Chapter 71
With the answer I gave to Benjamin, the boy didn’t seem to be assured. Still, he let me go. After that, both of us walked back to the place where Isabella disgustingly pretended to act scared. Seeing her like that made me scoff at her, causing the warriors who stood around became curious.
Benjamin straight-up ignored me as he walked up to Isabella, he then crouched so that he would be on the same eye level with her. Even though I could really feel the desire to kill Isabella right here and then, I couldn’t help but feel disappointment that echoed inside of me when I saw how close the two of them were again in this life. While I knew that it wasn’t remotely the same as the one in the past and I didn’t have to care anymore, the reaction just came out of an instinct. It fueled more for the pain that I had inside of me.
“Your name is Isabella, right?” Benjamin asked Isabella.
Meanwhile, Isabella just nodded as her eyes widened with fear when she looked around at everyone who surrounded her.
“We’ve been trying to find you for almost a week now. So, where have you been going?”
Her voice was exactly the same as how I remembered it. It made me wonder just how good it would feel when I stopped her from speaking ever again.
“I was attacked. Both me and another girl,” she started, audibly nervous.
“I believe her name was Ava, right? She introduced herself at the shops, then offered to show me around the town. But then we were attacked. The attack happened at a park down the street. Out of nowhere, a group of men came out. After that; they killed the girl before me.”
“So, why did they spare you?”
Isabella’s eyes started to water as she cried when she answered, “I don’t really have any idea, but they took me to a camp somewhere. They brought me to a cave. They tied me up and beat me. But I didn’t want to die in the darkness of a cave, so I waited until they went out to get some food. After that, I twisted my way out of the ropes by shifting. I-I think I’ve dislocated my ankle. The cave was so dark, though. I didn’t even know where I was. I’ve been walking without knowing where to go in the forests for now while I’m trying to find help.”
I couldn’t help but snort. It was way too rehearsed. Even her tears were rehearsed. There was no way that lots of patrols wouldn’t be able to locate her at that time she was allegedly all by herself in the forest. After all, our entire pack was highly alerted. We kept scanning the area to find rogues, but we didn’t even see her? Also, what was that about shifting? I swore that Isabella was only a year older than me. Dld she lie about that too?
“I was really frightened,” she said as she sobbed.
“I was thinking that I would die. I was only meant to stay here for a few days as I should’ve come back home by now. Please
. help me.”
“So, where your ‘home’ might be located, Isabella? What pack
are you from?” I smugly asked her because I wasn’t impressed by her charade like the other people around me.
After all, this was the Isabella that I remembered. She was the manipulator. I could clearly see how her words were making these warriors look at her with a bit of sympathy with her current situation. It was truly maddening. However, I knew that she would have to confess the truth. There were only two answers to my question. Either that she was a rogue or she would be caught up in a lie when no pack would be able to confirm Isabella’s identity.
“I actually don’t belong to any pack,” she answered as she turned her eyes to look at me.
“I was accidentally adopted and raised among humans. For now, I’ve been trying to navigate how all of this works. So, I just entered this world only very recently. I’m truly sorry because I still don’t really understand it very much. Did I do something wrong? Was I not meant to come here? I was only trying to find my biological family.”
Immediately, I clenched my jaw. Obviously, I was pissed at everything that the overly sweet sounding voice was telling
“Liar! Tell them the truth!”
If that were true, then there would be no way for her to be able to avoid the private investigator I had hired for as long as she did. Meanwhile, Isabella’s eyes widened even more as she flinched away from me.
“P-pardon me?”
“Do you expect that I’ll let you get away from murdering Ava
and Waltz into this pack? I know who you really are. You can’t try to trick me using those lame tricks.”
The story she was telling wasn’t necessarily an impossible occurrence, but it was incredibly rare and almost unheard of. Besides, she also knew about it. She had purposefully chosen that story because it would mean that we would be unable to confirm completely who she really was. It meant I couldn’t categorize her for being a rogue in the criminal sense.
This was all fucking bullshit. Frankly, it sounded more like the plot to one of Ava’s old fantasy novels than something that really happened. It was as if Isabella was a poor, average girl who just woke up one day only to realize that she was unlike any other humans. Was this the same storyline she had fed Benjamin in my previous life? Did he initially pity her too?
“Winona!” Benjamin then shouted at me.
“Enough!”
“Oh, so you’re choosing to pick her side?” I laughed as I turned my head to the Alpha’s heir.
“What a surprise there.”
“I’m not choosing anyone’s side here! I’m just trying my best to do my job and to understand what’s happened, It’s something that you’re making it very hard to do!”
After that, the boy then got up. Both of us then stood to see each other’s faces once again. This time, an air of furious silence between us caused tension.
“Fuck you, Benjamin!” I slowly shouted that out as I glared at him straight in his eyes.
But he perceived it as the final straw.
“Leave! Now!” he yelled angrily.
“Now, you’re off this case. Just go home and keep your head cool.”
Although I wanted to argue as well as scream back at him, I could feel that this wasn’t any ordinary demand. After all, he actually was brave enough to use the Alpha’s command to order me away. Somehow, I was able to feel the wave of authority rush through my body as it tried to control my movements. However, I also didn’t try to fight it. After all, I knew that I would need to obey it or it would only bring me pain until I obeyed it.
“Oh, also Winona?” he called me again as I turned my back.
This time, I didn’t turn around. Instead, I chose to stay still until he spoke again.
“Don’t think for a second that I’ll let you go anywhere close to her when you’re like this. From now on, you’re forbidden from seeing Isabella until it was advised otherwise from the upper rank werewolves.”
Instead of admitting his order, I just immediately walked off.
‘Jerk!’ I angrily whispered to myself as I left.
“He turned out to sympathize with that whore! It seems that some things haven’t changed.”
Each step I took made it harder for me to continue to walk after I felt anxious about leaving Isabella behind. The prospect of that girl escaping once again scared me. I really
had to find a way around the Alpha’s command to be able to see her. There had to be a way. Before my father caught my attention, I hadn’t even reached my car. I was very relieved to see him. After all, he was the only other person who could possibly understand how messed up this situation all was. So, I was confident that I could trust him.
“Father!” I shouted at him as I ran to him.
“Winona?” My father greeted me back happily, albeit confusedly.
“What’s the matter? What happened?”
“It’s Isabella. They’ve finally found her,” I replied as I held onto his arm desperately.
“But Benjamin has forbidden me from seeing her. You can’t let Isabella get away like this. Please, please! She’s way too dangerous!”
However, my father just looked at me cautiously as he stayed silent, seemingly sinking in a deep thought. He knew who Isabella was after what I had quickly explained about her involvement in Ava’s death a day or so earlier to him in private. Obviously, my father would notice how important things were, right? It wasn’t only for avenging Ava’s death, but probably to save myself in the future too. Or even save many others as well.
“Please!” I shouted even louder when my dad still hadn’t responded to me.
