Chapter 4

"Lawrence! You're going to regret–" Charlie suddenly raised his voice.

Right then, I saw Annie's name appear on Lawrence's phone.

"All right, I have something to take care of. I'll hang up now."

Lawrence immediately ended the call with Charlie.

"Annie?" Lawrence's tone softened instantly. "What's the matter?"

Annie was crying uncontrollably on the other end. "L-Lawrence, please come quickly. I-I received a letter. S-Someone wants to drive me away. I'm so scared."

Lawrence immediately stood up and grabbed his car keys. "Don't be afraid, Annie. I'm coming right over."

As he spoke, he reached into the cradle and took the gray rabbit plushie I'd prepared for our pup. He then hurriedly grabbed his coat and ran outside.

"Lawrence, that's the gift I prepared for our pup!" I figured out what he intended to do and tried to stop him, but he couldn't hear me.

I watched him speed away in his car. I then turned back to look at the nursery.

Everything was still arranged exactly as it had been before, but my pup would never be there.

When Lawrence arrived at the healer's den, Annie was wrapped in a blanket while trembling uncontrollably.

When she heard the sound of footsteps approaching, she abruptly lifted her head. Her eyes were bloodshot, and there were dried tears on her cheeks.

The moment she saw Lawrence, she jumped out of bed barefoot and threw her arms around him. "You're finally here," she sobbed. "I'm so scared."

Lawrence held her close while gently patting her back. "Annie, what happened?"

Trembling, Annie pointed at the nightstand. There was a torn-open envelope on it.

Lawrence picked up the letter. The handwriting was messy. It seemed like the writer had deliberately written it that way.

[Leave Lawrence. You don't deserve to be by his side. If you refuse, I'll have the elders expel you from the Dark Moon Pack. Without the pack's protection, you know exactly what the rogues will do to you. Don't force me to take action.]

The lower half of the paper was stained with dark red blood that had dried and turned black.

A strong, foul stench characteristic of rogues emanated from the paper.

Lawrence immediately looked furious.

He knew that tone all too well.

We had argued many times over Annie. Whenever I'd stormed out after one of our fights, the notes I'd left behind had carried the same threatening tone.

He crumpled the letter in his fist and tossed it into the trash can.

He then retrieved his phone. Standing behind him, I watched him type rapidly and forcefully.

[Tina, you've gone too far.]

[Using rogue blood to write a threatening letter? Bringing up Annie's childhood trauma to hurt her? You're the Luna of the pack. How could you do something so disgraceful?]

[You're with pup, and I can understand that your emotions are unstable, but I can't keep tolerating this level of stubbornness.]

[From today on, you no longer need to return to the healer's den. Stay home and prepare for the delivery. I'll arrange for someone else to take over your duties. You need time to calm down. Once you've given birth, we'll sit down and talk.]

Annie tugged at his sleeve and looked up at him.

"Lawrence, please don't blame Tina." Her voice was choked with sobs. "She's with pup, so it's understandable that she might lose control of her emotions. I don't want you to fight with her because of me."

"It's not your fault." Lawrence looked down at her. "She's the one who crossed the line."

"But–" Annie bit her lip. She hesitated for a long time before speaking again. "I heard Elder Charlie has been looking for you. Maybe it's because of what happened last night. He wants to stand up for Tina."

Her voice grew softer and softer as she lowered her head. "I'm so envious of Tina. Elder Charlie loves her like his own daughter. She's strong, and everyone in the pack likes her. Unlike me, I'm just a weak little Omega."

As she spoke, tears rolled down her cheeks and dripped onto Lawrence's sleeve.

Lawrence remained silent for a few seconds before retrieving the gray rabbit plushie.

"Don't be sad. I brought you a gift. It's the rabbit plushie you loved so much when you were little."

Annie froze for a moment before accepting it.

Lawrence's scent still lingered on the plushie.

She pressed the plushie against her chest and rubbed her cheek against it. She finally stopped crying and smiled. "I'm not a little pup anymore, but thank you. I really like it."

Lawrence looked at her and gently ruffled her hair.

He was about to say something when the door was suddenly pushed open from the outside.