ELIAS VERNAL
The Vernal Corporation's annual gala was always extravagant, not just because it celebrated the year's achievements and served as a networking event, but also because it was an important gathering where various packs shared intelligence on hunter movements and discussed defense strategies.
I stood in the exclusive VIP lounge on the second floor, looking down through the glass wall at the bustling crowd below. In twenty minutes, I would need to go downstairs to deliver the opening speech. I had done this countless times. It shouldn't have affected me at all. Yet I kept checking my watch, unable to shake the feeling that something was gripping my insides and pulling.
This wasn't my own emotion.
This churning unease and anxiety came from someone else. Someone whose soul was bound to mine through our mental link, my fated mate.
Had something happened to Serenity?
I analyzed her state through the emotions bleeding over. She seemed to be enduring something that caused her extreme distress.
It made me anxious, but I didn't even know where she was. After the Moon Ceremony, she had vanished like smoke. Forget finding her address. Even her phone was unreachable. She only responded to texts. Given how determined she'd been to escape that night, I had good reason to believe she was deliberately avoiding me.
That made me hesitate. I wasn't sure if I should send people to track her down. Our mental link was still intact, which meant she was at least alive.
Maybe I didn't need to worry too much.
Still, tonight's intense fluctuations were unusual, especially on the night of the gala. I couldn't decide whether to swallow my pride and call her to ask what was wrong. Maybe she would call me first?
"Elias, why did you come up here alone? You didn't even tell me. I've been looking everywhere for you downstairs."
Liv climbed the stairs toward me. Her platinum hair, my favorite, was swept into an elegant updo. Her gown flowed like a mermaid's tail. She looked exceptionally beautiful tonight. She smiled at me, but as I stared at her face, I felt nothing sweet. Instead, my mind drifted to the bank account she had frozen behind my back.
After discovering her deception, I had immediately ordered Herman to restore Serenity's accounts, then had him quietly investigate. I needed to understand why Liv had done this. In the meantime, I promoted her to my personal assistant as a cover. This kept her away from company operations while ensuring all her assignments passed through me first, a way to monitor her without raising suspicion. The investigation wasn't complete yet, which was the only reason I could still act somewhat normally around her.
I knew what I was afraid of. I was afraid that whatever secrets she was hiding would overturn everything I thought I knew. I was afraid that once those secrets came to light, the pain would be unbearable.
Afraid that my savior…wasn't who I believed her to be.
"Elias, why won't you answer me?" Liv looked uneasy as she gazed up at me.
I snapped back to the present and shook my head. "Just thinking about some things."
She didn't notice that I'd avoided her eyes.
"The speech is about to start. I'm heading down." I picked up my phone from the nearby coffee table.
Liv's eyes brightened. "You can't bring your phone during the speech, right?
Elias, let me hold it for you! I'm your secretary. This is my job."
I glanced at her without expression.
"Fine," I agreed easily. Because this was actually a test.
Herman and I had discussed it. If Liv was hiding something, she wouldn't just interfere with company matters. She would want access to more secrets.
My phone would be the perfect bait.
All the confidential files inside had been fabricated in advance and embedded with a tracking program. If Liv really asked for my phone and looked through those hidden folders, every trace would be recorded.
I hoped none of this would be necessary.
"Don't mess with my phone." I couldn't help warning her one last time before letting go.
"Don't worry." Liv smiled sweetly and agreed.
I took a deep breath and headed downstairs.
I still had a few minutes before the speech. Several people approached to chat and network, discussing business proposals. I made conversation while keeping an eye on Liv. After following me down, she seemed perfectly well-behaved, so well-behaved that I started to feel paranoid for suspecting her.
Then I saw Liv suddenly pick up my phone and answer a call.
A bad feeling washed over me. I quickly excused myself from my business partners and strode toward her. "Liv! Who are you talking to?"
"Nothing. Just a telemarketer." Liv covered the receiver with one hand, blocking any sound from coming through. "I was about to reject her.
Unless… Elias, did you want to take this call yourself?"
She looked completely unconcerned.
I held out my hand. "Let me see the number."
Liv froze, clearly not expecting that. She looked hurt, as if accusing me of not trusting her. But she didn't refuse. She showed me the screen. It was an unfamiliar number.
"Do you believe me now?" Her tone carried a hint of injury. Even though I didn't think I had done anything wrong, I felt a twinge of guilt.
I couldn't answer because something still felt off. A strange intuition lingered. I had felt this same instinct the day the hunters attacked the pack, the sense that I was missing something important.
"Of course I believe you," I said, deciding to placate her first. "The speech is about to start. I don't have time to take calls. Just hang up."
"You heard him." Liv seemed pleased by my response. Her smile returned as she spoke into the phone, then ended the call.
I climbed onto the stage. I had memorized the speech. There was no need to look at the script. I delivered the usual platitudes mechanically while my mind wandered elsewhere.
Suddenly, the mental link with Serenity surged violently. It felt like someone had punched me hard in the gut.
"Bzzzz—" The microphone whined with feedback, interrupting my speech. Everyone in the audience stared at me in confusion.
Cold sweat beaded on my forehead, invisible to them. I maintained my composure and pretended nothing had happened, continuing on. Only my increasingly rapid pace betrayed my inner turmoil.
The speech ended. The audience erupted in thunderous applause.
I hurried off the stage and went straight to Liv.
"Did anyone call during that time?" I asked urgently.
The sensations from Serenity had been so intense. She might have been in trouble. In the past, she always called me first when she needed help.
But Liv shook her head. "No calls came through."
How could that be — I held out my hand. "Give me the phone."
Liv complied. I took it back and first checked the hidden tracking program.
It hadn't been triggered, which meant she hadn't looked at those files. Then I quickly scrolled through the call log: nothing, nothing, nothing!
Serenity really hadn't called. Except for that telemarketer Liv had answered earlier, the log was completely empty.
I lowered the phone with an unprecedented sense of disappointment.
"Elias, you've seemed like you're hiding something from me lately." Liv studied my expression cautiously, her voice soft. "Did I do something to upset you?"
"Why would you think that?" I forced myself to meet her eyes, not letting her see through my lie. "I'm no different than usual."
"No, you are different." Liv stepped closer, narrowing the distance between us. I could clearly smell her perfume, the light floral scent I usually liked.
Today, for some reason, it made me restless.
"See? You're pulling away from me." Liv took my hand. "You used to reach for my hand first. I never had to do it myself. But now you won't even look at me."
I opened my mouth to argue but realized she was right. Ever since discovering the bank account incident, I had been deliberately keeping my distance.
But I couldn't tell her why, so I made an excuse. "The company's been busy lately. I'm just tired. I'm not avoiding you."
"Really? I don't believe you." Liv suddenly pressed herself against my chest with a mischievous look. "Prove it. Ask me to dance. Right now. Then I'll believe you!"
The second half of the gala was a formal ball. The classical orchestra struck up an elegant waltz. Couples had already gathered in the center of the floor.
I couldn't find a reason to refuse.
"Of course, my lady. Would you honor me with this dance?" I summoned my energy, gave her a gentleman's bow, and extended my hand.
Her smile grew brighter as she placed her right hand in mine.
I led her to the center of the dance floor. The other guests considerately made room for their Alpha. The lights dimmed until only a single spotlight remained on us, making us the sole focus of the evening.
Liv seemed thoroughly pleased with this treatment. Her smile hadn't faded since the dance began.
"Look, Elias. Everyone's watching us."
She leaned close to my ear during a turn and whispered.
I guided her through a standard spin, my tone cool. "Isn't this exactly what you wanted?"
She laughed, clear as a bell. "You caught me. Yes, I want everyone to know I'm the woman by your side."
The dance continued, drawing more spectators to the edge of the floor.
They whispered their admiration, speculating about Liv's identity. I even caught a camera flash from somewhere in the crowd—probably a paparazzo who'd snuck in, snapping photos of us dancing. Tomorrow's headlines would no doubt be more tabloid gossip about me.
Normally, I would be worrying about how to explain these rumors to Serenity afterward. But now that she wasn't by my side, now that I no longer needed to explain the gossip, I felt lonelier than ever.
Liv seemed to sense my distraction. She suddenly rested her head against my chest, melting into my arms. This went beyond dancing. The onlookers gasped in surprise.
"Elias, do you know how happy I am right now?" Liv looked up. Her brown eyes sparkled under the lights. "When will you finally make me your true mate?"
The question came suddenly, yet I had been expecting it.
From the moment Liv returned from the dead, this question had hung between us, unresolved.
She had asked many times. It was her only wish. And I had agreed to repay her with a grand mating ceremony to make up for everything she'd suffered while saving me.
Now I couldn't say I had changed my mind. But I did want to delay as long as possible.
So I couldn't answer her right away.
"Liv, I—" I began after a moment of thought.
But before I could finish, a tearing pain exploded in my chest. Not pain.
Something worse. Emptiness. A void. The massive hollow left behind when something vital suddenly vanishes.
Serenity.
It was Serenity!
I realized the source of this agony. The mental link between us had been severed without warning, like a taut string snapping, leaving only a piercing buzz and suffocating silence.
"No!"
I couldn't answer Liv's question anymore. I shoved her away hard, so hard she stumbled several steps.
The music stopped abruptly. Everyone froze, confused about what had happened.
"Elias?" Liv clutched her arm, her face full of shock and hurt. "What are you doing?"
I had no time to explain.
Only one thought consumed me now. Find Serenity. Immediately.
Because a mate bond never breaks for no reason. The only causes are death or the brink of death.
Either way, Serenity was in extreme danger.
I turned to leave, ignoring Liv's crying and calling behind me and the guests' whispers.
But I couldn't make it out of the ballroom. Alfred had appeared onstage at some point. He released his dominance as the former Alpha, forcing everyone in the venue to face him and stop whatever they were doing— including me. He held a microphone and announced loudly, "Good evening, everyone. I apologize for interrupting, but I have something I must announce tonight!"
The room fell instantly silent. Everyone waited for Alfred's words.
I didn't know what he was planning. I looked up at the stage.
Alfred snapped his fingers. Most of the lights went out, leaving only a spotlight on the stage. A projection appeared behind him, a photograph of a tiny, thin infant sucking its thumb, sleeping peacefully in an incubator.
"Tonight, a new heir has been born to the Vernal family! This is my son Elias's child!"