"Get your ass back here Saturday if you still want your grandmother's heirlooms."

Ella closed her eyes briefly and deleted the message.


She knew her stepmother must have taken money to force her into blind dates with men.

As the matter settled, the High Priest approached Ella and Finn, her face full of remorse. "I'm sorry, Ella. I wrongly accused you. I was truly foolish."

"It was all a misunderstanding, now cleared up." Ella was understanding—after all, they had misconceptions about humans.


Speaking of misunderstandings, she had one to clear up herself. She looked at Caden. "Alpha, are you free to go out with me this Saturday?"

Caden raised an eyebrow, surprised. "Go out?"


Marcus whispered loudly: "She's asking you on a date!"

Caden turned away, hiding his rapidly beating heart, and cleared his throat twice. "Sure."

When Saturday arrived, Caden stepped out of the car and realized Ella had brought him to her home.

On the way, Ella had ignored several calls from her stepmother. Standing at the front door, she finally answered. "Stop rushing me. Open up—I'm right outside."

When the door opened, it wasn't her stepmother but a short, heavyset middle-aged man whose face lit up at the sight of Ella.

"You must be Ella. You look even better than your photo. Come in." He reached for her arm, but Caden grabbed his wrist from behind and twisted, dislocating it with a crack.

"Who gave you permission to touch her?" Caden stepped in front of Ella protectively. The man's screams brought Ella's foster parents rushing out.

"What the fuck? Who is this guy? I paid you a thousand dollars!" The man's face trembled with pain as he shouted.

Ella's stepmother was startled when she saw Caden—the man from before! She quickly recovered, placing her hands on her hips. "Ella, you slut! Where did you find this man?"

Ella stepped forward beside Caden. "Let me introduce you. This is my child's father."

The heavyset man pointed angrily at the foster parents. "You tried to set me up with a married woman? Give me my money back—the deal's off!"

The door slammed shut. Her foster father cursed loudly: "You ungrateful bitch! After raising you all these years, this is how you repay us?"

Ella hadn't wanted things to escalate this far, but thinking of Finn and her grandmother, she couldn't endure it anymore.

She shook her head. "No, you only adopted me for the government checks. In this house, only Grandmother was kind to me." Her face fell at the mention of her grandmother.

"All these years I've tolerated your abuse, but you shouldn't have touched Finn. Now I'm cutting all ties with you."

"Cutting ties? Don't forget, that old woman's belongings are still in our possession." Her foster parents sneered.

Caden, standing nearby, understood the situation. He never imagined Ella had endured such hardship all these years.

And he had been prejudiced against her all this time.

"Where exactly are my grandmother's things?" Ella demanded.

The stepmother turned to Caden, sizing him up. "You like Ella? We raised her for years. Five hundred thousand dollars, and we'll sell her to you."

"Are you insane?" Ella asked in disbelief.

Caden laughed and gestured to Marcus. "Bring it over."

Marcus handed him a briefcase. "Alpha, here's ten million dollars."

Caden opened the case, spilling cash onto the floor. The foster parents stared greedily at the money, then lunged forward like animals, frantically grabbing at the bills.

Ella grew anxious, but Caden reassured her. "Where are the heirlooms?" he asked in his deep voice.

At this point, her foster parents couldn't care less about such things. "Under the first floorboard by the door," she replied.

Suddenly, Caden snapped his fingers. After a flash of golden light, the foster parents froze, then knelt on the ground with vacant expressions.

"Marcus, collect all the money." Then Caden's mouth curved into a slight smirk as he hypnotized the couple. "Now, you both believe the other has stolen all the money for themselves."

Ella covered her mouth in surprise as Caden snapped his fingers again. The couple regained their senses to find no trace of money on the ground.

"Where the fuck did you hide the money?" The foster father grabbed his wife's hair, his face contorted with rage.

The couple began fighting viciously.

In the chaos, Caden led Ella outside, pried open the floorboards, and retrieved the box.

"Now you have no connection to them anymore," Caden said, handing her the box. "I'm sorry for everything I did before. I misunderstood you."

"Thank you." Ella clutched the wooden box tightly, her eyes moist. "My stepmother arranged all those blind dates. From beginning to end, you've been the only man I've ever been with."

After saying these words, Ella paused. She bit her lip, wondering if she'd revealed too much.

She turned to leave, but an equally stunned Caden stopped her. "Wait..."

Caden's heart raced wildly. He was deeply moved, his entire being seemed to boil, and his dormant wolf stirred restlessly, as if wanting to break free.

The surging emotions threatened to overwhelm him.

A voice inside him whispered urgently: "I want her, kiss her, possess her..."

Ella felt the hand holding hers growing hotter. She sensed something was wrong. Marcus noticed it too.

He adjusted his glasses and exclaimed in horror: "This is bad! The Alpha is going feral!"