The Luna You Betrayed Is No Longer Yours

_Rowena’s POV_

I completely ignored the man’s loud, obnoxious laughing and raised the phone to my ear, listening to the long dial tones ring through the speaker. One, two, three, four rings passed, but nobody picked up on the other end. The call finally cut off, redirecting straight to Alaric’s standard voicemail message.

I glanced at the small clock display at the top of my phone screen. It was late afternoon, I sighed softly, suddenly remembering that Alaric had a major council meeting with the senior pack elders scheduled for this exact time. He always switched his personal phone to silent mode whenever he entered those high security boardrooms.

I lowered my phone, slipping it back into my jacket pocket.

The man who had been laughing at me grew even louder, slapping his knee in total amusement as the crowd whispered among themselves.

"Look at that!" he shouted, pointing a finger at my face again. "She’s just a big fat liar! She doesn’t know the Alpha King at all! She was just putting on a little show to try and scare us off!"

My jaw tightened, a surge of deep annoyance bubbling up inside me. I hated being mocked by cheap crooks, and I hated the fact that these thugs were still standing over the poor girl’s ruined vegetable stall like they owned the place.

I looked around the crowded street, searching for a quick solution to handle this mess without wasting any more of my precious time.

My eyes landed on the far end of the narrow market alley.

Sitting on two wooden crates near an old brick wall were two massive bulky men. They were huge, covered in so much tattoos, and looked like they had spent their entire lives lifting heavy iron weights.

They completely ignored the screaming crowd and the drama unfolding nearby, calmly playing a game of cards while smoking cigarettes. They didn’t seem to belong to the extortion gang, but they clearly possessed the muscle needed to flatten anyone in sight.

An idea struck my mind, a smile touched my lips as I turned away from the laughing thugs and began walking straight toward the two massive men.

Behind me, the extortionist cheered loudly, thinking he had won the confrontation.

"Hey, little girl!" the thug yelled after the crying young woman on the floor. "Look at your hero! She’s running away like a coward! She wasn’t even brave enough to face us! Too bad for you, because she knocked out our boss, and now we are going to make you pay double in front of the whole entire market!”

The poor girl let out a fresh wave of tears, covering her face with her hands as the remaining thugs stepped closer to her stall.

I completely ignored their taunts, keeping my steps steady as I stopped right in front of the two bulky men. They didn’t even bother to look up at me when my shadow fell over their card game. The guy on the left simply threw down a card, taking another long drag from his cigarette.

“Hello, Fellas.” I said first, but they ignored me completely.

I frowned, displeased by their total lack of manners.

"I am talking to you two," I said, dropping my voice lower and trying to intimidate them both. "Or have you suddenly gone deaf? No, perhaps you are simply terrified of those pathetic rats over there. How shameful for men of your size."

The giant man on the left froze, his hand stopping mid air over the deck of cards. He slowly raised his head, revealing a rough face covered in scars and a pair of dark angry eyes. He glared down at me, clearly unaccustomed to anyone speaking to him in such a disrespectful tone.

"Get lost, lady," the scar faced man growled, his voice deep and raspy. "Before I decide to throw you out of this market myself."

I let out a soft sigh again, crossing my arms over my chest. I’ve sighed more than necessary today. I’d have taken those guys myself if Kyra was still with me. Too bad.

"I can see the way you look at those extortionists. You hate those rats just as much as everyone else in this alley does, but you don’t fight them because it doesn’t line your pockets. So, let us make a quick deal."

The second bulky man stopped shuffling his cards, eyeing me with curiosity now. I was dight after all, they only listened when it involves money.

"What kind of deal?" He asked.

"If the two of you step over there right now and beat those guys to an absolute pulp," I said, keeping my voice completely calm, "I will pay each of you five thousand dollars in cash."

Both men froze dead in their tracks, their eyes widened in instant shock, the cards falling from the second man’s fingers and landing on the dusty ground. They stared at me for a long moment before the scar faced guy let out a sneer, sizing me up from my simple ponytail down to my plain, blood stained jacket.

"Five thousand dollars each?" he mocked, shaking his head side to side. "Look at you, lady. You’re wearing a plain jacket and riding public buses. Someone like you doesn’t have ten thousand dollars lying around to throw away on a market brawl. Stop wasting our time and leave us alone.”

I didn’t argue or waste my breath trying to convince them with words. Instead, I pulled my phone back out of my pocket, opened my bank transfer application, and held the screen out toward them.

"Give me your bank account details right now," I commanded. "Both of you."

The two men exchanged a quick doubtful look. The scar faced guy hesitated for a second before grunting out a routing number and an account code, clearly expecting my transfer to fail and prove him right.

I quickly typed the numbers into my phone, authorized a direct instant transfer of five thousand dollars to his account, and then repeated the exact same process for his friend sitting beside him.

A loud ding sound rang out simultaneously from both of their phones sitting on top of the crate.

The scar faced man hastily grabbed his phone, his fingers tapping the screen to open his notification tab.

His jaw dropped completely open as he stared at the bank balance notification displaying a fresh five-thousand-dollar credit.

His friend let out a loud gasp, jumping up from his seat so fast that he knocked his crate straight over.

They were in absolute complete shock.

The scar faced man instantly spat his cigarette onto the ground, stomping it out with his boot. He stood up to his full height, towering over me, but his entire aggressive posture vanished in a fraction of a second.

He threw his shoulders back, brought his right hand up to his forehead, and delivered a highly respectful military salute that made me chuckle.

"How can we be of service to you, Ma’am?" the scar faced guy asked loudly, his voice filled with newfound happiness.

"Yes, Ma’am!" his friend echoed too, cracking his knuckles with a series of loud satisfying pops. "Just point us at who needs to be pulverized!"

I offered them a bright satisfied smile, turning my head back toward the center of the market street.

The booming respectful voices of the two giant men had been loud across the entire alleyway, and it had drawn the attention of every single merchant, shopper, and thug in the area.

The entire market went silent as everyone watched the two bigger men step into line right behind me, waiting eagerly for my command.

The laughing extortionists froze, their faces draining of all color as they realized the massive storm heading straight their way.

I smiled, things would get interesting now.