Vanya's POV
Aldrich gave Elmer a hard glare, and there was an unconscious hint of a wolf-like dominance in his eyes.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Elmer's face going stiff for a second, and the wolfish vibe he had just faded right away.
Sure enough, he immediately shut up like someone had grabbed his throat and didn't dare make a sound.
I shook my head to myself, thinking Elmer would've mellowed out a bit after all that time in prison, maybe toned down some of that wild side.
Didn't expect it, still that same scaredy-cat look, really hasn't changed at all from before.
Just as I was thinking, Aldrich's voice suddenly turned to me, with an unquestionable authority: "Vanya, I've decided to put the other Dalton family companies in your hands too. You can use them for practice."
As soon as the words were out, Mirabel came out of the kitchen with the dishes and ran right into this sentence.
Her face suddenly changed, a flash of wolfish fierceness in her eyes, and she almost blurted out, "Honey, what are you saying?! How could the family company be handed over to an out..."
The words "outsider" got stuck in her throat. She suddenly paused, her eyes flickering a few times.
I could see clearly, she obviously realized she said something wrong, and forced down the growl in her throat.
Yeah, compared to me, they were the real outsiders.
Back then, which one of those Dalton family businesses wasn't built up by my dad with his power and business smarts?
I raised my eyebrows a bit, my eyes a little scrutinizing, looking at her slightly embarrassed face, and said calmly, "Mirabel, it's been so long, but I didn't expect you to still be the same."
"I..." She opened her mouth, but in the end, she knew she was in the wrong, so she didn't say anything else.
She just quietly put the dishes on the table, her fingertips turning a little white from gripping too hard, which gave away her suppressed feelings.
I was a bit surprised. I thought with her temper, she would totally freak out like an angry mother wolf, but she actually held it in.
Soon she put on a smile: "It was all my fault before, I apologize to you, today is a family dinner, let's just be happy."
I couldn't help but frown.
Mirabel was different today, quieter than usual, like the calm before a storm.
My wolf-like instinct told me there must have been something wrong behind this.
In the evening, the Dalton family members showed up one after another, and the air was filled with the unique scents of different wolf clan members.
It's just that this time, besides the people from the Dalton family, I also smelled that familiar, slightly sly scent from the Field family.
"Dominic, come here." Mirabel called out to a man, her voice deliberately cheerful.
The guy looked about forty, and at first glance he seemed kind of sleazy. The wolf vibe on him was messy and weak, so he clearly wasn't some powerful werewolf.
I remembered him, he was Mirabel's younger brother, about three or four years younger than her. Now he had the title of chairman of Mirabel's company, but honestly, he was just a figurehead.
Who didn't know Mirabel had a terrible reputation in business, and almost no powerful wolves wanted to work with her.
These years, if it hadn't been for the Dalton family's help, her company would've gone bankrupt and been liquidated a long time ago.
"Come say hi to the Dalton family's young lady." Mirabel enthusiastically pulled Dominic over to me.
The moment Dominick saw me, his eyes went wide, like something had hooked his soul, and they lit up right away.
The greed in his eyes was almost obvious. He quickly reached out his hand and said in a fawning tone, "I'm Dominic, chairman of Mirabel Company."
I just gave a quick glance at his outstretched hand and didn't even move my fingertips.
My wolf growled low inside me, turning coldly to Mirabel: "Mirabel, what do you mean? Today was the Dalton family dinner, but you brought people from your Field family."
I didn't save her any face at all, and Mirabel's face immediately turned really ugly.
The corner of her mouth twitched, like she was trying hard to hold back the urge to bare her teeth.
Dominic tried to smooth things over on the side, but his tone sounded a bit mischievous: "My sister made a pact with someone from the Dalton family, so I'm kind of related to the Daltons too. Don't treat me like an outsider. Sooner or later, we're all..."
"Enough." I cut him off before he could finish. My voice wasn't loud, but it had a kind of authority that made him swallow his words.
Mirabel saw what was happening and quickly interrupted, "Oh, it's all my fault. Dominic said he wanted to come take a look today, and I thought we're all family, so I brought him in. Let's just go eat first."
She said that and tried to grab my arm.
My wolf instinctively got alert, shifted a bit, and avoided her touch.
My gut told me there was definitely something wrong here.
Today's family dinner probably wasn't that simple. The faint smell of scheming in the air made all my senses tense up.
At that moment, a maid came over with some red wine and bumped right into me.
I wanted to dodge, but Mirabel grabbed my arm, and the red wine ended up spilling right on me.