[Elara's POV]
Kaelen summoned me back to the Pack.
The moment I stepped into his office, he rounded on me. "You resign, and the Prosperity Guild terminates its investment. Did you conspire with them to get back at me?"
"Get back at you?" I almost laughed. "I don't have the power to conspire with a major merchant guild. If they terminated the investment, it means they no longer see potential in the project."
"Then tell me why their Guild Master said it was because you resigned!" Kaelen stared at me, his eyes burning with disbelief.
I paused as understanding dawned on me. The Guild Master must have researched my background, my track record in strategic planning.
Now that I was gone, replaced by the inexperienced Giselle, any investor with a shred of sense would pull out.
"I suppose the Guild didn't think much of Giselle's abilities," I said calmly.
Giselle, who had been eavesdropping at the door, burst into the room, pointing an accusing finger at me.
"What do you mean, they didn't think much of my abilities! It's obvious you have some kind of sordid deal with the Guild Master!"
Her eyes flashed with a venomous light. "Did you have to sleep with that old man to get him to agree to the investment in the first place?"
My face turned to stone.
Kaelen frowned. "Giselle, don't talk nonsense!"
"How is it nonsense?" Giselle shot back. "Brother, the guild pulled out the moment she resigned! Something is obviously wrong! I bet she's sleeping with the Guild Master, cheating on you!"
Kaelen fell silent. He looked at me, his eyes filled with suspicion.
I met his scrutinizing gaze. "You believe her?"
Kaelen spoke slowly. "Then tell me, why would the guild change their mind just because you left? Did you really…"
He didn''t finish the sentence, but the implication was brutally clear.
"Ha… haha…" A laugh, bitter and hollow, escaped my lips.
Four years, and this was all the trust he had in me.
A few baseless, filthy words from his sister were all it took for him to doubt my integrity.
"See, brother? She's obviously guilty!" Giselle fanned the flames.
I stopped laughing, my expression turning to ice as I stared at her. A faint, almost imperceptible silver light flickered in my ice-blue eyes.
My wolf was enraged by the insult.
"Are you certain I slept with the Guild Master?" I asked.
"Yes, I'm certain!" Giselle declared, her chin held high.
"Good. Don't forget what you just said." On the spot, in front of both of them, I took out my communication crystal and contacted the Elder Council's enforcers directly.
The connection opened, and a stern voice came through.
"This is the Elder Council, Enforcement Division."
"Hello, is this an enforcer?" I said calmly. "I'd like to file a report. I was drugged and assaulted without my knowledge… Yes, there's a witness. My mate's sister, Giselle Blackwood. She says she saw it with her own eyes."
The move stunned them into silence. Kaelen and Giselle's faces went white.
"Are you insane?" Kaelen snatched the crystal from my hand, frantically explaining to the enforcer that it was all a misunderstanding, that his sister was mistaken.
After he finally ended the call, he spun on me, his voice a low snarl.
I just looked at him with pure scorn. "Since your sister is so certain, shouldn't I file a report?"
Seeing I was ready to burn everything to the ground, Kaelen could only argue, "Giselle was just talking. Why do you have to take it so seriously?"
"It's not me who's taking it seriously, it's you!" I retorted. "So, 'just talking' gives someone the right to slander another without a shred of proof? To ruin someone's reputation? Giselle, according to Pack Law, this is a serious offense. You could go to jail for this!"
Kaelen had no choice. He turned to his sister and yelled, "Giselle, apologize now!"
"Why should I apologize to her?" Giselle muttered resentfully.
I activated the crystal's memory playback function, and the recording of Giselle's slanderous accusations filled the room.
"If you don't want to apologize, that's fine. I'll see you in the Elder's Court."
Faced with concrete evidence and the threat of Pack Law, Giselle's face turned a deep, ugly red. She shot me a hateful glare, but finally, she bowed her head.
"I'm sorry… I… I was just making it up. I don't know anything!"
"If I hear any more rumors like this, we will be seeing each other in the Elder's Court," I said, then shot a final look at Kaelen. "If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving. And I hope you won't summon me to your Pack for trivial matters like this in the future. After all, I've resigned."
I turned and walked out.
Giselle stomped her foot in fury. Kaelen's head throbbed.
That evening, he went to the Temple to retrieve medicine for Seraphina. Seeing his foul mood, she asked with concern, "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
"Nothing, just some frustrating Pack business," he said.
"By the way," Seraphina offered a new idea, "the Hundred-Clan Airshow is in a few days. Many powerful Packs and guilds will be there. You should go. You might find some new partnership opportunities."
Kaelen knew of the Airshow.
"Unfortunately, I have to represent the Stormcliff Pack that day, so I can't be with you the whole time," Seraphina said with a hint of regret. As the "First Air Rider of the Stormcliff Pack," she was one of the main attractions.
"You've already helped me enough," Kaelen said.
"You don't need to repay me," Seraphina said softly. "If I hadn't left back then, you never would have ended up with Elara. Perhaps we…"
"Enough. Let's not talk about her," Kaelen cut her off.
He turned to leave, needing to handle the rest of her recovery arrangements.
Watching his back, the gentle smile on Seraphina's lips slowly faded.
Back then, she had seen Kaelen as just another newly ascended, unproven young Alpha, and she had walked away. But things were different now. He was one of the most powerful leaders in the eastern forests, with an even greater future ahead of him.
She would have him.
Just as she had become the First Air Rider of the Stormcliff Pack, she would make Kaelen hers again. Completely.