Chapter 3

Caitlyn's POV

After making sure that Talon had been safely away, I stood up, still in a daze.

"Whew—" I lifted my head to gaze at the moon and exhaled a long breath of relief.

Just as I was about to leave the misty forest, the shouting crowds arrived.

"Who's there?!" A coarse shout shattered the night's tranquility.

Soon, a horde of guards ran toward me, their weapons flashing coldly in the darkness and surrounding me.

"What are you doing here?!" A voice from the crowd exclaimed. It was Swain, Jayce's beta and best friend.

Swain examined me, his greedy gaze fixated on my bare thighs.

"Are you all right, Caitlyn?" Before I said anything, my father emerged from behind me, concern etched on his face as he saw my disheveled state.

"A high-ranking member from ourpack was killed. We found the killer fled in this direction. Did he happen to run into you?" my father asked as he quickly took off his jacket and wrapped it around my legs.

"No, I had just arrived when I saw a dark shadow fleeing that way," I hesitated, glancing at Swain behind my father and thinking about Talon's safety.

"We've searched everywhere else and found no trace of the killer. But this area still has the scent of the killer. He must have stayed here for some time!" Swain remarked coldly as he narrowed his eyes. "Ms. Caitlyn, can you explain your broken dress and the blood on your hands?"

"You mean Caitlyn is in league with the killer?" my father turned to question Swain grimly.

Swain seemed caught off guard by my father's immediate response, a flicker of panic crossing his eyes.

"Pantheon, I didn't mean it like that. It’s just that the safety of our pack and Alpha Shaco is more important than anything."

My father frowned when he heard Swain mentioned our Alpha.

"Caitlyn, think again. Have you seen anyone suspicious passing by?" My father turned back to me and asked softly.

"N-no… I-I haven't seen anyone," I responded, my voice wavering. Pursing my lips, I felt anxious as my fingers nervously brushed against my shirt.

"How can that be? You sure you didn’t—" Swain stepped forward, obviously not satisfactory with my answer.

"Enough!" Alpha Shaco interrupted Swain abruptly as he came over to me, offering a kind smile.

"Don't make things difficult for Caitlyn. Just expand the search area. Hopefully we’ll get the killer before dawn."

“Got it!” Swain shot me a disgruntled look before leaving.

After seeing the guards off, my father sent me back home.

"It's too dangerous, Caitlyn," my father whispered as he sat on the couch.

"Dad, I just..."

"You have no idea how vicious that werewolf you ran into tonight is. He's cold-blooded and ruthless, with barely any sense of mercy. Thank god he didn't kill you."

I looked into my father's worried eyes and wondered what he would do if he knew that Talon and I had had a one-night stand.

"I love you, Caitlyn. But I don't want you to get into any trouble. Now go back to have a good sleep."

“Thank you, dad. Good night.” I forced a smile and went back to my room.

As I lay on my bed, Talon's unruly face kept surfacing in my mind. It felt like I accidently opened Pandora's box, and everything was getting out of control.

I didn't know how long it took, but eventually, I fell into a deep sleep.

Early next morning, Leona came to my place before I even woke up.

"Hey, Caitlyn, did you hear that? One of the higher-ups in our pack was killed last night, and they say Talon did it!" Leona lowered her voice as she shared the news with me.

"Oh? Really?" I sat up sleepily and hesitated for a few seconds, finally deciding to pretend to know nothing about this matter.

“By the way, there’s a new cupcake store at the Crown Corner. You want to have a try?” Noticing that I wasn’t interested in the news, Leona changed the subject and invited me to a brunch.

“Sure!” I agreed immediately as my stomach grumbled.

Half an hour later at the cupcake store.

Our cupcakes were served quickly. Looking at the delicate vanilla cake on the table, I somehow felt like vomiting.

"What's wrong with you?" Seeing my face got paler, Leona got up immediately and came around to my side.

"Nothing. Maybe it’s just I didn’t have a good sleep last night." I waved my hand, tried to convince Leona that I was fine.

"How can this be?! We gotta go to the hospital right now!"

Despite insisting that everything was all right with me, I was dragged to the pack hospital by Leona and had a full body checkup.

"See? I told you I was fine," I showed Leona the long list of checkup results.

Just as I was about to take Leona home, Dr. Taric stopped me.

"Caitlyn, you're pregnant." He handed me a medical report with a serious look.

"What?!" Leona and I exclaimed in unison, completely shocked.

I hoped it was just a joke, but the stark words on the lab report shattered that hope.

"What’s going on?" Leona asked in disbelief as Dr. Taric got called away by an emergent surgery.

"Remember that night when I found out about Jayce and Mrogana?" I took a deep breath before plucking up the courage to meet Leona's gaze. "I ran into a man that night."

"A man?" It seemed that Leona couldn’t believe her ears. "Was he human?"

“ No. Actually he’s…” I shook my head honestly as Talon came to my mind.

But my words were abruptly interrupted by a sharp voice coming from behind me.

"What a coincidence! I never thought I'd see you here."

I turned around and saw Morgana and Jayce coming over.

“Stop playing the pregnant trick. Jayce’s never gonna take you, a weak human, as his Luna.” Morgana crossed her arms and looked at me with great hostility. Clearly, she had heard Dr. Taric's words.

Jayce stood next to her, glancing at me briefly before quickly turning his eyes away.

"Stupid ass," I muttered, dragging Leona away from the hospital.

On the way back home, Leona sat next to me in silence. After a moment of deep thought, I started, "Leona... I..."

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it now." Leona smiled at me, trying to ease my nerves.

"You might be surprised to hear this," I continued after taking a deep breath, “But the man I ran into that night was Talon.”

"Oh no! You got be kidding me." Leona exclaimed, her loud outburst causing the taxi driver to slam on the brakes.

"No, I didn’t." Seeing Leona's reaction, I couldn't help but give a helpless, bitter smile.