Hayden POV:
The next morning, I hadn't slept. I changed into a black dress and drove to the Carlisle Pack's estate. This place, which I once dreamed of calling home, now just made my stomach turn.
The guards at the gate stopped me. "Miss Hayden, the Alpha has given orders. You can't enter." Their eyes held a mixture of pity and distance.
I ignored them, reaching out to Kole through our mind-link.
Kole, I know you can hear me. Come out.
My mental voice was ice, stripped of all emotion.
A moment later, the large gates slowly swung open. Kole's tall figure appeared at the entrance. He wore a simple black t-shirt, his ice-gray eyes unreadable.
Carina, like a frightened bird, clung to his arm. She was dressed in a white lace dress, her eyes red-rimmed and pathetic.
"Carina," I said, my voice low but carrying across the distance. I looked directly at her. "What did you do to my grandmother yesterday?"
Carina flinched, immediately hiding behind Kole. "Hayden, I don't know what you're talking about..." she sobbed. "I just went to thank Annika for taking care of you..."
"Thank her?" I let out a cold laugh. "By verbally abusing an old woman with a heart condition until she had an attack? Is that how you show gratitude?"
Kole's brow furrowed. He stepped forward, placing himself between me and Carina. "Hayden, watch your tone. Carina meant well."
I stared at him in disbelief. "Meant well? Kole, my grandmother is dead! The only family I had!"
"It was an accident." Kole's voice was hard as iron. "The Pack's doctor, Dr. Alan Foster, has already issued a report. Annika's death was from natural causes. This matter is closed."
He had already forged a report. He moved so fast to protect her. My heart sank into a frozen pit.
"I want to see the Pack Elders!" I tried to push past him, to get into the estate. "I want to request a formal hearing!"
Kole grabbed my wrist. His grip was like an iron clamp. "I said, it's closed." His voice held the unmistakable weight of a command.
I struggled, but he didn't move. I could feel the heat of his palm, a warmth that once brought me comfort, now it only burned.
"Let me go!" I snarled.
"Hayden," he looked down at me, a flicker of something complex in his icy eyes before it was buried by indifference. "Don't push me."
"Push you? I'm seeking justice for my family! And you, my fated mate, are protecting the murderer!" My voice trembled with rage.
Behind him, Carina's crying intensified. "Kole, I really didn't... I'm so scared..."
Kole's jaw tightened. He released me, but his tone grew even harsher. "The Elders will not see you. That is my decision as Alpha."
I stumbled back a step, watching him shield the woman behind him. In that moment, I knew with absolute clarity that there was nothing left between us.
I turned and walked away from the estate without looking back.
Back in my car, I contacted a member of the Pack's council, a friend of my grandmother's. His reply was full of apology and helplessness. "Hayden, I'm sorry. The Alpha has given an order. No one is to speak of this again."
Every path was blocked. In the face of the Alpha's absolute power, my efforts were a joke.
I slumped over the steering wheel, my body shaking with suppressed fury.
No. I would not give up.
I pulled out my phone. In an encrypted contact list, I found a name: "Private Investigator."
I sent a text. "Need to investigate someone. Dr. Alan Foster. I want all his recent financial transactions and communication records."
If the Pack's rules wouldn't give me justice, then I would use my own rules to get it.
I started the car, my eyes calm again.
I drove to the only law firm in the city that wasn't under the jurisdiction of any Pack. I needed to be legally prepared for what came next.
I wasn't just going to get revenge. I was going to ruin them, in front of the entire werewolf world.
