Claire’s P. O. V
“Are you alone waiting for dawn in this place, my lady?”
Chen Lien startled me as I sat and looked at the forest, which seemed much calmer than my mind. I’d heard he had returned from work but hadn’t seen him at the dining table. So I chose to wait for him here instead of asking Ethan.
I don’t know why, but I felt he would come if I waited, as if he knew I was thinking about him and hoped to chat with him.
“What took you so long?” I said, making him jump.
“Were you waiting for me?”
“Of course, I hoped to talk to you about a few things, but you took so long I forgot what I wanted to say.”
“Oh, woe is me for not arriving sooner. Should I turn back time?”
I chuckled. “Why would you want to turn back time? It wouldn’t be fun because you wouldn’t get the same surprise after I told you I forgot what to say.”
“Oh, crap! I’d still have to pretend to be surprised.”
I couldn’t stop laughing. It felt like I was chatting with my best friend, even though Chen Lien was merely Ethan Randall’s business partner, an Alpha of The Silver Fire Pack.
“I never expected talking to you would be so enjoyable.”
“I’m glad you can laugh at my soap jokes. It’s an honor,” he replied.
Chen Lien didn’t come empty-handed; he brought a juice can and offered it to me. Of course, I accepted it and drank.
“Do you enjoy traveling with Ethan?” Chen Lien suddenly asked.
“What makes you think it was a bad trip?”
“Because I heard you only traveled with Danny while Ethan kept doing business with those people.”
“You’ve been working too hard under Ethan’s orders, just like Danny. So when Ethan gave me his black card, I immediately invited Danny to have fun while trying to gather some information from him.”
“About the man who came to the Pack that time?”
“Yeah, Christopher Gale.”
“Wow, it’s a surprise that you even know his name.”
“Of course, I couldn’t forget how that man looked at me, as if his gaze became a nightmare for me for some time, every night,” I replied. And thinking about how it had really become a nightmare, I couldn’t imagine closing my eyes, even for a few minutes.
“The fake Alpha, huh?”
“Do you know him? What kind of person is he? Tell me how dangerous he is,” I started interrogating Chen Lien after failing to extract any valuable information from Danny or Ethan, who clearly knew everything.
“Well, what do you want to know?” he challenged, as if he knew I would do this.
“I don’t know exactly how he leads. But unlike Ethan, who commits atrocities outside the Pack to make a lot of money and prosper his Pack, Christopher Gale is different,” Chen Lien explained. “That guy does all acts of war, not caring whether it’s his Pack members or not. When they oppose him, they die.”
I swallowed hard, hearing this. So does that mean Christopher Gale does everything to be recognized as an Alpha in a place where he shouldn’t be?
“Is he that cruel when he rules?”
Chen Lien nodded at my question. That was unusual, considering he often preferred to hide the truth rather than talk about it.
He nodded. “While Ethan only uses his cruelty to gain benefits out there, making his Pack bigger with friendliness and wise behavior, Ethan returns to lead as a respectable Alpha in this Pack. Unlike Christopher Gale, who doesn’t care about that. He does everything to make everyone submit to his control.”
Wow, this is amazing. While everyone wants to be respected by their surroundings, Christopher Gale takes their fear to make them obey.
Something genuinely unusual for all the Alphas I’ve known. However, it doesn’t mean the Alpha in my previous Pack was brave and acted justly to his colony. When he found out that Christopher Gale had killed the nuns and orphans, he just stood still, doing nothing like a fool controlled by fear.
“Is that why he really wants to kill me?” I murmured.
But when I said that, Chen Lien looked panicked. He immediately grabbed my shoulder and asked, “Who told you that?”
“Of course, Ethan,” I replied without hesitation. “Besides, seeing how he kept approaching me even when I was in the Philippines last week made me sure that Christopher Gale wanted something from me, maybe my life.
“Claire, stop this now. Christopher Gale is not someone you can observe, and your curiosity could kill you. So please stop this immediately.”
“What is this? Why are you so worried? Ethan did the same to me,” I said, trying to stop Chen Lien’s sudden fear. “Why do you both say the same thing? If Christopher Gale truly wanted something that would benefit him more, it wouldn’t work. Because I’m nobody, not a Luna or someone who will bear heirs for this Pack,” I said, then stood up.
“You know, I’m someone who’s not needed, not even a Luna who is wanted,” I added before finally leaving Chen Lien alone with an expression I still couldn’t explain.
Is it worry or just an unfounded fear? I don’t know, and I don’t want to know yet.
“Claire, where are you going?” He sounded like he wanted to stop me.
“I want to rest, I’m tired of all of you,” I replied without stopping on my way to the room.
Yes, of course. No one will ever consider me something in this Pack. Not as a human, let alone as a Luna. My presence here is just to find out who killed my family, but seeing all the events that have happened, I’m convinced that Christopher Gale did it.
But why did he do it? What does he want from me?
If he wants to use me as bait to make Ethan submit to him, that will never happen. Because I’m just an unwanted Luna. He does not have something valuable he can use to get Ethan.
If that’s what Christopher Gale wants, why me? I’m not loved, not a desired Luna, nor someone who will bear heirs for this Pack.
With all that, shouldn’t it be Lucy Torrance he’s after, not me, who is nobody in this Pack? Because after I avenge my family’s death, I will disappear from this Pack, from Ethan Randall’s sight.
Yeah, sure. I’ll leave right after that. Because no matter how much I like this place, it’s not my home.