Chapter 6

Third Person's POV

Seven o'clock in the evening.

Zander returned to the villa, carrying a beautifully wrapped gift box in his hand.

Still carrying the crisp, chilling air of the border forests, he sat down on the wooden bench. Out of sheer habit, his gaze swept across the dimly lit living room.

An omega maid approached timidly, carefully balancing a cup of black coffee. Zander took the mug and asked casually, "Is Sabrina not back yet?"

"Alpha Zander, she hasn't returned yet," the maid replied, keeping her head bowed.

Her voice trembled with the innate reverence she held for her pack's leader. "She's usually home by now. I'm not sure if something held her up today."

What could possibly hold her up?

She was probably just throwing another one of her spoiled tantrums, giving her alpha the silent treatment like always.

Zander leaned back heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose in exhaustion.

"Alpha Zander!" A shrill, whining shriek suddenly pierced through the doorway.

He looked up to see Wilda storming into the room.

"I've been trying to mind-link you all day! Why didn't you answer me?!"

"Do you have any idea how busy I am during the day? Border patrols and pack meetings were piled up. What is it?"

Wilda's face twisted with indignation. "Don't play dumb with me! That psychotic bitch Sabrina kicked me into the pool yesterday! Are you seriously not going to use the pack laws to punish her?"

"And how exactly do you want me to handle it?"

"Kick her out! Banish her from the pack! I never want to see her face again!"

Zander shot her a sideways glare, his voice dropping to a frosty pitch. "If you hadn't provoked her, do you really think she would have kicked you for no reason?"

Wilda had already been harboring a belly full of rage. Hearing her uncle not only refuse to stand up for her but actively take that mutt's side completely ignited her sense of grievance.

She roared, "What do you mean, I provoked her?! She pushed Melinda into the water first! I couldn't stand watching it, so I spoke a few words of justice! How the hell does that turn into me starting a fight in your eyes?!"

"Zander, your favoritism is so disgustingly obvious! Which one of us is actually related to you by blood?! My dad is your own brother, but ever since we were kids, you've always given her the best of everything! You even let her live in this massive villa while I'm not allowed to move in. You're so insanely unfair, it's ridiculous! I'm severing ties with you!"

Wilda broke down into dramatic, heaving sobs.

Zander already had a splitting headache. With his niece wailing in his ears, what little patience he had left was rapidly evaporating. His temples throbbed violently.

Suddenly, through her blurry, tear-filled eyes, Wilda spotted the exquisite gift box sitting on the coffee table.

It looked exactly like the packaging of a high-end, limited-edition designer figure.

She lunged for it. Tearing the box open, she let out an ear-piercing squeal. "Oh my god, it's a Labubu..."

Her crying instantly ceased, replaced by a radiant sparkle of pure delight. "Zander, did you buy this specifically for me?"

Zander's Adam's apple bobbed. He opened his mouth, then closed it. "That's..."

"I knew you still cared about me deep down! You knew Sabrina bullied me, so you went out of your way to get this limited-edition figure to cheer me up. If you had just brought this out sooner, I wouldn't have lost my temper with you!"

She burst into a giddy laugh, wiping her tears away.

No girl could possibly resist a holy-grail, limited-edition Labubu figure.

Especially this 'Cyber Mirage' edition. The figure looked so effortlessly cool wrapped up in its cyberpunk aesthetic. She was absolutely obsessed with it.

She had pre-ordered it on the official website and waited a whole year without any luck, yet today, it had miraculously fallen into her lap.

Wilda cradled the gift box, practically dancing with joy.

Zander opened his mouth, about to explain the misunderstanding, when he caught sight of Sabrina walking through the front door out of the corner of his eye.

She didn't emit even a trace of werewolf scent. She was as terrifyingly quiet as a ghost.

The words on the tip of his tongue were forcefully swallowed back down.

Wilda spotted her a split second later.

Riding the high of a victor, there was no way she was passing up an opportunity to rub it in her rival's face.

She immediately held up the exquisite figure, flaunting it aggressively. "Well, look who it is! The pathetic little leech is home. Come check out the figure Zander just gave me. Isn't it gorgeous?"

"Don't you want one, you broke little loser?"

Standing off to the side, Zander frowned imperceptibly at his niece's degrading insults.

He could already predict the explosive storm that was about to hit.

Knowing Sabrina's usual fiery temper, that limited-edition figure was probably going to be smashed into a million pieces in about three seconds.

But to his absolute shock, Sabrina acted as if she hadn't heard a single word of Wilda's taunts. Those eyes that were always burning with stubborn fury were completely dead. Treating them both like thin air, she walked right past them.

Wilda had fully expected to see Sabrina go insane with jealousy. Seeing her completely apathetic, how could she possibly be satisfied?

She stepped sideways, blocking Sabrina's path. "What, are you deaf? I told you to look at my figure. Don't you normally obsess over collecting these things too? Did Zander buy you a set?"

She studied Sabrina's face. Seeing how deathly pale and bloodless she looked, Wilda let out a cruel, mocking scoff. "Oh, my bad. I forgot. Whenever there's something good, obviously he gives it to me first. After all, I'm his actual family, and you... you're just a bastard mutt."

"Wilda, that's enough."

A sharp, dangerous alpha glint flashed through Zander's ink-black eyes. "It's almost eight. Go back to your parents' place before your mother starts worrying."

Wilda wanted to argue, but meeting the warning glare Zander shot her way, she pouted indignantly. She shot one last venomous glare at Sabrina before turning on her heel and strutting away like royalty.

The house instantly fell into a heavy silence.

Just as Zander braced himself for Sabrina to unleash absolute hell on him, he realized she seemed like an entirely different person. Without uttering a single syllable, without even sparing him a passing glance, she walked straight up the stairs.