She signaled the pack sentries to grab me again.
"This gold-digger is wasting our time. She has nothing to pay with."
I fixed the sentries with a furious stare that made them hesitate. "Who says I can't pay? The one who won't be able to afford the debt is you."
"Me? Unable to pay you?" Lily laughed as if I'd told a great joke.
"If you can prove your sigil is some priceless relic, I, Lily Hartwell, will drink my own piss in front of everyone. Satisfied?"
"But first, you pay what you owe us."
The sentries drew their blades.
I felt no fear at their threat.
But my sigil was destroyed. I couldn't send any messages through it.
I had to borrow someone else's comms-crystal to call for help.
But everywhere I turned, wolves backed away from me. "Filthy gold-digger, get away from me."
No one would lend me their crystal. But several older males kept eyeing my body with hungry looks.
"Heh, I could let you use mine." One of them leered. "But you'd have to let me put my hands on you first."
"I've got plenty of tribute to spare, and you look quite... full-figured. If you're willing to keep me entertained, maybe if you serve me well enough, you won't have to pay this debt at all."
Before I could respond, he reached out and squeezed my thigh without my consent.
The gathered wolves burst into howling laughter.
Rage at being humiliated flooded through me. I shoved the old wolf away with all my strength.
He stumbled and fell, his face twisting with fury. "Filthy gold-digger! I offer you a way out and you spit in my face? You have ten minutes to produce the tribute. If you can't pay, I'll have you stripped bare and thrown to the pack for their amusement."
"I said I can pay. But I need to send a howl-call to have my people bring the tribute here."
Lily Hartwell sneered. "Let her make her call. Who could she possibly know? She's nothing but a common thief."
"Get the submission chains ready," she called out to the others. "And those of you who want a turn with her, start forming a line. She's pretty enough, after all!"
I forced down my fury and made the howl-call. But the moment I finished, several wolves with twisted expressions in their eyes closed in around me, their faces split with predatory grins.
"Back off!"
They didn't retreat. Instead, they surrounded me completely, blocking any escape.
"Kael Hartwell, make them back off!"
"I'm the one who ordered them to do this."
What? I stared at Kael in disbelief. He didn't have to love me, but he couldn't treat me like this.
As the time ran out, they began counting down together.
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"
"Time's up! She doesn't have the tribute. Strip her bare—I want to see if she's worth the trouble! Ha Haha! "
Lily ordered the pack sentries to pin me down while another wolf reached for my dress.
But at that moment, the great doors of the den burst open. A squad of black-furred sentries stormed inside, moving with deadly precision.
At their head strode Raven Stormhowl—the shadow-network queen of Southport. Her face radiated killing intent as she charged forward and kicked away the wolves holding me down.
"You dare treat my pack's young lady this way? You have some nerve!"
