Chapter 79

Chapter 79
I heard Diane and Paris’s whoops and the enemy shifters’ gasps.

“What the fuck?” I couldn’t help but cry out, my eyes widening. “Are you serious, Faerry? This isn’t a joking matter. Is it worth that much? If I ever sell it, I never need to work another day!”

“You won’t sell it, not even on the black market!” Jason growled. “This heirloom has been kept for you for an eon. Only my Bride has the right to wear it.”

“That’s so sweet, my king,” I said sheepishly, trying to play it off. “I don’t plan on selling it, though. I was just saying. Sometimes, when I get excited, I tend to exaggerate a little.”

Jason’s eyes flickered with a mixture of amusement and annoyance, but he didn’t let me off the hook so easily. “Say what you mean, Phia,” he scolded gently, though his voice softened slightly, clearly trying to temper his irritation with a little humor.

I let out a dramatic sigh and threw my hands up. “It’s all Faerry’s fault, okay? She should’ve whispered all this in private instead of broadcasting it to the whole damn room. Now look! My beautiful necklace has turned into a target for thieves, robbers, and gangs. Thank you so much, Faerry!”

Faerry had the nerve to shoot me a sidelong, exasperated look, her eyes narrowing in annoyance as if I had completely derailed her epic speech about my future and the royal relationship.

Unperturbed, Faerry straightened up, her chin lifting with pride as she addressed the room. “My king gave the Phoenix Tears to his Bride before she’s even fully committed to him,” she said proudly, as if she had been the one to bestow the priceless necklace upon me. “King Nollan crossed an entire continent to find her once he learned she was trapped in this barbarian land. He came all this way just to make sure she was safe and happy. And what have you done for her, huh? You treated her like dirt, Alpha King. You threw her in a cage, starved her, and made her suffer. Lady Phia Ollivara, our future queen, was never yours, and she never will be. She’s always been King Nollan’s Bride. The Fates just sent her to you temporarily, according to the oracle, to teach you a lesson. But thank the gods, her exile is over. My queen’s torment has ended, and she’s back where she belongs, with her true king.” She paused dramatically, her gaze shifting with finality to the Alpha King. “So you can go ahead and fuck off, Fake-New-Asshole-Alpha King.”

The surrounding fell into stunned silence. The vampires around us gasped, their eyes wide with surprise, while a few of them smirked in amusement. “Wow, did she really just call him that?” one of them whispered, looking over at the Alpha King as if waiting for the storm to break.

Unable to resist, I clapped my hands, grinning ear to ear. “Bravo, Faerry! Well said!” I turned to Diane and Paris, who were standing nearby, and gestured for them to join in. They gave a quick nod, their hands coming together in a subdued round of applause. But no one else followed suit. I let out a resigned sigh, shaking my head. Of course, none of the vampires bothered to clap. They weren’t exactly the cheerleading type. No, they were cold, calculating killers, their focus always on the task at hand, not on making a spectacle out of the moment.

“Henry!” I called out, my voice rising above the low murmurs of the crowd. “You might want to take the Phoenix Tears off me and keep it somewhere safe. I don’t want to damage it in a fight and lower its value. And for the love of all things shiny, I don’t want to lose a single diamond.”

The vampire butler, ever composed, nodded without a word. He knew better than anyone how important this necklace was to me, both as a symbol of my bond with Jason and as an incredibly valuable artifact. I trusted him to keep my treasure safe, far away from any potential danger.

The Alpha King’s lip curled into a sneer as he glared at the butler, then back at me. “I see,” he muttered, his voice thick with sarcasm. “So, his money bought your affection, then? A necklace is all it took to win you over?” He narrowed his eyes and snorted, clearly irritated. “If it’s wealth you’re after, then I’ll give it to you. The Shifter City is mine, and my territory is expanding every day. Come with me, and all the riches you could ever want will be yours.”

It was his usual arrogant tone, the same condescending speech he’d used before to try to lure me into his grasp. But this time, there was a bitter edge to his words, as if he was trying to show me how much power he had, how much he could offer.

I could almost feel the tension building. He was trying to compare his wealth, his territory, to what Jason had given me. And that, frankly, was a bad move on his part. The Alpha King might have had a big empire, but Jason’s world was so much more than money and land. Jason’s love for me, his commitment, his protection, all of it was worth infinitely more than any territory the Alpha King could offer.

I bit my lip, holding back the urge to tell him exactly how it was. But I didn’t want to escalate things further and cause a war—though honestly, the thought of putting him in his place was very tempting.

Instead, I turned my gaze toward him, keeping my tone measured but firm. “Nice try, Asshole,” I said, my voice sweet but sharp. “But I’m not interested in playing your game. Your power, your territory—none of it appeals to me. And no amount of jewelry or wealth will ever change my mind. Jason is everything you’re not, and I’ve already made my choice. So, take your offers and go home. Before I lose patience and tell you exactly what I think of your ‘generosity.’”

The Alpha King’s face twisted in fury, but I could see his frustration mounting. His words meant nothing to me. Not anymore.

Male egos were a terrible thing.

“I don’t want your money,” I said and jerked a thumb at Jason. “I want his because he’s the male whom I’ve always wanted. I dreamed about him before I even met you. I just didn’t know he existed back then. I was never meant to be yours, Asshole. The Fates fucked up. So, let’s stop right here and go our separate ways. No hard feelings.”

“You aren’t thinking straight, Phia,” the Alpha King reproached, his rage resurfacing and rearing its ugly head at me. “You can’t want a bloodsucker, the worst kind!”

“You’re a wolf, Phiagirl,” Oldy yelled beside him to back him up. “You don’t belong with their kind! Remember, you’re still the Alpha King’s subject. So, you can come with us the easy way or the hard way. You pick.”

“Does this look like a wolf to you, motherfuckers?” I asked.

My vampire fangs popped out of my mouth. Without looking, I knew my eyes now glowed crimson and veins appeared under my eyes. I hissed at the shifters, a very proper vampire hiss.

“HYBRID!” Oldy gasped.

They were shocked to silence for a second, then the Alpha King bellowed, “He turned her!”

“Nope, sucker,” I said. “I was never just a wolf. I’m so much more. I'm a hybrid, you dick!”

In a flash of light, I shifted to the pearl white wolf and howled to the moon. Diane and Paris howled with me, and a few shifters from the Alpha King’s ranks also howled but stopped abruptly at their alpha’s snarl.

I shifted back to myself.

“She’s a hybrid!” someone called out.

Wow!  Shockers?

“She’s Deathroh’s daughter! The dark hybrid the world is hunting,” a mage hissed. “She used the death touch to age our princess.”

Yet the Alpha King didn’t seem surprised, a mass of darkness swirling in his eyes.

“I’m neither a shifter nor a vampire,” I said. “You don’t own me. No one owns me. Since I’m not your kind, I’m not yours to command. So, please run back home. We’re done here.”

“Take her! Take my mate!” the Alpha King bellowed. “But don’t harm her, or you die! We’re leaving with Phia, and we’ll kill all the vampires!”

Somehow, I knew Asshole would never call me Ollivara, but I had no time to dwell on it as the battle broke out.