Chapter 57 057
LYKA
I lay down gently on the bed, staring up at the plain roof above me while my thoughts wandered endlessly. The ceiling looked the same as it always had...bare, quiet, unmoving...yet tonight it felt like it was pressing down on me with a weight I couldn’t explain. Something about everything that had been happening recently felt strange, as though pieces of a puzzle were shifting without my permission. The longer I stayed here in this pack, the more my life seemed to twist in ways I didn’t fully understand.
I couldn’t stop thinking about how much I had changed since the day I first stepped into this territory. Back then I was just trying to survive, trying to keep my head down and avoid causing problems. But now things were different. I was involved in matters that were far beyond what I had ever imagined, and people were looking at me differently. It made me uneasy, as though I had unknowingly walked into a storm that had been waiting for me all along.
“But what exactly changed?” I murmured quietly to myself, my fingers drifting toward the locket that hung from the thin chain around my neck. The metal felt cool beneath my touch, and a soft wave of nostalgia washed over me the moment my fingertips brushed against it.
I slowly pulled the locket away from my chest and held it up in front of my eyes. It wasn’t anything grand or flashy...just a small, worn piece of jewelry...but to me it was priceless. It was the only thing my mother had left behind for me, the one memory of her that I could still hold onto physically. Every time I looked at it, I felt both comforted and painfully reminded of everything I had lost.
“How I miss you… Luna’s mother,” I whispered under my breath, my voice barely louder than the wind outside. For a moment I simply stared at the locket, letting the memories swirl around my mind like distant echoes. Eventually I sighed and closed it again, slipping it back around my neck carefully. Losing it was something I could never allow to happen.
Just as I settled back against the bed, a gentle knock echoed against my door.
My eyes narrowed slightly in surprise. That was the second knock I had received today, and that alone made my suspicion rise. The man had already come once earlier, and I couldn’t help wondering what he wanted this time.
“Don’t tell me he came to apologize again,” I muttered to myself as I pushed myself off the bed and walked toward the door.
When I opened it, however, there was no one standing there.
Instead, a single folded letter lay quietly on the floor just outside the doorway.
I wasn’t surprised. Whoever had left it clearly didn’t want to be seen.
I bent down and picked it up, unfolding the paper carefully as my eyes scanned the message written across it.
“If you are having doubts about your pack’s attack, then I think you should come to the lakeside tonight.”
I frowned slightly as I reread the sentence. The message was simple, but it carried a strange weight to it. Whoever had written it knew exactly what they were doing...planting curiosity right where it would hurt the most.
I didn’t like it.
Still, I couldn’t completely ignore it either.
Deciding I shouldn’t deal with this alone, I went looking for Amanda. Aiden had mentioned earlier that if something suspicious came up, we should handle it together. But before I even reached their usual meeting place, I ran straight into the two of them walking toward me.
Judging by the letters in their hands, it seemed I wasn’t the only one who had received an invitation.
“I don’t know what that crippled man is up to today,” Amanda scoffed as we started heading toward the lakeside together, “but honestly I’m not curious enough to care.”
I gave a small shrug in response, but my attention drifted toward Aiden.
He was unusually quiet.
Normally he would have already started arguing with Amanda or making sarcastic comments about the whole situation, yet tonight he barely said a word. His silence made something in my chest tighten.
What’s wrong with him?
I wondered about it for a moment, but eventually I pushed the thought aside. Perhaps he was simply tired.
By the time we reached the lakeside, the night air had grown colder than I expected. A sharp breeze drifted across the water, sending small ripples across the dark surface of the lake.
I shivered slightly, wrapping my arms around myself.
“I just hope that man isn’t planning to keep us waiting,” I muttered under my breath.
My gaze drifted back to Aiden again, and this time my worry deepened. He was standing stiffly near the edge of the water, staring straight at the lake as though he were trying to read something hidden beneath its surface.
“Aiden,” I called softly. “What’s going on? Is something wrong?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
Trying to lighten the mood, I added with a small chuckle, “Don’t tell me someone’s been bullying you.”
The idea was ridiculous...Aiden was the last person anyone would dare bully...but before he could respond, movement in the distance caught our attention.
The crippled man was approaching us.
This time, however, something about him seemed even stranger than before. His posture looked weaker, his movements slower, as though he was deliberately exaggerating his injuries.
Looks like he’s playing another one of his games.
“You asked us to come here?” I said as he finally reached us.
He simply nodded and held out a different letter toward me. Unlike the plain ones we had received earlier, this envelope had an unusual design stamped across the front.
“What is this?” I asked sharply.
Instead of answering, he gestured for me to open it.
My curiosity finally got the better of me. I broke the seal and unfolded the paper, but the moment my eyes landed on the symbol printed at the bottom, my breath caught in my throat.
“Death command,” the man said calmly. “It’s the order most Alphas give their soldiers when they intend to wipe out an entire pack.”
My fingers trembled slightly as I stared at the symbol.
It was real.
The official mark of the Alpha Demon.
My thoughts raced wildly, trying to make sense of what I was seeing, but before I could fully process it, Aiden suddenly snatched the letter from my hands.
He examined it intensely, his expression darkening with every second.
I was still lost in my own confusion when I suddenly noticed Amanda struggling to hold him back.
“I won’t let you go...never!” she shouted, wrapping both arms around him with all her strength.
Anger flared inside me instantly.
“What is wrong with you?” I snapped, marching toward them. At the same time, I couldn’t ignore the way the crippled man stood nearby watching us like he was enjoying a show. The thought irritated me even more.
Aiden’s expression shifted rapidly from anger to disbelief as he shoved Amanda aside and stepped toward me.
“Why are you doing this?” he demanded, grabbing my wrists tightly.
I stared at him in shock. His eyes were burning with frustration, and it was obvious he expected an explanation.
“What do you mean?” I shot back. “Are you seriously this angry just because I don’t want you running off to get yourself killed?”
Amanda tried to pull at my arm, clearly hoping to calm me down, but my patience was already gone.
“Is that all?” Aiden asked quietly.
His question caught me off guard.
“What are you talking about?” I said, stepping closer.
“I’m asking for the real reason,” he continued, his voice tight with tension. “Are you sure the only reason you’re protecting him is because you don’t want me to die?”
My eyebrows furrowed deeply.
“What other reason could there possibly be?” I snapped, my voice echoing across the quiet lakeside.
For a brief moment, panic flickered inside me.
This meeting was supposed to stay secret, yet our shouting was already loud enough for anyone nearby to hear.
“Yes,” Aiden said slowly, his gaze sharpening. “There is another reason.”
He leaned slightly closer, lowering his voice.
“Or maybe the rumors are true.”
My heart skipped a beat.
“Rumors?” I repeated.
“The rumor that you’ve been sleeping with that jerk,” he said bluntly. “Tell me, Lyka… is it true?”
The words hit me like a physical blow.
My knees suddenly felt weak, and my mind went completely blank.
What kind of question was that?
And more importantly…
How was I supposed to answer it?