I turned to see Kathleen, the Elder's daughter. Her ample chest was practically spilling out of her low-cut top. She leaned against the bar, thrusting her chest forward and deliberately brushing against my arm. "What a coincidence. So am I."
I frowned in disgust. Her perfume was overpowering—sickeningly sweet and fake, like rotting fruit. It assaulted my sensitive nose.
Lately, word about me frequenting this bar must have gotten out. "Chance encounters" with women had become suspiciously common. For them, this was probably the easiest way to get close to me, compared to the heavily guarded mansion or the corporate headquarters. For me, it just meant I needed to find a new bar.
"Mind if I sit here?" Kathleen asked.
"Suit yourself." I didn't care what she did, as long as she sat down, stopped rubbing against me, and gave me some space.
I stayed at this bar for no particular reason. I just didn't want to go home yet. Didn't want to faceher.
Serenity.
My Luna. My fated mate. My... traitor?
When the last word surfaced, I couldn't help but smirk bitterly. I poured myself another drink.
Six months had passed since the battle with the hunters. Since Liv's death. Yet I still felt trapped in that moment, unable to break free.
Even now, I still couldn't figure out what had happened that night. The hunters had attacked like they had nothing to lose—strange, considering they usually avoided a powerhouse like the Vernal pack.
But even if they had attacked, it shouldn't have mattered. Our defense systems were state-of-the-art. We had the largest force of elite warriors. Patrols covered every inch of our borders. No matter where the hunters struck, they should have been detected immediately and surrounded.
But they didn't come through the borders. They appeared in the heart of our territory like ghosts, catching us completely off guard. They knew exactly where our defenses were weak. They knew the locations of our armory and supply depots—as if someone had drawn them a detailed map and personally guided them in.
Naturally, we suffered devastating losses. Setting aside the warriors who died, seven pups were killed when the huntersattacked the shelter. The grieving pack demanded blood. Everyone wanted the traitor found and executed.
Serenity—who had only married into the Vernal pack a year ago—became the first target of suspicion. And on the night of the attack, no one could account for her whereabouts. She should have been in the forest shelter with the other vulnerable pack members, but instead she showed up at the mansion—which had nearly become a battlefield—the only one to escape the assault.
"I was worried about you, so I came to find you..."
That was her explanation during the initial interrogation.
Around the time she left the shelter, I had indeed been wounded in battle. Given our mate bond, it wasn't strange that she'd sensed it. But such a flimsy excuse couldn't convince the pack. The intelligence the hunters possessed could only have been accessed by me, my father—or her, the Luna.
And then there was that video. The one recovered from a patrol warrior's body. It showed a hunter meeting a wolf in the forest. The wolf wore a hat and shapeless clothing that hid their figure. They handed something to the hunter. The video was too blurry, the camera shaking badly, but I had to admit—that silhouette looked like her.
No matter how much I didn't want to believe it, she was the prime suspect.
Not to mention she had killed Liv. The woman who meant everything to me.
Before Serenity appeared, I had planned to take Liv as my mate. It was what Liv wanted, and whatever she wanted, I was willing to give her. It was the least I could do to repay her.
But Alfred, who was still Alpha then, had forcibly separated us and ordered me to marry Serenity.
Liv was heartbroken. I was consumed with guilt, unable to make it up to her.
From that moment, I swore that having failed Liv once, I would never hurt her again. I couldn't give her a marriage anymore, but I could at least ensure she lived happily for the rest of her life. I owed her that much.
And I couldn't even do that simple thing.
The moment I saw Liv fall into the sea, my hatred for Serenity reached new heights. She had harmed pack members, and now more people believed she was the traitor. Death was the appropriate punishment—and I knew there were pack members already planning to take matters into their own hands. That was why I had confined her: to separate her from them while calming the pack's fury. But in the end, I still hadn't acted against her.
Was it logic? Or was it Fenrir, my wolf, mourning through our bond?
I didn't know. I told myself I hadn't avenged Liv because something still felt off, and I wouldn't act rashly. That wasn't entirely a lie. The sudden rumors within the pack, the blurry video, Serenity's repeated denials—my instincts told me things were too 'convenient.'
But the investigation had yielded nothing. Where had we gone wrong?
