CHAPTER 118: PRETTY AND PITIFUL

"With you here, they will just keep giving us trouble," Mira added, her tone sweet on the surface but dripping with venom underneath.

Raye’s fork hit the edge of her plate with a sharp clink. She turned her head slowly, her voice colder than I’d ever heard it.

"So what are you suggesting? That we hand Vivien over?"

Her burgundy eyes, usually bright and full of mischief, had darkened. Irritation clouded them, making her look almost evil in that moment—untouchable, dangerous.

I sat a little straighter. Raye didn’t often snap, but when she did, she looked really intimidating.

Across from her, Ares gulped down water like a man dying of thirst, his eyes widening slightly as though he’d just witnessed something scandalous.

He clearly wanted to stay far away from what he must have considered ’a ladies’ quarrel,’ but the twitch at the corner of his mouth betrayed that he was biting back some smart remark. In the end, he just stuffed more food into his mouth, probably as a form of self-defense.

Diaval remained quiet, but he was observing. His gaze flicked across the table, studying each of us as though he were reading the undercurrents of the room.

Rion poured himself more wine. I noticed the slight narrowing of his eyes like he’d heard something he didn’t like.

"She has a point, Raye," Jesmine said. With her flinching slightly, shes seemed reluctant to side with Mira, but right now they had a common goal—to remove me from Rion’s side. "I heard Arthien wolves came a few weeks ago looking for her. More will follow, I’m sure."

The words made my stomach tighten. She spoke like I was a storm cloud waiting to burst, like my presence here was an open wound bleeding trouble.

"I appreciate your concern for our Undercity, ladies," Rion spoke. "Truly, it touches me that you care so much for our people." His eyes flicked toward Mira and Jesmine, and the weight behind his gaze made the hair on my arms prickle. "But you seem to forget that our lands are warded. Heavily. No wolf can force their way in, nor wage war against us, unless those wards are broken. None of them have succeeded yet." He leaned back slightly, letting the silence drag. "So tell me, do you doubt your Alpha’s abilities?"

Jesmine and Mira stiffened, paling.

"W-we don’t, Alpha," they blurted together, voices tripping over each other.

Jesmine was the first to find her tongue. "We only wish to ease your burden," she said quickly, lowering her eyes like a child caught in a lie. The move earned her a dagger-sharp glare from Mira, who clearly hated that Jesmine had been quicker to appease him.

Jesmine pressed on anyway. "I know you’re aware, Alpha, but the Unified Alliance grows stronger every day. They have wanted to destroy our city for years. Giving them another reason to antagonize us..." She hesitated, her voice softening, almost meek. "I just don’t think it’s wise."

"Have they managed it, though?" Ares finally broke his silence, unable to help himself when the subject of the Unified Alliance came up. He leaned back in his chair, smirk tugging at his lips. "After so many years of scheming to destroy us, after combining all their packs, they still stand no chance. If you ask me, they’re more bark than bite."

Typical Ares. Smug, cocky.

"Unless they get the Celestial Wolf and her chosen mate on their side," Diaval cut in. He didn’t even bother looking at anyone as he said it, just calmly returned to his meal like the conversation was nothing to him.

"I doubt that," Ares muttered, more to himself than anyone else, clearly unwilling to let Diaval’s words stand unchallenged in his head.

"Alpha, if you don’t mind me asking," Mira said, her tone a bit more desperate now. "Why did you bring her here at all? You knew she betrayed her pack. You knew she would be hunted down."

Her voice carried an arrogance that grated at me, more direct than Jesmine’s carefully polished tone. I realized Mira was more aggressive and bold. She wasn’t someone who hid her claws, she was the kind of woman who was used to getting away with scratching people bloody.

Rion placed his wineglass down slowly, as though weighing her words. He tilted his head just enough to glance my way, and I caught the subtle twitch of his lips before he spoke.

His eyes gleamed with that mischievous spark that always made me think he was scheming against me in the darkest ways possible.

"I suppose..." he drawled, "it’s because she’s pretty. And she looked pitiful."

Heat rushed to my face before I could stop it, though I managed to keep my expression neutral. My wolf bristled inside me, equally insulted and annoyed. Pretty and pitiful? Really, Rion?

Mira smiled, her rouge lips curving with satisfaction as if she’d cornered him. "I don’t think that is enough reason to attract this much trouble—"

"Dear Mira."

The way Rion said it froze her mid-sentence. His voice wasn’t raised, but it bore the coldness of the barren lands aboveground. The room went still, even the faint scrape of cutlery vanishing. Shadows seemed to stir at the edges of the room, like they’d been summoned by his displeasure, coiling low and restless, ready to strike.

"You must have forgotten why the Undercity was built in the first place."

My own breath was caught in my throat.

"Undercity is a refuge for the ousted, the broken, the unwanted," Rion continued, his tone so low and menacing. "Aboveground, we are all criminals. Killers. The worst kind of people. That is why we are here."

His gaze locked on Mira, unflinching, piercing. "So if you suggest that I surrender Vivien to those who hunt her... are you also suggesting I should have sent you and your family back to the pack who wanted you dead years ago?"

Mira’s painted smile faltered, her face paling beneath the rouge.