Chapter 22: Crazy Purchases
Chapter 22 Crazy Purchases
(Alexander’s POV)
I stood in the chilled darkness, my breath harsh and uneven. Scarlett had disappeared into the shadows, leaving nothing behind but the fire she’d
deliberately stoked within me.
My fats curled so tightly that my nails bit into my palms, but the pain was nothing compared to the burn in my chest. She was taunting me, defying
me at every tum, and the worst part? She was winning.
Mason damn near snarled in my head, his rage a mirror of my own. She’s mocking us. She’s mocking you, he growled, pacing with furious energy
Rage coursed through me, but there was nothing I could do to leash her, nothing I could do to stop her. She was immune in every way that mattered.
“Alpha.” Jason’s uneasy voice cut through the mind link, tentative and riddled with hesitation. It’s Scarlett
I swore immediately. “What now?”
“She’s entered the Shadow Market His voice wavered as if he already knew what my reaction would be.
I froze, a growl rumbling low in my throat. The Shadow Market. Of course. Neutral territory where wolves, rogues, humans, and whoever dared could
meet and trade. Its existence was a thorn in every Alpha’s side, a lawless zone immune to pack rule
“She’s making purchases,” Jason continued cautiously
“Purchases?” I spat, my voice harsh. “What kind of purchases?
Jason hesitated far longer than I liked. “Rare silver antidotes. Sacred moonstone elixirs, Healing crystals–the rarest stocks. She’s buying out
supplies meant to last years. Her spending is.” He trailed off, as if the truth was too astounding to admit aloud. “Astronomical, he finally said quietly.
The words hit me like a slap. Scarlett wasn’t just walking away. She was making a statement–through actions and coins alike. My blood boiled hotter, each heartbeat louder and heavier than the last.
erly, Mason growling with agreement in my chest. My mind raced with every insult, every slight she’d thrown in my
“She’s targeting me,” I realized bitterly,
face tonight.
She’d made it clear she wanted no part of me. She’d sever every tie if she could. And now, she was proving just how far she’d go.
Jason’s voice came again, low and hesitant. “Should I issue… restrictions?” Even in his doubt, he knew what I was
“Cut her off.” My words were ice. “Her access to every Amber Pack–held resource? Gone. She likes to act like she’s above us? Let’s see her survive
was going 10
say
without our aid.”
“Yes, Alpha” Jason disconnected, hurriedly ending the link.
I stalked toward the car the heavy thud of my boots against the ground barely answering the rage filling me.
The drive to the healing den was a blur, my focus narrowing on what lay ahead: Grace, suffering from the poison corrupting her wolf, and Scarlett,
deliberately stripping me of the means to save her
my nose. Wohes
I arrived at the healing den, and the tension hit me like a wall. The air was thick with the scent of silver, its metallic tang burning my scurried around in controlled chaos, their faces tight with worry.
Luna Sarah paced just outside Graces chamber, her eyes darting frantically between the den’s healers and the closed door. She radiated helpless desperation, her lips pressed tightly together, her hands trembling at her sides.
“Alexander!” she called out the second she saw me, rushing closer. “You must do something. The healers–Her voice cracked, and she swallowed hard, struggling to maintain her composure. “The healers are failing. Nothing is working. Nothing”
Before I could respond, my phone buzzed violently against my hip. I pulled it out with a sharp motion, and Jason’s voice filled the line before I could
even greet him.
“Wpha” Jason sounded more shaken than before. “Scarlett is still escalating.”
“What now?”
The growl in my throat was clear
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“She’s bought out every single herb merchant within the Northern territories,” Jason rushed, his tone tinged with disbelief. “Silver antidotes.
Wolfsbane stocks Herbs for healing, disease cleansing tinctures… entire inventones, gone.”
I could barely find my voice as the venom spilled from my lips. “How much has she spent?”
Jason hesitated again. Enough enough to supply multiple packs for months. She’s stripping the area clean. There’s nothing left on the market.”
“She dares?” my voice thundered, echoing in the air. My control snapped briefly, and Mason snarled through our bond, eager for retribution
Sarah’s head swiveled toward me, her face paling as she overheard Jason’s nervously detailed report. She took an unsteady step forward. “Scarlett
bought all of it?” Her voice was no louder than a whisper, but the horror in her tone was palpable. Her gaze darted to Grace’s closed door, visibly piecing
the implications together,
Grace’s soft, painful whimpers pressed through the chamber walls, a relentless reminder of her condition. My chest tightened, guilt warring with rage
as I grappled with yet another of Scarlett’s blows.
Inside the chamber, Grace was slumped against her bedding, her movements slow and faltering. The burns streaking across her arms and chest
were raw and angry, the silver refusing to fade no matter how many salves the healers applied. Each breath she took seemed labored, as if it burned her
lungs.
I leaned closer, touching a hand gently to her shoulder, and she flinched slightly, her lips trembling. Her voice came out rasping and cracked. “She hates me.” she whispered, her lashes fluttering shut as tears pooled in her eyes. “She’s letting this happen.”
“Grace.“My voice softened, guilt flooding me. Her words pierced my heart, feeding Mason’s unrelenting protectiveness.
“Alpha,” one of the healers murmured behind me. His voice was low and uncertain. “We’re doing everything we can, but… her wolf is. He faltered, as If speaking the words aloud would condemn her faster.
“Her wolf is declining,” a second healer admitted cautiously. “Corruption from the silver. The poison is spreading.. faster than expected.”
My phone buzzed again. Another notification from Jason. Another dagger stabbing clean into my boiling restraint.
“Scarlett secured Shadow Clan exclusive rights,” Jason reported hurriedly. “The deals she’s made… Alpha.. they’re untouchable. She’s purchased the
moonstone tincture.”
Those words brought my fury to a breaking point. The moonstone tincture. The rarest, most legendary healing elixir known to exist–capable of cleansing silver poison at its deadliest. And Scarlett had it. The one thing that could save Gmce was now under Scarlett’s control, placed so far beyond. our reach that it might as well have never existed in the first place.
“DAMN ITI” I roared, my fist slamming into the nearest wall. The harsh c*** reverberated off howled furious protest within me, his frustration matched only by my own helplessness.
I the ster
sterile glass and floors of the healing den.
- n. My w
wolf
Sarah gasped sharply, her face paling further as all the anger and humiliation in me boiled over. She clasped her hands to her mouth, visibly trembling as Grace whimpered behind us again.
Jason’s hesitant voice came again, weaker this time, “Alpha.. no one can challenge her hold. The merchants. The Shadow Market leadership. No one wants to cross Scarlett. They’re terrified of her retaliation.”
My laugh came, harsh and dark. “Of course, they are,” I growled under my breath, Mason’s snarling energy scratching through my veins. “The Infamous Scarlett. She’s burned every bridge. Now she’s burning us too”
I turned back toward Grace, her frailty squeezing the air from my lungs. The poison raced through her faster than even the healers could account for Her breath hitched again, a weak gasp escaping her lips. The agony in her eyes was unbearable, her wolf’s light growing dimmer in every moment I failed to for this.
And yet. Scarlett wasn’t the only one in my mind. She wasn’t just sabotaging–a word too light, too tame for what she was doing. She was wielding her skills like a blade, slashing at us, one connection at a time. Each calculated strike was meant to cripple us because she knew how much it would sting. And this time, she struck when we were most fragile.
“Scarlett continues her spree, Jason added one final time. His voice was quiet,
H, but the weight of it was deafening. “The whole Shadow Clan? Her allies now. Our hands are tied.”
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