"Do I even need to look? I heard about it just moments ago!"
"Heard from whom?"
Seeing that I intended to dig deeper into this matter, his demeanor shifted to irritation.
He turned the questioning back on me. "Can you stop trying to change the subject?"
"You were the one who brought Evan here. Now that something has happened, you still want to point claws at me?"
I shook my head, keeping my expression calm.
"I'm not trying to accuse you. I'm simply curious."
The moment those words left my lips, my mate struck me across the face with an open palm.
"You cold-blooded, selfish she-wolf! All you ever think about is yourself!"
"No—your entire den is the same. May you all meet cursed ends!"
Darius had convinced himself that my family's carelessness had caused our pup's death.
The time, the place, the words he spoke—all of it mirrored my previous life exactly.
The only difference was the frozen pup. It wasn't my Evan.
Every move Darius made filled me with suspicion.
Outside, neighboring wolves were being held back, all demanding to know what had happened.
I ignored them and informed my mate that I had already summoned the Wardens.
First, we needed to find the one responsible for this killing.
He accused me of acting out of guilt.
In his eyes, I was clearly the killer. What was there to argue about?
My parents adored Evan even more than I did.
They constantly urged me to bring the pup home so they could spend more time with him.
When they learned the pup was gone, their grief matched my own.
Yet my father could only offer comfort to Darius. "Darius, blame us. This has nothing to do with Lyra."
"If you need to rage, direct it at us. We're the ones who failed you."
Darius looked at them with a smile that held no warmth.
Those eyes of his had turned utterly cold and dark.
"If you hadn't kept pressuring her to bring Evan back here, would any of this have happened?"
"This is your fault from the start. None of you can escape responsibility!"
I could bear no more and cut him off. "Are you finished? If so, wait for the Wardens to handle this."
"And then what? Will the Wardens bring my Evan back to life?"
"He was only five moons old! Give me back my pup!"
My mate's behavior grew stranger by the moment.
From the day I birthed Evan until the day I brought him to my parents' den, Darius had barely interacted with him. He had scarcely held the pup more than a handful of times.
This made me doubt whether he had ever truly loved our child. So why was he so agitated now?
My father sighed heavily, clearly drowning in self-blame.
I wanted so badly to tell them that Evan wasn't dead.
I had sent him to my older sister Selene's den. He was probably sleeping peacefully at this very moment.
But Darius's abnormal reactions told me something was deeply wrong.
When I turned my gaze back to Kieran Ashfang, I found him watching me with a strange half-smile.
That demonic stare sent an involuntary shiver down my spine.
I forced myself to remain calm.
I spoke to him in an even tone. "I hope you'll come forward and admit what you did."
Kieran immediately ducked behind his mother, appearing nervous.
But I knew it was all an act.
In my previous life, his family had only paid blood-price. They never once offered an apology.
And this little demon faced no consequences under pack law.
He continued his life as if nothing had happened.
Still attending training with other cubs. Still playing without a care.
The worst part was his claim that he had placed Evan in the cold-iron ice locker because he was imitating something he saw in a story-telling.
I didn't care whether he had learned it from some tale or not.
All I knew was that my Evan was gone, while the true killer walked free!
Vanessa Frostveil shielded her son, glaring at me with fury in her eyes.
She looked ready to bare her fangs at the slightest provocation.
My own mate sided with outsiders, telling me to stop evading responsibility.
I turned my gaze toward the entrance of the trading post and spotted Eldon Stonebriar, the elderly pack elder who served as our territory's boundary-warden. He leaned heavily on his carved walking staff, his silver-streaked fur visible at his temples where age had touched him.
Around his neck hung a memory talisman—an oath-charm that recorded everything his eyes witnessed.
His family had given it to him because his mind sometimes wandered these days. The enchanted crystal could relay his location and surroundings back to his kin in real time, keeping him safe when he patrolled alone.
I approached him with careful respect, dipping my head slightly. "Elder Stonebriar, might I borrow your talisman for a moment?"
We were all denmates in this territory block, and the old wolf agreed without hesitation.
I carried the memory talisman back into the trading post. The moment Darius and Vanessa saw what I held, their expressions darkened.
It didn't take long for me to call forth the stored images—there it was, clear as moonlight: Kieran Ashfang carrying an infant into the trading post.
