Chapter 1

On my third night in Crimson Springs, Lisa, the Pack's Beta, cornered me at the local werewolf bar.

She had seven or eight werewolves with her, blocking me against the counter.

"Hey, newbie. You’ve been in Crimson Springs for three days and haven't bought us a round yet? Don't you know how things work around here?"

One of her lackeys chimed in, "Exactly! What’s so hard about buying us some drinks? If you don't like it, get the hell out."

I looked at them, said nothing, and set my glass down to leave.

Lisa slammed her hand onto my shoulder, locking me in place.

"What? You think you can just walk away? You’re buying those drinks tonight, whether you like it or not."

She turned to the bartender and yelled, "Give everyone a round of whiskey! Put it on her tab!"

The bar erupted into cheers.

I shook her hand off my shoulder and walked out without looking back.

They had no idea that their Alpha had personally hired me as their elite combat trainer.

The next morning, I headed to the Pack's assembly hall.

Before he left, Alpha Brown had told me to check out the daily affairs of the Pack whenever I had time.

Just as I reached the entrance, Lisa Johnson blocked my path.

"Stop right there. You’re an outsider. What are you doing here?"

"Today is an internal Pack meeting. Outsiders aren't allowed."

I stopped and looked at her.

"Alpha Brown asked me to come."

Lisa let out a sarcastic laugh.

"Alpha Brown? Did he tell you exactly what time to come? Did he say you could join today’s meeting?"

"You just got here. Who knows what you’re really up to."

She eyed me up and down, then suddenly lunged to grab my canvas bag.

"What’s in the bag? Let me see."

Before I could react, she snatched the bag, ripped it open, and pulled out a folder.

"What is this?"

She flipped it open, and her face went pale for a second.

Inside were the financial records I had accidentally discovered—records proving she was embezzling the Pack’s public funds.

But she recovered quickly, sneering at me.

"Well, well. An outsider carrying our Pack’s financial records. Which Pack sent you here as a spy?"

"No wonder you’ve been sneaking around. You’re here to steal our secrets."

She tucked the folder under her arm, looking down her nose at me.

"Want it back? Sure. Pay the three-thousand-dollar bar tab from last night first."

"Otherwise, I’ll lock you up as a spy and kick you out of Crimson Springs."

I looked at her, completely calm.

"Give me back the folder. You still have a chance to make this right."

Lisa burst out laughing.

"Are you threatening me?"

"I’ll give you three days. Pay the money, and then pack your trash and leave. Otherwise, I’ll take this straight to the Alpha, and you won’t be able to leave even if you want to."

With that, she threw the folder on the ground right in front of me and stepped on it.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. I had someone shut down your computer earlier. Whatever files you had on it are probably gone by now."

Anger flared in my chest.

I crouched down, picked up the dirty folder, and patted off the dust.

"First, I have no obligation to pay you anything. Second, you broke my things, and you will be the one paying for them."

Lisa looked like she was about to explode. She immediately called the Alpha to complain.

"Alpha! This new girl is completely out of control! Not only is she refusing to pay her bar tab, but she’s also sneaking around. I think she’s working for another Pack."

"Alpha, you need to kick this outsider out right now!"

The phone went silent for a moment before Alpha Brown’s confused voice came through.

"A newcomer? Has Jessica arrived already? She came early, and I haven't received any notification."

The call was on speakerphone, and everyone in the hall froze.

Someone next to Lisa panicked and grabbed her arm.

"Wait... could she be the elite warrior the Alpha invited...?"

Lisa’s face turned white, and her lips began to tremble.

But Alpha Brown continued:

"Probably not. If it were her, I would have already arranged a private house for her."

Hearing this, the crowd slowly relaxed.

"Oh, so she's just some random nobody. Let's just delete this Jessica Smith from the Pack registry. I'll take the blame if anything goes wrong."

"In all my years as Beta, I’ve always hated people with mysterious backgrounds."

What they didn't know was that Alpha Brown had entered my information into the Pack registry weeks ago just to secure my contract.

That was why the local registry showed my name, even though Alpha Brown didn't know I had arrived early.

Lisa glared at me, her expression twisted.

"This is what happens when you cross me. I’m giving you two choices now. Either give me the three thousand dollars, and I can act like none of this happened, or I will make sure you can't even step foot in Crimson Springs tomorrow."

Seeing that it was getting late, I grabbed my bag and stood up.

"I’m not paying a single cent."

"But let me warn you, don't lose the files in that folder. Otherwise, you’ll regret it."

Ignoring her curses, I walked out.