The Waiting Lady's Affair.

My foster sister Sophia, the last purebred white wolf in Grell village, was dead.

Three days. That's how long she suffered at the hands of an unknown rogue wolf before they found her.

Her pure white wolf bloodline had been completely defiled. She couldn't face the pack anymore. She was terrified of bringing misfortune to everyone she loved.

So she ran into the forest. She bit through her own throat with her fangs. Then she threw herself into the ice lake.

[]

The water turned red around her broken body.

Her suicide note contained only one sentence: "Lina saw his face."

From that day forward, I became the pack's greatest sinner.

Because I knew who the killer was. I knew his name, his face, his scent. Yet I chose silence. For five whole years, I protected that monster.

"Aunt Lina, please!" The voice outside my cave was raw with desperation. "Just tell me his name!"

It was Aiden. Sophia's only cub. He knelt outside my stone cave every full moon, tears streaming down his young face.

"Please! Avenge my mother! You saw the killer's face! Why won't you speak?"

His sobs echoed off the cave walls. Each cry felt like a knife twisting in my chest. This seven-year-old child had lost everything. His mother was gone. His childhood was destroyed.

And I was the only one who could give him justice.

I stood behind the stone door, listening to his heartbreaking wails. My hands trembled against the cold rock. Every instinct screamed at me to comfort him, to hold him, to give him the answers he needed.

Instead, I turned away. I walked deeper into my cave and shut the inner door.

The sound of his crying followed me into the darkness.

"You bastard protector!" The angry voices outside grew louder. "You betrayed Grell!"

The pack had surrounded my cave again. They carried torches that cast dancing shadows on the walls. Their furious roars made the stone foundation shake.

"Come out and face us, traitor!"

"You're protecting the scum who defiled our purebred!"

"Coward! Murderer!"

I had heard these accusations every night for five years. The words had lost their sting. But the hatred behind them still burned like acid in my veins.

I walked to where Fenrir waited in the shadows. My black hunting dog had been my only companion since Sophia's death.

"Drive them away," I whispered, reaching for his iron chain.

The pack members scattered like startled prey.

They left. But I lost everything that night too.

Five years later, my body grew weak and frail. I could barely leave my stone bed. Only the medicinal herbs native to our territory kept me alive.

That’s when Damien stepped through the destruction.

My foster brother had returned. He was no longer the young wolf I remembered from our childhood. Now he stood as the most powerful Alpha lord in North America. Twelve Black Wolf Guards flanked him like shadows of death.

"Get up, Lina." His voice was colder than winter ice. "Today is your judgment day."

Two Black Wolf Guards rushed forward without hesitation. They grabbed my arms and hauled me off the bed like a sack of grain.

"Damien, I'm sick—" I gasped, my voice barely a whisper.

"Sick?" He laughed, but the sound held no warmth. Only bitter contempt. "You're sick because you have guilt eating away at your conscience!"

His amber eyes burned with fury I had never seen before. This wasn't my brother anymore. This was a stranger wearing his face.

"Sophia was blind to call you sister!" he snarled. "She's been dead for ten years! Meanwhile, the bastard who defiled purebloods has been living free for ten years!"

The guards dragged me toward the cave entrance. My bare feet scraped against the rough stone, leaving bloody trails.

"Today I'll use the Soul Vision Device," Damien continued, his voice rising with each word. "I'll see exactly who you've been protecting all these years!"

The moon was full and bright overhead. Its silver light illuminated the packed village square below.

Every werewolf in Grell had gathered for this moment. They formed a perfect circle around the ancient judgment platform. Their eyes gleamed with bloodlust and anticipation.

A pack recorder held up a crystal orb. The magical device pulsed with ethereal light. I realized with growing horror that this trial was being broadcast live to the entire North American werewolf community.

The Black Wolf Guards hauled me up the stone steps. Each movement sent pain shooting through my malnourished body.

"Aunt Lina!" A small figure broke through the crowd and rushed onto the platform.

Aiden. Seven years old now. Sophia's only surviving blood. His wolf eyes had already begun to turn red with rage and grief.

He grabbed my torn sleeve with both hands. "Why won't you tell us who killed her? Why won't you let me avenge my mother?"

Tears streamed down his young face. His voice cracked with unbearable pain.

"I've waited five years! Five whole years!" he sobbed. "Every night I dream about her! She's calling for justice!"

I looked down at this broken child. My throat felt like it was closing up. The words I wanted to say turned to ash in my mouth.

The crowd below began to howl:

"She knows the killer but won't speak!"

"Rogue wolves are all heartless!"

"She's brought shame to Grell's honor!"

Their voices crashed over me like a tsunami. Louder and louder until I couldn't think straight.

Damien stepped in front of me. His wolf eyes were like chips of arctic ice.

We had once been family. We had played together as cubs. We had shared meals and stories and dreams. But after Sophia's death, he decided I had betrayed everything sacred.

"There's still time to tell the truth," he said, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper. "Confess who you've been protecting. Admit which bastard defiled our purebred."

He leaned closer. His breath was hot against my ear.

"Otherwise, when the Soul Vision Device activates, the high-frequency vibrations will make you wish for death. Your wolf bones will shatter piece by piece."

I struggled desperately against the guards holding me. "Damien, you can't activate it! You'll regret this!"

"Regret?" He laughed coldly, cutting off my words. "My biggest regret is picking you up from the snow when we were children!"

His voice turned raw with pain and fury. "All these years, I treated you like a real sister! I protected you! I cared for you!"

The Black Wolf Guards forced me into the metal judgment chair. The cold steel bit into my skin. Heavy shackles locked around my wrists and ankles.

I couldn't move. I couldn't escape.

A metal helmet descended from above. Countless thin needles pressed against my scalp, searching for entry points. The sharp tips pierced through skin and bone, drilling straight toward my wolf soul core.