Chapter 2

It was I who met the pack earlier, and became the daughter of my parents, and the sister of my older brother Zayn. But somehow they were stolen by Laurel with her teardrops so easily.

The servant dared not say anything more in my favor when he found my mom so agitated. At this moment, Zayn received a phone call from the Werewolf Council. I didn't want to stay here, so I followed Zayn to the council office, where Zayn worked with the Werewolf Council as a forensic expert to investigate the death of wolves for a long time.

A corpse was placed in the middle of the office. It was emitting a strong smell of stench. Zayn was stunned by the condition of the corpse. The face of the corpse was not recognizable. It seemed to have been bitten by some wild animals, leaving only a pit in the original place where the face was. The remnant of the brain was air-dried on her hair. Except for new scars scraped along the way she fell down the cliff, some old scars were also visible on her limbs. As if not enough, wounds of burns and holes poked by sharp knives all indicate that not only did she die in misery, but lived an unhappy life when she was alive. What's worse, her wolf may have endured long periods of torture before her death.

Zayn exhaled a long breath and examined the corpse proficiently. He gave his opinion after a while: "She-wolf, around the age of 18, died from trauma to the head from falling. All organs inside her wolf were broken, and claws were lost, with obvious cuts. She seemed to be murdered."

His assistant recorded his opinion while mumbling in regret: "Too bad she is so young to die in such a way." Zayn was taking off the rubber gloves when he stopped all of a sudden. He squinted at the corpse, his eyes shifting as he thought of something.

I knew thoughts that it might be his sister had crossed his mind, but he dared not admit …

I followed him home after his work.

Laurel dashed to the door to welcome fawningly Zayn the moment he entered. "Brother, you are back."

Usually, Zayn would caress her head as his response. But this time, Zayn did not even raise his head. He lowered his head, changing shoes and clothes mechanically, and slumped into the sofa. Dad noticed his abnormality, furrowing his eyebrows, and asked: "What happened? Is there anything wrong with your work?"

Zayn had examined various types of corpses at the Werewolf Council, but not even once was he as lost as this time.

"Is it that body under the cliff …"Dad was about to say something when Mom, nervous and flustered, accidentally spilled the water cup on her hand.

"Was the corpse identified?" Mom lowered her voice. I could sense the tension in her shivering voice.

Zayn shook his head, answering: "Not yet. The final result takes days to confirm. I just feel bad for that young she-wolf. She is only 18 or so. Her claws were cut off, and she was pushed down the cliff. I guess she was tortured or bullied for a long time before her death. Wounds are all over her body. I feel sad for her."

Laurel jumped into the conversation, trying to comfort Zayn by saying, "Poor she-wolf. But don't overthink about it. Maybe it is a relief for her to leave this world directly."

Zayn raised his head suddenly and looked at Mom, asking, "How is Petra? She is still not found?"

Mom scoffed, "Who knows where that bad she-wolf is?"

Dad was nervous, "Do you think it's possible that …"

Mom stopped his words, "What are you gibbering about? Did you not listen to what Zayn said? How could Petra be hurt in that way? It's always Petra hurting other wolves rather than the way averse."

Dad and Zayn felt so relieved and relaxed after hearing what Mom said.

I drifted aside and smiled bitterly.

Mom, how could you know? It was I who died. It was I whose claws were cut off. It was I who was tortured and bullied before my death. It was I whose body was covered in scars, new and old.

Nothing was different in the days following.

Every one of the pack was busy preparing for the Transformation Ritual of Laurel. I was not recalled or mentioned. Mom was the first one to think of me because her treasured moonstone necklace was missing.