Miranda's Point of View

"I don't care where you are, but I want to see you in ten minutes!" Lorenzo growled into the phone. Then the call ended.

I faced Vincenzo immediately. "What should I do? I can't have him know we're together," I panicked.

I wasn't panicking for myself; I was panicking on behalf of Claire. Lorenzo had put her beside me to report everything I did back to him, but she became loyal to me when she realized how well I had been treating her. For almost two years now, she hasn't reported anything. Lorenzo might use this as an opportunity to punish her or, worse, have her killed.

"I can't implicate my maid, Vincenzo. Think of something, please." The desperation in my voice was clear.

"Give me a second. I will send Maurice a quick message," he said.

"This isn't the time to be sending messages! My maid's life is at stake here and—"

"Miranda!" He cut me off, placing his hands on my shoulders and holding me in place. "Breathe. I'll handle this."

I shook my head. "I can't. You don't know what Lorenzo can do."

A lone tear rushed down my face as memories of my previous life flashed through my mind—the scene where he had ordered me to be burned alive. If he was willing to kill me, someone he benefited from, then taking Claire's life wouldn't be a big deal for him.

While I was panicking, Vincenzo's phone beeped, and he raised his brows as he checked the notification.

"It's a text from Maurice. He said he has told Lorenzo that you're performing a sacred ritual at the pack's cemetery, and Lorenzo's on his way there now."

"What?! That doesn't make me feel any better," I said, feeling my fear increase rapidly.

"It should, because there's a way I can help you sneak into the cemetery in under ten minutes."

My interest piqued as I saw his response as a ray of hope.

"How?" I asked.

"Close your eyes," he said.

I wasn't sure what he was trying to do, but I closed my eyes anyway. His father is here, so I believed he wouldn't dare do anything inappropriate.

My shoulders tensed as soon as I felt his arm snake around my waist, and my eyes snapped open at once.

"What are you doing?"

"Trust me," he replied.

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes again and allowed his arm to stay on my waist since I didn't have a choice. Suddenly, I couldn't feel my legs on the ground anymore, and it felt as if I were floating on air.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Shhhh." He shushed me in response. Like an obedient child, I shut up.

My eyes were closed, so I didn't know what was going on, and everywhere suddenly became totally silent.

> > > > > > > 

"Open your eyes," he said after a brief moment of silence.

I opened my eyes and realized we were no longer in his father's hidden room. Looking around carefully, I noticed we were already at the cemetery.

"You must have great speed," I commented in awe.

"Nope. We teleported."

"Huh?" My eyes bulged. "Teleported? How did you do that?"

He laughed at my shocked expression. "Well, I'm not your regular werewolf."

"You're not a regular werewolf... What are you, then?"

"That's a story for another day, baby. I should leave before Lorenzo gets here," he replied.

He was about to leave, but I caught his hand and held him back. My eyes scanned the cemetery. There were crows flying around, and even though it was daytime, I could hear crickets chiming. I couldn't help the fear growing within me.

"I want to know today. Tell me what you mean," I said, intending to make him stay with me until I caught sight of Lorenzo.

"Maurice said Lorenzo's on his way here. What if he sees us together and hurts you for hanging out with me?"

Seeing as pretending not to be scared wouldn't help me, I let go of his hand, folded my arms across my chest, and pouted. My mission was set—emotional blackmail.

"You can leave. It's not as if I'm scared to be in the cemetery alone."

I cautiously approached a grave, praying in my heart that the strategy would work on him.

"I didn’t murder anyone. Of course, no ghost is going to come for me here," I released a dramatic sigh. "I can even become best friends with some of the ghosts here."

Looking at him through my eyelashes, I could see him laughing. I guessed he already saw through my act.

"Fine. I'll tell you."

I scoffed. "Don't worry. I don't want to hear it."

"I know, but I still want to tell you."

"Well, I won't stop you since you're insisting," I said, earning a chuckle from him.

"The prophecy you saw in Lorenzo's study isn't the complete version. In the complete version, it's stated that I possess the power of the great ancient wizard—Macoco."

"Macoco?!" I gasped.

"Yes."

According to history, Macoco is the first and greatest wizard of all time. He's a good wizard known for his bravery and victory against evil. Many werewolves believe he was married to the Moon Goddess, and they gave birth to the first-ever werewolf, who later became the first Alpha King.

"Hey! Are you still here?" Vincenzo asked, waving his hand across my face.

"I'm... Yeah, I'm just surprised."

"I don't really go deep into witchcraft, though. I only know the basics."

"At least it's enough to rescue me from a dire situation."

We stayed in silence, both of us lost in our thoughts, but he broke it.

"Let's make it easy for Maurice," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"Since Maurice lied that you're performing a sacred ritual here, let's make his lie true."

"Okay..." Honestly, I didn't know where he was going with that.

He got up and grabbed my hand, then began pulling me somewhere.

"Where are you taking me now?" I asked.

"You'll know when we get there," he replied simply.

> > > > > > > 

We walked for about two minutes, then arrived at a grave. This grave was the neatest of all the graves in the cemetery. I wanted to ask whose grave it was until I saw his mother's picture on it.

"Your mother's..." I trailed off when I noticed how he was staring at the picture with so much emotion.

"Lorenzo killed her," he said.

I didn’t speak. I kept quiet and waited for him to continue because he looked like he had a lot of grief to pour out.

"Majority of the elders wanted to get rid of him when they saw the prophecy, but Mom refused. Mom didn’t leave her room for twelve days. She didn’t eat for twelve days because she was scared her child would be killed the moment she opened her door."

I’ve known Vincenzo for quite a while. He's not the type to show emotions; in fact, he only jokes around me. But right now, he’s vulnerable—like he’s reliving a tragic event in his mind.

"But what did that bastard do when he grew up? He..." He clenched his jaw and balled his fists. "...he slaughtered his mother and drank the blood from her heart."

Vincenzo broke down in tears as he fell to his knees. Maybe it was our mate bond working, but seeing him in tears broke my heart, and I felt my own tears flowing too.

"It's all my fault. I failed my mother. I'm such a weakling. I'm a disappointment!" he lamented.

Not knowing what to do, I hugged him from behind and rested my head on his back, rocking him back and forth.

"It's not your fault," I consoled him. "Lorenzo is just a beast. You can't blame yourself for that."

He continued crying and wouldn’t stop blaming himself, no matter how much I consoled him. So, I decided to use reverse psychology on him.

"Yes, it's your fault. Where were you when he captured and killed her? Why didn’t you do anything?" I asked, trying to sound as harsh as I could.

"I was poisoned. He poisoned me. He made me powerless and killed her right in front of me," he answered between tears.

"He killed her in front of you? Why didn’t you save her then? You just watched him kill her without doing anything? You're a coward. You shouldn't be—"

"I said I was poisoned! It's not my fault. I couldn’t do anything with the poison spreading in my organs!" he screamed, pushing me away.

I fell on my butt but quickly got to my feet and rushed to him with a smile. "You're right. You couldn’t do anything because you were poisoned. There was nothing you could’ve done."

He stopped crying. He looked at me, and his eyes softened.

"You couldn’t save her, but you're doing a great job avenging her. I’m sure she’s happy and proud of you wherever she is," I said.

"Really?"

"Yes. All you have to do now is focus on how to make Lorenzo pay for all his sins."

His eyes stared intently into mine for a moment, then he pulled me in for a hug.

"Thank you, Miranda," he said. "I've been carrying this guilt in my heart for so long. I didn’t know what to do with it."

I patted his back reassuringly. "You shouldn’t feel guilty. Lorenzo is the villain, not you."

He pulled away from the hug and examined my butt, but I pushed him away.

"What the heck!"

"I'm sorry. I was making sure I didn’t hurt you," he said.

I scoffed. "What's done is done!"

"I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to push you so hard. I was just overwhelmed with emotions and—"

"Overwhelmed by emotions? Is this how you’ll be hurting me every time you're emotional when we’re finally together?" I asked before I could stop myself.

My cheeks heated up in embarrassment. At that moment, I wished the ground would open and swallow me. What was I thinking? Why did I say that?

"Trust me," he raised his hand as if taking an oath. "This will never repeat itself. I will never hurt you again, no matter how angry or emotional I get," he said seriously.

I was trying my hardest to hide my blush, but he wasn’t making it easy for me.

"Don’t worry. We might not end up together after this and—"

My words were cut off when I felt a pair of lips on mine. My eyes widened. I balled my fists and curled my toes as sparks rushed through my veins, and even my heartbeat accelerated rapidly.

His lips moved furiously on mine. It was almost as if his lips were angry at mine for committing a sin and were punishing them. I closed my eyes, letting myself enjoy the kiss. I couldn’t resist kissing him back.

This was wrong. I was married to his brother, and here I was, shamelessly kissing him. I should be feeling guilty, but I wasn’t.

"No, Alpha! You can’t go through the gate, or the ritual will become ineffective!" I heard Maurice’s loud voice as he tried to stop Lorenzo from coming inside.

I quickly broke the kiss and pushed Vincenzo away from me. Panic swallowed me.

"Lorenzo is coming. What should we do?" I asked, but Vincenzo simply smirked in response.

Oh, no!