Wolf Princess Sold to the Dragon King novel Chapter 294

Chapter 294: Checkmate, You Stone-Faced Son Of A Bitch

Nicholas had restarted Guinevere’s heart in the jungle with a mark. Guinevere had just put her mark on Nicholas on a corridor floor. Damon wasn’t claiming to be a genius, but he could do that math with his damn eyes closed.

Renwick saw Nicholas’s corpse cooling on the floor. The clock was ticking and damage-control mode was fully engaged. His daughter had just set the goddamn map on fire and turned the whole operation into a circus, so this widow’s bullshit contract was at the bottom of his current shit list.

But he still had one eyebrow raised. There was an issue.

"That doesn’t solve the contract I have with Drakencrest."

"No," Damon agreed. "But it puts you in the best position to. You and I both know it, Alpha. If Drakencrest does consider it a breach, Shadowfell will pay the seven hundred and fifty million gold as a contingency. I’m not going to insult you and pretend that the dragon fleet Drakencrest offered is nothing, because it’s not. But I can offer that."

A man who admits his offer is imperfect is harder to distrust than a man who claims it’s flawless. Damon sacrificed a pawn right there.

Renwick tilted his head. "You are offering that for a woman fated to your late king who brings no value to your kingdom outside of that. Make this math make sense to me."

"Nicholas had already liquidated an estate and was going to approach you. You gain a strong alliance and a contingency to absorb the financial impact. It’s a backup plan offered to you in good faith because that is exactly what Nicholas would have wanted." Damon paused. "That man loved her, Renwick. He would want his pack to take care of her people. So that’s what I’m doing."

Sentiment was the Trojan horse there. The kill shot. Every concession needs a story, and "a dead man loved your daughter" was a story Renwick couldn’t refuse without becoming the villain of it.

Renwick was quiet for a long time.

"I’ll give it to you straight," he said after a moment. "If Drakencrest backs out, there is another buyer I am obligated to oblige whether I want to or not. But if that person does not want her, then Shadowfell can be the contingency."

Damon had a hunch of who that buyer was because that King swam in a frozen river next to Nicholas.

"Done," Damon said with zero hesitation. "Lex Relictae stays in effect permanently, regardless of which kingdom puts gold in your vault."

Renwick’s fingers drummed the table once. Twice. The rhythm of a man running calculations that had too many variables and not enough constants.

"And if Drakencrest objects to Shadowfell’s claim?"

"Shadowfell’s claim is a legal shield, not a leash. She goes where she goes. Drakencrest keeps his wife. You keep your gold. I keep my Alpha’s promise. Nobody loses."

"Everybody loses something, Damon. That’s how deals work."

"Then what are you losing?"

Renwick looked at him for a long moment.

"I am inheriting the risk of Drakencrest viewing Lex Relictae as Shadowfell claiming his wife."

MOVE 7: CHECKMATE

"You are inheriting a clean alibi and protection to your daughter," Damon corrected. "She goes to Velkaris and you don’t deal with it. If she comes to Nyros, she has protection. Another king’s claim does nothing if the king is dead. She retains her honor within Lunaris. We all walk away from this benefiting. And you have two contingencies if Drakencrest finds breach, which I doubt he will. But if he does, you have it."

Renwick looked like an Alpha who had just been outmaneuvered by a Beta and was deciding whether to be impressed or furious about it.

He stood. The chair scraped against the stone.

"Draft it. Get it to me within the hour."

GOAT BETA STATUS: Unlocked

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