Upon seeing Miller’s message, Eleanor quickly dialed Sophia’s number, but there was no response. She tried a few times, hoping that her friend would pick up.Each time there was no response, her heart sank further. As she recalled what had happened to Sophia in her past life, her anxiety grew. In her previous life, Sophia had been framed by Mia and accused of spying on the pack for their enemies.As a result, she was exiled to the northern borderlands, where she had died in conflict. At that time, Eleanor had not realised it was Mia who had framed her friend. But after Mia revealed her true colours after having her imprisoned, she put the pieces together.Mia had been removing everyone around her, turning them to her loyal followers. Those she couldn’t convert to her side, she got rid of.Sophia was Eleanor’s biggest ally in the pack, and she would never have betrayed her to side with Mia. So Mia had worked on an elaborate plan to get rid of her so Eleanor had no one to rely on.As th
Why did this ‘witness’, she wondered, have the same scent as the rogue she had encountered in Darkfall? Was it just a coincidence, or were the two of them from the same pack? Did they follow orders from the same person?“Which pack are you from?” she asked him.He only looked at her, saying nothing.She stepped closer, a threatening look on her face. “I asked what pack you come from,” she repeated.“Beta Miller captured him at the western border,” Mia chimed in. “He might be from the West Lake Pack, which has always wanted to carve out a territory in the western forest. After Beta brought him to the dungeons, I saw your friend come to see him in secret. I was concerned, so I told Alpha. Alpha Thomas searched her room and found evidence that she was sharing sensitive information about our pack to another pack to plan an attack.”Eleanor turned around and faced her. “Since when did you know the pack’s affairs so clearly?”“Since I’m now a member of this pack, shouldn’t I–”“Do you have
“Sophia is not a traitor,” Eleanor maintained, “and I’ll not let you send her to the north. As Luna of this pack, I can also take over the investigation, so just leave it to me if you don’t want to spend your time on it. If I cannot come up with evidence proving otherwise, you can go ahead and send her to the north.”“Is it even okay to let you investigate this case when it involves your best friend?” Mia asked. “You are convinced she is innocent and that’s all you really care about, instead of wanting to find out the truth. What will you do when you find out it’s true she has been betraying the pack? Can you be trusted to bring her to justice?”“I’m not here to explain myself to you,” Eleanor told her, becoming impatient with her meddling. Being Thomas’s mate didn’t give her any sort of power or authority to involve herself with matters regarding the pack. But of course, seeing as Thomas had even allowed her to punish Sophia, she must think she had a say in all of this.“Mia is right
Eleanor stepped back, getting away from the collapsed bricks. Thomas did not let go of Sophia’s arm. Ethan burst through the dust, his face contorted with anger, his fangs extended.His eyes zeroed in on Thomas’s hand gripping Sophia’s arm. “Get your hands off my mate,” he snarled, stepping forward.Eleanor’s eyes widened. Ethan’s entrance had shocked her, but his words shocked her even more. Did he refer to Sophia as his mate? Were they fated to each other?Her mind took her back to the night they’d had dinner together at the restaurant after Henry and Ethan arrived at Blackstorm.Ethan had rushed out of the restaurant after seeing Sophia, and the latter had gone after him. But when Eleanor asked about it, Sophia made up a story about Ethan mistaking her for someone else. That must have been when they recognised each other as mates.Thomas’s eyes narrowed at Ethan. He made no move to release Sophia’s arm. “Darkfall’s Beta. what are you doing here, interfering with another pack’s matt
Eleanor turned away from him, sighing. Every time he talked about their relationship, he made it sound as if she was the reason everything had gone to shit. He was innocent, and she was just the dramatic one who kept blowing mountains out of nothing.“Why did you leave with that man?” he asked. “Was that what you’d been planning with him while he pretended to be an envoy from Darkfall?”She turned back to face him. “Does it matter? I’m back now, so why don’t you just forget about it?”He scoffed. “Forget about it?” His voice was rising, becoming angry. “He fought me in my own backyard and then took my wife, and you went with him, willingly. How dare you humiliate me like that? Who is he to you?”“I simply took a chance to do what I wanted,” Eleanor told him. “I wanted to go to Darkfall to get some medical training and gain skills that would be useful to our pack, but you chose to be unreasonable about it. He offered me a way out, did you want me to refuse? Do you intend to keep me loc
Eleanor turned on the lights, and they spilled over to the balcony, revealing the intruder’s face. It was the prisoner, the werewolf who had lied about being Sophia’s accomplice.How had he made it to her room? He was supposed to be in his cell!Her first thought was to cross the room and accost him, but she decided against that. Even though her wolf had awakened while she was with Henry, she had gone silent again. If she got into a fight, she was not confident she could win against him.This was the man who had worked with Mia in her past life and Eleanor knew he was capable of many things. Until she knew about his origin and his power, she had to refrain from getting into a direct fight with him.Remaining composed, she walked across the room towards the balcony. “Have you finally come to introduce yourself properly?” she asked. She wanted to show him that she was not afraid of him and his appearance did not scare her.He looked at her, his grey eyes assessing, but he said nothing.
As Ethan drove, he kept throwing worried glances at Sophia. She had not passed out since they left Blackstorm, but her injuries worried him. She had been tied to a silver cross–they wouldn’t heal as quickly as they should.“Are you okay?” he asked as she passed a hand over her face to get rid of tears. She had been reluctant to leave Eleanor, despite the accusations against her. This was the best thing for her right now, but she was still upset about having to leave her friend behind.She grabbed a bunch of tissues from the box on the dashboard and blew her nose. After that, she sucked in a deep breath and straightened in her seat, staring blankly out of the windshield.Ethan wished he knew how to comfort her. He hated seeing her so hurt and so upset.Before, his head had been wrapped up in his feelings for Eleanor. But when Henry’s affection for her became apparent, he quietly let go of that fantasy. His Alpha had been searching for Eleanor for years, and Ethan knew nothing could sta
Back in Eleanor’s room, Miller asked if they could sit down because he had something important to tell her.“There was a time in the past I didn’t think I would make it to become Beta of this pack,” he began as soon as they were sitting down on a pair of armchairs in the room. “No matter how hard I worked, it seemed that Alpha Thomas did not have me in my mind for his second in command.”Eleanor nodded. “I remember.”The three of them grew up together, and Miller had always wanted to become Beta. But there were a several options for the position, and at some point, it seemed as if Thomas did not think he had the potential to become a good Beta.“I almost gave up,” he admitted. “I started doubting my abilities, and thinking maybe the best I could be was head warrior. If it wasn’t for you encouraging me and training alongside me, I think I would have given up. It’s thanks to you that I became the Beta I am today. I’ve never forgotten how much you helped me back then.”“You were always t