Chapter 576 Reaching Her Limit

Chapter 576: Chapter 576 Reaching Her Limit

By the time the final discussion came to an end...

The sun had already disappeared beyond the horizon.

Night had fallen over the Royal Capital.

Seeing everyone’s exhausted expressions, the Alpha King quietly sent a mind-link to his mate, asking her to have dinner prepared for the council.

Soon, the gathering relocated from the council chamber to the grand dining hall.

Compared to the tense atmosphere from earlier, the mood had eased considerably.

Groups of Alphas continued discussing the day’s reforms over dinner, exchanging ideas about expanding farmland, breeding livestock, and opening trade routes with neighboring neutral races.

The heavy tension that had filled the council chamber gradually faded.

Or so everyone thought.

As the banquet continued, Claire, who had remained unusually quiet throughout the entire meeting, finally reached the end of her patience.

She abruptly pushed herself to her feet.

Screech!

The harsh scrape of her chair echoed across the dining hall, instantly silencing every conversation.

Dozens of heads turned toward the source of the noise.

In an instant...

Every pair of eyes landed on Claire.

Addison looked up.

Her four mates looked up.

Even Leon shifted his gaze toward her.

Earlier, the shameless big cat had somehow managed to steal Zion’s original seat during dinner, planting himself directly on Addison’s left as though he belonged there. Zion had been forced to move one seat farther away, ending up beside Leon instead.

The two had spent the entire meal locked in a silent battle of glares, neither willing to back down.

The atmosphere between them had been growing increasingly tense.

But Claire’s sudden outburst shattered that invisible confrontation in an instant, drawing everyone’s attention away from their rivalry and onto her instead.

"What is it now?" Levi was the first to speak, his voice flat and edged with barely restrained irritation.

Truth be told, Leon was the one getting on his nerves, but Levi couldn’t afford to show it. Not now. The moment everyone began treating him and Leon as men standing on the same side, even the slightest crack between them would be noticed. People with malicious intentions would seize on that rift, twist it into something bigger, and use it against them. In the end, Addison would be the one forced to deal with the fallout.

So Levi swallowed his temper and kept his frustration locked behind an unreadable expression.

Unfortunately for Claire, she chose that exact moment to make herself the easiest target.

His cold gaze settled on her, sharp enough to cut. Gentlemanly or not, Levi had no intention of treating a malicious woman with courtesy. Respect was earned, not freely given, and Claire had done nothing to deserve it. He wouldn’t soften his words, nor would he feel even the slightest guilt for tearing into her if she kept pushing her luck.

Claire trembled as reality crashed back into her.

She hadn’t intended to make a scene.

But ever since the meeting began, she’d been watching Addison steal the spotlight with infuriating ease. Every question thrown at her was answered without hesitation, every challenge dismantled before it could even gain momentum.

It was as if Addison had anticipated every angle of attack and walked into the meeting armed with an answer for each one. Time and time again, just when Claire thought she’d finally corner her, Addison would calmly prove her wrong, leaving her looking foolish instead.

The jealousy gnawed at her from the inside.

She searched desperately for a flaw, an opening, anything she could exploit to knock Addison off that untouchable pedestal. But there was nothing. Addison never slipped, never stumbled, never gave anyone the satisfaction of seeing her falter.

Every composed smile. Every confident answer. Every approving look directed at Addison only fanned the flames inside Claire until they became an unbearable inferno.

Then came the final straw.

Watching Zion, the man she’d spent so long trying to seduce, charm, and make hers, bickering with Leon over a damned chair like an immature fool, all because both of them wanted to sit beside Addison and dote on her like loyal hounds, shattered what little composure Claire had left.

To Claire, it felt like Zion was grinding her pride beneath his heel in front of everyone.

Everything she’d done to win his attention suddenly looked pathetic.

The envy.

The jealousy.

The humiliation.

The hatred she’d buried so deeply for Addison finally erupted all at once, drowning out every ounce of reason she had left. Without thinking, she pushed herself to her feet, intent on confronting Addison, completely forgetting where she was and who stood around her.

Only Levi’s cold, cutting question snapped her back to reality.

Her heart lurched.

She was already standing in front of everyone.

It was too late to pretend nothing had happened.

Sitting back down now would only make her look even more ridiculous. Her mind raced frantically, desperately searching for any excuse, any lie, any way to salvage the situation before she humiliated herself beyond repair.

Claire’s heart pounded, but not a trace of it reached her face.

Instead, she smiled.

A gentle, graceful smile bloomed across her lips, as pure and elegant as a white lotus, instantly drawing everyone’s attention. Only then did several people seem to remember that she’d been seated at the table the entire time, quietly blending into the background without uttering a single word.

Noticing the subtle shift in their expressions, Claire’s panicked mind finally seized upon a way out.

"I apologize for interrupting everyone," she began softly, her voice warm and refined. "This is my first time attending a Royal Council meeting, and I must admit... seeing everyone work so tirelessly for the future of our kingdom has truly stirred my heart. But above all, I have my cousin, Addison, to thank for that inspiration."

She turned toward Addison with a smile that looked affectionate enough to fool anyone.

"Some of you may not know this, but my cousin and I share a long history together, long before I was recognized and welcomed back into the Royal Family. Watching her shoulder so much responsibility for the sake of the kingdom fills me with nothing but admiration. So... I’d like to offer a toast to my dear cousin, for all her hard work and sacrifices."

Claire gracefully picked up the glass of red wine before her and raised it with practiced elegance.

To everyone else, it sounded like nothing more than heartfelt praise from a loving cousin.

But Addison’s fingers slowly curled into a fist beneath the table.

She understood every hidden blade concealed beneath Claire’s honeyed words.

Claire wasn’t praising her.

She was hijacking Addison’s reputation, weaving their bitter, hostile history into the image of a close and affectionate family bond. If the others accepted that narrative, Claire would naturally be seen as someone closely tied to the woman who had just earned everyone’s admiration. She was shamelessly using Addison’s achievements as a ladder to elevate her own standing, and she was doing it right in front of her.

Worse...

It wasn’t merely flattery.

It was a warning.

A threat wrapped in silk.

Claire’s smile never faltered, but her message was crystal clear.

’Say one more word against me... and I’ll expose everything.’

She was prepared to drag Addison’s past into the open, the humiliating years she’d spent in Zion’s pack, where she was treated little better than dirt by its members. The years when she bore the title of Luna of the Midnight River Pack in name alone, only to be rejected, ridiculed, and denied by those who should have accepted her.

Claire believed those memories were scars Addison would never want anyone in this room to uncover.

And now she was weaponizing them, using Addison’s darkest Chapter as leverage to force her into silence.

For Addison, the revelation wasn’t entirely unexpected.

Her uncle had always been that kind of man, a disgrace who scattered his seed wherever he pleased, leaving behind countless nameless children without a shred of responsibility. The possibility that Claire was one of them had crossed Addison’s mind long before today.

Even so...

Hearing Claire declare it herself still made Addison’s heart skip a beat.

Not because she cared about Claire’s bloodline.

But because she immediately understood what Claire was doing.

The moment Claire publicly acknowledged her Royal lineage, she gained a legitimate foothold within the Royal Family. From that moment on, she was no longer just an outsider trying to force her way into noble circles, but instead, she had become someone who could stand beneath the Royal banner and use that name to climb higher.

It also made dealing with her infinitely more complicated.

If Addison were to eliminate Claire now, especially after she’d openly declared her blood ties before the ministers, Alphas, elders, and every influential figure gathered at the table, it wouldn’t simply be the death of one insignificant woman.

It would become a Royal Family matter.

Questions would be raised.

Sides would be taken.

Distrust would spread.

The smallest crack within the Royal Family would be enough for the enemies lurking in the shadows to wedge themselves deeper into the kingdom’s foundations.