Chapter 2

Dahlia Maxwell POV:

Kerr's fake smile froze on his face at my words. I didn't wait for him to recover, stepping onto the spiral staircase in my stilettos. The sharp clicking of my heels against the marble steps echoed through the vast drawing room like a countdown.

His ice-gray eyes tracked my descent, his brows furrowing tightly as if he couldn't comprehend why the timid girl who used to trails after him suddenly carried the suffocating presence of a ruler.

When I reached the bottom step, Kerr stepped forward and extended his right hand, expecting me to place my fingers in his palm like a submissive pet. I looked right through him, brushed past his outstretched arm, and sat down in the central leather armchair. Crossing my legs, I leaned back lazily.

Kerr's hand hung awkwardly in mid-air for two seconds before he yanked it back. His Adam's apple bobbed violently as he swallowed his humiliation.

"Dahlia, you seem... quite different today," he said, forcing a fond, indulgent tone into his voice that made the bile rise in my throat.

"Save the performance, Kerr," I cut in without looking up, picking up a porcelain teacup a maid had just poured. "Your Cantrell Pack didn't bring four armored SUVs to my front door just to compliment my wardrobe."

The gentle mask on Kerr's face cracked completely. His expression darkened as he sat down on the sofa opposite me, spreading his arms across the backrest with the entitlement of an old-money Alpha heir.

Standing beside my chair, my mother Evelyn let out a cold snort and slammed her own teacup onto the marble coffee table with a loud clatter.

"Young Master Kerr, if your noble Cantrell house thinks our newly arrived merchant Pack is beneath your station, spit it out," Mother mocked sharply. "Don't sit in my house speaking in riddles."

Kerr shot my mother a venomous glare. The next second, the air in the room grew thick and suffocating as he released his Alpha's Command—a genetic aura designed to force lower-ranking werewolves to their knees. My mother's face paled slightly under the crushing weight, her shoulders stiffening.

Yet as the wave of dominion hit me, it washed over my skin like a harmless breeze. An Alpha's Command only works on lower-ranking wolves within their own Pack or weak outsiders, and it is utterly useless against a hidden White Wolf—the direct royal bloodline of the Moon Goddess flowing secretly in my veins. I sat completely still, taking a slow sip of my black tea.

Seeing that I hadn't even blinked under his aura, shock flared in Kerr's eyes. He hastily retracted his pressure, cleared his throat, and leaned forward.

"Dahlia, you know the Werewolf Council has been strictly enforcing the genetic blind-matching decree lately," he said, shifting into a tone of fake concern. "You turned twenty today without a mate bond. If the Council steps in, you'll be married off to some brutal border warrior."

I blew gently on the floating tea leaves, resting my chin on one hand as my fingers tapped the armrest. "Is that so? And how does the generous Young Master Cantrell plan to save me?"

He lowered his voice, his eyes gleaming with naked greed as he delivered the exact line that had condemned me to hell in my last life. "Transfer the Maxwell family's genetic dowry and trust funds into the Cantrell account tonight. Once the assets clear, I will withstand my mother's pressure and take you into my estate as my exclusive unmarked breeder."

He spoke as if offering me a life without The Bite, without a title, and without legal protection was the greatest charity on earth.

My mother's entire body shook with rage. She slammed her palm on the table and pointed a trembling finger at his nose. "In your dreams! My daughter is the sole heiress of the Maxwell fortune! She will rot in the ground before she becomes a lowly breeding tool for a bastard like you!"

Kerr sneered, dropping all pretense of warmth. "Mrs. Maxwell, wake up and smell the capital. Your family is nothing more than a fat sheep wandering into a den of lions without political backing. Without my protection, you won't survive the month."

I set my teacup down on the saucer with a sharp clink, cutting off my mother before her blood pressure spiked further. Raising my eyes, I locked onto Kerr's greedy stare.

"Your protection? By becoming a nameless plaything who can't even access your Pack's Mind-Link?" I asked, enunciating every syllable with open mockery.

My undisguised contempt struck right at the deep-seated inferiority complex he hid beneath his noble title. Kerr's face twisted, and he shot to his feet, slamming both hands onto the coffee table as he leaned over to tower above me.

"Don't push your luck, Dahlia!" he snarled through gritted teeth. "Except for me, no high-ranking Alpha in the Capital District would dare touch a merchant family reeking of cheap copper!"

I looked at his bulging neck veins, every detail of their impending betrayal crystal clear in my mind. I knew for a fact that the Cantrell vault was so empty even the rats had abandoned it.

"Really?" I let out a soft laugh, standing up smoothly. Though he was a head taller than me, I didn't tilt my chin up. I walked slowly around the edge of the coffee table, closing the distance between us until we were only half a step apart.

Caught off guard by my aggressive advance, Kerr instinctively took half a step backward, his imposing stance crumbling instantly.

"You want my family's billions, Kerr, I get it," I murmured, my hands clasped behind my back. "But trying to swallow the entire Maxwell conglomerate with an empty threat is a bit too ambitious, even for a shameless parasite."

His pupils flickered wildly. "I don't know what nonsense you're talking about."

"You don't?" I leaned in closer, lowering my voice so only the two of us could hear. "Then let me refresh your memory about what you have planned for next Tuesday."