“I’m surprised to see you here too,” I said, letting sarcasm drip from every word. “I thought this was the Alpha King’s private island.”
The moment those words left my mouth, I watched Ethan’s face flash with obvious panic.
His confident expression crumbled. His eyes darted around nervously, like a child caught stealing cookies.
“This… This is…” he stuttered, his voice losing all its earlier authority. “The Alpha King allowed
me to come in.”
His words came out choppy and uncertain. The smooth–talking Alpha who had just been making grand promises about our future suddenly sounded like a nervous teenager.
I tilted my head, studying his flushed face with mock curiosity.
“Is that so?” I asked, my voice sweet as honey but sharp as a blade.
Before Ethan could stammer out another lie, Scarlett stepped forward with her chin raised proudly.
“Of course,” she declared, her voice ringing with absolute confidence. “My brother will soon be the Alpha of a high–level pack, and the Alpha King will certainly give him this privilege.”
She gestured grandly at the moonlight roses surrounding us, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “Brother, you shouldn’t have spent so much, but I’m absolutely thrilled!” She spun around again, taking in every detail of the elaborate decorations.
‘This is better than any graduation gift I could have imagined!”
I watched her performance with growing amusement. The sheer audacity of these two was almost impressive.
Here they were, trespassing on the Alpha King’s private island, and somehow they had convinced themselves that all of this–the thousands of rare moonlight roses, the healing crystals, the luxury resort–had been arranged for Scarlett’s graduation.
smiled, letting my voice carry just enough mockery to sting: “Open your eyes and see clearly. Can your brother afford the money for these moonlight roses? Not to mention these healing
Jems.”
gestured at the amethysts and moonstones glittering throughout the lobby. “Do you have any dea what just one of these crystals costs?”
Ethan’s face turned an even deeper shade of red. His jaw worked silently for a moment before he managed to speak.
‘If I can’t afford it,” his voice was tight with embarrassment. Then his eyes narrowed accusingly. ‘Did you pay for it?”
Scarlett let out a sharp laugh, the sound cutting through the peaceful atmosphere like a knife.
‘I know what this is,” she sneered, her eyes glittering with malicious satisfaction. “You’re jealous, aren’t you? Because my brother prepared these graduation gifts for me, but he’s unwilling to
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spend so much money on your mating ceremony.”
Her smile turned vicious as her gaze dropped to my hand. “You probably spent your entire savings on this pathetic display, just to make yourself feel important.”
Then her eyes fixed on something that made them widen with desire. The moonstone engagement ring on my finger caught the light, throwing brilliant sparkles across the crystal–filled lobby.
“Oh,” she breathed, her voice suddenly husky with want. “That ring is gorgeous.”
She turned to Ethan, her expression shifting to that practiced pout I had seen her use countless times before.
“Brother, I want that ring,” she said, her voice taking on a wheedling, childish quality. “It would look so much better on me, don’t you think?”
Ethan’s attention snapped to my hand. His eyes locked onto the massive blue moonstone surrounded by diamonds.
I could see the calculations running through his mind. The ring was clearly expensive–more expensive than anything he had ever given me.
“Where did you get this?” he demanded, his voice sharp with suspicion. “You bought this yourself, didn’t you? Just to try to force me into marking you earlier.”
The accusation in his tone made my stomach turn. Even now, even when confronted with evidence that didn’t fit his narrative, he found a way to make it about my supposed desperation for him.
“Emma,” he said, his voice taking on that commanding Alpha tone he used when he expected immediate obedience. “Take off the ring and give it to Scarlett.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” he said firmly. “Scarlett deserves something beautiful for her graduation. I’ll buy you another one when we get back to the pack.”
His casual dismissal of the ring–of me–sent a wave of cold fury through my veins.
I thought of Grayson, who had commissioned this ring three years ago and waited patiently for me to accept it. Who had remembered my love for moonlight roses and filled an entire island with them.
And here was Ethan, demanding I hand over my engagement ring to his mistress like it was some trinket he could replace at the local jewelry store.
“Do you have any idea how much this ring costs?” I asked, my voice deadly calm.
Ethan scoffed, waving his hand dismissively. “How expensive could it be? A few thousand? Maybe ten at most?”
His tone was so disdainful, so confident in his assumption that I was too poor and pathetic to own anything truly valuable.
“At least twenty million US dollars,” I said simply.
The words hit him like a physical blow. His face went pale, then flushed red again.
“What?” he sputtered, his voice cracking. “That’s impossible. You can’t afford that at all. Stop
Chantere
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joking.”
He stepped closer, his expression growing angry and demanding. “Give the ring to Scarlett quickly. Are you really going to compete with my sister over jewelry?”
His voice rose with each word, drawing stares from the resort staff who were discretely arranging fresh moonlight roses nearby.
“If you keep acting like this, I’ll refuse to mark you,” he threatened, his eyes flashing with Alpha dominance. “Is that what you want? To lose your mate over a piece of jewelry?”
I looked at him–really looked at him–and felt nothing but pity and amusement.
This was all quite interesting, really. Here I was, simply wearing the engagement ring customized for me by my fiancé, waiting peacefully for my Queen’s coronation ceremony or what was clearly the Alpha King’s private island.
And these two people, who had somehow broken into the Alpha King’s private property, were acting as if I had crashed their wedding rehearsal.
One narcissistically convinced that I was desperately trying to force a marriage. The other arrogantly showing off
