The pup lying frozen in that cold-iron ice locker might once again be Evan!
Terror gripped me, every hair on my body standing on end as my wolf instincts screamed danger.
Then I spotted him in the crowd—the neighbor's cub, wearing a mask of innocent curiosity.
I moved before I could think, crossing the distance and seizing his wrist in an iron grip.
"Tell me—was this your doing?!"
I remembered him well. Kieran Ashfang. An unranked cub showing all the signs of feral-leaning aggression, the kind that made even grown wolves uneasy.
He yanked his arm free, his face twisting into a wounded expression.
"Auntie, what did I do wrong? Why are you grabbing me?"
Only then did I realize every wolf in the gathering had their eyes fixed on me.
Still, I couldn't stop myself from snarling at him. "You know exactly what you've done!"
"The Wardens will be here soon. I suggest you confess before they arrive!"
This was a life we were talking about—a precious life.
A pup, no less. Frozen to death in that cursed locker.
Even if this wasn't my Evan, I couldn't pretend nothing had happened!
Kieran's mother appeared at the scene.
The moment Vanessa Frostveil saw me gripping her son, she shoved me hard.
"You worthless she-wolf, what do you think you're doing to my pup?!" she spat.
"He killed someone. What do you think?" I shot back.
A flash of panic crossed Vanessa's eyes.
She immediately denied her son had killed anyone, accusing me of making wild accusations.
I grabbed her arm and dragged her to the ice locker.
"Open your eyes and look!"
Vanessa barely glanced at the frozen form before turning away.
She demanded to know what proof I had that her son was responsible, telling me to stop spreading lies.
I kept my expression hard, my gaze boring into her.
"The den has scent-trail records. How else would I know?"
I was bluffing. Our border-trade post had no such thing.
But Vanessa seemed to know our family's den inside and out. She told me not to bother with deception.
Whether we had recording charms or not—she knew better than I did.
What I hadn't expected was my mate, Darius Nightclaw, suddenly bursting through the door.
He grabbed my shoulders with crushing force, looking like his very soul had been ripped from his body.
"Where is he? Where's our pup?!"
"I told you not to travel alone with him. I warned you not to leave pack territory!"
My mate's accusations left me bewildered.
His reaction mirrored exactly what had happened in my previous life, but the pup in that locker wasn't ours.
Why was he so certain the frozen body was Evan?
I didn't reveal the truth. Instead, I decided to play along.
"Aren't you supposed to be on pack business in the outer territories?"
"My duties finished early. Is it wrong for me to worry about you handling our pup alone?"
"Looks like I was right to worry—you've gotten our Evan killed!"
His voice cracked with anguish, his face contorting with grief.
Then he turned his fury on my parents. "My son is dead, and you share the blame!"
My mother and father stood frozen, never imagining the frozen pup could be Evan.
Hearing Darius's words, my mother's wail of grief echoed through the den. She nearly collapsed several times.
My father remained motionless, unable to process what he was hearing.
"Give me back my son!!"
Darius howled at my parents like a wounded beast.
Then he whirled on me, eyes blazing red. "You're the one who killed him!"
"If you hadn't brought Evan back to your birth-den, would this have happened?!"
Strangely, I felt myself growing calmer.
I watched my mate's performance—the tears, the despair, every emotion displayed so perfectly.
But my instincts whispered that something was deeply wrong.
Whose pup was really in that ice locker?
I had taken Evan to my older sister Selene's den. So where had Kieran gotten a pup to put in that freezer?
I looked at Darius steadily. "You haven't even looked at the pup in that locker. How can you be so certain it's our son?"
