Chapter 3

Adrian's face looked awful.

But he did not explain.

Lila tugged softly at his sleeve.

"Adrian, let's go upstairs."

After a few seconds of silence, he held the umbrella over her and led her into the house.

I stood in the rain and watched them walk away.

His thoughts grew fainter.

[Selena isn't an outsider.]

[She's the one I love most.]

I stopped listening.

The rain came down harder.

I crouched beside the trash and dug through the ruined boxes, searching for the old pocket watch my grandmother had left me.

It was the only thing she gave me before she died.

She told me that even if no pack protected me, I had to remember where I came from.

But I searched every box.

I never found it.

I had been in the rain too long. My vision suddenly went black.

When I woke up, I was lying in the guest room of the main house.

Lila sat beside the bed, her eyes red from crying, as if she were the one who had been humiliated in the rain.

"Selena, you fainted."

"I asked Adrian to carry you up."

She tucked the blanket around me, her voice soft.

"Don't take what the pack members said to heart. I already explained it for you."

"I told them you weren't an outsider or a homewrecker."

"We're friends. You only came here because you wanted to move in with me."

"It's just that the house belongs to Adrian, and he's my mate now, so everyone misunderstood."

She sounded so sincere.

Like she was really helping me.

But I remembered our college days.

Someone had stolen my need-based scholarship, and Lila came with me to confront the advisor.

Back then, she had been angrier than I was.

"I hate people who take what belongs to others and then act innocent."

Now she wore that same innocent face while calling my Adrian her mate.

Lila used to look down on Adrian. Every time she mentioned him, she said his full name like an insult.

At some point, she started calling him Adrian.

Started wearing his coats.

Started eating alone with him, patrolling with him, traveling with him.

I had noticed her crossing lines.

But she was my best friend.

And Adrian always said I was overthinking.

His thoughts told me again and again:

[Selena, I only love you.]

So I swallowed my discomfort.

Again and again, I forced myself to believe him.

But now, I did not want to pretend I was blind anymore.

"Lila, stop acting."

I pushed myself up against the bed frame.

"Where is my Council certificate?"

I had to report to the Northern Council today.

But the copies of my documents had been ruined in the rain.

I had once treated this place like home, so I had left the originals here.

Lila froze for half a second.

"I don't know. Look for it yourself."

I ignored her and got out of bed.

The master bedroom was her room now.

Several of Adrian's shirts hung in the closet.

My clothes were shoved into the farthest corner, wrinkled beyond recognition.

Lila followed me and explained in a small voice.

"Sometimes he gets drunk and sleeps in my room. That's all."

I did not want to know what they had done here.

I only wanted my certificate.

But when I opened the nightstand drawer, there was no file folder.

Only several opened boxes of condoms.

One fewer than the last time I had come home.

My fingers went stiff.

I forced myself to look away.

There were takeout containers on the small table by the bed.

Lila seemed to remember something at last and gasped.

"Selena, is this what you're looking for?"

She lifted the takeout box.

My Council certificate was underneath it.

The cover was smeared with oil.

The silver Council seal had been stained dark with chili oil.

Lila bit her lip.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I was eating in here last night. It was stiff, so I used it under the container."

I snatched it from her hands.

When I opened the cover, the pages inside were soaked through too.

Even the embossed seal smelled sharp and greasy.

Heavy footsteps sounded at the door.

Adrian strode in and stepped in front of Lila.

"Selena, don't be so ungrateful."

"Lila was kind enough to bring you back. It's just a few pieces of paper. Did you really have to scare her?"