Chapter 3

But Lucian showed no signs of waking. Apart from the faintest pulse and shallow breathing, he might as well have been dead.

I rested my chin on my hand and studied his sleeping face. "Is there anything you can do to wake him up faster?"

The Witch paused mid-stir, then bounced over to me with a playful grin. "There is. But that'll cost extra."

She batted her eyes and extended her palm expectantly.

My arrangement with the Witch was strictly transactional. Ever since I'd started relying on her help, money had been flowing out of my pockets and into hers like a river.

Fortunately, my pack was one of the largest and wealthiest among all wolf world. I could still afford it.

Once paid, she rummaged behind the counter and produced a small vial of green liquid. Without ceremony, she pried Lucian's mouth open and dumped the whole thing down his throat.

Her technique was appallingly rough. More than half the potion dribbled down his chin.

A second later, Lucian erupted into violent coughs, color rushing back to his face.

I was fairly certain she'd just choked him awake.

"Serena Frost — or should I say, Serena Gu?"

Those were his first words. He spoke my real-world name without hesitation.

Eight years. I had lived as Serena Frost for so long that I'd nearly forgotten who I used to be. Hearing that name again was like being pulled underwater — disorienting, breathless.

"Do... do we know each other?" I stared at him, my palms going cold. "Who are you?"

Lucian studied me quietly, then the corner of his mouth curved up. "So I was right."

I didn't have time for guessing games. A thousand questions were fighting to get out.

"Who are you? Have we met? How do you know my name? "

He seemed to read my mind and answered one by one.

"I'm a journalist. I was assigned to investigate your case."

"A young woman vanishes without a trace. No evidence. No leads. As if she simply... ceased to exist."

"The story fascinated me. I dug deeper, trying to find the truth behind the disappearance — until I came across a novel."

My body went rigid.

"What did you just say? A novel?"

"The world we're in right now — it's a novel. I stumbled into it the same way you did. That's when I realized you didn't just disappear. You crossed over, just like me."

"I've been watching you for a while. Everything about you confirmed it — you're the woman who vanished."

I'd always believed I was nobody. An orphan in the real world with no one who would notice — or care — if I simply stopped existing one day. It had never occurred to me that someone had actually been looking for me.

"In the original story, you don't survive. Your pack falls, and you die of illness during exile. I came here to change that."

The air seemed to freeze. The only sound was the bubbling of the Witch's cauldron.

My chest tightened. I looked at the determined man sitting before me. "Why would you help me?"

Lucian lowered his gaze. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it for myself."

"In the original story, once you're dead, I lose my usefulness. Viktor would never let someone who knows his secrets live."

Since our fates were bound together, there was no reason not to work as one.

"Tomorrow you're coming with me to the borderlands. Rogue wolves have been terrorizing the area. We'll deal with them together."

Lucian nodded, a faint smile on his lips. "Alright."

The borderland uprising was swiftly put down. Every initiative across the pack was running smoothly. On the surface, everything seemed to be falling into place.

But the prophesied date crept closer, and the knot in my chest pulled tighter each day.

Then a warm hand settled over mine, heat seeping through my palm.

In the lamplight, Lucian's eyes shone bright and steady. "Whatever happens, I'll be right here. We face it together."

I managed a tired half-smile. With him beside me, even the longest nights didn't feel quite so unbearable.