章 6: Gamble To Live

"I know I asked you to be brave and to explore your comfort zone, but this—this is too much!" Beta Mason, who looked younger than his age, wiped his face from exploding right in front of his daughter. He paced in the living room while Diana and his mate, Lorraine, remained seated on the sofa.

Beta Mason and his wife, Lorraine, let an entire night pass before interrogating their daughter. The sudden change of disposition of Diana, their usually timid child, was so abrupt that it sent the old couple into a loop.

"Your father is right, darling. The Tribute Ceremony is only for those who have lost their mates."

'If you only know what my supposed mate will bring in this family along with that woman, Mother, Father,' Diana thought beneath her collected façade. She stood and faced her father—something the previous Diana would never dare to do. She spoke in a resolute tone. "Dad, Mum, do you trust me?"

"Of course! What kind of question is that?" answered Beta Mason.

"Of course, we do, darling." Lorraine stood as well.

Diana met her parents' gazes. "Then trust me when I say this. I am done hiding behind you and I will not regret this even if my mate arrives."

She watched as her parents looked at each other before they shifted their look toward her.

Beta Mason finally sighed in defeat before engulfing her and her mother in a tight, warm hug. He caressed Diana's hair as he sighed once more. "Ayah… My daughter is now a grown-up, huh? She decides on her own already, leaving this poor old man already."

Lorraine patted Beta Mason's arm. "Darling, there is an old saying that daughters are meant to leave the nest once they find their mates. For our daughter, she wants to explore the world and decide for herself rather than let fate take its own course."

Beta Mason let go upon hearing his mate's words. He guided his girls to the sofa and pinned his attention on Diana. "You understand how the Tribute Ceremony works, right?"

Diana nodded. She knew it all like the back of her palms. After all, she once organized a Tribute Ceremony when she was still the Luna of the Crescent Pack.

With a faint smile, she held her father's cold hands. "Don't worry, Dad, Mum. I know it more than you think." Diana looked at the wall clock. "Oh! Look at the time. I still need to do what's on the Luna's to-do list. Don't wait for me tonight, okay?"

"What? So suddenly?"

"But I cooked your favorite pie…"

Diana merely waved her hand at her parents before she fled from their house as if her ass was on fire. She did not waste a single second and jogged to where the scene of the Luna came from. With the to-do list in her hand, she did her best to straighten the crumpled parts before appearing beside the cooking Luna.

"Luna, I have readied the wines to be used for this night's banquet."

Luna Riza, who was clad in her apricot-colored apron, set aside the baking utensils and crossed the distance between her and Diana. "I heard about the small incident from my husband. I thought you will not be back. Are you alright? You are not pushing yourself too hard, right?"

Diana bit back the smile that was threatening to erupt upon the genuine concern of the mother of the man who was responsible for her demise. Despite the past that she had endured, she never forgot the kindness of the woman before her upon the news of her pregnancy.

She stepped backward, steeling herself as she shook her head. "I'm fine, really. Uhm, Luna… Where is the delegation of the Blood Claws Pack?" Diana whispered her question.

Completely taking it the wrong way, Luna Riza immediately held Diana's hands. "Go and take the supplies I ordered from the town. It should be in the fourth bullet in the list I gave you. Don't lurk around the pack house, especially this afternoon, hmmm?"

For a second, Luna Riza went pale after seeing a malicious glint beneath the doe-like eyes of the girl she treated as a daughter. In a blink, the vile intent emitting from Diana vanished—as if it was never there in the first place. Shaking her head inwardly, Luna Riza ruled what she saw as a figment of imagination. After all, Diana was the sweetest girl in the pack she knew.

Seeing the ashen Luna before her, Diana realized how she let her emotion slip. Smiling widely, she linked her arms around the Luna. Adjusting her voice to the sweet tone she used to have way back in her teen years, Diana spoke. "Thank you, Luna Riza. I will surely stay in the town until…."

"Until I called you."

"Yes. Until I receive a call from you."

Diana left the kitchen of the pack house like an obedient puppy.

But the moment she was in a safe distance to be smelled by the Luna, Diana took a detour to the only place on the to-do list where it gravitated solely in the pack house—the warehouse. Diana did not forget to take a small empty box of a crate as she strode to the warehouse with her vigilance raised to its peak.

With every step she took, she had to calm her pounding heart. And with a pair of clammy hands, she drew a deep breath before sniffing around.

Her wolf whimpered softly. For a wolf counterpart who barely gave responses to Diana, this reaction was a telltale sign that there was danger nearby.

On cue, the moment she took a step inside the dimly lit warehouse, she immediately heard a low growl that shook the stale air around her.

"Leave."

A sexy baritone voice resonated from Diana's right side.

"If I don't want to, will you pin me on the ground again?" Diana looked in his direction and was met by his silhouette cloaked with darkness.

Alpha Dylan Cain released a warning growl again—this time, it was much closer to Diana.

"No. This time, I will snap your pretty little neck before I feed your corpse to my wolves." In a blink of an eye, the Blood Alpha was now standing a foot behind her. As he spoke, his hot breath fanned over her nape, eliciting a sharp gasp from her lips.

Diana was about to turn around and face the renowned ruthless alpha when a pair of calloused hands held her arms firmly, stopping her from moving an inch from her spot.

"Get out and never look back."

Diana's jaws clenched. Had it not been for the strong grip on her arms, she would have turned around and given him a sharp glare. "Listen, Alpha Dylan Cain, and listen well. I know you are looking for a Luna for the Blood Claws Pack to stabilize your pack's image in front of the Werewolf Committee. I, Diana Ritchell, can be that Luna for you." She patted her chest. "If you pick me, you will reap the benefits that will make your pack stronger…. Stronger than the Werewolf Committee, that is your goal, right? You hate being pressured, right? You want the Werewolf Committee off your mind, right?"

Diana remembered the incident of the Tribute Ceremony which she failed to attend because she was so scared of the Blood Alpha. Fueled by Anastasia's manipulation, Diana stayed inside her room the whole day, only to hear the news about how the winner of the Tribute Ceremony used her special privilege to pick a potential—the winner pointed at the Blood Alpha.

'That woman won more than the empty title of a Luna and a meaningless mate bond. She earned power through the union and that is something greater than titles and bonds—sheer power to change the flow of fate,' Diana thought with clenched fists. 'I will make that power mine. I will change my fate and my parents even if it means selling myself to the devil himself.'

He let go of her arms. But as soon as she sighed, pain erupted around her neck.

With his long and strong fingers, he was able to strangle Diana from behind. Inch by painful inch, Diana's feet dangled away from the dusty floor.

"You know what I way, you say." A low and cold burst of laughter emitted from the Blood Alpha before he continued. His sinister voice held the promise of pain and sorrow for Diana. "Funny how I only want to snap your pretty little neck right now. Right now, it is not the committee that I want. It is your neck."

Diana flailed from his grip yet not a single shed of tear escaped from her enraged pair of eyes. She slapped, scratched, and kicked—all of it was proven useless in the face of the stoic Blood Alpha.

In a squeaky voice, she screamed the words that would either kill her or save her.

"G-Go ahead—" Cough. "—a-and kill me—" Cough. "—or y-you will ne-never know how your mate died!"

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