"Considering the fact that I once protected you, I'll give you one more chance."

With that, she placed her high heels on the stone bench and gestured with her chin towards the ten glasses of strong liquor.

"You have two choices."

"One, kneel down and lick my feet, admitting in front of everyone that you're nothing but a pretentious good-for-nothing."

"Two, down these ten glasses in one gulp, then slap yourself ten times."

"If you do either one, I'll settle the 40,000 yuan debt for you. Fair enough, right?"

Whistles and applause erupted simultaneously in the private room.

Everyone present wanted to see me humiliated, to see me, like a stray dog, groveling before Selene Frostveil, just as I had four years ago.

I had wanted to leave some dignity for each other, but Selene and her former classmates pressed on relentlessly.

A fake socialite who lived by clinging to the powerful dared to be so arrogant. Since reasoning with him won't work, I'll just have to flip the table!

I scanned the room and coldly uttered a single sentence:

"Ten minutes."

"What ten minutes?"

I ignored Selene and turned to Garrick Pineward.

Garrick glanced at his communicator and bowed to me.

"Young Master Kael, I've informed our lord. He says he'll come to apologize to you personally in ten minutes, accompanied by Darius Ashford."

"By the way, he also said he's willing to exchange a hundred acres of woodland on the border for Selene Frostveil's life."

The room fell into a deathly silence, then erupted in laughter:

"Is this penniless wretch gone mad? He actually said Selene's spouse is coming to apologize to him and even cede a piece of land to him! Do you believe that, hahaha!"

"Yes, of course we believe it! Kael!" "Nightcrest's practically dead, we have to give him some face."

"I heard that last time a scion of a noble family offended Selene, Lord Darius broke his arms and legs and threw him out of the harbor territory. I wonder how many bones Kael will have left after tonight!"

Hearing the crowd's flattery, Selene's arrogance reached its peak:

"Kael, I advise you to do as I say quickly, otherwise, if my spouse finds out, you're in big trouble."

I pulled out a chair, crossed my legs, and looked at Selene with a smirk.

"So what if your spouse finds out?"

"He's someone who always sits at the bottom of the table at the harbor's various werewolf alliance gatherings, does he dare to mess with me?"

My words clearly caused quite a stir, and the people in the room immediately began whispering among themselves.

Seeing that I had exposed Darius Ashford's true status, Selene roared at me in exasperation:

"What do you, a mere errand boy, know! My spouse recently recognized the heir of the Stormvein werewolf clan as his sworn brother; he's a completely different person now!"

"Do you know the heir of the Stormvein werewolf clan? He's incredibly powerful, above all wolves! With such a strong backer, it's easy for our family to mess with a lowly errand boy like you!"

I rested my chin on my hand, looking at her with amusement.

"Then how do you know I'm not the one with unparalleled power, above all wolves?"

"Selene, after all these years, do you really understand me? Do you know who I really am?"

Selene gave a disdainful chuckle, as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world.

"You? Above all wolves?"

"Have you forgotten that I chose Darius because you were a poor, down-on-your-luck Omega? Looking back, I was absolutely right. You're not only poor, but you're also incredibly arrogant."

"Oh, I get it. You're here to cause trouble today because you were beneath me, aren't you?"

Holding a grudge?

She really thinks too highly of herself.

I frowned, looking at Selene like she was an idiot:

"Your arrogance truly knows no bounds, yet you're not even worthy of—"

"Enough!"

Selene Frostveil's snarl cut through my words, her eyes dripping with contempt.

"Kael Nightcrest, I never imagined you'd still run your mouth when you're standing at death's door."

"I'm done wasting breath on you. Get on your knees, bow your head to the floor three times, and then crawl out of here! Let's pretend we never crossed paths!"

I paused for a moment, then shook my head with a slight smile.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm still waiting for your mate's formal apology and that hundred acres of borderland territory."

At those words, the wolves gathered around the feast table could no longer hold their tongues.

"Sister Selene, since this bottom-feeding runt refuses to accept your mercy, why bother showing him any kindness at all!"

"Besides, he insulted Alpha Darius in front of everyone here. How can we let him walk away without teaching him a lesson!"

"That's right, Sister Selene! Just give the command! The few of us will pin him down and make him press his forehead to the ground for you!"

These opportunistic wolves weren't about to miss their chance to prove their loyalty. One after another, they urged Selene to use force against me.

Selene pressed her lips together, then slowly nodded her head.

"Anyone who puts their hands on him tonight gets rewarded with a hundred thousand in pack credits!"

Several broad-shouldered males immediately rose from their seats, moving to force me to my knees.

Garrick Pineward saw the danger closing in and instantly positioned himself as a shield in front of me.

I glanced at my phone and raised a single finger.

"Fine. I'll remember each of you. But let me give you a warning—you have exactly one minute left."

Selene froze for a heartbeat, then threw her head back in a wild, vicious laugh.

"What, are you trying to say that in one minute, my mate will show up and instead of backing me, he'll stand behind a worthless stray like you?"

"You really won't shed tears until you see your own grave. What are you all standing around for? Take him down!"

Selene waved her hand dismissively, and the male wolves charged forward.

At that critical moment, the chamber doors were kicked open from outside with tremendous force.

"Everyone stand down!"

The newcomer was none other than Ronan Pineward, the Denmaster of Pinecrest Lodge.