Chapter 1

Sophia clearly wasn't expecting me to steal her lines.

She blinked, then her face went dark fast.

"I knew it! Kane's got someone in the pack!"

She was tall, strong, and famously fierce. If she actually swung, one slap could send a grown wolf stumbling.

"Told me he had pack business over Thanksgiving, turns out he was out there messing around behind my back!"

"Which one of you is it? Step up! I swear I will rearrange your face today!"

Every wolf in the hall gave up all pretense of working.

Phones lit up one after another.

Some stood in the back watching the show. Some were already sending messages to other territories.

Every eye in the room was on Sophia.

And Evelyn was standing right in the middle of the crowd.

Silver warrior uniform, hands clasped in front of her, biting her lip, looking like she had something to say but couldn't quite get it out.

After a moment, she spoke. Softly.

"During Thanksgiving..."

"It seems like Viola was the only one who stayed with Alpha Kane to handle border affairs."

The words hit the floor.

The entire atmosphere shifted.

"Yeah, now that she mentions it, it was Viola."

"She's been running the northern alliance stuff all week."

"Alpha Kane kept saying he was on territory handling business."

"So it was her all along..."

The whispers were like needles, thin and sharp, piercing into my ears one by one.

In my last life, those same whispers had nailed me to the wall as a shameless woman.

This time, I just found it funny.

Sophia narrowed her eyes and looked me up and down.

She slowly raised her hand. It hovered in the air, already loaded.

"Viola? It was you."

"Running around all eager to help me find the homewrecker. Guilty conscience much? Takes one to catch one, huh?"

I pointed at my own nose.

"Me? Guilty?"

"Sis, open your eyes and look at me!"

I jabbed a finger at the dark circles under my eyes, so deep they'd practically turned black, then grabbed a fistful of my wrecked, tangled hair.

"Look at the state of me!"

"Seven days of Thanksgiving! I worked every single one! I didn't even have time to sleep!"

I yanked the cloth off the nearest desk.

Underneath was a pile of over a dozen empty herbal energy tea cans. I slammed them on the table.

"These are all mine! Seven days of all-nighters!"

"Every day I was either guarding the border or negotiating alliances for the pack!"

"The Iceplain wolves up north suddenly demanded a thirty percent increase on the herb exchange. I drove out in the middle of the night and talked them down myself!"

"The western trade convoy got ambushed by a rogue pack. I led warriors on a chase that lasted till dawn to get their cargo back!"

"The border patrol had a crisis on the day of the Moon Festival. I handled that solo too!"

My voice kept rising. Seven days of rage finally detonated.

"And what happened?"

"Your Alpha said he'd handle pack business with me. So where the hell did he go?"

"Whoever he was out there seeing, I have no clue!"

"But I swear to God, I want to know even more than you do!"

The entire hall went silent for two full seconds.

A young wolf who'd been secretly filming couldn't hold it in. He muttered under his breath.

"Holy crap..."

Sophia was clearly thrown off.

The hand she'd raised froze in midair. For the first time, she didn't bring it down.

But I was only getting madder.

"Sis, whatever leads you've got, bring them to me!"

"I will personally help you drag that shameless homewrecker out into the open!"

"Forget her!"

"Once I find her, I'm hauling her in front of the Elder Council myself and putting her through the Judgment of the Moon!"

Sophia stared at me.

Her face cycled through several shades of white and green.

She clearly hadn't expected me not only to hold my ground, but to turn the fire back on her.

She gritted her teeth. Then she let out a cold laugh.

"Fine."

"Since you're so eager to know, let me show you the proof."

She ripped open the leather satchel at her side.

Pulled out a crumpled receipt.

Sophia's voice cut through the hall like a blade.

"Seven days of Thanksgiving."

"Kane booked seven consecutive nights at the Moonshade Inn. The private Moonlight Suite."

The last few words dropped, and the room exploded.

The private Moonlight Suite.

In the wolf world, that's basically a couples-only hideaway.

Sophia's gaze swept across every young she-wolf in the room like a knife.

"Which one of you is it? Step up right now!"

"Don't make me go through you one by one!"

Dead silence.

That's when Evelyn suddenly slapped a hand over her mouth.

Her eyes, panicked, darted to me.

Behind them, a flicker of guilt, gone in an instant.

Then, like something had just occurred to her, she spoke carefully.

"Viola..."

"During Thanksgiving, weren't you posting on your wolf spirit feed about being stuck handling pack business near the territory?"

"I remember... I think... it was this same Moonshade Inn?"