Chapter 4

The car wound along a forest road and stopped in front of a grand manor.

"Derek's death was suspicious. You'd been in love with him for eight years. Didn't it occur to you to investigate?"

A low, powerful male voice came from behind the curtain.

Through the curtain, I could just make out a silhouette lounging in a leather chair, every line of him radiating authority.

"Master, Derek faked his death."

What I wanted to say was, "The bastard's wolf still responds through the bond!"

But I didn't dare be that flippant.

Because my Master had never been Selena.

He was a man.

Selena Windsor was the name of his twin sister, who had died at birth.

Their mother was the second-chance mate the former Alpha King found after he lost his fated mate.

After that Alpha King died, Leon Windsor, his son by the first Luna, inherited the throne.

But right then, Selena's mother found she was carrying twins.

Leon was afraid the twins would share his power, so he had their mother poisoned.

When the two pups were born, the girl was stillborn and the boy was desperately weak.

Their mother was no match for Leon. To keep the child alive, she announced that the survivor was an Omega daughter and used the girl's frail health as a reason to raise the child at a manor far from the royal city and its political turmoil.

For six years there had always been that curtain between the Master and me.

That way, even if I were caught, I couldn't betray him.

I didn't know what he looked like.

I couldn't smell him either.

Other subordinates said he killed without blinking and snapped necks whenever someone displeased him.

So every report I gave him terrified me.

After all...

I didn't become his shadow willingly.

I had the rotten luck to be bought for twenty thousand dollars.

Fine.

Two hundred thousand, to be exact.

I had no parents, no pack, and no bloodline worth anything.

But I had a quick mind, so lying and conning were how I survived.

One day, I found the body of an elderly rogue outside the settlement.

I wrapped him in reeds, dragged him to the edge of the market, and wailed, "My father is dead. For the Moon Goddess's sake, please give me twenty thousand dollars for a burial plot."

That same day, a black car passed. A she-wolf dressed in black and wearing sunglasses stepped out and threw me two bundles of cash.

The next day, I scrounged up a dead she-wolf nearby.

"My mother is dead. For the Moon Goddess's sake, please give me twenty thousand dollars for a burial plot."

Another twenty thousand.

This was easy money!

The tenth time I appeared dragging another reed-wrapped body, the Master came in person.

He rolled down the car window and adjusted his sunglasses. One look at him told me he was trouble.

"You. Last month your uncle died. Last week it was your sister. So who's this one?"

My eyes darted as I improvised. Then I burst into tears. "My dad."

"Interesting. If I recall, your father was the first one to die."

I sniffled.

"That was my stepfather. This is my biological father..."

From beneath his hood, the Master studied me for a long time.

"Ella Reed, you've conned me out of a full two hundred thousand dollars."

...?

He even knew my name.

There was no getting away.

And so I paid a bitter price for my swindling.

The Master said that since I enjoyed deceiving people so much, I could spend the rest of my life as his shadow, deceiving the world for him.

But I knew the one thing he hated most was being lied to.

So I laid out everything I had found.

I left out the floating text, of course.

I was afraid he would think I was insane.

"Derek cut off our mind-link, but I can still feel that he's alive. The one he truly wants is Viola, the Luna Queen. Viola is already pregnant, and they plan to pass her child off as the Alpha King's heir. Every other royal is an obstacle. Last night, to humiliate me, they even sent Kane into my room..."

Taking Kane was an act, but not to please Viola. It was to get information out of him.

The Master and I were in the same boat.

His survival didn't guarantee mine, but his death guaranteed I'd go first.

When I finished, the Master asked, almost casually, "What do you think of Kane?"

Huh?

Was that important?

I didn't understand, but I answered honestly, "He's handsome, and his body's better than Derek's. But he's definitely all brawn and no brains.

"And his sex drive is ridiculous. He couldn't keep his hands off me. When I told him to leave, he accused me of using him and tossing him aside, then insisted on sleeping in my room..."

Behind the curtain, everything went silent. Even the hand holding his wineglass froze.

Wren suddenly dropped to her knees beside me with a thud.

What was going on?

I blinked in confusion.

I was still deciding whether to continue when the Master's voice turned glacial. "...That's enough. You can shut up now."

Wasn't he the one who asked?

But how could the Master ever be wrong?

I immediately bowed my head in apology.

"Yes, Master. I spoke out of turn."

After a silence, the Master spoke again. "How are preparations for the Moon Goddess Festival in ten days?"