Chapter 12

“Vampires, sir," Giovan heard the news and became depressed. If the claims of other members who live close to Crema's parents are true, then the opponents may have killed Crema. Probably, rival vampires attacked her.

The depression and anger that Giovan felt turned toward his father, King Dior. If Crema is dead, he has no one else to blame but his father's insistence on his plan. Crema must have been really hurt when he declared he was going to marry Janine, so she went home to her parents but unfortunately ran into vampires. It hurts for Giovan that he can't even defend his love. He shrank himself because he could no longer protect Crema from enemies, and they doubted his confidence in being the strongest Alpha.

"Oh!" He screamed in anger, and in front of everyone, he transformed into his wolf and went crazy. Even the king did nothing to calm him down. He runs towards the place where the vampires are believed to be hiding but fails. He smelled nothing there, and he didn't see even a small trace of Crema.

From the witnessed scenario, Janine started to doubt the intentions of Giovan towards her. He saw and felt how affected Giovan was by the loss of Crema, which meant that he really loved his first wife. So, if that is the case, why did he even consider taking her as his second wife? Is that because of their past? Because he still has feelings for her? Those were the questions that kept ringing in Janine’s mind as she carefully studied the things that were happening around her.

Although she is happy with the possibility that Crema has really, totally disappeared permanently, there are still doubts. Her mother never informed her about an attack by the wolves. She would have told her ahead of time if there were plans like that. Yes, Janine's mother is a vampire. She is the product of a vampire and a wolf! Whatever lies behind the truth, that is a story for Harbon to tell.

Janine will speak with her mother tonight to confirm the information regarding Crema's attack by the vampires. There, she will confirm if Crema is already dead or not!

For now, she will work on replacing Giovan. She needs to stand up for her fake naivete in the events if she wants to accomplish her mission. She used her wolf and ran after Giovan in the woods, but the strength of the alpha is undeniable, and his ability is unpredictable. Imagine how he ran that distance for seconds while Janine, who is an omega, took it four minutes before she could reach the top of the forest where Giovan was resting.

"Who told you to follow me?" Giovan snorted.

Janine quickly went back to her feet before she sat beside Giovan to explain. "Although we have not formalized our marriage yet, is it not my obligation to take care of my husband?" Janine sugarcoated her words, which obviously caught Giovan’s attention.

"Didn’t we rush things? What if we were the reason Cherry ended up in the hands of the enemies?" Giovan asked.

"You rushed things," Janine corrected. "It surprised even me with your announcement. Who wouldn’t be impressed by that? If I were Cherry, I would feel the same."

Giovan smirked; he didn't expect Janine's ability to pretend and convince. If he didn't know that Janine was thrilled about Cherry's disappearance.

After the conversation, Janine left. She must meet her mother when the darkness falls on the land. When she made sure that nobody was following her, Janine changed into her wolf and ran towards the forest outside their territory.

"What took you so long?" Cerelyn snorted. She’s always like that; she doesn’t enjoy waiting. Too impatient to do so.

Janine sighed deeply, a sign of being pressured even before her mom said a word.

"How’s everything going there?" asked the mother.

"Going as planned, mom."

"Tell me more, Janine; I don’t like that kind of answer."

"You know that already, mom. What did you do to Crema? Did you really kill her?" Somehow, even if Janine hates Crema, it is not a hatred that comes to the extent of wanting her cousin dead.

"What are you talking about?" Astonished, Cerelyn questioned. She seems like she can’t believe what she just heard.

"What is with that reaction, Mom? Is that for real?" Confused, Janine asked.

"I know nothing about what happened to Crema. Besides, we haven't talked about murdering her, so why are you asking me if I killed her?"

"She disappeared and couldn't be found until now." Janine continued to explain.

Looking at the expression of her mother. It seemed like it was believable for Janine that Cerelyn really didn’t know what happened to Crema.

"Tell me exactly what you know has happened; there is something off." Confused, Cerelyn asked.

"After the declaration from Alpha Giovan that he is going to take me as his second wife, Crema disappeared the next day. Giovan ordered his men to locate her, but to no avail. They only came back. With a pair of shoes and a bloody scarf. Add to that, the men said that they found those belongings near Crema’s parents’ house, but before that, some neighbors said that they smelled something from the vampires. That was why I thought you were the one who did that to Crema."

Silence followed as Cerelyn tried to figure out what happened. She has ordered no one to abduct Crema or to kill her.

"Go back and observe. There was never a plan to abduct or kill Crema. There might be something that you don’t know."

"What do you mean, mother?"

"Rock your brain, daughter. There is something suspicious about your story. Nobody from my tribe attacked Crema, and there was never a plan to do so. If she disappeared, that might be on her own will, or there’s another enemy that plotted something against her."

"I don’t believe that there’s any other enemy of Crema." Janine disagreed. She knows Crema so well and she is the least likely to hold a grudge against others. That is not her kind.

"Don’t think that you know everything. Just do what I say, go back to the pack and observe."

Because she knew she wouldn’t win against her mother, Janine nodded in agreement.

"Do you still have your medicine with you?" Cerelyn asked. Because Janine is half wolf and half vampire.

They have to hide her vampire blood. That way, they will protect her secret as the spy of the vampires inside the pack.