---- 7 When I woke again, I found myself lying in the villa's bed. Agonized howls came from the living room. I struggled out of bed and cracked the door open to see Damon standing in the center of the living room, with those rogue wolves bound by silver chains at his feet. Damon held a silver knife in his hand, his voice cold as ice. "Which hand did you use to touch her?" The rogue wolf trembled all over, too terrified to speak. Damon sneered coldly. ''Then it must have been both hands." Without hesitation, he brought the knife down, the blade viciously piercing through the rogue wolf's palm. In werewolf tradition, severing wolf claws was a punishment second only to death, meaning permanent loss of hunting ability. The werewolf let out a scream, blood instantly ---- staining the floor red. The remaining wolves were scared out of their wits, frantically shouting, "It was the left hand! It was the right hand!" But Damon showed no mercy. One knife stroke per wolf, he disabled their hands, then threw them into the fire for punishment. The guard team members stood to the side, watching him with complex expressions. "Alpha, is this really necessary? Wasn't this originally Lydia's plan that you agreed to?" "Yeah, Lydia deliberately used Ashen Peaks Pack's distress signal to lure you away, giving you a reasonable excuse to leave. Then we found excuses to leave too, followed by sending a group of low-ranking wolves to assault Sage Rivers while she was alone in the herb area. There was no one in the hunting grounds then-she could cry to heaven and earth and no one would answer. If Garrett Rivers' most beloved sister was violated by a group of low-ranking wolves, he'd be devastated when he found out. Using this as ---- leverage, he'd definitely never compete with you for Alpha King again, and it would severely punish Sage Rivers too. Why did you suddenly change your mind and rush back desperately, nearly beating these wolves to death? You haven't been this bloodthirsty in years. It's insane." Hearing this, I felt like my whole body couldn't support itself, nearly collapsing. I never imagined that even those low-ranking wolves were part of their plan. No wonder Lydia had whispered with the guard team members, and then the members whispered with Damon... Damon said nothing, just watched coldly as those wolves were dragged away. The group of men looked at each other, their faces becoming even uglier. Finally, someone couldn't help asking, "Alpha, you didn't actually fall for Sage Rivers, did you? If you forgot, let me remind you-she's your mortal