Loud voices echoed through the air: "Bury her alive! Bury her alive!"
On a high platform, Alpha Cross stood grimly, gazing down at the woman chained tightly on the ground. Before her lay a coffin and a freshly dug grave.
He raised his hand, and the crowd fell silent. "Today, Allison is no longer the Luna of our pack," he declared, his voice heavy with finality. "She is to be buried for her heinous crimes of murder and betrayal..."
But before Alpha Cross could finish his words, the chained woman on the ground shouted with all her might, her voice piercing the tense air: "I curse you, Alpha! Even death won't be able to take away your pain!"
Suddenly, in a dark room, eyes shone with a bright, eerie blue, accompanied by deep breaths and gasps—indications that someone was inside.
The light flickered on, revealing a girl with a ponytail stepping down from her bed. Her name was Kira. This wasn't the first time she had nightmares of the execution ground. She walked into the bathroom to wash her face, then changed into a casual outfit and slipped on a pair of white sneakers.
Glancing at the wall clock, she confirmed it was still 5 a.m. She leaped out the window, landing gracefully on her feet before running off into the dawn.
"Come back early, Kira," a faint, almost inaudible voice whispered behind her. Though the words were soft, she heard them clearly from half a kilometer away.
Back at the house, surrounded by towering trees and nestled among the woods, the cozy structure seemed almost part of the landscape. At the side stood a small shed where their dog, whimpering softly, lay curled up.
A voice broke the quiet, gentle but tinged with concern. "When are you going to tell her the truth?" it asked, coming from the open doorway where an elderly woman stood.
Mrs. Samuels, her face etched with worry, lowered her eyelids as she looked outward. She hesitated, then softly replied, "I can't tell her the truth, honey. We're only going to hurt her more if we do. She's such a good girl; she doesn't deserve that pain."
Mr. Samuels, his old arms wrapping protectively around his wife, gently rested his chin on her shoulder. He offered her a reassuring smile. "Whenever you're ready to tell her, I'll support you — always, my love."
Mrs. Samuels exhaled a quiet sigh of relief, leaning into her husband's embrace. He kissed her gently on the cheek as they both turned their gaze toward the direction where Kira had just run off, her figure disappearing into the distance.
The cloud changed slowly, and the surrounding darkness brightened as dawn encroached with every second that passed.
Kira, who was jogging back home, suddenly frowned and stopped running. She stood still without moving and looked into the woods.
Aya, her wolf, was already restless in her mind. Kira could feel her excitement and hear her saying "Mate."
When she smelled the scent, her face darkened immediately. She already guessed her mate would be a man.
Right before her eyes, a man stepped out of the woods. His gray eyes, well-carved hairline, and his folded sleeves exposing his white, hairy arms, his tiny lips, taunting nose, and eyes that seemed to take anyone's soul who looked at them.
But what surprised the young man who had just stepped out of the woods was that Kira wasn't happy at all. He was used to girls throwing themselves at him just by being there.
"You are my mate," he said, sniffing the air. He sized up Kira and was impressed by her beauty.
Kira opened her mouth to sever the mate bond, but then Aya's sharp voice rebuked her: "Don't, you can't."
She winced in pain, feeling annoyed. She turned around and jogged away without any courtesy toward Pascal Williams.
Pascal's lips curled up as he mumbled, "Interesting."
This was the first time he was rejected by a lady—not just any lady, but his fated mate. He ran after her, catching up.
"My name is Pascal. Since you refused to ask, what is yours, my mate? You bea—"
Before he could finish his flirtation, Kira suddenly stopped and looked at him with hostility, warning sternly in a very aggressive tone, "Don't call me that!"
Pascal was shocked by her reaction. When he saw the look on her face, he knew she wasn't joking.
Kira turned around and jogged off, ignoring whether Pascal would do what she wanted or not. Pascal didn't give up; he still followed her.
Suddenly, Kira stopped and looked at him coldly. "Why are you following me?"
Pascal's lips curled into a confident smile as he put a hand in his pocket. "I have nowhere to go. Where you go is where I call home. I am lost. I can only find myself in you."
Kira looked at him with an expressionless face. She wasn't impressed by his words at all. She told him, "Ten kilometers from here, a group of boys harassed me. Make them regret doing that. I might consider telling you my name after that."
Finished speaking, she turned around and jogged away, not caring whether Pascal would do as she asked. Pascal looked at her, smiling, then suddenly grinned. "My mate is quite interesting."
He turned around and moved. Within seconds, he had already covered several meters. When he reached the exact distance Kira had given him, he saw a group of boys laughing and talking—they were four in number, smoking.
"Come on, Liam. I want to fuck her. Fuck that bitch. Hahaha!" They were all drunk.
Pascal approached them, their car parked along the roadside.
"Which of you made my girl unhappy?" he asked with a smile that wasn't quite a smile.
The boys were shocked. They looked at Pascal like they had seen an idiot. One of them ridiculed, "Knight of pussy, the greatest warrior Romeo, out to get the boys for complimenting his girl."
Pascal, still smiling, retorted, "Since we can have a civil discussion, let our hands continue the conversation."
He moved swiftly, grabbing one of them and smashing his face against the windshield. He then clamped two others and slammed their heads together before landing a kick that sent the last one flying several meters away. In a minute, they were all groaning on the ground in pain.
Pascal walked off slowly. A school bus drove by, and he suddenly looked toward the window. He waved and smiled at Kira, who looked at him coldly.