The evening sky turned a bruised purple as Ren stood alone by the curb outside Wolven High.
It was 6:00 PM. The Family Gathering—a grand event hosted by the Lin Pack to welcome their relatives from the Capital—was starting soon.
Yesterday, **Vera** (Ren's mother) had called, her voice dripping with artificial sweetness, promising that **Jax** (Lin Jinxuan) would pick both sisters up.
Ren checked her phone. 6:15 PM. No car.
She scrolled through her messages. Nothing.
Meanwhile, miles away at the **Royal Obsidian Hotel**, Jax was stepping out of his car, opening the door for **Faye**. He looked distracted, his brow furrowed with the stress of Pack business.
"Jax," Vera walked up to him, smiling perfectly. She looked behind him, into the empty back seat. Her smile faltered. "Where is Ren?"
Jax froze. His hand paused on the car door. The realization hit him like a physical blow.
"I..." Jax rubbed his temples, looking genuinely remorseful. "I forgot. I was on a call with the Council... I completely forgot she was waiting."
"It's okay," Vera said quickly, waving her hand to dismiss his guilt. "She can take a taxi. Don't worry about it, Jax. You have important things to do."
She turned away, her face hardening. *Of course.* Ren was always the afterthought. The invisible shadow.
***
Back at the school gate, Ren didn't look surprised. She put her phone away, adjusted her backpack, and prepared to call a cab.
Just then, a sleek black SUV glided to a stop in front of her.
The window rolled down.
**Alpha Juan** sat in the back seat, leaning lazily against the leather headrest. His black shirt was unbuttoned at the top, revealing the sharp lines of his throat. He looked at her with half-lidded eyes, looking like a bored king surveying his domain.
"Going somewhere?" Juan asked. His voice was husky, vibrating with a low, magnetic power.
"The Royal Obsidian," Ren replied, her tone flat.
"Get in," Juan tilted his head. "It's on the way."
In the driver's seat, **Dr. Luke** almost choked. *On the way?* The Royal Obsidian was in the complete opposite direction of their destination. But he knew better than to question his master.
Ren didn't hesitate. She opened the back door and slid in. The car smelled of winter cedar and expensive leather—Juan's scent. It was overwhelming, but strangely not unpleasant.
As the car merged into traffic, Luke's phone rang. He passed it back to Juan.
"Master," Luke whispered. "It's the agent regarding the hacking job."
Juan took the phone. His demeanor didn't change, but the air in the car grew colder.
Ren, sitting next to him, pulled out her own phone to play a game. She wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but Juan's voice was deep and filled the silent cabin.
"She refused?" Juan said into the phone. He sounded amused. "Five times the price wasn't enough?"
Ren's thumb paused over her screen. *Five times...*
"Fine," Juan murmured, looking out the window, his eyes reflecting the passing city lights. "**Fifty times**. Tell **'The Ghost'** that if money isn't enough, I owe her a favor."
Ren's heart skipped a beat.
*Fifty times.*
She slowly turned her head to look at the man sitting next to her. The man who looked lazy and harmless, but threw around millions like they were confetti.
So... the "Unknown Idiot" who had been spamming her with job offers... was **Alpha Juan**?
Juan hung up the phone and tossed it back to Luke. He caught Ren staring at him.
"What?" Juan raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing on his lips. "Admiring me?"
Ren looked at him with a strange expression. It was a mix of pity and disbelief.
"No," she said slowly. "I just realized... the world is very small."
*And you have too much money for your own good,* she added silently.
***
The SUV pulled up to the Royal Obsidian Hotel.
"Thanks for the ride," Ren said. She opened the door.
"Wait," Juan said.
Ren turned back.
Juan leaned forward, his face inches from hers. He reached out... and plucked a stray leaf from her shoulder.
"Good luck in there," Juan murmured, his dark eyes gleaming. "Family gatherings are a battlefield."
Ren stepped out, her ear burning slightly where his breath had touched it. She watched the black SUV drive away, shook her head, and walked into the hotel.
***
The banquet hall was dripping with crystal chandeliers and gold leaf.
Vera was standing in the center of a circle of relatives, holding a glass of champagne. She looked elegant, but her eyes were darting around nervously.
When she saw Ren walk in—wearing her loose school uniform amidst a sea of evening gowns—Vera's face stiffened.
She rushed over, grabbing Ren's arm and pulling her into a shadowy corner.
"Why are you so late?" Vera hissed. "And look at you! Why didn't you change? Aunt Lin is here from the Capital. Do you want to embarrass me?"
"I came straight from school," Ren said, pulling her arm away. "Where is Grandma?"
"Over there. Stay with her," Vera ordered. "And please, Ren, try to be invisible. Don't speak unless spoken to."
Ren walked over to her grandmother, **Chen Shulan**, who was sitting quietly in a wheelchair. She was the only person in this room Ren cared about.
But the peace didn't last long.
"Oh! Is this the elder sister?"
A loud voice cut through the chatter. It was **Aunt Rita**, a distant relative with too much jewelry and a voice like a cheese grater.
Rita marched over, looking Ren up and down with undisguised disdain. "I heard you're repeating your senior year? Such a shame. Look at Faye—she's already being scouted by the Royal Academy for her Spirit Resonance."
Across the room, **Faye** was surrounded by admirers. She was holding a glass of juice, smiling modestly as people praised her talent. She was the shining star; Ren was the dark shadow.
Ren ignored Rita. Her eyes wandered to a table near the window.
There, resting on a velvet stand, was a violin.
It wasn't a modern instrument. The wood was dark, aged, and carried the scars of history. Ren felt a tug in her chest. Her fingers twitched. It had been so long since she touched a high-quality instrument.
Without thinking, she walked over.
She reached out, her slender fingers hovering over the neck of the violin. She just wanted to check the craftsmanship, to feel the soul of the wood.
"HEY!"
A shriek pierced the air.
Ren stopped.
Aunt Rita rushed over, slapping Ren's hand away as if she were swatting a fly.
"Don't touch that!" Rita screamed, drawing the attention of the entire room. Even the music stopped. Everyone looked at them.
"That is a **Cremona Masterpiece**!" Rita panted, standing protectively in front of the violin. "Do you know how much this costs? **580,000 Wolf Coins!**"
She looked at Ren with sneering contempt. "A clumsy dropout like you? If you scratch it, your mother couldn't afford to pay for it even if she sold her jewelry!"
Vera turned pale. She hurried over, her face flushing with humiliation. "Ren! What are you doing? I told you not to cause trouble!"
Ren stood there, rubbing her hand where Rita had slapped it. Her expression was unreadable.
580,000?
Ren looked at the violin again. It was a decent mid-tier instrument. But compared to the one sleeping in her backpack upstairs—the one gifted to her by the Grandmaster of the Association, worth over **50 million**—this thing was basically firewood.
"I wasn't going to break it," Ren said calmly. Her voice was low, but in the silence, everyone heard it.
"Just stay away from it," Rita huffed, dusting off the violin case as if Ren's gaze had dirtied it. "This is an instrument for artists, like Faye. Not for... rough hands like yours."
Ren lowered her eyes. A cold, dangerous smile touched her lips.
"Fine," she whispered. "Keep your firewood."
She turned and walked away, leaving a stunned silence in her wake.
Faye, watching from across the room, frowned. She saw Ren's hand—the hand that Rita called "rough."
Faye knew hands. And for a split second, she thought Ren's fingers looked... perfect. More perfect than her own.
*But that's impossible,* Faye thought, shaking her head. *Ren is a Dormant. She knows nothing about art.*
**[Chapter 9 End]**