Chapter 101: Incredible

"I returned earlier hoping to check on how everyone was settling in, but found the entire house empty," Edgar said smoothly, his deep voice carrying a polite warmth as he addressed my parents. "So, I decided to wait. I trust the estate manager provided everything you required?"

"O-Oh! Yes, Alpha Edgar, more than enough!" Valerie stammered quickly, bowing her head in gratitude while Bradford offered a respectful, deeply appreciative nod.

"We are deeply indebted to your hospitality, Alpha Edgar. Truly, we could never repay you." Bradford added, adjusting his grip on the gourmet food boxes in his arms.

"Think nothing of it," Edgar replied, his polished smile flawless.

Gosh, who knew he could be such a charitable hypocrite? Is this how he treats politics? Anyone would be fooled that he was an Alpha with a nice heart but it’s all in his calculations.

Alpha Edgar Morningstar doesn’t do anything without profit. He said so himself. And his bets must always yield something.

Then, slowly, deliberately, Edgar’s sharp, pitch-black eyes trailed away from my parents, until they locked onto Benjamin and me—and the unmistakable sight of our joined hands.

The polite warmth on Edgar’s face evaporated into an ice-cold, terrifying stillness.

My parents, completely oblivious to the sudden atmospheric shift, happily headed toward the kitchen quarters to set down the market haul.

Behind them, Jayden and Jordan lingered near the grand archway, clutching several garment bags like shields while frantically whispering to each other in hushed, terrified tones.

"Is... is Alpha Edgar mad?" Jayden hissed under his breath, his eyes wide with horror as he watched the temperature in the foyer plunge. "Look at his face! Is he going to throw us all out because Brianna is this close to his nephew?!"

"I told you juggling two Alphas under one roof was insane!" Jordan whispered back, sweating bullets. "If we get kicked out on day one, I’m blaming Brianna!"

"Shut up!" Jayden hissed at him. "Even if they’re Alphas, I’m taking Brianna’s side no matter what."

Edgar slowly descended the remaining marble steps, his polished boots striking smoothly against the stone. Each step he took seemed to compress the air in the foyer, making it heavy enough to crush a lesser wolf’s lungs.

Stopping just two paces in front of us, Edgar leaned in slightly toward me. His golden gaze flicked down to Benjamin’s fingers tightly locked around mine before rising back to my face, his voice dropping into a lethal, low whisper meant for my ears alone.

"Incredible," Edgar purred, a dark, dangerous ember flashing deep in his eyes. "You really did manage to tame my nephew, didn’t you, little cat?"

Benjamin didn’t flinch at the condescending label. Instead, he let out a lazy, amused huff, stepping half an inch closer to my side as he met his uncle’s suffocating glare head-on.

"She didn’t tame anyone, Uncle," Benjamin drawled smoothly, his purple eyes flashing with an unyielding, territorial spark. "She’s my companion, in case you never got the memo. She has a presence that’s quiet, disciplined, and helps my wolf relax so I can go around without always having to light that cigarette."

For a split second, Edgar’s terrifying mask cracked. Genuine shock flickered across his golden eyes as his gaze snapped back to me.

So, he didn’t figure it out after all.

He had probably assumed that I was simply tolerating the spoiled Almond heir’s relentless pestering—never in his wildest calculations had he expected a wolfless Omega to possess a literal neural key capable of stabilizing Benjamin’s volatile, hyper-sensitive wolf.

Well, I didn’t exactly possess any key whatsoever. It’s just that I’m wolfless and its wolves that cause his neural senses to spike. Don’t think I’m going to tell him that now though. He needs to suffer for this information. Nothing is free.

If they haven’t figured it out until now and it was through me that Benjamin found a somewhat simple solution, then this was very valuable and expensive information. I’m gonna have to make Benjamin keep his mouth shut about it though, since I already spelled it out to him before.

Still, I do wonder, can normal omegas handle his wolf pressure as well as I do? That’s another step for being around him and acting as a calming agent. A distraction, if I might say.

If they can’t handle it like I can, then this solution is practically useless.

Benjamin scoffed softly at the rare sight of his uncle being caught off-guard. Taking a slow, deliberate step forward, he smirked. "I believe you were the one who sent her down to the vault to manage my condition in the first place, weren’t you?"

Edgar recovered his composure instantly, his lips curving into a dark, razor-sharp smile. "That little arrangement was meant as a joke, Benjamin. Though, it was not a funny one and my little cat already repaid me for that joke tenfold."

He paused, his voice trailing off as his golden eyes darkened into something far more dangerous. To think she would actually have that kind of effect on him... Brianna, you’re far more extraordinary than I expected.

Benjamin’s smirk vanished the exact second those words left Edgar’s mouth.

And my little cat already repaid me for that joke tenfold.

The casual weight behind Edgar’s phrasing hit Benjamin like a physical strike. In an instant, his mind pieced together the trail of breadcrumbs.

Back then when I had confessed how I had handled the payback for my humiliation, I had admitted to suffocating him—the exact same way Benjamin had trapped my breath with his lips.

Though now, whether that was suffocation, I’m not quite sure. Maybe... I had kissed Edgar. And kissing was originally meant to be breathless and intense. Then, that wasn’t a punishment to him, was it? It was no wonder he asked me if I was having fun.

Ahem, where did my mind go? Right, Benjamin is in a thought state right now.

A dark shadow swept over Benjamin’s features, completely erasing his lazy arrogance. His jaw clenched tight, his purple eyes darkening into a pitch-black abyss as his chest rose and fell in heavy, restrained breaths.

He didn’t voice the burning realization clawing at his throat, but the sudden, terrifying shift in his aura spoke loud enough to shake the foundations of the foyer. His wolf reared up, snarling at the sheer threat of another Alpha having tasted what he considered his.

Wait, what? Who’s reading the lines again? I don’t think they got that last part right.

Edgar’s sharp smile deepened, his golden eyes gleefully drinking in his cousin’s silent, grim rage. He didn’t need to hear Benjamin speak to know the exact moment the realization hit him—and he relished every second of it.

The silence between them stretched, thick with lethal intent, as two Apex Alphas stood frozen in a silent, suffocating war of pure, unyielding territorial dominance.

My assassin instincts flared beneath my skin, every nerve screaming at the absurd, dangerous volatility in the air. These two arrogant bastards are really going to tear down this multi-million dollar villa over something so trivial.

I let out a slow, heavy breath and forcibly yanked my hand out of Benjamin’s grip.

"If you two are done measuring your territorial instincts," I announced, stepping right into the dead zone between them with my arms crossed over my chest, "then keep your wolves down. My family would like to unpack our food in peace."