The Rogue King disguises himself as a food delivery person to assassinate my mate—Lucas Wolfgang, the Alpha of Moonbane pack. It's Valentine's day, but Lucas is spending it with his childhood sweetheart. When the Rogue King's assassination fails, he threatens me with my daughter Tina and forces me to ingest wolfsbane. I speak to him to drag things out while contacting Lucas through our mind-link. "Lucas, Tina and I need you…" However, Lucas has cut off our mind-link. He doesn't respond, and I have no choice but to take the wolfsbane. Before the Rogue King leaves, he mocks me for being a failure. I'm the Luna of Moonbane pack, yet I don't have my husband's heart. Tina calls Lucas. "Come home, Daddy! Mommy's bleeding everywhere!" He merely says coldly, "I've told you this many times, Tina. Stop being a liar like your mother!" I've never lied to him, and neither has Tina. Ultimately, he kneels before my grave in tears, looking like a poor little puppy. He begs me not to abandon him.
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"Ya elah, mending sekalian aja aku loncat ke atas mayatnya, tuh ... terus bilang ‘Eh, maaf ya Mama kamu meninggal. Tapi toko dia masih dijual, kan? Kalian mau jual berapa?’" bisikku kepada saudara tiriku, Danny. "Ya maksudku, tuh habis pemakamannya selesai, lah." Aku naikkan sebelah alis, dan dia malah tertawa. Papa kami pun menoleh ke belakang sambil kasih tatapan mautnya yang khas. Kita langsung sembunyikan tangan ke kantong celana dan menunduk sopan. Begitu doanya selesai, semua orang bilang, "Amin." Orang-orang mulai berdiri tegak lagi, dan bisik-bisik dari warga Pecang pun langsung bertebaran. Semua mata pun ke arah Karin Mirrela yang baru saja kehilangan Mamanya. Aku dan Danny jalan bareng menuruni bukit pemakaman. Soalnya entah kenapa Karin memilih buat mengadakan acara berkabung di tempat kita. Artinya, kita harus buka tempat itu dan memastikan semuanya siap. "Aku, kan cuma nyaranin kamu nanya baik-baik aja," kata Danny sambil naik ke mobilnya. "Ya, udah kamu aja yang nanya," balasku. "Ngapain juga aku yang nanya? Dia tuh sahabat adikmu, bukan aku." "Jangan lupa, dia juga sahabat adik tirimu." Danny memang suka banget melimpahkan semuanya kepadaku, kalau lagi enggak mau ribet. Tapi coba kalau lagi pamer adikku, Alvaro, yang pemain bola terkenal itu, enggak pernah, tuh dia mengaku saudara tiri. Dan pas Alvaro kasih dia tiket nonton dari kursi VIP? Langsung saja diterima tanpa basa-basi. "Kamu, kan udah kenal sama dia lama, bro," pekik Danny sambil menyalakan mesin mobil. "Justru karena itu, makanya makin kelihatan kalau aku enggak punya hati. Ya udah, lah. Aku tetap enggak bakal mau jadi orang pertama yang nanyain soal toko itu." Kita melambai ke keluarga yang juga turun dari bukit. Alvaro lagi merangkul Karin erat banget. Aku bisa merasakan sakitnya. Bahkan saat kita melewati makam Mama kandungku sendiri, rasanya kayak ditusuk di dada. Sudah delapan belas tahun berlalu, tapi rasanya tetap perih. Proses healing memang panjang dan susah. Tapi aku yakin, Karin pasti bisa melewati ini, sama sepertiku saat umur dua belas dulu. "Kamu, tuh sadar enggak sih, banyak orang yang pingin ngembangin usahanya juga? Kita harus cepat ambil kesempatan ini," kata Danny. Dan dia enggak salah. Itu juga salah satu alasan kenapa kerja sama kita di Brine & Barrel bisa berjalan. Di bisnis, Danny berpikir jangka panjang, aku justru berpikir jangka pendek. Aku yang memikirkan acara trivia seru buat para customer sekarang, sementara dia memikirkan bagaimana caranya minuman kita bisa masuk Supermarket sama Bar di seluruh negara. Aku tahu dia benar. Aku harus bicara ke Karin soal toko jahit itu, yang letaknya pas banget di sebelah tempat produksi minuman kita. Tapi aku yakin dia juga enggak bakal langsung jual begitu saja. Masih enggak pasti, sih. Tapi kalau bisa, aku ingin nego lebih dulu, biar bisa bongkar tembok dan perluas tempat kita. Tapi, Danny, tuh bukan anak asli Pecang. Mungkin itu juga kenapa dia enggak mengerti cara main di kota kecil ini. Dia memang sudah tinggal di sini dari umur tujuh belas tahun, waktu Mamanya menikah sama Papaku, tapi setelah itu kita kuliah, dan dia merasa sudah yang paling mengerti tempat ini. Padahal Pecang itu kota kecil yang semua orangnya suka mengurusi urusan orang lain. Kalau aku langsung tembak Karin soal jual-beli, besok paginya pasti seluruh kota sudah membicarakanku sebagai cowok yang enggak punya empati. "Aku ngerti, kok. Tenang aja, aku bakal ngobrol sama dia. Tapi enggak hari ini," kataku. "Aku, sih enggak lihat bakal ada masalah kalau kamu cuma nanya, ‘Eh, kamu suka jahit?’ Gitu aja. Toh kita juga enggak tahu apa-apa soal Karin, selain dia pingin banget dapetin Alvaro." Aku menyengir sinis. "Mereka itu sahabatan, bro. Sahabatan biasa!" Dia ketawa. "Gila kamu kalau masih mikir gitu. Dia itu tahu semua tentang Alvaro jauh lebih detail daripada Alvaro sendiri. Dia selalu paksa kamu adain nobar di tempat Kita tiap kali Alvaro tanding. Dia bahkan gambar nomor punggung Alvaro di pipinya. Udah jelas banget, dia tuh naksir cowok itu." "Aku enggak tahu, sih. Aku enggak pernah dapet clu kalau dia emang beneran suka sama Alvaro." Danny geleng-geleng kepala sambil masuk dari pintu belakang. "Itu tandanya kamu butuh liburan." Aku keluar dari mobil dan langsung buka jas. Sekarang sudah masuk awal musim kemarau, jadi masih agak dingin. "Liburan ke mana?" "Ke dunia nyata, bro. Dunia per-cintaan!" Enggak kayak Danny, aku jarang banget keluar dari Pecang. Setelah lulus kuliah, kita dapat pinjaman modal buat buka Bar minuman fermentasi, dan aku taruh semua energi dan duitku ke bisnis ini biar sukses. Di kampus, sih aku sempat pacaran, tapi aku tahu dari awal kalau hidupku bakal berputar saja di kota kecil ini. Pecang itu rumahku. Aku enggak ingin tinggal di kota besar, tapi sayangnya enggak semua cewek bisa menerima untuk tinggal dan hidup di kota kecil ini. Bukan berarti aku jomblo stadium akhir, ya. Kita masuk ke Bar, menyalakan lampu. Aku jalan ke pintu depan, buka kunci, dan hapus tulisan "Tutup untuk sementara" dari papan tulis di luar. Toko jahit Mirrela ada di sebelah, sepi dan gelap. Enggak tahu, deh terakhir buka kapan. Sejak Mirrela pertama kali divonis sakit, Karin sempat mencoba tetap menjalankan tokonya, berharap Mamanya bisa sembuh dan kembali lagi. Tapi ya … enggak kesampaian. Sekarang toko itu mangkrak, padahal lokasinya di pusat kota. Aku melangkah ke arah sana, memperbaiki tenda toko yang semalam terbalik kena angin. Tapi tetap saja kelihatan usang, warnanya pudar, bahannya robek. Walikota kami, Ivoe, pernah memaksa semua toko di alun-alun buat punya tenda senada, biar terlihat rapi. Banyak aturan menyebalkan dari dia, tapi ya sudah, lah. Pusat kota kita memang kecil, tapi keren. Tata kotanya diprioritaskan buat pejalan kaki. Parkiran semua ada di belakang bangunan, jalanan batu bata jadi pemisah antar toko. Saat musim turis, lampu-lampu hangat digantung di atas jalan. Kalau musim tahun baru, lampunya diganti warna-warni plus hiasan daun cemara. Pecang mungkin kota kecil, tapi buat aku keren banget dan ... selamat datang di rumahku.Alice was the one who officiated my funeral. At the end of it all, Lucas kneeled on the ground before my tombstone and cried at the top of his lungs."Ava, I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… Don't leave me, please. I beg you… Don't leave me alone…"Alice stood next to him, looking down at him on the ground."You should receive an award for your act, you piece of shit. You only think about cherishing her after she's gone. See that, Ava?"Before leaving, Alice flung a stack of documents at Lucas, letting the papers float down around him."Take a look at these yourself. That bitch of a wolf you've been throwing yourself at for months is a piece of work!"As it turned out, Lucas had hit the nail on the head when he asked Mia about her relationship with the rogue pack. She had been an informant all along.The rogue pack members knew our exact address and when Lucas would be gone because Mia had been telling them.Lucas cried tears of regret. "I regret everything, Ava. I owe you too much…"I
Ultimately, it was Alice who got someone to deal with my rotting body."How did it end up like this?"Lucas still couldn't accept the fact that I was dead. The sight of my dead corpse had been too much for him. He fell to the ground in disbelief as he continued mumbling to himself."Wasn't she still alive and kicking two days ago? How could she die all of a sudden?""The witch in the pack has examined the blood Ava spat out. It was laced with wolfsbane. She was poisoned to death," Alice said coldly. Then, she shoved her phone under Lucas' nose. "The surveillance cameras caught members of the rogue pack going in and out of your house."It doesn't seem like they were here for the first time. Lucas, you're an Alpha. Why would you have rogue werewolves lurking near your house?"Lucas was in disbelief. "That's impossible! Ava never told me! If she'd told me, I would definitely have sent someone to protect them…"Alice angrily pointed her finger at Lucas and asked again, "You don't kn
"Ava? Isn't she at home?" Lucas asked Alice. "Stop talking about that crazy lunatic. Is Tina with you or not?""You've got the guts to ask me that?" Alice asked, her voice laced with anger. "You can't even take care of your own daughter? What kind of a failure of a father are you?"Fortunately, someone from our pack saw Tina wandering around on the streets and called me at once. What would you have done if she were in danger?"Lucas' face darkened. He couldn't say a single word.Alice continued, "Tina told me that her mom has been sleeping for days and won't wake up. Something must have happened to her. Get home this instant and check on her!"Lucas nodded at once. "Okay… I-I got it."When he got home, Alice was already waiting at the door with Tina.Lucas wanted to hug Tina as soon as he saw her. However, Tina pushed him away."You're Bad Daddy. I don't want Bad Daddy."Alice chuckled coldly. "Hated by your own daughter, Lucas Wolfgang. You're the biggest failure of a werewol
After dinner, Mary pestered Lucas to take her to a toy shop. She picked up the latest limited-edition doll set and asked for the price.It cost well over 10,000 dollars.Lucas immediately frowned.Our pack had always been frugal with our spending. So, Lucas would never spend that much money on expensive yet useless things like that.When Mia saw the look on Lucas' face, she immediately picked Mary up from the ground."It's fine, Lucas. We can't make you spend so much on us," she said. However, she didn't make Mary put the toy down.Lucas nodded. "It's not that I don't want to buy Mary anything. It's just that I don't think it's necessary to buy such an expensive one. She's just a kid, after all. She's going to want another new toy after a while."Mia tried to hide the displeasure in her eyes as she agreed with him. "You're absolutely right."Nonetheless, Mary refused to let go of the doll set."I want this toy! I want this! Daddy Lucas, won't you buy it for me?"Mia tried to
A while later, another bout of frantic knocking was on the door."Ava. Open the door and come out! We have guests at home. Why aren't you being a hospitable host? With you as the Luna, you're such an embarrassment to the entire pack!" Lucas shouted.When he didn't get a response from me, Lucas started pounding at the door in anger. "Ava Lupine! When will you stop with your attitude? Are you not even going to care about Tina anymore?"If you keep behaving like this, I will get Selene to break our mate bond!"Mia heard everything from the back and was simply overjoyed. She quickly bent down and whispered something in Mary's ear. Mary then ran up to Lucas and hugged his leg."Daddy Lucas! I'm hungry. Can you take me to eat that apple pie again? I want to sit in your lap as you feed me apple pie!"Lucas agreed at once when he heard Mary's request. He never even hesitated."Of course, Mary. I'll do whatever you say."Mia then gave Mary a look, and the kid immediately hugged Lucas' l
A series of loud, rapid knocks pounded on the door.I shuddered hard. I remembered that the rogue pack had also knocked on the door and made a huge fuss like this the day they poisoned me. I became frightened again on instinct.Lucas was just one step away from the master bedroom. When he heard the knocking, he stopped halfway and frowned before turning toward the door.When he opened the door, he saw that it was Mia and Mary again.Mia's pretty face was twisted into a worried frown. It was only when she caught sight of Lucas that her eyes lit up a little."Lucas? Are Tina and Ava okay? I wanted to invite you for dinner just now, but you seemed so worried about them, so I came over to take a look."I mean, Ava doesn't like me, after all… I really don't want to see your relationship with her becoming strained because of me."I nearly ripped my hair out in frustration while floating right above them.Ever since Mia's return, she would always interrupt us whenever Lucas and I were
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