Chapter 4
993 Words
Evelyn's POV
I have always thought that truth produced a sound.
A sharp kind of silence.
Similar to glass shattering in a silent space.
And when I discovered the reality of this supposed wedding, that’s precisely what I listened to.
Not a noisy bang.
It’s simply that gentle, breaking stillness that exists in the moment between breaths.
It began with a door that was locked.
The library.
Cassandra had warned me not to enter that place. “Private,” she said, her tone so pointed that it discouraged any further inquiries. Yet curiosity tends to wrap its fingers around what is sealed away.
As I walked by that evening and noticed the door slightly open with a faint glow of candlelight flickering through the opening, I paused for a moment.
Then I opened it.
The air was filled with the scent of aged timber and hidden truths. Shelves from floor to ceiling. Dust-covered books. Emblems etched into the hearth. A lengthy table was positioned by the window, draped with black fabric and leather-covered books.
I was merely going to take a look.
Just a glimpse.
However, what I discovered… was far from a wedding plan.
The book at the top was already flipped open. I shouldn't have picked it. I was aware of that. Yet there was a part of me that urged me.
My fingertips grazed the page.
"The Ceremony of Inheritance – The Tying of the Alpha's Essence."
I closed my eyes briefly.
Marriage?
No
. This was not related to a wedding.
I turned to the following page, my heart unexpectedly pounding in my ears.
"After the reigning Alpha's death, his successor must complete the Blood Binding within the first full moon cycle to assert their legitimate rule as the Alpha of ShadowFang Pack." Among other necessary things to be done, the ceremony requires the presence of the fated mate.”
Fated mate?
What on earth was this?
I took a step back, yet another thing drew my attention. A name, inscribed in ink that had begun to lose its color.
Jeffrey Thorn.
Heir to Alpha Gerald Thorn.
I wasn't aware that my hands were trembling until I let go of the book.
The noise of it striking the table caused me to flinch.
He was not tying the knot.
He was receiving his crown. Or whatever on earth that ceremony was.
And his father had passed away.
Everything within me contorted.
Why not tell the truth?
Why go through the hassle of presenting this as a wedding? Why recruit me?
I stepped out of the room, drawing the door close with shivering fingers, and almost collided with Cassandra.
She was standing at the hallway's far end.
Observing me.
Her lips formed a narrow, critical line.
"You were instructed to keep away from that area."
I parted my lips, yet no sound emerged.
She did not raise her voice. That worsened the situation.
"I'll overlook it." “This time,” she remarked calmly, walking by me. "However, it would be wise for you to recall whose territory you are in, Ms. Whitlock." "Here, curiosity doesn't always end well."
Then she disappeared.
Just like that.
I hardly got any sleep that night. My thoughts kept replaying the identical image repeatedly: Jeffrey in that moonlit garden, quiet and peculiar. His gaze was fixed on me as if he understood.
He was aware that I was out of place.
Or perhaps… perhaps I did.
I despised how that idea persisted.
The following morning, I headed to the greenhouse, seeking fresh air or some space. Anything to clear my mind. However, he was there.
Jeffrey was resting against a glass panel with arms crossed, resembling a silhouette colored by sunlight.
He didn’t look back as I came closer. Yet, in some way, I was aware he heard me.
I stood a short distance away, my voice louder than I intended it to be.
"Your father has passed away."
He turned gradually. His face remained the same.
“You entered the library.”
"I didn't intend to." The door was open. I gasped. “You are not tying the knot.”
"No, I'm not."
I gulped nervously. “Then why not be truthful?”
He looked at me again, fixing his gaze at me.
"People are scared of what they have no knowledge about," he said plainly. "And outsiders- humans are not meant to observe what we do."
"Then what’s the reason for bringing me here?"
He remained silent for a long while. "That... wasn't my suggestion."
A chill unfurled within my belly. "Are you referring to Cassandra?"
His jaw tightened. “She thinks tradition needs to change. Incorporating a human voice into our rituals would portray us as… contemporary.”
"Similar to adorning a beast in formal attire."
He blinked, as if the term monster had offended him.
"I didn't murder my dad, Evelyn."
"I never claimed that you did."
“Yet you believed it.”
There was a brief moment of silence between us.
I didn't give a response to that.
He moved nearer, and for the first time, I saw the fatigue in his eyes. Not only fatigue but pressure. As if the burden he bore was suffocating the spirit within.
"Things are happening here that you do not understand." That you are unable to grasp. However, if you stay... you'll be drawn into them in one way or another.”
I glanced up at him. My voice, little more than a whisper. "Is that a threat?"
His lips moved slightly, just a little.
"No." "It serves as a caution."
After that, he departed.
For the first time since getting to Ravenwood, I found myself uncertain about wanting to learn any more truths.
Since this was more than merely a ceremony.
Or a coronation.
Or
perhaps about a deceased Alpha.
This was something old. Something intertwined in destiny and lineage.
And in some way, I found myself at the 11heart of it.
- Writer
