Chapter 5 Necklace?

"Sir, are you alright?" Leon asked, quickly checking on his leader.

Cassian's gaze sharpened instantly. "Take Miss Amora home."

Amora, who was still standing a few steps behind him, immediately spoke up.

"What about you, Boss? Don't tell me you're planning to sacrifice yourself just because you saved one of your employees. What if you don't make it back? Who's going to pay my salary? Or... who's going to scold me when I'm late for work?"

Leon instinctively turned to look at her, the corner of his lips twitching.

For the first time in his life, he'd met a woman who seemed more concerned about her paycheck than her own life.

Cassian stared at Amora for several seconds.

"You're seriously thinking about that right now?"

"Of course." Amora nodded confidently. "I'm a hardworking employee. Losing my job is way scarier than getting kidnapped."

"You almost died."

"Exactly. That's why I'd like to keep my job now that I've survived."

Cassian let out a quiet sigh.

For some reason, this woman always managed to leave him speechless with her bizarre logic.

"Sir..." Leon cleared his throat. "The warehouse could collapse at any moment."

Cassian gave a slight nod. "Take her home."

Leon was about to respond when Amora shook her head firmly.

"No."

Both men turned toward her at the same time.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Amora lifted her chin.

"I'm not leaving until I know you're really okay, Boss."

"Why?" Cassian asked flatly.

"Because..." She scratched her cheek awkwardly. "If you collapse halfway home, who's going to run the company? More importantly... who's going to sign my paycheck next month?"

Leon immediately lowered his head, desperately trying to hide his laughter.

Cassian pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Amora asked, studying his face.

"Hm."

"But you look paler than before."

"You're imagining things."

Amora slowly shook her head.

"No."

The playfulness disappeared from her eyes.

"I can tell."

Cassian fell silent.

Ever since they left the warehouse, something inside him had felt... off.

The Alpha instincts he had forcefully unleashed to save Amora were still raging beneath the surface, leaving the flow of his power unstable.

He slipped both hands into the pockets of his coat, his fists tightening.

No one could know that, for a brief moment, his power had nearly slipped beyond his control.

"Sir!"

One of the guards hurried over, his expression tense.

"We found something."

"What is it?"

The guard opened his palm.

Resting there was a silver crescent-shaped pendant, its surface blackened by the fire.

The moment Amora saw it...

Her breath caught.

"I..."

Without realizing it, she took a step closer.

"That pendant..."

Her heartbeat quickened.

"I... I think I've seen it before."

Amora frowned.

"I..."

Her eyes remained fixed on the crescent-shaped pendant.

For some reason...

Looking at it stirred something deep inside her.

It felt strangely familiar.

As if it had once been incredibly close to her.

"Isn't that..." she murmured under her breath.

Cassian shifted his gaze toward her.

"You recognize it?"

Amora blinked several times before slowly shaking her head.

"Hm... no."

She let out an awkward little laugh and scratched her temple. "Maybe it's just my imagination."

Her eyes drifted back to the pendant's scorched surface.

"It feels familiar somehow... but I honestly can't remember where I've seen it."

Cassian said nothing.

Instead, his blue eyes grew even darker.

Not because of Amora's answer...

But because of his own instincts.

Ever since the pendant had been found, a faint scent lingered around it.

A scent subtly mixed with Amora's own.

It was barely noticeable.

Yet it was enough to stir the Alpha inside him once again.

"Sir?" Leon called.

Cassian slowly held out his hand.

"Give it to me."

Leon immediately placed the pendant into his palm.

Cassian studied it in silence.

The back of the pendant was almost completely burned away.

Almost.

One symbol had survived.

A lone wolf facing a crescent moon.

Cassian's eyes narrowed.

That symbol...

He had seen it before.

But not inside Blackwood Manor.

It had appeared in an ancient book that had remained sealed inside the family's private library for years.

Without another word, he slipped the pendant into the pocket of his coat.

"Sir?" Leon asked, confused.

"I'm keeping this."

"Understood."

Amora watched the exchange curiously.

"Boss."

"Hm?"

"Is that pendant important?"

Cassian met her gaze without expression.

"Not necessarily."

"Then why keep it?"

"It's evidence."

"Oh..."

Amora nodded without suspicion.

"Then you should hand it over to the police later."

Cassian didn't answer.

Instead, his eyes briefly drifted toward the blazing remains of the warehouse.

The police...

He had no intention of giving them the pendant.

A powerful instinct told him the pendant was connected to a secret that the werewolf clans had buried for generations.

And for now...

The fewer people who knew it existed...

The better.

~o0o~

By the time they arrived at Amora's apartment building, she made no move to get out of the car.

Just as she'd said earlier, she needed to make sure her boss was actually okay.

Not because she cared that much about him...

But because she cared very much about her paycheck.

"You live here?" Cassian asked, his eyes scanning the apartment complex.

Normally, he would never drive a woman all the way to her doorstep.

But after what had happened today, he wanted to make sure Amora got home safely.

"Yep." Amora gave a small nod. "To me, this place is paradise."

She looked Cassian up and down before grinning.

"But for someone like you, Boss... it probably isn't."

"Why?"

"Because the parking lot isn't big enough to fit a CEO's ego."

Leon immediately lowered his head and pretended to cough to hide his laughter.

Cassian stared at Amora expressionlessly.

"Funny."

"Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment."

"I'll take it as one anyway."

"..."

For perhaps the first time in his life, Cassian found himself wondering how this woman always managed to win every conversation.

Amora suddenly raised one finger.

"Wait."

"What now?"

She narrowed her eyes and studied his face with unusual seriousness.

Cassian frowned.

"What is it?"

Amora stepped closer.

A little closer.

Then another step.

Leon instinctively held his breath.

Don't tell me...

She's about to do something reckless again.

Amora tilted her head to one side, then the other.

"Hmm..."

Cassian remained silent.

A moment later, Amora nodded in satisfaction.

"Okay."

"Okay what?"

"The color's back."

Cassian blinked once.

"You looked a little pale earlier."

"You're imagining things."

Amora broke into a triumphant smile.

"See? Now you're the one saying that."

She folded her arms.

"When I said, 'Maybe it's just my imagination,' you kept the pendant anyway."

Leon nearly choked.

This woman... she never forgets anything.

Cassian's expression remained perfectly calm.

"That's different."

"How?"

"The pendant is evidence."

Amora nodded thoughtfully.

"And your face?"

"...No."

Amora nodded as if she finally understood.

"Oh..."

A few seconds later, she looked at him again.

"So... does that mean your face is a collector's item?"

Leon finally lost the battle against his laughter.

"Pffft..."

The instant he realized that sound had escaped his mouth, he straightened his posture.

"My apologies, Sir."

Cassian slowly turned his head.

One icy glance was enough to make Leon snap his mouth shut.

Meanwhile, Amora only chuckled.

"There you go."

"There what?"

"You actually look better when someone's brave enough to laugh at you."

Cassian let out a quiet breath.

"Go inside."

Amora smiled and opened the car door.

"Alright."

She had barely stepped onto the sidewalk when she turned back again.

"Oh, Boss."

Cassian glanced at her.

"Thank you..."

For the first time that day, there wasn't a trace of mischief in her smile.

It was sincere.

"...for saving my life today."

Cassian looked at her for a few silent seconds.

"Hm."

Amora blinked.

That's it? Just "hm"?

The complaint stayed safely inside her head.

Boss, I just thanked you with all my heart, and all I get is one syllable? At this rate, if I ever quit my job, you'll probably just say, "Hm." If I get married? "Hm." Have kids someday? Still "Hm." Seriously... you must get paid by the word.

Despite the endless complaints in her mind, she simply smiled.

"Then... see you tomorrow, Boss."

As the car slowly pulled away from the apartment building, Amora raised her hand and waved enthusiastically.

"Drive safely!"

Cassian neither rolled down the window nor waved back.

The car continued toward the exit.

Just before it turned out of the gate...

The corner of Cassian's lips lifted ever so slightly.

It was so subtle that Leon, sitting behind the wheel, wondered if he'd imagined it.

...Did Sir just smile?

Leon blinked twice before stealing another glance through the rearview mirror.

No way...

I've worked for him for eight years.

And I can count the number of times he's smiled on one hand.

He couldn't help muttering under his breath.

"That's... practically a miracle."

~o0o~

That night...

Peace had returned to Blackwood Manor.

But not to its master.

Cassian stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows of his study, the glittering city lights stretching endlessly beyond the glass.

Yet his attention wasn't on the breathtaking view.

Slowly, he slipped a hand into the pocket of his coat.

His fingers closed around something.

A silver crescent-shaped pendant.

The same pendant recovered from the warehouse after the explosion.

He placed it gently on his desk.

His piercing blue eyes traced every remaining engraving.

The surface had been scarred by fire, blackened and scratched.

But one symbol had survived.

A lone wolf facing a crescent moon.

"This symbol..." he murmured quietly.

"...I'm certain I've seen it before."

Cassian opened one of his desk drawers.

Several old leather-bound books lay neatly arranged inside.

He picked up one of them.

The book was decades old.

Calmly, he turned the pages one after another.

His eyes scanned every line with practiced speed.

Family crests.

Pack emblems.

Records of past Alphas.

He checked each one carefully.

Nothing.

Cassian slowly closed the book.

"Impossible..."

His memory had never failed him.

He was certain he had seen that emblem before.

Just...

Not in this book.

Somewhere else.

A place he hadn't visited in years.

His gaze drifted back to the pendant resting on the desk.

"What secret are you hiding?"

Silence settled over the room once more.

Cassian leaned back in his chair.

Without realizing it, thoughts of Amora filled his mind again.

She had claimed she didn't recognize the pendant.

And judging from the expression on her face...

She hadn't been pretending.

Not even for a second.

Yet...

His Alpha instincts were telling him something entirely different.

From the very first moment he'd laid eyes on the pendant...

Amora's scent had lingered on it.

As though it had once belonged to her.

"If she truly knows nothing..." Cassian's fingers curled into a tight fist.

"...then why were those men looking for her?"

His gaze darkened.

"And more importantly..."

"Why did they call Amora... the heir?"

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

A soft knock echoed from the other side of the door.

"Come in."

Leon stepped into the study carrying a black folder.

"Sir."

"What did you find?"

Leon placed the folder on the desk.

"We've completed a full background investigation on Miss Amora."

Cassian immediately opened it.

The first few pages contained nothing unusual.

Date of birth.

School records.

University.

Employment history.

Everything appeared perfectly ordinary.

Almost...

Too ordinary.

Then the final page caught his attention.

His eyes narrowed.

"What is this?"

Leon lowered his head slightly.

"That's exactly what puzzled us, Sir."

Cassian studied the document in silence.

At the age of five...

Amora's records simply...

Stopped.

No address.

No school enrollment.

No hospital records.

Nothing.

For nearly three years...

It was as if the little girl had vanished from the face of the earth.

Cassian's expression gradually hardened.

"...Three years of her life simply disappeared." He slowly closed the file. "Who... are you really, Amora Everhart?"