Chapter 16
915words
"Father," I said, sitting in the study of the Silver Moon pack. "Tell me about the night Byron was kidnapped."
Caden, who was handling paperwork, paused his pen.
"Why are you suddenly asking about that?" he looked up at me, his eyes filled with confusion.
"I need to know everything," I insisted. "Every detail."
My father put down his pen and frowned.
"Sandra, that was eight years ago. And to be honest, I don't know the specifics."
"Just tell me what you know."
Caden sighed.
"Back then, the Silver Moon and Blackwood packs were distant. We had almost no contact," he recalled. "I only heard from other packs that Byron was kidnapped and later rescued."
"Rescued by whom?"
"I heard it was a girl," my father shook his head. "But as for who exactly, the scene was chaotic. No one was clear on the details."
My heart began to race.
A girl.
"And later, Ariana claimed she was the one who saved him, right?"
"Yes," my father nodded. "But that's all hearsay. I can't confirm it. Our packs were not on good terms, so I didn't pay much attention to it."
I stood up, the suspicion in my mind growing into a certainty.
The memory of that rainy night.
The boy I had saved.
And the scar on my back.
All the clues pointed to one possibility.
A possibility that was both shocking and made perfect, terrible sense.
"Thank you, Father," I said. "I know what I have to do."
Back in my room, I sat at my computer and began to use the power of my newly awakened bloodline.
This ancient power granted me certain special abilities.
My consciousness reached out, sifting through the digital whispers of the werewolf world, diving into the dark web where secrets are currency.
I posted a bounty on an anonymous board:
"Information sought. The rescue of Byron Blackwood, eight years prior. A life-changing reward for the truth. Anonymity guaranteed. Death for liars."
After posting the bounty, I opened a link to Elias.
"Sandra?" His voice came through immediately. "What's wrong?"
"Elias, I need you to do something for me."
"Anything."
"Byron's empire," I said, looking at the Blackwood pack's profile on the screen. "I want you to help me burn it to the ground."
"A corporate war?" Elias's voice turned serious. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"It's part of my revenge," my voice was as cold as ice. "Byron's power is weak right now. He can't fight back effectively. This is the perfect time."
"Understood," Elias said. "I'll mobilize all of the Ridge Pack's commercial resources immediately. The Blackwood pack's overseas assets, correct?"
"Correct. Start with their logistics hubs, then their manufacturing bases." I opened a world map. "I want to watch his empire turn to ash, piece by piece."
"Consider it done. The operation will begin tomorrow."
After ending the link, I continued to wait by the computer for a response to my bounty.
For three whole days, I received countless messages.
Most were fake or just secondhand rumors.
The power of my bloodline allowed me to distinguish truth from lies, filtering out all the useless information.
Until the evening of the fourth day.
An encrypted signal suddenly connected to my communicator.
"Is... is this the one who posted the bounty?" an old, trembling voice asked.
I answered immediately.
"It is. What do you know?"
"I... I know what happened that night," the old man's voice was full of fear and hesitation. "But I don't know if I should say..."
"Please, tell me," I made my voice as gentle as possible. "I guarantee your safety."
After a long silence, the old man finally spoke.
"I happened to be nearby that night. I heard the commotion."
"What did you see?"
"I saw a girl... she had hair like a raven's wing. She ran into that abandoned factory," the old man's voice grew clearer. "A little while later, she came out carrying an injured man on her back."
My breathing quickened.
"The man... did you get a clear look at him?"
"I did," the old man said. "It was the current Blackwood Alpha, Byron. He has that obvious scar on his face. Easy to recognize."
"And the girl? Was she hurt?"
"She was," the old man's voice grew heavy. "A silver bullet grazed her back as she shielded him. I saw it plain as day. The blood bloomed through her clothes, a dark flower on her back."
My hands started to tremble.
"Are... are you sure the one who saved Byron was a girl with black hair, not the blonde, Ariana?"
The old man's answer was firm and unwavering.
"Luna, I remember that day. The one who saved Alpha Byron was a girl with black hair. To protect the Alpha, her back was wounded by a silver bullet. It was definitely not the blonde Miss Ariana."
The link ended.
I sat in my chair, staring at my trembling hands.
The truth.
The truth had finally surfaced.
I slowly walked to the mirror and took off my shirt.
Then I took my phone and snapped a high-definition photo of the scar.
Next, I recorded an audio file, preserving the old wolf's testimony in its entirety.
Finally, I bundled the audio recording and the scar photo together and sent them to Byron's private communicator account.
At the end of the message, I added a single sentence:
"Here is your lie, Byron. And here is your truth."
