A Deal

Immediately the words left Sydney's mouth, as if compelled by the pain and anger she felt, Sydney slapped Chris again. Twice.

Mira winced in pain, shouting before she could stop herself, "Mom!!"

"What?" Her mother glared at her—daggers.

"The mess has already been created!! Beating him won't solve it, will it? And besides, if you're beating him, then what would you do to these stupid Godforsaken greedy wolves who gambled with a child, no less, using his weaknesses against him, huh?" Mira grumbled with a shout—but froze the moment the words left her mouth.

The fuck, Mira?! she screamed inwardly.

And even more so when she felt the temperature in the room drop by several degrees.

Her mum and her brother stared at her in shock, while—worst of all—those bastard wolves, the ones who hadn't even been looking her way before, were now glaring at her with raw, killing intent radiating from them.

"At this point, you're more stupid than your brother!!" her mother growled. "Hurry up and apologize to them."

Before Mira could act on her mother's words, she heard one of the men growl out a cold, deadly, "No need for that."

The intensity of his voice made her tremble.

She couldn't help but ask in fright—she could lower her fucking pride and apologize, she really could—but the fact that he opposed it made her skin crawl. She didn't feel good about this. Not at all.

"You don't want my apology?" she asked him.

The man only smiled darkly in return, his voice low and chilling as he answered, "Of course I don't. Where's the fun in that... when there's something else you can offer, huh?"

Offer something?

Mira froze instantly, a cold sweat breaking out across her spine. Much like her brother had trembled before those wolves, she felt the same dread now. Any deal with werewolves never turned out well. She'd seen it firsthand. She didn't want that for herself. Not again. Not ever.

So she hurriedly blurted, "Offer something? What could I possibly have to offer? I'm just a poor human teenager living a poverty-stricken life—I don't have anything to offer!"

The other three men, also stunned by what their—what seemed like their boss—had just said, chimed in with mocking amusement.

"Yes, boss, what could you possibly want from her?" one of them sneered.

But the man ignored them, his lips curling into a slight sneer before his attention turned back to her. The glint in his eyes—cold, interested, too calm—made Mira's stomach churn.

And then, with a look that made her want to vomit, he said:

"That's where you're mistaken."

His eyes trailed boldly over her body, and for the first time in years, Mira—ever so arrogant, ever so defiant—wanted to shrink back and hide.

"You pretty little thing…" he murmured, "…have much more use than you can think of."

The fright and confusion on Mira's face was outright clear.

And then he toppled it all with three words that made her heart drop—words that made her tremble from head to toe:

"Let's make a deal."