Chapter 260: Refused

​Scarlett’s POV

​The silence that followed my words was loud enough to make my ears ring.

​For three whole seconds, Liam, Leonard, and Leo just stared at me, their faces totally frozen in shock. Then, all at once, the heavy air in the dining room shattered.

​"Absolutely not!" Leo roared, his chair flying backward and slamming into the wall as he surged to his feet. His golden eyes flashed feral, his chest heaving. "Are you completely out of your mind, Scarlett? We just told you we are ready to tear the vampire kingdom apart, and you walk in here asking us to just hand you over?"

​"It’s out of the question," Liam said. He didn’t yell, but his voice was deeper and rougher than I had ever heard it, vibrating with a terrifying Alpha authority. He stepped away from the table, his massive frame towering over me as he blocked my path. "We are not discussing this. We are not letting you walk into a death trap."

​"Scarlett, think about what you are saying," Leonard pressed, his tone calm but tight with an underlying panic. He walked around the table, his dark eyes searching my face, practically begging me to take it back. "Twenty liters of blood is a death sentence. Even with your healing, they will lock you in a cage and drain you until there is nothing left. We have the largest army in the region. We have thousands of warriors ready to fight. We don’t surrender our own."

​"You need to listen to me!" I shouted back, refusing to back down. I took a step forward, looking at the three of them. "You think your army can stop an ancient nightmare? Yes, the Full Moon Pack is massive. Yes, we have power. But a war with the vampires means a total massacre. Our people will bleed, our fields will burn, and for what? To protect one person?"

​"To protect our mate!" Leo snapped, slamming his fist onto the table.

​"I am trying to save this pack!" I argued, my voice cracking as the emotion finally bled through my mask. I looked at Liam, then Leonard, trying to make them understand without giving away the Red Wolf’s secret poison trap. "I am not a child, and I am not a prize to be fought over. If I go to them, the threat stops. The pack stays safe. I can handle this."

​"You can’t handle being bled dry!" Liam roared, losing his composure completely. He grabbed my shoulders, his grip tight but careful not to hurt me. His eyes were wide, filled with a raw, desperate agony. "We won’t let you do it. Do you hear me? It is our duty to protect you, and we will."

​I looked at his desperate face, then at Leonard and Leo, who stood like stone walls behind him. They were completely blinded by their protective instincts. They weren’t going to listen to reason. They were never going to agree.

​I coldly reached up and pushed Liam’s hands off my shoulders. I stepped back, my sea-blue eyes hardening into absolute ice as I looked at the three most powerful Alphas in the territory.

​"It is not your decision to make," I said, my voice flat, cold, and absolute. "I am not a kid, and I don’t need your permission to decide my own fate."

​Before any of them could grab me or argue, I turned on my heel and walked out of the dining room, slamming the heavy doors shut behind me.

​My heart was hammering against my ribs as I marched down the long hallway, my breathing shallow. They were going to lock me up. I knew it. The moment the shock wore off, they would put guards at my door. I needed to move fast.

​I turned the corner toward the main foyer, my mind racing with a million different thoughts, when a sharp voice spoke.

​"Well, well. Look who finally decided to come out of her hiding hole."

​I stopped in my tracks. Standing near the grand staircase, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, was Bianca—Leo’s wife. She looked immaculate, not a single hair out of place, but her face was twisted into a harsh, bitter sneer as she stared at me.

​"I hope you’re happy with yourself," Bianca said, her voice dripping with hate as she took a few steps toward me. "Because of you, hundreds of our people’s lives are being put in danger. The warriors are out there breaking their bones in training, and families are terrified, all because you’re too selfish to fix the problem you caused."

​I tightened my jaw, staring back at her. "You don’t know what you’re talking about, Bianca."

​"Oh, I know exactly what’s happening," she scoffed, tossing her head back. "The Vampire King made a simple demand. He didn’t say he wanted to wipe us out—he just wants your blood. It’s not like the vampires are even going to kill you! You’re a werewolf, you’ll heal. Why can’t you just offer yourself up and give them what they want? Just offer your blood, pay the debt, and save the rest of us from a war we shouldn’t even be fighting."

​Her words stung, but instead of breaking me, they only solidified the dark plan growing in my chest.

​"You’re right, Bianca," I whispered softly, a small, chilling smile touching the corners of my lips as I walked right past her. "Maybe I’ll do just that."

​Bianca let out a sharp, satisfied gasp behind me, clearly thinking she had successfully shamed me into submission. I didn’t care what she thought. I didn’t stop walking until I reached the heavy double doors of the mansion and pushed my way out into the cool morning air.

​My mind was a chaotic blur, but underneath the panic, a cold, unyielding resolve was settling into my bones.

​We have to do it tonight, my normal wolf whispered, no longer trembling, but filled with a quiet, desperate courage. If we wait until tomorrow, the Alphas will have this entire perimeter on a total lockdown. They will chain us to the floor of that bunker before they ever let us leave.

​Tonight, I agreed in my mind.

​I walked down the concrete steps of the porch, my eyes sweeping across the bustling courtyard. Now that I was looking at it through the lens of my new plan, everything felt different. The elite warriors doing brutal hand-to-hand combat drills on the grass, the omegas hauling heavy crates of silver-tipped weapons, the guards pacing the watchtowers—they weren’t preparing for a massacre anymore. They were my distraction.

​For the plan to work flawlessly, I had to completely infuse my bloodstream with the Red Wolf’s dark magic before they drew a single drop. It couldn’t just be regular werewolf blood; it had to be a concentrated, magical poison. The moment his fangs sank into me, or the moment his tubes started draining my veins, the magic would flood his system and rot him from the inside out, turning his desperate grab for eternal life into his own execution.

​But first, I had to get past my mates.

​"Scarlett! Wait!"

​The sound of heavy, rapid footsteps crunching against the gravel made me freeze. I turned around to see Liam rushing down the steps, his face tight with raw panic. Leonard and Leo were right behind him, their dark expressions sending a wave of absolute tension through the nearby warriors, who immediately paused their training to look over.

​"We aren’t finished talking," Liam breathed out, stopping just a foot away from me. The rich scent of pine and rain rolled off him, heavy with a desperate plea. "Don’t just walk away from us like that. Please."

​"There is nothing left to say, Liam," I said, forcing my voice to remain as flat and cold as stone, though seeing the sheer agony in his eyes made my chest ache. "You heard me in there. I’ve made my decision."

​"And we told you it’s a death sentence!" Leo snapped, stepping up beside his brother, his jaw clenched so tight the muscles in his face were trembling. "Do you honestly think we’re just going to stand by and watch you walk over the border? We are the Alphas of this pack, Scarlett. It is our job to fight the monsters, not hand our mate over to them!"

​"You’re not listening to me," I countered, looking between the three of them. I kept my posture completely rigid, refusing to give them even a hint of the trap I was setting. If they suspected for a single second that I was going to use my blood as a weapon, they would stop me to protect my health. "A war with the vampires will destroy half of this territory. Thousands of your people will die. Is my life really worth a total bloodbath?"

​"Yes," Leonard said instantly, his chillingly calm voice cutting through the air with absolute finality. He took a half-step forward, his dark eyes locked onto mine with a terrifying possessiveness. "Without hesitation, Scarlett. Your life is worth everything to us. If the werewolf kingdom has to burn to keep you safe, then we will watch it burn together."

​A heavy lump formed in my throat. They were so fiercely, beautifully stubborn. They loved me enough to let the world end, but I loved this pack too much to let that happen.

​"I’m going back to my room," I murmured, tearing my gaze away from them because I couldn’t bear to see the protective devotion in their eyes for another second.

​"We’re putting guards at your door, Scar," Leo called out after me, his voice rough with a mixture of anger and heartbreak. "For your own safety. Don’t try to leave."

​I didn’t answer. I kept my eyes straight ahead as I walked back up the stairs, passing a smirking Bianca on my way inside.

​Let them put a hundred guards at the door. When I am ready to leave, not one of them will be able to stop me.