Chapter 5

I let go of Jason, exhaled a long breath, and slumped to the ground.

Good.

He was alive. Even if the ones dying next would probably be me and Jason.

But I knew this wasn't over yet.

What if Lucas realized I was just putting on a show? What if his wolf decided to seek death again?

So, I pulled out my lipstick and smeared it all over Jason's face and neck.

The guy had harassed me for so long; surely it wasn't too much to ask him to do me a little favor now, right?

At the training ground, when Lucas arrived with apocalyptic rage, I was clinging tightly to a shivering Jason.

Lucas didn't say a word. He charged in, broke two of Jason's ribs with a single punch, and tossed him ten meters away like a sack of garbage.

Then, grabbing me by the scruff of my neck like I was a chick, he dragged me straight back to the Pack House.

The ride was silent, but the low pressure radiating from him froze the air inside the car.

Back home, he threw me into the living room.

The massive space was unlit, illuminated only by the faint glow of the fireplace.

But he didn't leave.

He sat on the high-backed red velvet chair that symbolized Alpha authority. Shadows obscured his face, revealing only a pair of golden, beast-like eyes glowing coldly in the dark.

The Omegas and servants in the house had long since fled to the basement, terrified by the crushing Alpha aura.

I rubbed my wrist where he had grabbed me too hard and asked the obvious.

"Lucas? Why aren't you in the hospital? Did the Healer discharge you?"

He didn't answer.

Those eyes were locked onto me.

It was already late autumn. I was wearing a mini-skirt that drove him crazy, wrapped in Jason's oversized sports jacket.

Around my neck was a men's scarf, tightly concealing the Mark I had forged using a witch's potion.

Lucas's voice was terrifyingly calm—the silence before the storm.

"You skipped training this afternoon. Where were you?"

"I... um... I was just hanging out with a friend."

"Friend?" Lucas let out a cold sneer, his knuckles cracking. "You couldn't find any other friends besides that trashy playboy Jason?"

I lowered my head, biting my lip and staying silent, trying my best to look guilty.

Lucas stood up.

With his movement, the oppressive pressure in the air instantly doubled.

He approached me step by step until his massive shadow completely engulfed me.

The top of my head only reached his chest. The size difference triggered an instinctual desire to retreat.

The next second, his icy command dropped from above.

"Take off the scarf."

Damn it. The natural bloodline suppression an Alpha has over a Pack member made me feel genuine fear, even though I was acting.

I squeezed out a fawning smile, looking up to try and bluff my way through.

"Lucas... Wait, I wanted to ask, does your wound still hurt? I missed you. You slept for so long in the hospital; did you miss me?"

He looked down at me. His eyes held no warmth, only magma ready to erupt.

"Will you take it off, or do I have to do it for you? Don't make me ask twice."

Fine, there was no dodging this.

I lowered my head, my voice as quiet as a mosquito.

"I'll do it."

I deliberately moved slowly, my fingers trembling.

The moment the scarf slipped off, before it even hit the floor, Lucas kicked it into the corner.

In the next instant, his scorching hand clamped onto my jaw, forcing me to turn my head.

His gaze was nailed to my neck—where the fake mating Mark sat.

"What is this?"

His voice was shaking. It was a sign of extreme fury.

In my mind, I heard his wolf let out a violent roar.

"That filthy mutt dared to touch my sister! Kill him! Bite his head off!"

Good. The wolf that wanted to commit suicide was now energetic enough to commit murder.

I gritted my teeth and said nothing.

Lucas's jawline was tight to the breaking point, his pupils fully red.

"Emma, you're sixteen, for fuck's sake! You let that piece of trash Mark you?"

In his blind rage, he didn't even notice the Mark was fake.

I jerked my head away.

"It's none of your business! It's my freedom!"

Lucas slammed me against the wall, looking down at me, his tone dropping to absolute zero.

"I am your Alpha, and I am your guardian. I'm asking you one last time. Talk."

I looked up at him, dazed.

Since he picked me up at five years old, Lucas had always doted on me, even spoiled me.

I had burned his tail and destroyed his training ground, but he had never looked at me with such anger.

But I knew I had to keep acting.

Only sufficient anger could fill the void left in his heart by the loss of his Mate.

Only if he felt that "I had gone bad" would he be reluctant to die; he would have to stay alive to discipline me.

I took a deep breath and started to tremble.

The next moment, I slid down the wall to sit on the floor, buried my face in my hands, and began to cry hysterically.

"I won't tell you! Why do you keep forcing me? Is this what you call a mistake?"

"You love your Mate. Even if she chose someone else, you were willing to die for her, to give up your life for her! What about me? I love Jason too! I'd do anything for him! I just love him; I even want to have a litter of pups for him! What did I do wrong? What gives you the right to judge me like a Rogue on trial! Go to hell!"

After shouting this incredibly touching logic, the massive living room fell into a deathly silence.

Lucas's expression froze.

The roaring wolf in his mind also stunned into silence.

It was as if something had slammed hard into the minds of both man and wolf.

A second later, Lucas looked at me on the floor in disbelief, his voice dry as if he had swallowed gravel.

"Did you... learn this from me?"

Lucas looked at the girl crying on the carpet, and his heart felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand, making it almost impossible to breathe.

Who raised such a fool who disregarded everything for love?

He did.

My current state—willing to die for a scumbag, sacrificing myself so humbly—was a carbon copy of how he had been in the hospital.

He wanted to die because he lost his Mate.

So, I learned it.

I learned to sacrifice everything for so-called "love," even if it meant giving my body and heart to a piece of trash.

He had personally taught me to be this way.