Chapter 583 A Few Hours Ago...

Chapter 583: Chapter 583 A Few Hours Ago...

They could use it against her, painting her as weak and incapable, a woman who could only stand tall because three powerful Alphas were standing in front of her.

And perhaps that had been the plan all along.

Maybe this attack wasn’t just meant to hurt the Tigren Clan.

Maybe they wanted to provoke Addison into one of two choices: either walk straight into a possible trap or stay behind while her mates went out to fight for her.

Either way, they could use it.

If she went, they might have the opportunity to target her directly.

But if she stayed...

Then everyone would see Addison, the woman expected to lead the kingdom, hiding behind the backs of her powerful mates like a turtle retreating into its shell.

And that image could be far more damaging than people realized.

Her enemies would make sure everyone saw it.

They would whisper that without her Alpha mates, Addison was nothing. That she couldn’t protect herself, couldn’t face danger, and certainly couldn’t lead a kingdom. Everything she had accomplished could be reduced to one cruel narrative, and that is she was only powerful because powerful men stood beside her.

Addison clenched her jaw.

She refused to give them that satisfaction.

"But, Addie, we don’t know what they’re after," Maxwell argued, his brows furrowing so deeply they looked as though they could crush a fly between them. The concern in his voice was impossible to hide. "They’re a bunch of lunatics. We have no idea what they’re planning, and if you walk straight into another trap..."

He trailed off, his jaw tightening. "You could get hurt."

"The more reason I need to go." Addison’s voice was firm, leaving no room for argument.

"We don’t know what they’re after or what exactly they’re planning. This one attack could mean a hundred different things, or it could mean something far simpler than we’re making it out to be. Either way, standing here and guessing won’t give us any answers. I need to see the situation with my own eyes."

Her gaze moved between her mates, unwavering despite the storm of emotions twisting inside her. "And I’m not the type to stand behind everyone and wait to be protected."

Before anyone could interrupt her, Addison continued.

"Remember who I am. I am the future ruler of this kingdom. That means I was born to be a warrior, to stand at the front and lead my people, not hide behind them while they fight in my place."

And before she had even finished speaking, Addison had already turned away.

She started walking, leaving the others behind. Within seconds, she was already a meter away from them, her pace steady and resolute.

Truthfully, she didn’t even know what she was supposed to feel anymore.

Her emotions were a complete mess, twisting and crashing into one another like a violent storm. Fear, anger, anxiety, confusion, and everything was there, fighting for control.

But whatever was happening between her and Zion, whatever truth she still had to reveal about her children, could wait.

The Tigren Clan could not.

This attack had happened on the very first day of their alliance.

And that alone made the situation far more serious than a simple ambush.

If word got out that the Tigren Clan had been attacked the moment they aligned themselves with the Werewolf Kingdom, the consequences would spread far beyond the battlefield. At best, they would become a laughingstock. At worst, the attack would become proof in the eyes of the other races that the Werewolf Kingdom was too weak to protect even its own allies.

And that was a reputation they could not afford.

Even with the Tigren Clan, a race known for its individual strength, standing beside them, their enemies had still managed to strike.

What kind of message would that send? That the Werewolf Kingdom was weak. That its future was uncertain. That even an alliance with them came with nothing but danger.

They were planning to open their borders and begin diplomatic discussions with neutral races. They wanted to build relationships, form alliances, and establish trade.

But why would anyone willingly tie themselves to a kingdom that couldn’t even guarantee the safety of those standing beside it?

The Tigren Clan had just become the perfect example of that danger.

If other races believed that associating with the Werewolf Kingdom would only paint a target on their backs, then they would think twice before forming an alliance with them. Some might refuse to open negotiations altogether. Others might see the Werewolves as too weak to be worth dealing with.

And Addison knew she couldn’t allow that narrative to take root.

This wasn’t just Leon’s problem anymore.

It was hers.

As the future ruler of the kingdom, she couldn’t stand safely in the shadows while her allies paid the price for standing beside her. If this attack was meant to challenge her authority, damage her kingdom’s reputation, and scare away anyone who dared support her, then Addison needed to face it head-on.

Not because she wanted to prove she was reckless.

But because sometimes, a ruler had to step onto the battlefield herself.

And this was one of those times.

「A Few Hours Ago...」

"Hey, how much longer do we have to run before we reach the villa?"

One of the Tigren women riding atop a Tigren warrior finally asked in annoyance, her patience wearing thin after more than an hour of running.

They had already been traveling for quite some time since parting ways with their Chieftain, and all of them had assumed the guest villa arranged for them wouldn’t be too far away. After all, their males had been running at full speed almost the entire time.

And with the speed the Tigrens could move at, they should have reached their destination long ago.

The Tigrens were not only powerful warriors; they were exceptionally fast on their feet. They had already crossed into the capital’s territory earlier, so none of them had expected the journey to take this long.

Yet the farther they traveled, the stranger it felt.

Instead of getting closer to the capital, they seemed to be moving farther and farther away from it.

At first, none of them had thought much of it. They weren’t familiar with the Kingdom’s territory, after all, and they naturally assumed the princess and her people knew what they were doing. The Alpha King himself had arranged their accommodation and was responsible for helping them integrate with the werewolves, so there had been no reason for the Tigrens to suspect anything.

But now, after running for more than an hour at a pace that should have covered a considerable distance, even the most patient among them were beginning to wonder.

Where exactly were they being taken?

The Tigren woman shifted impatiently atop her mount and glanced around at the unfamiliar surroundings.

"Seriously, how far is this villa? We’ve been running forever."

A few of the other Tigren women immediately murmured in agreement.

They had been holding their tongues out of respect for the Alpha King’s arrangements, but their patience was beginning to run out.

Something about this journey simply didn’t feel right.

"Um... has anyone else noticed that we seem to be getting farther away from the Royal Capital instead of closer?" another woman asked, her brows knitting together in confusion. "Or is it just my imagination?"

Fortunately, the Tigren women were positioned near the middle of the formation, surrounded by their fellow Tigrens. The heavy, rhythmic thudding of the shifted Tigrens’ enormous paws against the ground drowned out their voices, ensuring that the werewolves leading the entourage couldn’t hear their complaints.

The Tigren Priestess quietly looked around.

They were now running at full speed through a dense forest of towering pine trees, following nothing more than a narrow path that wound between the trees. With everything around them looking nearly identical, it was difficult to determine which direction they were actually traveling.

The unfamiliar terrain made it even harder to judge their position, and without any landmarks to orient themselves by, she had no way of telling how far they had truly gone or where they were being led.

But the longer they traveled, the more unsettled she became.

Something was wrong.

She tightened her grip around her staff, her fingers curling firmly around the worn wood. Beneath her veil, her breathing had grown uneven, betraying the unease she was trying desperately to keep under control.

Their Chieftain wasn’t with them.

That thought weighed heavily on her.

Without him, she couldn’t simply rely on his instincts or his ability to recognize danger before anyone else did. She had to rely on her own judgment now. The rest of the Tigren Clan might be powerful warriors, but few possessed the same level of cunning and suspicion as their Chieftain. If something was wrong, it was entirely possible that most of them wouldn’t notice until it was already too late.

That was why the complaints from the women caught her attention.