Alpha Hayley's Destined Mate by Andrea Townsend

Chapter 763 Clueless Fool

Hayley's POV:

Time flew by, and soon the long-anticipated Rock Betting Auction arrived.

+8 Pearls

Though this event was held annually, last year's incident had reignited a frenzy of hope. Countless people, all dreaming of overnight riches, swarmed in-cach one secretly praying they'd be next to strike it big.

Among them, low-ranking werewolves in particular hoped that winning a lucky bet on gemstones could help them rise above their station.

At exactly 10 a.m., Humbert and I stepped into the venue.

Right at the entrance, we were greeted by long rows of raw stones, displayed like trophies—each one different in size and shape, their rugged surfaces catching the light.

Humbert's eyes lit up with obsession as he stared, wide-eyed, at those raw stones.

"I've never seen anything like this," he said, breathless with excitement. "These stones, they all look pretty high-quality to me!"

I smiled faintly, just about to tease him, when a man's mocking voice rang out behind us.

anything. Those are nothing. The real treasures haven't even been brought

some poor fool, but when his gaze slid over to me, it turned arrogant and

couldn't be bothered to respond. Instead,

something caught

chin toward the far corner. "Take a closer look over

toward it in confusion. "You mean that pile over there? It's just a messy stack of random

was Preston's cue to swoop in with his usual smug tone. "Don't tell me no one's ever explained this to you?" he laughed. "Premium stones are/never placed out here in the outer hall. Even the ones chosen by last year's 'Chosen One' were all selected from the

still want to go head-to-head with me? Looks like

and tugged Humbert toward that pile of stones that

told him.

deep down-but I was still the boss, and he followed my lead, obediently picking through

Chapter 763 Clueless Fool

48 Pearls

all the tricks I'd learned from Benjamin, along with everything I'd picked up from the books I'd read since. Occasionally, I'd lift a stone, weighing it in my palm,

had their eyes locked on the inner hall-where, legend had it, fortunes could

lingering out here in the outer gallery was just a way to kill time, chat, and mingle. Almost no one paid

and 1-seriously inspecting every rock-looked like a pair of fools to the rest of the crowd. We became their subject of

from ones you'd find on the side of the road,"