Thea suddenly unclasped "The City of Cycles" from her neck. The artifact caught the light, gleaming with an eerie, rhythmic pulse. "Give me five hundred million, and it’s yours. Hold onto it, and you’ll know the answer soon."
Nathan looked troubled. His territory was shrinking, his coffers running dry. Spending five hundred million on an impractical trinket felt like a bite to his own throat. "How could it be worth that much?"
Thea sneered, her voice dripping with a predatory mockery. "I never thought the once-mighty Alpha of the Hill Pack would grow so stingy. Are you reduced to counting pennies like a scavenger?"
The provocation hit his pride, but Thea kept the lure dangling. "Nathan, do you want to know why you fell from the peak overnight? Why a 'beggar' like me can now hunt you at
