Alexander took a long, deep breath, his patience wearing thin.
A moment later, a thought struck him—maybe what he'd said wasn't enough?
Yes, she now knew that humans had won. But not what happened to the supernatural races who lost.
He acted on the thought immediately, continuing his narration.
"While humans became the new rulers of the land, the fate of the supernatural races could be summed up in three words—slaughtered, captured, and displaced."
As he spoke, he kept his gaze locked on her.
There was no way she'd stay unmoved after hearing this, right?
Even if she had no love for the other races, she couldn't ignore that her kind also shared this unfortunate fate.
But once again, she proved him wrong.
"Good for them," she remarked calmly.
Alexander's face darkened, then doubt crept in.
Was the woman in front of him truly the person his ancestors had waited more than a millennia for?
Could they have made a mistake and found the wrong person?
Because from what he'd seen so far, nothing about her suggested she was going to be remotely helpful to their cause. In fact, she seemed more like a cold observer— on no one's side.
Not the humans'.
Not theirs.
He wasn't one to keep his doubts to himself, especially not when the answer stood right in front of him.
So, he looked at her, and asked, his voice sharp as ice.
"What do you think of the humans' atrocious and ungrateful actions—betraying and destroying those who once protected and ruled them?"
Alexander didn't know what he was expecting when he asked this question, but it definitely wasn't a chuckle.
"Atrocious? Ungrateful?" she echoed, a faint smirk tugging at her lips. "That's certainly one way to describe it."
It sounded like she was agreeing with what he said, but the irony in her voice told him otherwise.
He wanted to press, to ask what she meant and left unsaid—but her expression warned him not to bother. She wouldn't entertain his curiosity.
Still, Alexander managed to glean something from the way she spoke and the weight in her words. She knew things. Secrets no record had ever captured. Things even his ancestors never knew.
It was understandable though—she was a being who'd existed even before humans rebelled two millennia ago, after all.
Alexander's eyes narrowed as his resolve to make her stay deepened.
So he tried again.
"Would you like to take a look at what a world ruled by humans looks like?" he asked carefully, betting that something that would've been incomprehensible back in her era might arouse her interest.
She paused, silent for what felt like forever.
Just when he thought it was going to be another rejection, she nodded.
"It wouldn't hurt to take a look… before I go back to sleep."
He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
Fortunately, he won this gamble.
As for the second part of her sentence—he chose to ignore it entirely,
Have you ever seen a wolf let go of a prey already caught between his teeth?
"Please," he said, gesturing towards the entrance.
Alexander led the woman through the long corridor and met Jaxon and the others waiting at the bottom of the staircase.
As expected, the moment they laid eyes on her, they froze. Some of the younger ones even blushed
Alexander wasn't surprised—he'd experienced the same reaction after all.
But just because he understood didn't mean he liked it.
Somewhere deep in his mind, his wolf growled possessively, a single word surfacing in his thoughts.
Mine.
His expression darkened.
Getting used to this was just impossible. He had to get to the bottom of whatever the hell went wrong—and fast.
Because of this brief interlude, his voice was colder than usual when he spoke.
"Let's go."
That snapped the others back to their senses. Then, a wave of guilt flickered across their faces.
They had actually… became entranced by the appearance of a woman.
No wonder the Alpha sounded extra cold—he must be disappointed in them.
Unaware of their inner turmoil, Alexander walked forward.
Only Jaxon detected something unusual in his tone—but now wasn't the time to ask.
Later, maybe.
He made a mental note to himself.
As they ascended the staircase, Alexander kept a discreet watch on the woman beside. Although she said she wasn't interested in their blood, he wasn't foolish enough to take her word for it just like that.
* * *
Katharina sat in the manor's grand living room, one leg elegantly crossed over the other.
She could sense dozens of curious, hidden gazes watching her from different corners of the building, but remained utterly unbothered by them.
Upon walking out of the crypt, Alexander had asked her to wait here, then disappeared off to somewhere with a blond, blue-eyed man—the one who seemed to be the leader of the group they'd met at the bottom of the staircase earlier on.
It wasn't that she was curious about their whereabouts. She was simply growing impatient.
Truthfully, when Alexander offered to show her the human world, her curiosity had stirred. She felt intrigued. But for her, that level of interest was negligible.
Ultimately, the only thing she cared about was returning to her crypt and continuing her slumber.
A dark shadow flashed across her golden eyes.
That plan hadn't changed in the past. And it wouldn't change in the future.
Just then, familiar footsteps echoed overhead.
She looked up and saw Alexander appear alongside the blond on the second-floor.
She withdrew her gaze.
He was lucky.
If he'd taken a few more minutes, she would've returned to the crypt.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." Alexander said as he reached her.
Then, he gestured toward the man beside him.
"This is Jaxon, my Beta."
She acknowledged the introduction with a glance, but said nothing. Her eyes were on Alexander, watching as he sat on the sofa adjacent to her and placed two sleek metal objects (?) on the table between them.
She raised an eyebrow in question.
He went on to explain.
"This—" he tapped on the smaller one "is called a smartphone. It's one of humanity's most significant inventions. With it, you can communicate with people from any part of the world, regardless of the distance."
He paused, watching her expression.
Seeing that it remained unchanged, he continued.
"That's not all. You can use it to read, watch moving images called videos, access information, navigate unfamiliar places and much more."
Then he gestured to the larger device.
"This is a tablet. It has the same functions as the smartphone, just with a bigger screen. Some prefer it for watching content or reading."
Sitting beside him, Jaxon's head hung low as he fought to suppress the laugh rising up his throat.
He'd never dreamt that there would come a day where he'd hear Alexander readily praise the very humans he despised.
To be honest, if he wasn't witnessing it firsthand, he would have a hard time believing it.
For some reason…
Jaxon stole a glance at the ancient being seated on the armchair a few steps away from him.
…he had a feeling that things would get livelier from here on out.