chloe.

Both of them were looking at me, full of hope.

They still didn't get it.

They thought this was a negotiation.

I picked up my phone and opened the viral video again.

"Chloe, what did you say in the video?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "I..."

"You said, 'We don't want cold, hard cash. We just want a traditional gift filled with our Alpha's heart'," I repeated her words verbatim. "That's what you said."

"Yes, but—"

"No buts." I kept scrolling. "You also said, 'Money can't buy our ancestors' blessings. It can't buy the honor of our pack'."

Chloe's face was turning paler by the second.

"Since money is so cold and meaningless," I lifted my head, my eyes locking onto hers, "then you should be happy I canceled the cash bonus."

Marcus jumped to his feet. "Emilia, Chloe is young, she didn't think through her words—"

"Didn't think them through?" I sneered. "Three million views and two hundred thousand reposts isn't 'thinking it through'?"

I kept scrolling through my phone. Suddenly, a familiar profile picture made me stop.

Liam. The old warrior. I had paid his daughter's $150,000 medical bill.

He'd liked the video.

Worse, he'd commented: "The Alpha needs to reflect on her leadership."

The blood in my veins turned to ice.

One hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

I remembered that night, Liam bursting into my office, holding his feverish daughter.

He cried that the silver poisoning was spreading too fast, that the healers couldn't stop it.

The alchemical potion was their only hope, but the price was impossibly high.

I messaged a master alchemist I knew that very night and wired the money from my personal account.

Liam had knelt before me, swearing he'd repay my kindness with his life.

Now, he was online, supporting the little viper who was trying to ruin me.

"Interesting," I said softly.

"What?" Marcus leaned in to look.

I shoved the phone in their faces.

Liam's profile picture and his comment were displayed for them to see.

Chloe gasped.

Marcus's face turned ugly. "That... that old fool..."

"Old fool?" I lowered the phone, my voice dangerously soft. "He's not an old fool, Marcus. He's just another 'loyal' pack member expressing his opinion, isn't he?"

I walked to the window, my back to them.

The city glittered in the sun, like gold coins in a wolf's eyes.

Greedy, cold, and without warmth.

"Elara," I said calmly.

"Yes, Alpha?" She appeared at the door instantly.

"Gather the entire pack. Three PM today. Emergency assembly."

"Should I prepare a press statement? And the gift distribution list—"

I turned around and looked at Marcus and Chloe's horrified faces.

"No."

My voice was flat, without a trace of emotion.

"Cancel the statements. We're not defending ourselves." I turned, my eyes locking onto their horrified faces. "We're announcing a new pack law."