Chapter 18: Why Is It That I Have No Memory of This?

Observed from a distance, Anna and Matriarch Evelyn appeared to be locked in a thoroughly pleasant, fluid dialogue.

Clara calculated that if her boots advanced toward the table at this exact hour, her presence would merely interrupt their ancestral harmony.

"Clara! Cease your hesitation and return to our perimeter."

Just as her mind wrestled with the complication, the Matriarch's sharp hawk-like vision caught her silhouette, her wrinkled hand executing an authoritative wave.

With no tactical exit left, Clara advanced to their coordinates. "Grandmother, allow me to exchange seating arrangements so as not to disrupt the table."

"Splendid. Dominic, move your massive frame inward and clear the outer cushion so Clara may settle down." Evelyn half-closed her ancient eyes, a deep, calculating spark dancing beneath her lashes.

The exact second Anna had aggressively breached their perimeter, the Matriarch unmasked her tactical intent—the young trainee designed to anchor her scent directly beside Dominic's powerful form.

Consequently, executing a lightning-fast maneuver, the old wolf had physically forced Dominic into the outer seating, while simultaneously capturing Anna’s wrist to anchor her firmly against her own side.

Her strategy did not stem from a desire to grant a low-ranking opportunist face, nor did she harbor a shred of maternal affinity toward her; quite the reverse, she deeply despised this insolent trainee who continuously breached professional boundaries to thrust her scent onto the bloodline.

However, she yearned to map Clara's authentic reactions toward Dominic's presence, calculating that Anna would serve as a flawless tool to test her defenses.

"Sister Clara, I never calculated that the ancient gods would cross our tracking lines again so swiftly. Our Pack table is deployed directly adjacent to your coordinates; if your system requires any elemental assistance, you need only command my presence."

Anna directed a beautifully polished stream of pleasantries toward Clara, forcing her chiseled features into a flawless, submissive smile.

Yet, the raw venom of suppressed jealousy flashing within her peripheral vision was impossible to fully mask.

By all laws of nature, the female nestled against Dominic's powerful shoulder should be her!

Had she not explicitly commanded Chloe to unleash a brutal warning inside the vanity chamber? How did this rogue female possess the nerve to return to his orbit after that?

Anna's fingernails dug violently into her palms, her mind decreeing that the exact hour the weekend cycles initiated, she would employ high-tier scouts to unearth Clara Thorne's authentic file.

From her infancy to her awakening, any prize her wolf desired had never eluded her grasp.

"Should my system require assistance, I shall command the lounge attendants, but I extend my gratitude to your courtesy regardless."

Clara mirrored her brilliant smile, yet her baritone carried a distinct, freezing undercurrent of absolute distance.

We are both ancient vixens who have survived a thousand winters; do not attempt to lecture me on deceptive illusions.

"Oh, Sister Clara, there is zero need to project such formal distance before my face. Alpha Dominic finalized the report only a moment ago—you granted his Matriarch a rare service within her solar yesterday, correct? That positions your status as a revered guest of our enterprise; I shall ensure you endure a magnificent reception on the Alpha King's behalf."

Reaching this point in her script, Anna deliberately paused to evaluate the subtle ripples within Dominic’s dominant aura. "During standard cycles within the corporate den, whenever high-ranking emissaries breach our border, I consistently manage the reception on Alpha Dominic's behalf. Cast your anxieties aside."

Dominic’s dark brows knitted together in an immediate flash of dangerous irritation. Anna was indeed stationed within the Pack Public Relations vanguard.

Yet, the hidden frequency woven into her articulation continuously broadcasted a false reality—suggesting her scent shared a deeply intimate intimacy with his person inside the company lines.

Beneath her calm exterior, Clara felt a sudden, distinct pang tighten her chest.

Anna was deploying every weaponized deception to aggressively declare her territorial sovereignty over the supreme male.

"Dominic, at what point across the seasons did your authority replace your executive assistant?"

Matriarch Evelyn suddenly directed a warm, smiling gaze toward Dominic, her voice carrying a sharp ancestral bite. "My memory records that your trusted assistant was a dominant male wolf. Your wolf fiercely despises subordinate tools who lack discretion and proper reverence; why would your vanguard escort a creature of her low tier to manage external emissaries?"

From the exact breath Anna initiated her speech, the Matriarch’s focus had been unyieldingly anchored onto Clara's pale features.

The subtle, microscopic twitch of Clara’s dark brows had been instantly captured by her hawk-like vision.

Evelyn’s inner calculations achieved absolute certainty; she no longer possessed any desire to mask her disdain for Anna's trap.

"My Matriarch, I..."

"Grandmother, she does not command the status of my executive assistant."

Dominic’s frigid, untouchable baritone completely severed Anna’s desperate, hushed defense. "Furthermore, why is it that my memory records zero cycles wherein my authority authorized your presence to receive corporate clients on my behalf?"

A layer of cold, terrified sweat instantly saturated Anna’s palms.

Throughout the past half-hour, she had calculated with absolute certainty that Dominic's silent posture signaled his dominant endorsement of her territorial challenge against Clara; after all, only a winter ago, the supreme Alpha King had explicitly accepted a private mating feast with her person for the following twilight.