Chapter 4

I floated mid-air, my soul trembling slightly. Finally, someone had discovered that I was dead.

Dad walked back into the healing center in disbelief. His phone slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

"What happened?" Mom asked, standing up in a hurry when she saw Dad's pale face. She had a bad feeling about this.

Dad gulped hard. He only found his voice after a very long time. His lips trembled as he said, "The patrol unit… T-They said… They said that they found a body at the campsite."

Mom frowned. "A body? Whose body?"

"Cami's," Dad replied in a hoarse voice. His legs turned to jelly, and he nearly collapsed to the ground.

"They said that she was penetrated by a silver knife, and she's been dead for some time."

"Impossible!" Mom blurted at the top of her lungs. She suddenly felt all the energy slipping out of her as she collapsed back onto the wooden bench. "This is literally impossible!"

Dad picked up his phone from the floor and repeatedly tried calling me in the tent, but he never got a response in return.

"We have to go back!" he said in a dry and hollow voice. "The patrol warrior must have misidentified her. It can't possibly be her!"

In their panic, they completely forgot about Selena, who was now recuperating in the ward. They stumbled out of the healing center and hurried back toward the campsite.

A cordon had been set up around the tent where the incident had happened. Many members of the pack stood at a distance, whispering and speculating among themselves.

"Get out of the way! That's our tent!" Dad exclaimed, pushing his way through the crowd of onlookers.

A warrior stepped forward to stop him from entering.

"Please stop. This is a crime scene. Are you the deceased's parents?"

Mom grabbed the warrior's arm and screamed, "Where is my daughter? Where is she? What have you done to her?"

The warrior's expression was grave as he replied in a grim voice, "Please accept my deepest condolences. The patrol team called out for a long time but got no answer from within. It was only when they lifted the tent flap that they discovered the body inside."

There was a white sheet covering my body, revealing only my face that was cold and drained of all color.

Mom let out a heart-wrenching cry and threw herself beside my body on the ground. Her trembling hand brushed against my cheek. She felt the chill on my face and recoiled sharply like she'd been electrocuted.

Then, she began murmuring under her breath repeatedly.

"How could this be… How could this be… This can't be happening…"

Dad was completely frozen on the spot. He stared intently at the pool of dark blood on the floor that had already congealed, then at the sharp silver hunting knife once hanging on the rack. The intense fight from earlier flooded his mind, and he spoke in a hoarse voice.

"It was me… I pushed her…"

The warrior's face turned grim at once.

"What did you say? You were the one who pushed her?"

"It was an accident!" Mom immediately blurted out, shielding Dad behind her. "It was simply too chaotic just now, and it was nothing but an accident! He just forgot to control his strength in the heat of the moment!"

The healer in charge of examining the scene stepped forward and reported in a low voice, "Based on the wound and the extent of blood loss, the time of death is estimated to be about two hours ago."

"Two hours ago?"

Mom gasped in shock. Her voice trembled. "We were busy sending Lena to the healing center…"

Dad swayed on his feet, barely managing to steady himself by gripping onto a wooden pole.

The cruel truth struck them both hard.

While they were busy looking after Selena, they had left me to die alone in the tent.

The warrior spoke solemnly. "The evidence at the scene suggests that this is likely a case of negligent homicide. Kindly cooperate with our investigation, Mr. and Mrs. Shaw."

His words seemed to snap Mom's already taut nerves. She jerked her head up, her composure completely shattered as she screamed, "An investigation? You want to investigate us? Who cared about her when she was constantly bullied at school, huh?

"Who noticed her bottled-up grievances day after day, huh?"

I was hovering nearby when I was struck dumb with shock.

So, Mom knew all about it after all.

Dad looked like he was completely broken. He rushed into my smaller tent and later emerged again, clutching the small diary I always kept by my side.

He shakily flipped open the pages with trembling fingers, reading the words aloud in a low voice.

"Lena threw a tantrum again today. Mom said my hunting results were too good and it upset her. Maybe next time I should just hold back on purpose."

His tears fell onto the page. He flipped to the next page, his voice getting increasingly choked up.

"Lena ruined my hunting gauntlets, but I didn't dare tell Mom or Dad.

"I got cornered and bullied in the storage room again. I didn't dare to fight back in case the commotion disturbed Lena's wolf.

"Dad yelled at me again. Sometimes, I wonder if I might have received more love if only I were born with a weaker wolf?"

He flipped to the last page and felt a lump in his throat.

"It's so exhausting to live. Would Mom and Dad regret it if I finally died one day?"

Dad fell onto his knees with a loud thump, and the diary slipped from his hands to the floor. Mom quickly picked it up. After sweeping her gaze over just a few lines, she covered her face with her hands and broke down in sobs.

"What… What have we done?" Dad exclaimed, crying in desolation with his head in his hands.

The warrior just watched them for a bit before exchanging looks with another warrior. Then, he approached Dad and said, "Mr. Shaw, you are suspected of causing a death through negligence. Please come with us for further investigation."