Chapter 84: Am I Interrupting Something?

The room went dead silent. The polished silver blade gleamed under the chandelier light, and Ludwig could clearly see his own terrified, wide-eyed reflection captured in the crescent metal resting against his skin.

The guards stood paralyzed. Steve gasped from the floor, his jaw hanging wide open.

How can an Omega move like that? She’s wolfless... so how is this possible?!

Sweat beaded instantly on Ludwig’s wrinkled forehead, but the old Alpha still tried to play his desperate mind game. He shifted his gaze toward the guards holding my parents, a sinister, trembling sneer pulling at his lips.

"I am giving you a way out, and you are refusing it," Ludwig choked out, his eyes wide as he stared at the gleam of the silver blade pressed against his throat.

"A way out?" I asked, my voice dangerously smooth.

"How can an Omega like you expect to make it out of the Tournament of Power alive?!" Ludwig rasped, sweat beading heavily along his hairline. "I am offering you a path to survive—a way to become strong so you do not have to die! Why are you retaliating?!"

"Oh, so now you know how to speak friendly," I scoffed, a dark, mocking chuckle echoing from my chest. "Old man, do I look like I need training advice from your weak little Vanguard?"

Ludwig swallowed hard, his jaw tight as he stared at the custom daggers. The cold, razor-sharp steel resting against his jugular wasn’t a bluff. He could feel it. This girl wasn’t acting like an Omega. She hadn’t even flinched under his spectral howl, and she had single-handedly tossed an Enforcer across the floor like a ragdoll.

She certainly wasn’t weak.

I watched the subtle shift in his pupils, reading his thoughts like an open book. The old bastard was already pivoting—scheming, calculating how he could leash this ’uncontrollable mutt’ and use her raw, lethal strength to bring glory and territorial standing back to the Grey Moon Pack.

Recognizing that soft persuasion wouldn’t work, Ludwig’s expression hardened into a bitter, sinister sneer.

"Think carefully, Brianna Wells," Ludwig choked out, his voice shaking against the cold metal at his throat. "If you don’t back down now... your family will pay the price."

For a split second, my grip faltered. My heart constricted as I looked over my shoulder at Valerie’s bleeding forehead and Bradford’s terrified eyes held in the grip of his guards.

No.

I took a deep, steadying breath, steeling my heart in an instant. Going weak now would give him the exact leverage he wanted. But I wasn’t going to sacrifice my family either—I was going to rip his leverage to shreds.

My eyes narrowed into two lethal, glowing blue slits.

"Let’s see if you can issue that command before I finish slitting your throat, old man," I growled, pressing the silver blade just deep enough to draw a single, brilliant drop of blood from his neck.

Ludwig went rigid, the crimson droplet trickling down his wrinkled skin and staining his collar. The silence in the study was suffocating, stretched so taut that the ragged breathing of the stunned guards sounded like thunder.

Before Ludwig could force another word past his constricted throat, the double doors of the study exploded inward, splintering from their frame with a deafening crash.

Heavy, deliberate footsteps echoed across the marble threshold.

The temperature in the room plunged instantly. An Alpha pressure—real, ancient, suffocating, and terrifyingly vast—flooded every corner of the study like a tidal wave of molten lead. ℴ𝗆

The guards holding my parents collapsed onto their hands and knees, gasping for air, while Steve groaned from the floor, completely pinned down by the sheer weight of the aura.

Edgar Morningstar stood in the doorway, flanked by two of his own men. His golden eyes swept over the shattered doors, the paralyzed guards, and my parents, before settling directly on me.

When he saw my silver dagger pressed tightly against Ludwig’s jugular, his eyes flashed with a dangerous, glinting warmth, and a dark, devastatingly handsome smirk curved his lips.

"Am I interrupting something, Alpha Ludwig?" Edgar asked, his low, vibrating voice cutting through the silence like a velvet blade.

Ludwig swallowed hard, careful not to move his throat against my steel. "M-Morningstar..." he rasped out, his eyes wide with a mix of shock and sheer humiliation. "What is the meaning of this intrusion?" But then he snapped out of it, realizing this could be a chance. "This girl... she’s attacking the head of the Grey Moon Pack! This is an assassination attempt!" he declared.

Oh please, if I wanted to assassinate you, you would already be a cold corpse. Keep my profession out of your mouth.

"Is it?" Edgar drawled, casually stepping over a piece of splintered wood as he walked toward the mahogany desk. He stopped right beside me, leaning over slightly to inspect the angle of my blade with a critical, appreciative eye. "Her form looks quite solid to me. Excellent grip, little cat."

I didn’t lower the dagger, but I flicked a cold glance up at him. "You sure took your sweet time."

"Traffic was insufferable," Edgar replied smoothly, before turning his gaze back down to Ludwig. His golden eyes hardened into two chips of glacial ice, the playful tone vanishing instantly. "Now, Ludwig... why are your men laying hands on my investee’s family?"

Ludwig blinked, confusion battling with the terror in his chest. "Your... what?"

"Brianna Wells is under my direct sponsorship for the Tournament of Power," Edgar stated, his voice ringing loud and clear in the quiet room. "Her training, her safety, and her family’s well-being are under the protection of the Morningstar Pack. Which means..."

Edgar reached out, his broad fingers gently wrapping around my wrist. He didn’t force my hand down; he simply applied a soft, reassuring pressure, guiding the silver blade a millimeter away from Ludwig’s skin.

"...if you attempt to draft her under your Vanguard, intimidate her family, or restrict her freedom," Edgar whispered, leaning down until he was eye-to-level with the trembling old Alpha, "I will consider it a direct declaration of war against the Morningstar name."