Chapter 3
2630words
By the time Sean had endured two years of his double identity torment in high school, Amy was facing her middle school graduation exams. With her grades, she could have easily been recommended to the best private magnet high school in the city. But when filling out her preferences, she unhesitatingly gave up that opportunity and firmly chose the ordinary high school where Sean attended.
"Wherever Sean is, that's where I'll go," Amy said matter-of-factly as she held her pen, as if this was a decision requiring no thought or deliberation.
Sean heard this news when he came to visit her at school.
Along with joy, his heart was overwhelmed by an even deeper pain.
He knew that over these two years, he had accepted deeper and more brutal training from the Hunting Association. What he was learning was how to kill her kind more efficiently. The chasm between them, called "truth," would only grow deeper and more difficult to cross.
He couldn't imagine what Amy's eyes would look like when the identity lie called "Sean" that he had woven with his own hands was completely exposed... disgust, betrayal, and bone-deep fear.
And so, Sean spent several years torn between loyalty and betrayal, light and darkness.
He was admitted to Harbor City University, truly beginning his career as a Hunter.
Switching identities was as natural to him as breathing, yet like each breath, it carried an indescribable pain.
During the day, he was that quiet, cold, and reserved top student on the campus of Harbor University. Sunlight streamed through the library's huge floor-to-ceiling windows, falling upon the pages he turned, coating him with a warm and harmless halo. He would sit with classmates in the lecture hall, listening to tedious courses, and occasionally appear on the basketball court, drawing suppressed gasps of admiration from the female students.
He had perfectly blended himself into this peaceful existence.
However, when night fell, when the city's neon lights painted the sky an ambiguous purple-red, the transformation began.
He would walk into the deepest bathroom of the subway station, and when he emerged, the ordinary casual jacket he wore would be replaced by the Hunting Association's specially made black combat suit designed for mobility. His gentle, harmless gaze would turn as cold as a Siberian winter, with no trace of warmth remaining that belonged to "Sean."
At this moment, he was no longer Sean. He was the sharpest blade of the Hunting Association, the nightmare that made all high-level werewolves tremble—codename "Frost."
During each mission, when his silver dagger slit a werewolf's throat, feeling the hot blood splatter across his face, he had to force himself to lock away all the warm memories from the orphanage, the cup of hot milk that girl had offered him, her completely trusting smile—all of it sealed into the deepest part of his heart, in a cage called "Forbidden Zone."
He had to become a cold, precise, and utterly inhuman killing machine.
Because he knew that only this way could he survive.
And only this way would he have the power to protect that light which he was destined to betray.
***
Spring in Harbor City was Amy's favorite season. Sunlight filtered through layers of sycamore leaves, casting dappled golden patches onto the ground, while the air filled with the fragrance of flowers.
Amy walked along the famous sycamore avenue of Harbor City University, carrying a backpack that held her admission letter. Even after sitting on a hard-seat train for more than ten hours, her mood was as bright and full of expectation as the weather, and she even hummed a tuneless song as she walked.
She hadn't told Sean in advance that she was coming. She wanted to surprise him.
The half year they had been apart felt like two centuries to her.
Longing, like wildly growing vines, had wrapped around Amy's entire heart, leaving no room to breathe.
She was no longer that naive little girl; she clearly recognized her feelings for Sean, and so, she had come.
The university campus was bustling with people, but Amy still spotted that familiar figure at first glance.
Sean was standing under a sycamore tree not far away, side by side with a girl, seemingly discussing something.
Sean was dressed the same as before, in the simplest white T-shirt and jeans, with a straight posture, like a silent and resilient poplar tree.
Only now, there was another girl by his side.
That girl was very pretty, with chestnut-colored wavy hair, a well-tailored beige dress, fair skin, and an elegant demeanor.
She was looking up, saying something to Sean, with a bright and confident smile on her face. A breeze blew past, and she casually raised her hand to tuck a disheveled strand of hair behind her ear, her fingertips naturally brushing against Sean's arm—that intimacy and familiarity seemed as if it had been practiced hundreds of times, becoming an unspoken habit.
And Sean, seemingly accustomed to such contact, didn't flinch at all. He merely tilted his head slightly, listening attentively, with even a faint trace of a smile at the corner of his mouth.
That smile, Amy had never seen before.
A sharp, sour feeling, like a sudden tide, submerged Amy's heart, catching her completely off guard.
Amy's footsteps froze, unable to move forward even an inch. She instinctively hid behind a sturdy sycamore, not daring to look at that scene again, nor daring to see Sean anymore. She just wanted to be alone now, quietly walking around this unfamiliar campus.
Yes, just her alone!
At that moment, several students carrying books, who must have just finished class, walked past her.
"Look, Sean is with Sarah again. They're really inseparable."
"Yeah, I heard they go to the library together, eat together, and even work on projects together. They're practically official."
"They're so perfect together - talented guy, beautiful girl, both stars in the department. Look how happy they look."
These light-hearted comments, filled with envy and gossip, were like coarse sand mixed with salt, being roughly rubbed into Amy's bleeding heart, making her pain so intense that she couldn't even breathe.
So when I wasn't around, Sean would let other girls into his life.
Haha, of course, after all, I'm just his sister, a sister he met at the orphanage with no blood relation.
What right do I have to compare myself to her?
An enormous, unprecedented sense of inferiority, like a cold tide, instantly engulfed her. The unique place she had always firmly believed she held in Sean's heart collapsed with a crash in this moment.
Just as she was about to be swallowed by this bitter wave, Sean seemed to notice something, suddenly turning his head, his gaze precisely cutting through the crowd and tree shadows, landing on her.
In that instant, the smile on his face froze, replaced by complete, undisguised shock and wild joy.
"Amy!"
Sean's voice was filled with undisguised, complete delight. He didn't even take time to say goodbye to Sarah beside him before immediately pushing through the crowd and hurrying toward her.
No, don't come over!
Amy screamed with all her might in her mind.
Please, don't come over. How can I face you looking like this? I can't adjust to an appropriate expression right now to face you and that perfectly matched girl by your side.
Amy's pride and that sharp, sour feeling made her want to turn and run away immediately. However, her feet felt as if they were filled with lead, heavily anchored behind the tree, unable to move an inch.
She could only watch helplessly as Sean ran toward her.
And behind him, the girl named Sarah was also taking elegant steps, unhurriedly following along.
At that moment, Amy felt like a prisoner about to be publicly executed.
"Why are you here? Why didn't you tell me in advance?" Sean ran up to her, his voice full of surprise, but he quickly noticed Amy's pale face and reddened eyes. "What's wrong? You look upset. Are you tired from the journey?"
"I... well, yes, I am a bit tired," Amy forced a smile.
At this moment, Sarah had already walked to their side.
She wore a gentle and appropriate smile, her gaze discreetly scanning Amy inch by inch.
"Sean, who is this?" she asked with a smile, her voice crisp and pleasant.
Who am I?
I want to say, we are childhood sweethearts! I want to say, I am his most important person! I want to rush over and, like when we were children, tightly hold his arm and announce my ownership to everyone!
But the reality is that now she can only lower her head, using all her strength to squeeze out from her throat, "I am, I am Sean's sister, Amy."
"So you're his sister," Sarah smiled, and very naturally reached out her hand to gently hold Sean's arm.
"Sean rarely mentions his family. I thought he was like me, all alone. But seeing how close you two are, you must have been very close since childhood, right?"
The moment his arm was held, Sean's body instantly stiffened, but he forced himself to relax his tense muscles, not pulling away, allowing Sarah to hold onto him.
Amy's smile became even more rigid. Her instincts were screaming wildly, urging her to rush forward and tear that woman's hand away from Sean's arm.
What right did that woman have? By what authority?
But what right do I have to stop her? I'm just his "sister."
"Yes, yes," she heard her own voice, as if coming from far away, floating and unreal, "We grew up together, and Sean... he has always taken care of me."
Just as the atmosphere became extremely awkward, several classmates passing by after class noticed the three of them.
A male student said with a carefree laugh: "Hey, Sean, is this your sister? No wonder you're siblings, you're both so good-looking!"
Another female student glanced ambiguously at Sarah, teasing jokingly: "Sean, your sister is so pretty, I'm sure your future taste won't be too bad either. When will you introduce us to a good-looking 'sister-in-law'?"
Amy tried hard to maintain her expression beside them.
"I haven't thought about dating yet," Sean's gaze swept across those joking classmates, and also subtly passed over Sarah beside him, his tone calm but unusually firm. "For me, studies come first."
Afterwards, Sean stopped talking, and only said to Sarah in a tone that couldn't be refused: "My sister is visiting Harbor City for the first time, so I need to take her to get settled. We can discuss the project later."
After speaking, he finally, without showing any emotion, extracted his hand from Sarah's arm, and then naturally, took the backpack from Amy's shoulder.
Sarah was tactful enough not to follow them, instead standing in place and watching them leave with a meaningful gaze.
On Sycamore Avenue, students still passed by laughing and playing, the sunshine was still warm, but Amy, walking beside Sean, felt as if she was wrapped in an invisible, cold membrane.
The atmosphere was different from any previous time they had been alone together.
"Don't misunderstand," Sean was the first to break the suffocating silence, his voice somewhat dry. "Sarah and I are just ordinary classmates and project partners, not what they said."
He tried to explain, but felt an unprecedented sense of helplessness.
"But I heard them say that you two are inseparable." Amy didn't look at him, just kept her head down.
That single sentence blocked all of Sean's explanations in his throat, unable to utter another word.
How could he explain? The Hunting Association's headquarters was in Harbor City. Should he tell her that the reason he and Sarah were close was because they were both "eyes" planted by the Hunting Association in this university? That they needed to frequently exchange intelligence about werewolf movements, needed to use "course projects" as cover for their secret meetings?
He couldn't say it. Not a single word.
Every word, to her, would be a betrayal more cruel and fatal than "falling for someone else."
Seeing his silence, the light in Amy's eyes completely dimmed.
She stopped asking and silently quickened her pace.
Silence, like an endless wilderness, spread between them. They walked side by side, so close in distance, yet their hearts seemed separated by mountains and seas.
The two walked silently for a long time outside, eventually finding a hotel and booking two adjacent single rooms.
At night, Amy curled up at the foot of the bed in her room, silently processing her pain.
Just then, a scorching heat surged unexpectedly from deep within her body, instantly sweeping through her entire being. Amy's skin began to flush, her breathing became rapid and hot, and a rich jasmine fragrance erupted uncontrollably from her gland, immediately filling the entire room.
In the adjacent room, when Sean smelled this jasmine fragrance—a hundred times more intense than before and carrying a fatal invitation—his pupils instantly contracted! Blood rushed to his lower abdomen, and his Alpha instincts frantically clamored, urging him to possess and mark that Omega.
"Damn it!" he growled, veins bulging on his forehead. He could hear Amy's suppressed moans from next door. Without hesitation, he rummaged through his backpack for an Omega suppressant and burst through Amy's door.
Perhaps because Amy's pheromone scent had been altered, her heat cycles had only stabilized in the past six months, but Sean always kept a suppressant in his bag for her.
In the room, Amy was curled up on the floor, delirious.
Sean fought against the burning agony of his crumbling rationality, rushed over in a few steps, knelt down, and with trembling hands precisely injected the suppressant into Amy's arm.
As the drug took effect, the surging heat waves inside Amy gradually subsided, and her consciousness slowly returned.
She looked at Sean before her, his face contorted from extreme restraint, his body drenched in sweat, seeing how he had never once acted inappropriately toward her from beginning to end. A despair colder than her heat cycle rose in her heart.
He could resist. Even in such a situation, he still chose to restrain himself.
So, he really just sees me as a sister, but I still like him so much. What should I do?
Amy's heart sank slowly into a bottomless abyss.
After that night, the relationship between Sean and Amy fell into an even more delicate and awkward state.
Their relationship only began to ease when Amy entered Harbor City University. When she stood before Sean again, she had already become a graceful young woman.
During this time, Sean's heart had been repeatedly torn between joy and pain. The girl he thought about day and night was by his side, but it also meant that his greatest weakness was completely exposed under the watchful eyes of the Hunting Association headquarters.
Sure enough, Director Chen from the upper echelon soon issued an order: "Frost, find the newly appeared, possibly pure-blooded Omega at Harbor City University, and obtain her physiological data and ability information."
Sean knew that he could never view the girl he loved as a cold "mission target." For every subsequent mission report, he could only make up various excuses to muddle through.
These unusual behaviors quickly aroused Director Chen's suspicions. Sean's efficiency had never been so low before. She began to dispatch Sarah to monitor Sean's every move more closely, and hinted that if he continued to be "inefficient," he would face a "disciplinary review" from headquarters.
However, just as Sean was caught between the Hunting Association and his own feelings, trapped in a dilemma, an ancient force from within the werewolf community had also quietly set its sights on Amy.
