Caroline’s head bowed lower. "My lord, you have known the longest. I would never betray you. Betrayal ans death—and I have nowhere else to go." She hesitated. "Have you questioned Selene?"
Sothing dark flared in his chest.
His eyes twitched. His hands clenched.
"Are you suggesting she betrayed ?" His voice was low, dangerous. "What would she gain? And if she were the one, she would not have offered her blood to save my life just monts ago."
Caroline bit her lip and remained silent.
"I have done nothing wrong," she said finally. "I remain loyal. I knew you left, yes—but I do not know where you went. I did not leave my room."
Alistair exhaled slowly.
"Enough." He turned away. "Prepare breakfast for Selene. Sothing nourishing. Sothing to restore blood." His tone hardened. "Go. Your voice makes my head ache."
She stiffened.
"But rember this," he added without looking back. "If I ever discover betrayal, there will be no rcy."
With that, he left her standing alone in the corridor.
Caroline remained there long after his footsteps faded, her nails biting into her palms.
Selene.
It had to be her.
There had only been two of them who knew. Vince was bound by blood pact—his death would follow Alistair’s, making betrayal impossible. He was loyal, if nothing else.
Which left Selene.
Caroline’s jaw tightened as she moved toward the kitchens, anger simring beneath her calm exterior.
Jealousy twisted with suspicion, sour and sharp. Selene had arrived recently, fragile and human—and yet sohow she already commanded a presence Caroline could not ignore.
As she prepared the breakfast, her thoughts churned, resentnt darkening her resolve.
If Selene truly was the spy, Caroline would uncover it.
And if she was not—
Then Selene was sothing far more dangerous.
Caroline was certain of one thing.
It had not been her.
That did not an she was loyal to Alistair—far from it. Loyalty was earned, not assud, and she had her own ambitions carefully tucked beneath obedience and lowered eyes.
But it was far too early to sabotage her position within his domain. Far too early to expose herself to suspicion, let alone retaliation.
No. If anything, she needed Alistair to trust her more.
Trust was a weapon far sharper than betrayal.
So she played her part.
====
By morning, the manor had returned to its usual rhythm. Alistair departed for the academy as though nothing had happened—his expression composed, his presence coldly immaculate.
If anyone had seen him at dawn, bloodied and furious, they would never have guessed it from the man who now rode toward the iron gates of the school.
Selene woke late.
Sunlight filtered through the curtains in pale ribbons, warming her skin. Her body felt weak but not broken, hollowed yet steady, as though sothing within her had been drained and carefully replenished.
Breakfast awaited her.
She ate alone in the quiet dining room, the clink of cutlery echoing softly.
Caroline was nowhere to be seen; she must have gone out early. Selene shrugged and continued eating in silence, her thoughts drifting.
Whatever Alistair had given her to drink the night before had been potent. It had not rely kept her alive—it had restored her with an efficiency that bordered on unsettling.
She had felt the warmth spread through her veins, stabilizing her heartbeat, nding sothing deeper than flesh.
Blood like that was not given lightly.
At the very least, she now occupied a sliver of space in Alistair’s heart—or whatever passed for one. For a man like him to part with sothing so precious ant more than gratitude. It ant acknowledgnt.
Conquering Alistair, however, was proving far more difficult than Selene had anticipated.
She had expected resistance. Coldness. Disdain.
What she had not expected was restraint.
Still, she accepted the challenge nonetheless.
By afternoon, boredom gnawed at her patience. The manor was too quiet, too still, and Selene knew better than to remain idle. Stories did not move forward when the protagonist stayed indoors.
Feeling bold, she decided to leave the grounds.
This ti, she ventured farther than usual—past the outer paths, beyond the familiar edges of safety, and toward the academy campus itself. It was risky, yes, but risk was where the plot thickened.
Fate, it seed, agreed.
Near the garden courtyard, she spotted her.
The female lead.
She stood surrounded by a cluster of won, their postures aggressive, their expressions sharp.
Selene slowed instinctively, slipping behind a line of hedges, watching from the shadows.
Ah. Of course.
Selene knew exactly what this was.
She crept closer, careful with her steps, though she doubted subtlety mattered. Wolves possessed senses far keener than any human’s—scent alone could give her away.
Yet none of them seed to notice her presence. Or perhaps they simply did not care.
Their attention was entirely fixed on the girl at the center.
Others lingered nearby—students, onlookers—but no one intervened. They never did.
The female lead stood unshifted, shoulders squared despite the hostility pressing in around her.
Selene would have bet anything that this was precisely why she had drawn so much attention since arriving on campus.
Unshifted. Beautiful. Female Lead.
In stories like these, that was all it took.
She was the female lead, after all. Naturally, she would attract not only the male leads, but rivals, antagonists, even villains—each drawn to her orbit whether they wished it or not.
Selene smiled faintly.
This was the perfect opportunity to et new characters and push the narrative forward.
The leader of the group stepped forward, her red hair catching the sunlight like fla. The plot updated and gave her na.
Georgina.
Fiancée of Roger—the soon-to-be Alpha of Bloodhowl pack.
And therein lay the problem.
Roger’s true mate was Yuki.
Yuki, the unshifted girl standing alone before them.
Yuki had been dismissed for her lack of a manifested wolf, deed unworthy by tradition. Yet she possessed arcane abilities—healing magic rare enough to provoke both awe and resentnt.
Selene listened closely as the argunt unfolded.
"I was the one who kept my distance," Yuki said, her voice steady despite the tension coiling around her. "It was him who continued to approach ."
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