It was premeditated.
She had exploited the trust of our mate bond to betray me.
And that led to another terrifying thought: if she could deceive me about Liv, had she lied about being the traitor too?
My chest tightened. I started the car and headed for the hilltop cemetery. I could drive this route with my eyes closed. I came here every month.
Just then, my phone rang.
I glanced at the screen:Serenity Vernal.
I hesitated, then gripped the steering wheel and answered.
The moment the call connected, I heard her soft intake of breath. She seemed to steel herself before speaking, her voice trembling. "Where are you, Elias?"
Something about her careful tone made me uneasy. I remembered when we'd first met—she'd been like this all the time, nervous and wounded. The daughter of an Alpha, yet she'd nearly drowned in a fountain. But when I pulled her from the water, her pale face and wet golden hair caught the sunlight, and she looked as ethereal as an Undine.
No one else had ever seen her beauty the way I did. Werewolf society only cared about bloodline strength. Their treatment of Serenity was unjust.
That had always pained me.
That was why I could never let go of my worry for her, why I kept getting tangled up with her.
Now I wondered if she'd been playing me from the very beginning.
"Where I am is none of your business." I brushed her off curtly. "Did you need something? I'm busy today. Can't chat."
"There's something important I need to tell you. Can you come home tonight?" Serenity asked.
"I don't have time."
"Please." Her voice dropped even lower, almost pleading. "It's something major between us. I have to tell you in person. Even half an hour would be enough. I'll wait for you, okay?"
Why did her voice always make me go soft?
I clenched my jaw, ready to refuse. But Fenrir whimpered quietly inside me, urging me to say yes. What if she was telling the truth? What if she really did have something important to say?
"…Fine." I finally heard myself answer. "I'll head back now."
"Thank you." Relief flooded her voice, and I felt like I'd made the right call. "I'll wait for you. I'll always wait for you."
I hung up, hating myself even as I turned the car around. The scent of white roses filled the cabin like a silent reproach. I could only apologize to Liv in my heart.
Thirty minutes.That's all I'd give Serenity. Once I'd dealt with whatever she needed, I'd come back to visit Liv.
The mountain road wound through the darkness. I pressed the accelerator and got home as fast as possible. As I rounded a sharp curve, a figure suddenly darted out of the roadside trees into the middle of the road.
"Fuck!" I yanked the wheel hard, stomping on the brake. Tires screamed against the asphalt. The car skidded sideways, stopping just short of the guardrail.
My heart pounding, I jumped out. The girl who had run into the road even more recklessly than I had lay face-down on the shoulder, completely still. Pale moonlight washed over her. She looked dead.
"Are you okay?"
I turned her over. Long platinum hair spilled away from her face.
In that moment, the whole world stopped.
"Liv?"
