Chapter 588
“You lying wolfless bitch!” Seraphina shrieked, her voice cracking into hysteria. She jabbed a manicured finger at my chest. “That’s no sigil — it’s a cheap rock you scavenged from some junk heap! A pathetic artisan like you could never earn Healer Sterling’s mark. You’re a fraud!”
The ballroom plunged into stunned silence. Gasps echoed off the marble floors.
I met her wild eyes with perfect calm. “You wish to question my honor publicly, Seraphina? Then witness the truth.”
I drew the obsidian communicator from my clutch — rune-etched, humming with ancient power — and synced it to the massive projection screens flanking the stage. The string quartet fell silent. The screens flickered to life, revealing Healer Sterling’s weathered face, his silver hair framing eyes as sharp as blades.
“Master,” I said clearly, letting my voice carry across the room. “Seraphina Vance claims the Vance Moon-Cress empire represents the pinnacle of Pack medicine.”
Sterling’s lip curled with open disdain. “The Vances? They are not healers — they are glorified peddlers of common weeds. I wouldn’t dose a rabid Rogue with their tinctures, let alone a true wolf.”
Murmurs exploded through the crowd. Investors’ eyes glazed as they Mind-Linked orders to liquidate Vance stock. Share prices plummeted in real time on the side screens. Lord Vance burst from the crowd, his face ashen.
“Seraphina!” he roared, his voice cracking like a whip. His palm struck her cheek, blood beading at the corner of her lip. “You stupid pup! Apologize to the Luna — now — or I will cut you from the family trust. Rogue scum!”
Seraphina crumpled, sobbing, her Inner Wolf whimpering beneath the weight of his dominance. “I — I’m sorry, Luna Adella. Forgive me.”
I straightened, keeping my voice cold and even. “Your apology is insufficient. By dawn, you will retract every lie about my King on every Pack outlet — or face the full weight of the Covenant’s wrath.”
Lord Vance bowed low, his hands trembling. “As you decree, Luna.”
Dallas stepped forward and pulled me firmly to his side, his presence possessive and proud. “Until we are satisfied, Marshall Enterprises severs all Vance contracts. The hostile takeover begins now.”
The Vance stock feeds crashed to zero on the screens. Lord Vance sank into a chair, utterly broken. Seraphina crawled away from the crowd, her humiliation complete.
The ballroom erupted in applause. Dallas’s gold-flecked eyes burned as they found mine — fierce, proud, and entirely undone. Arm in arm, we turned toward the exit, the assembled elite parting before us like the tide.
Adella POV
Anson Fowler’s calculating gaze raked over me as though I were territory to be claimed. His cologne — sharp and woody — hung in the air beneath the Pierre’s portico. Dallas went rigid beside me, his presence sharpening to a lethal edge, Ragnar’s growl vibrating through our mate-bond like distant thunder. His hand tightened on his cane, knuckles white, molten gold flickering in his eyes.
He took a step forward, but Duncan’s voice cut through his earpiece. Alpha — coordinated financial hits on Marshall Enterprises. Hyde and Vance allies. Right now.
Dallas froze, his jaw clenched. I covered his hand on the cane, channeling calm through our bond. “Business first, my King.”