"Instead of repeatedly going to the Yue family's territory to demand tribute, even making the Yue family pay for his brother's marriage ceremony! Have they no shame?"

My words were harsh, and Garrick Hayes glared at me fiercely.

Layla also kept criticizing me for going too far.

"This is too harsh? I have even harsher things I haven't dared to say!"

Garrick stormed out of the council chamber, Layla following closely behind.

After a while, the two returned.

"Mom, we've thought it over, Erbao still wants to change back to Hayes's clan mark!"

"What!" My wife and I were instantly stunned.

"Garrick said it all stems from Erbao being branded with the Asheville family seal."

"So the Hayes family will never be able to hold their heads high in front of you!"

"It's just those tributes, isn't it? We'll sell our assets to return them to you!"

"But Erbao must have his Hayes family seal changed back!"

This time, it was my wife and I who felt the pain.

The elders in the tribe all knew that Erbao was registered in the Asheville family genealogy. If it were changed back now,

who knows how many other tribes would be eyeing our territory and resources!

"Mom and Dad, I know you look down on me and my family."

"So from today onwards, we will no longer demand any tributes from you."

"You can pass your territory to whomever you want; I just want my rightful dignity back!"

Garrick spoke with righteous indignation, as if he had truly suffered a great injustice.

What a clever tactic of feigning retreat to advance! He knew perfectly well that once my wife and I returned to the Moon Goddess, the family fortune would still fall into Lyra's hands.

With her indecisive Omega personality, wouldn't Garrick be able to manipulate her however he pleased?

My wife and I remained silent for a long time.

After a moment, my wife slowly spoke: "How much do you need?"

Lyra immediately smiled, looking triumphantly at Garrick: "Eight hundred thousand gold coins!"

"Alright, I'll give it to you!"

My wife's voice had become old and weak, and her eyes were no longer clear.

I knew he had finally given in.

After taking the money, Lyra and Garrick left the territory to travel.

They said Garrick had been wronged and they wanted to take him away to cheer him up.

My wife and I sometimes lamented that if we were younger, perhaps we could have another child.

But we're both in our fifties now; having children is probably impossible now.

My daughter and son-in-law had figured this out.

Late at night, I noticed something was wrong with Erbao.

He was having difficulty breathing and coughing, like a wolf cub whimpering.

I was terrified. The cub had an acute attack of laryngitis.

My husband and I rushed the child to the Moon Clinic.

On the way, I texted my daughter, asking where she kept the child's clan registration certificate.

Hearing that the child was sick, my daughter panicked too.

"Mom, don't take him to the clinic yet, wait until I get back."

I was furious: "What nonsense are you talking about? With the child in such an emergency, do you expect me to wait for you to come back from the Outer Realms?"

But she refused to tell me where the certificate was, so I simply hung up.

I remembered Erbao's bloodline registration number.

But right after I gave my number, the doctor at the registration desk checked my information and said, "Rowan Hayes, right? Registering for cub emergency."

My wife and I were stunned. Rowan Hayes?

"Doctor, are you sure you're not mistaken? My child's insignia has been changed; his name is Rowan Asheville!"

The doctor checked the number again: "No, it's correct, his name is Rowan Hayes!"

My heart sank to the bottom.

I remembered that my daughter and son-in-law always took our second child to get his vaccinations.

They never let my wife and me come, saying the clinic was full of sick people, and that we were old and had weak immune systems.

Combined with my daughter's stubborn refusal to hand over the pup's pack registry token tonight, everything suddenly became clear.

The pup had never been re-marked with our clan name at all.

My mate and I swallowed our rage and focused on getting the little one to the healer first.

Lyra kept sending me messages through the pack link, urging me not to go to the Moon-Clinic yet, to wait until she returned home so we could talk.

In that moment, my disappointment in my daughter reached its peak. She had been helping Garrick deceive us all along!

Just then, my mate showed me a message on his communication crystal.

It was from the fertility healer at the conception clinic: "Alpha Fenris, the vitality assessments for you and Matriarch Selene show that you both meet the requirements for clinic-assisted conception!"

Staring at the message glowing on my mate's device, I covered my mouth in shock.

He let out a heavy sigh. "Selene, let's have a pup of our own."