Chapter 3

Pearl was missing.

When the servant Cathy rushed to inform David, her face pale with worry, he didn't even look up. Instead, he cut her off impatiently.

"What now? Is she playing one of her little games again? Are the roses blooming and she wants me to come watch, or has she made new battle gear and expects me to try it on?"

He waved dismissively.

"Please tell her not to bother me these days. I'm extremely busy."

David was busy—far busier than usual.

He was preparing for his transfer to Texline, sorting through a pile of documents he'd been tasked to deliver. On top of that, he had something personal weighing on his mind.

His best friend, Kane Johnson, had just bonded with his mate in Texas. Kane had supported him countless times—recommending him for promotions, standing by him through the toughest missions. David was deeply grateful.

Now that Kane had found his mate, David wanted to show his appreciation properly. He planned to prepare an important gift and deliver it to them himself, as a gesture of loyalty and brotherhood.

After David finished his work, night had already fallen.

As dinner came to an end, the servants moved silently to clear the table—yet Pearl's seat remained untouched and empty.

David's voice snapped across the dining hall.

"No need to save her dinner. That little wolf knows where the food is—she'll show up the moment she gets hungry."

No one dared to tell him that Pearl was missing. Cathy had already been scolded harshly, and the rest were too afraid to risk his wrath.

David couldn't sleep that night.

Long past midnight, with the wind whispering softly through the windows, he finally stepped outside to clear his head. The air was thick with the scent of roses, fully bloomed and swaying in the breeze.

And then—memories hit him, sharp and unexpected.

He remembered being just a young pup—his tiny hand bleeding, pricked by the thorns as he reached out to pick a rose for Pearl. Blood had dripped onto the grass.

Pearl had stood nearby, her face pale, tears brimming in her wide eyes. That sight—her tears—had shattered something inside him.

It wasn't the wound that made him flinch, nor the blood that trickled down his hand—

but her tears. Soft. Silent. Shattering.

"Don't worry, Pearl," he had said, forcing a smile through the sting. "It doesn't hurt... not at all."

"I just... pricked my paw on purpose. So you could make me a handgear... with a pearl on it!"

But now...

When had that tenderness twisted into irritation?

When had the sight of her worry become a burden instead of a balm?

It was later that his herbal tea was poisoned by his aunt—and Pearl drank it in his place.

Her wolf was severely injured by the toxins, and David was devastated. Guilt consumed him. In those early days, he rarely left her side—hunting rabbits just to make her smile, chasing butterflies in the meadows like nothing had changed.

But as time passed, things did change. David grew older, busier. He had to attend werewolf academy, make connections, forge a future. He met other she-wolves—clever, graceful, confident. Pearl was no longer the smartest girl in the room. She wasn't even the prettiest.

He'd reached the age where chasing butterflies brought mockery, not delight. But Pearl... Pearl hadn't changed at all. Still naive. Still untouched by the cruelty of growing up.

David's heart felt as if it had been pierced by a sharp sting, and his voice softened at once.

"She must be starving by now... She'll understand what she did wrong. Cathy, bring her something to eat and take it to her room."

But to his surprise, Cathy fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm so sorry, my lord… Pearl went missing yesterday."

The other servants followed, kneeling in confusion, casting uncertain glances at one another.

Did David always look down on his quiet, seemingly forgetful mate?

Then why did he suddenly panic the moment he heard she was missing?

One servant, who thought himself clever and claimed to know David well, sneered quietly and offered his own explanation.

"My lord, we've done everything we could, but Pearl is still missing. Still, she wasn't the only good she-wolf in her family. Surely they won't blame you for losing her—after all, you've been promoted and become stronger. They might even want to find you a smarter, more fitting mate..."

Before he could finish his sentence, David kicked him hard, sending him sprawling to the floor.

It was the first time the servants had ever seen David so furious—his face stormy, his eyes burning with rage.

Silence fell like a heavy curtain.

Finally, one servant, voice trembling, dared to ask him a question...

"Could it be... that she was tricked into going somewhere like Wolf's Gambit or Lunar Howl? That would be far too dangerous..."

David understood exactly what the servant was afraid of.

Lunar Howl.

It had happened before.

Two years ago, on a full moon night, he was waiting for Kane Johnson to join him for a night run.

Pearl had approached him quietly, asking, "David, when will you claim me? I've already turned sixteen."

He'd laughed, ruffled her hair, and said with a teasing smirk:

"You remembered it wrong, you forgetful little wolf. It's sixteen years you have to wait, not the age sixteen."

Now, thinking back, he realized how cruel those words must have sounded.

She had sat alone on a rock for a long time that night, her small back hunched, staring at the moon in silence.

And then a witch had appeared at the gates.

Pearl, so trusting and heartbroken, had followed her into the woods.

It was Kane who sensed something was wrong and tracked them down. When they found her, the witch had already led her deep into the forest.

David tried to bring her back, but she resisted, clinging to the witch's cloak with trembling hands.

That night, when they finally returned to the den, he exploded.

"Are you out of your mind? You just follow a strange wolf into the forest like that? How naive can you be?"

Pearl's eyes were red, tears spilling silently as she tried to explain herself.

"It's not what you think... she said she had a herb. A herb that could make me smarter..."

She kept wiping her cheeks, again and again, but the tears wouldn't stop.

"I just wanted to be the kind of wolf who remembers everything—not the one who always forgets."

While Pearl was missing, David dreamed of her constantly.

In one dream, he asked her for a crescent bone necklace—their sacred token of matehood—and promised that he would become her forever mate.

In another, he saw her sorrowful figure sitting alone on the rock, her face soaked in tears, fragile and distant.

He even dreamed of a memory from when she was twelve. That day, his hands had been pierced and bloodied by the thorns of the rose bushes he'd braved for her. In the dream, the younger Pearl had looked up at him with wide, hopeful eyes and asked,

"So… does David claim Pearl as his mate?"

"What will your pups be named? Will they look like you… or me?"

David jolted awake, breath unsteady.

The full moon was rising.

The breeze gently stirred the blooming roses, filling the air with a soft rustle that calmed the soul.

Suddenly, the silence was broken.

The servant rushed to him, waving his arms in excitement.

"My lord! There's good news!"

David furrowed his brows, but when he turned toward the voice, a smile curved on his lips—he had spotted a familiar figure trailing behind the servant.

"Pearl, where have you been?"