Free Web NovelChapter 24: Chapter 24 The Real Designer
Christina’s POV
The woman stared at me, her wolf submitting instantly under my unwavering gaze. She snatched the juice with a nervous twitch of her hand. "Thanks, Miss Vance."
"No worries," I replied with a smirk, grabbing Ysolde’s arm and pulling her away. Akira hummed with satisfaction at the small victory. freewebnøvel.coɱ
Behind us, the chatter faded like prey scurrying for cover.
Ysolde hissed, "Your stare just turned her skin fifty shades darker."
I chuckled, feeling my wolf’s amusement mirror my own. "I know their type. Quick to talk behind your back, but frozen when you look them in the eye—especially in public. "
We drifted towards the dessert tables,two twenty-meter feasts of cakes and champagne. With no threat of juice sabotage, I snagged a mini éclair and shoved it in my mouth, my enhanced senses savoring every sweet note.
The gossiping ladies lingered nearby, their eyes darting between us and their empty glasses. Wisely, they shifted focus and moved on to the Sabreridge pack’s Alpha.
"A few years ago, the Laurents didn’t even acknowledge that grandson of theirs. The old former Alpha wouldn’t give him a single share of the pack’s holdings. Nothing."
"And yet he went overseas and built his own company. Bigger than Laurent Global Holdings, from what I’ve heard. A true Alpha, making his own way."
"Yeah, and I heard Edouard Laurent got seriously ill some years back, and LGH started to struggle. No one in the family had the skills to save it, so suddenly the prodigal grandson wasn’t so useless anymore."
"They dragged him back thinking he’d work for free. Do them a favor. What they didn’t expect was for young Alpha to quietly take control of the whole territory—both business and pack."
"My mate says he’s now the actual Alpha of the Sabreridge pack, not just a puppet controlled by the pack elders."
"Not that he needs it. His own company makes LGH look like a roadside lemonade stand run by pups."
"Maybe that’s what the family’s worried about, that he doesn’t need their pack’s businesses and companies. That’s why the party."
"What do you mean?"
"Haven’t you heard? This party is the Sabreridge pack’s way of making it clear that he’s the pack’s Alpha. Making it official, you know. So people will stop calling him powerless. I heard he never even had his Alpha succession ceremony back then—just got shipped off to Europe."
I gave Ysolde a questioning look, suddenly interested in this mysterious Alpha.
As expected, Ysolde knew more than the Gossip Ladies and spilled the tea.
"Hudson Laurent wasn’t always a Laurent. Rumor has it he was sort of pushed aside as a pup. His mother died when he was a teenager—she was his only true pack. His father remarried. The rest of the family treated him like an Omega, sent him off with a suitcase and a pat on the back. But now they need him to bail out the company and strengthen the pack. That’s why all the ceremony."
I picked up a lemon tart, his story resonating with me."He must’ve been ruthless to claw his way to the top of the pack hierarchy."
Ysolde nodded. "He must be. Though I haven’t met him yet. That’s what everyone’s here for. They say his wolf is one of the strongest in generations."
We made our way to the corner sofa.
Laughter stopped me in my tracks.
A ring of young women surrounded a familiar face—Violet Lin from a minor pack that served as allies to The Frostpelt Pack.
She hadn’t noticed me yet.
"I swear," Violet was boasting, "that necklace sold out weeks ago. You’d need an advance on your inheritance to get one now."
"Is it really the same necklace Eliza Black wore on the red carpet?" one girl murmured.
"It’s so nice! And only thirty grand," another cooed. "I’d kill for one."
Violet lifted her chin, basking in their admiration.
I stared at the necklace she was wearing.
Just yesterday, she’d dismissed this piece. Now she was wearing it like it was a Luna’s ceremonial pendant.
"I’ve been buried at Nyx Collective," Violet pretended to complain. "Thank the Moon Goddess my boss gave me leave for this party."
Someone perked up. "You work there? Then you know who designed this?"
Violet’s grin faltered, then turned smug again. "Yes, I’m a designer at Nyx."
"So you made this?" the girl pressed, eyes bright with the gleam of acquisition.
Violet hesitated, then nodded with the confidence.
They crowded in, eager for a better look at the "must-have" accessory.
"That’s nonsense! That’s Chrissy’s design," Ysolde snapped,"You had nothing to do with it. "
Silence swept over the marble hall. Everyone stared.
When she saw me, Violet paled so much her mascara looked ready to run. Her proud smile faded, and her wolf cowered. She jabbed a polished finger at me. "ChristabelleVance, this isn’t your crowd. How did you get in?Did you sneak in like a stray cat or fake an invite?"
Before I could respond, Ysolde whipped two crisp envelopes from her clutch and slapped them onto Violet’s palm.
"Official Laurent invite," she said. "Addressed to Chrissy and me. Where’s yours?"
"My what?" Violet kept staring at me.
"Your invite."
"It’s... in my purse."
"Care to show it?"
"Why?"
"Just humor me." Ysolde shrugged. "Unless you don’t have one."
"I..." Violet reached into her purse but left her hand there.
Ysolde crossed her arms. "I’m waiting."
"I must have... misplaced it."
"Or you don’t have one. You came as someone’s plus one, didn’t you?Or did you sneak in through the back door like a stray cat trying to steal scraps?"
The whole hall fell silent. Violet’s cheeks burned.
I winced a little, feeling a flicker of sympathy.As much as I wasn’t a Violet fan, even I had to admit, watching her get roasted by Ysolde in front of so many people was... brutal. The pack humiliation would follow her for weeks.
Still, I wasn’t about to help her.I had endured too many similar humiliations from my own family.
I said to Violet, "I know exactly why you tried to accuse us of crashing. You thought if you got us thrown out, no one could prove you didn’t design that necklace."
The crowd pressed in, wolves sensing conflict and instinctively gathering to witness.
Violet bristled, attempting to regain ground."I did design it." She clutched her phone. "I’ve got the original drafts to prove it. You’re not stealing my work!"
My eyes narrowed.
She could be bluffing, or she really might have the drafts. freewёbnoνel.com
As another Nyx Collective designer, Violet had access to other people’s drafts. And Savannah had said she wanted to use my necklace sketch as an example for a studio class.
Maybe I’d underestimated Violet. I hadn’t thought she’d save a copy on her phone. Had she planned something like this all along?
She held up her phone with all the pride of someone who’d just figured out how to use the camera flash."Look! I’ve got the drafts right here!"
A cluster of guests leaned in. One look at her screen and their suspicion shifted. Suddenly, I was the villain of the party, an outcast wolf being circled by the pack.
Violet’s smugness filled the air like cheap perfume.
I didn’t react. I just waited, calm and calculating.
Waited until she’d shoved her screen under every nose within ten feet.
Then I said, "Good thing you showed everyone. Saved me the trouble."
Her hand wavered. "What do you mean?"
I said to one of the girls inspecting the drafts,"Why don’t you zoom in? Check the engraving on those tiny diamonds."
