Jayden dismissed the window, noting with a slight frown that he only had one single Pack Slot remaining. He made a mental note to consult Luna later on how to expand his available slots; he needed to add Harleen and Jacob to the protective network as well.

Just as the he closed the tabs, Penelope paused mid-sip. She blinked, her posture stiffening slightly as if a sudden, electric rush of warmth had just washed through her veins, settling deep into her marrow. She slowly lowered her cup onto the saucer and looked directly at Jayden. A teasing, wicked smirk pulled at the corner of her mouth.

"You know," Penelope purred, her voice dripping with amusement, "it’s rude to add someone to your pack without asking their permission first."

Jayden’s jaw dropped. His eyes widened in shock. She knew? How?

"You didn’t really think I wouldn’t notice, did you?" Penelope continued, leaning back comfortably against the leather upholstery.

Jayden recovered from his shock and decided to question her. "How did you know I added you to my pack? How were you so certain?"

Penelope revealed a smug smile. "Because it’s not my first time being added to a sub-pack."

Jayden was even more stunned. He leaned forward, completely engrossed.

"You see," Penelope explained casually, crossing one long leg over the other. "While I was living in Beta, I was actually a part of Castor’s pack. I fought alongside him in the trenches for years. It was an incredibly fun, thrilling experience, but I certainly didn’t think I would be joining another Alpha’s sub-pack quite this soon."

Jayden furrowed his brow, completely confused by the underlying mechanics of the System and Lycan lore. "Wait. If you were part of Castor’s pack... how was I able to add you to mine? Aren’t you still bonded to him?"

"Oh, no," Penelope scoffed, shaking her head as if the very idea was absurd. "I left his pack a long time ago."

"Huh?" Jayden blinked, stunned. "You just... left?" He asked, astounded by the simplicity of it. "Just like that?"

Penelope nodded, taking on the tone of a patient professor. "Unlike full-blooded Lycans—who have to either be kicked out or officially granted freedom by the Regent Alpha—humans operating within a sub-pack possess total autonomy. We have no authoritative tether to the Lycan Queen. Therefore, we can decide to sever the Alpha’s tether and leave whenever we please."

Jayden was awestruck. He hadn’t known any of this, but it made perfect sense. Humans weren’t Lycans; their inclusion in a pack was essentially a mutually beneficial partial membership rather than a biological blood-oath.

"What was it like?" Jayden asked, his curiosity burning. "Being in Castor’s pack?"

"It was significantly less weird than I expected it to be," Penelope shrugged with elegant indifference. "Frankly, I only ever joined for the extra power boost, and a few of the other perks that came with the gig."

Jayden nodded, understanding her pragmatic approach completely. "Well, I added Cassandra and the girls to the pack recently, too. I did it primarily so I could protect them better."

Penelope rested her chin on the palm of her hand. Then she smiled slyly. "That is very noble of you, darling. But what about me? Are you going to ’protect’ me, too?"

Jayden instantly caught the irony in her question. Penelope was a walking natural disaster; she was an SSS-Rank who was a million times more powerful than he was and absolutely did not need physical protection from anyone on the face of the planet.

Jayden chuckled, leaning forward and looking deeply into her eyes, refusing to back down from the challenge. "Maybe. But honestly? I mostly did it to make our bond stronger."

Penelope’s smile turned positively radiant, a dangerous spark igniting between them. She leaned in closer over the table, her voice dropping to a husky, intimate whisper that sent a shiver down his spine. "Well... I know other ways to make that bond even stronger."

Jayden froze. The sheer weight of the implication hit him like a train. He felt the heat rush instantly to his cheeks, burning brightly against his skin. Entirely unable to hold her intense, smoldering gaze, he quickly looked down at the table, clearing his throat with excruciating awkwardness.

"I’m... uh, I’m not entirely sure if I’m in the mood tonight," Jayden managed to stammer out, tracing a scratch on the wood.

Penelope let out a bright giggle, thoroughly delighted by his reddened face and sudden loss of composure. "I cannot believe you are still so shy about this." She sighed softly, her amusement fading into a satisfied contentment as she sat back and gracefully adjusted the lapels of her black trench coat. "But you are right. After the exertion of that battle, I am not really in the mood tonight either. Besides, I have some business with the de Brees to attend to."

Jayden nodded, perfectly content to let the subject change before he embarrassed himself further. "Try not to do too much damage." He said.

Penelope stood up from the booth. She looked down at him, her eyes flashing with a sharp, terrifyingly cold smirk that promised absolute devastation.

"No promises," she whispered. Then,she leaned in and pressed her lips softly against his.

Jayden froze for a microsecond, his heart hammering against his ribs, before the sheer warmth of the moment overtook him. He closed his eyes and kissed her back, the lingering adrenaline of the night bleeding away into the quiet intimacy of the empty cafe.

When they finally parted, Penelope offered a brilliant, satisfied smile. She adjusted the collar of her black trench coat with effortless grace. "Goodnight, Jayden," she murmured softly. "Do try to get some sleep."

"Goodnight," Jayden replied, his voice slightly breathless.

He watched her walk out of the cafe, her silhouette disappearing into the damp, neon-lit streets of Carmine City. Jayden sat in the booth for a few minutes longer, letting the silence of the room ground him, before he finally slid out and made his exit.

He slipped into a shadowed alley, engaged to maximum speed, and bolted.

The world around him stretched into a tunnel of blinding lights and rushing wind. At Mach speed, the distance between Carmine and Emerald City was nothing but a brisk evening jog. Minutes later, he was scaling the side of his house, leaping silently onto his balcony and sliding through the unlocked window.

His bedroom was perfectly quiet. He immediately stripped off his clothes, and pulled on a simple, comfortable pair of pajamas. He collapsed onto his mattress, staring up at the dark ceiling.

His body was exhausted, but his mind was racing, replaying the events of the night. But out of everything, his thoughts kept drifting back to a single, pivotal moment.

Frost.

He kept thinking about the moment he was supposed to kill her.

...

An hour earlier...

Jayden stood still over Frost’s battered body. The only sound in the ruined street was the crackle of dying flames and the distant wail of sirens.

Snikt.

The brutal, metallic ring of his Knuckle Claws extending shattered the silence. The razor-sharp blades glinted under the flickering streetlamp.

"Very well," Jayden said, his voice entirely devoid of emotion. "Any last words?"

Frost closed her eyes, letting her head rest against the brick wall. "Just get it over with."

Jayden inhaled softly, the cool night air filling his lungs. He raised his claws high above his head, and with a blinding, brutal arc, he brought them down.

The wind screamed as the blades descended.

But there was no sickening sound of tearing flesh. There was no impact. No pain.

A long, heavy moment passed. Frost’s brow furrowed. Slowly, in absolute confusion, she opened her eyes, wondering why her heart was still beating.

Jayden’s razor-sharp claws were suspended exactly one inch from the bridge of her nose. The sheer kinetic force of his halted strike had blown her black braids back against the brick, but he hadn’t touched her.

He was staring down into her eyes, his breathing steady, his golden gaze swirling with a deep, profound confliction.

Frost tilted her head, genuinely baffled. "What’s wrong?" she rasped. "You didn’t hesitate to kill Duke. You slaughtered Tazer when you had the chance. So why are you stopping now? With me?"

She let out a dry, bloody chuckle. "Don’t tell me you’re one of those idiots who has a ’soft spot’ for women."

Jayden slowly shook his head.

"Good," Frost scoffed, her tough persona slipping right back into place despite the lethal blades hovering over her face. "Because that would be incredibly sexist. Like, what do you mean you can hurt men but not women? That’s just ridiculous and completely partial, if you ask me." She stated her personal opinion as casually as if they were discussing politics.

She looked down at her own ruined chest, then back up at the him. "So, why don’t you wanna do it, then? I assure you, I am very killable. Just sink it in... not in my face, though. That would be crossing a line, kid. You can do it right here." She tapped a bruised spot over her heart. "Should be quick and simple."

Jayden stared at her for a few seconds longer. Slowly, he lowered his arm. The metallic blades retracted into his knuckles with a soft click. Then he whispered.

"I’m not going to kill you."