CHAPTER 34: WHAT

"What are you stopping me for? "Zen’s voice was sharp as he growled in his head. "We are leaving in an hour, and that Omega has still not made an appearance."

"Don’t be reckless," Kael shot back, his tone even but firm. "Teacher Shim is already angry with us. If you refuse this girl and then demand the Omega instead, you will only make him furious. And if he becomes furious, he will target her. That is the last thing we need right now. She will come find us if she is meant to. You know that.

Zen’s response carried a flash of irritation. Kael! That Omega—

"—is not our problem at this moment," Kael cut in before he could finish. We have more important matters ahead. We need access to the Ruins, and to the others like her. Do not forget what she carries in her veins. The Alpha’s bloodline runs through her, Zen. That is what makes her so important The idiot Alpha is passing us the key to his own ruin.. She is the key to the places even we cannot reach yet. So this is not the time to fight for her.

Zen gave a short, humourless snort. "I do not like this situation."

"And yet," Kael replied calmly, "this is the only path open to us right now. Until the Ruins yield their secrets, we take what steps we must. Even if we dislike them."

Finally, after glaring at his brother for a moment, he turned to the Alpha. "Fine fine. We will accept the gift but..."

"Thank you, your highness!" Hurriedly he bowed his head, ad pyshed his daughter to kow tow," Thank his highness for his grace."

"You haven’t heard the condtion Alpha Soier." Zen said coldly.

Finally, after a long moment of glaring at his brother, Zen exhaled slowly and turned back to the Alpha. His voice carried a trace of impatience when he spoke.

"Fine, fine," he said at last, his tone clipped, "we will accept the gift. But—"

He had not even finished before Alpha Soier let out a hurried breath of relief.

"Thank you, Your Highness!" the man said quickly, as though the words had been trapped in his throat and now spilled out all at once. He bowed even lower, almost falling over himself in eagerness, and shoved his daughter forward with a rough hand. "Quickly now—thank His Highness for his grace!"

The girl’s hands trembled as she pressed her forehead to the floor. Zen’s eyes flicked to her briefly, unreadable, before settling back on the Alpha.

"You have not heard the condition, Alpha Soier," Zen said, his voice cold enough to still the frantic movements in an instant. The air in the hall seemed to tighten around his words. "Do not be so quick to celebrate. Until you hear me out, you would do well to hold your thanks."

Zen watched the Alpha freeze in place, the man’s relief vanishing as quickly as it had come. The hall grew still again, the silence stretching thin as though waiting to snap.

Out of the corner of his eye, Zen cast his brother a brief, mischievous glance. It was the kind of look that spoke of trouble even before it began.

In Kael’s head, the words rose sharply. Zen? What are you planning to do now?

But before Kael could press further, before he could question or even try to guess at the intentions behind that glint in his brother’s eyes, Zen turned back to the Alpha and spoke with calm finality.

"She will not be serving us," he said smoothly, the faintest edge of amusement threading through his otherwise cold tone. "Miss Soier will be serving our teacher. Teacher Shim."

The words had barely left Zen’s mouth before the entire hall fell into a stunned silence. It was the kind of silence that rang louder than noise, heavy and absolute.

Alpha Soier stiffened where he knelt. His head came up slowly, his expression betraying the brief flicker of anger he could not quite hide. He even rose halfway to his feet, as if the impulse to protest burned hotter than his self-control, but then—just as quickly—he stopped himself. The man swallowed the words that had almost leapt out, forcing his posture back into something that looked obedient.

Beside him, Lyra’s head snapped up. Her eyes flashed as she opened her mouth, her voice low and sharp with disbelief. "I will not serve an old man," she hissed, the words slipping out before she could think better of them.

Zen grinned. So obedient. Heh.

She would have said more, but Alpha Soier’s hand shot out, gripping her arm tightly enough to halt her protests. He did not look at her, his eyes fixed instead on the floor as though his thoughts ran in desperate circles.

Zen watched them both with open amusement. The corner of his mouth curved, his smile carrying the kind of wickedness that promised nothing good. "What is this?" he asked lightly, though the tone beneath it was razor-sharp. "Miss Lyra is already defying my first command, and yet you expect me to take her back to serve me? This is your gift?"

Alpha Soier’s head shook quickly, the man bowing even lower now as if to erase what had just happened. "No, no, Your Highness," he said in a rush. "It would be an honor for Lyra to serve your teacher. An honor for the Moonville Pack itself."

"Really? Let me hear her say it." Zen said drolly, knowing that it would not be so easy. And they dared to claim that they did not want to have ties with the Stormhold Pack. Fools.

Zen watched as the Alpha tried to command his daughter, who was really reluctant to do so, to agree. He smiled. Tsk tsk. They really thought that they could play such games.

Just then, Teacher Shim entered the hall, and Zen’s smile widened even further. "Teacher Shim. You’ve come at a good time. Look, what I have arranged for you."