Chapter 3
I opened my mouth, only to realize my voice was so dry it barely sounded human.
“…What happened to me?”
Henry sat by the bed, guilt measured perfectly into his tone.
“You had a nightmare last night and fell off the bed.”
“The Pack doctor already checked you. It’s just an old injury acting up. You need to rest properly.”
My body was trembling. He immediately took my hand and said softly, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”
I listened in silence.
In fact, it was him who had someone push me down the stairs to give Isabella and those two pups an explanation.
And now he could look me straight in the eye and say I fell on my own.
Henry.
Your lies are clumsy and yet you still expect me to believe them.
Exhaustion swept over me like a tide.
I said I had a headache and asked him to go handle Pack affairs first.
He didn’t press, only leaned down and kissed my forehead.
The moment the door closed, I shut my eyes and let my heart go cold, inch by inch.
During the days I was recovering, the noise Isabella made in the villa grew louder by the day.
The greenhouse that had once belonged to me was turned into a play area for the two pups.
Plush toys, training mats for young wolves, and chew sticks, they filled every corner I used to love the most.
Formula milk and diapers piled up in the storage room. Even the air carried that distinct milky scent unique to pups.
More than once, the housekeepers quietly warned me to watch out for Isabella.
I could only smile bitterly.
Something Henry allowed.
With what identity, with what standing, did I have the right to stop it?
Fortunately, ten days.
Just ten more days, and everything would be over.
The day my injuries finally stabilized and I could get out of bed, Henry personally helped me change clothes and put on my shoes.
He lowered his head and kissed my forehead, gentle as he’d been countless times before.
“Jenifer, you’ve been cooped up in the room lately,” he said.
“I’ll take you out for a walk.”
I nodded and agreed.
Until I saw the nanny loading a stroller into the trunk.
My heart sank. I looked up at him.
Henry’s voice was slightly hoarse. His fingers toyed with my hair, his tone gentle—almost matter-of-fact.
“Of course it’s so you can get used to going out as a family of three.”
“There will be plenty of chances like this in the future.”
“There won’t be any future”, the words lodged in my throat.
In the end, I said nothing.
The mall was crowded.
Henry held my hand, his Alpha presence shielding me firmly at his side.
But not long after, a phone call changed his expression.
“I need to take this. I’ll be right back.”
He let go of my hand and walked away.
At first, I didn’t sense anything wrong.
Until an icy, chaotic presence suddenly appeared behind me like a wolf out of control, thick with malice.
I instinctively quickened my pace.
That gaze only grew more blatant, practically pressed against my back.
Every instinct screamed danger.
I turned to leave, and in the next second—
A dark figure lunged out from the shadows.
“Bitch!”
“Why do you get to take the pups out?”
“You’re the one who stole my pups!”
A flash of cold light—
A blade stabbed viciously into my forearm.
Pain exploded. I screamed.
But the next instant, my throat was clamped tight. My wolf spirit was suppressed completely but I didn’t even have a chance to shift.
The air was squeezed out of me bit by bit.
My consciousness blurred, slipping away.
In the last moment before I passed out, I thought I saw police rushing in.
And Henry, running toward me in complete loss of control.
When I opened my eyes again, all I saw was the stark white ceiling of a hospital.
The room was empty.
But faint voices drifted in from the hallway.
“The police already sent that mentally unstable woman to the werewolf correction center.”
“From now on, when you take Theo and Leo out, you won’t have to worry anymore.”
Isabella’s voice was filled with sweet relief.
She threw herself into Henry’s arms, nearly crying.
“Henry, thank you.”
“I knew you cared about the kids the most.”
“Otherwise… you wouldn’t have let Jenifer act as bait to draw that dangerous lunatic out.”
Bait? So for Isabella and the pups’ safety, Henry used me to lure out a dangerous person.
In a daze, I knocked over the cup by my bedside.
Clang. A few seconds later, Henry pushed the door open. Dark circles shadowed his eyes.
“Jenifer, do you want some water?”
His voice was gentle. “You’re awake. Why didn’t you call me?”
“…You didn’t hear anything strange just now, did you?”
In that instant, my nose burned.
This man had once sworn to the Moon Goddess, holding me, saying I was the most important person in his life.
But in front of Isabella and the pups, I was disposable at any moment.
“No,” I forced out. “My head’s been killing me since I woke up.”
Henry visibly relaxed.
He immediately launched into a prepared explanation, his tone soft.
“This is my bad. That call delayed me from getting to you in time.”
“It won’t happen again.”
I listened quietly.
Inside, there was nothing left but a frozen wasteland of numbness.
Over the next few days, Henry pushed aside nearly all Pack affairs and stayed by my side.
But Isabella’s calls never stopped.
Either she couldn’t find cold medicine for the pups, or she was panicking because a young wolf had diarrhea.
On the morning of the third day, I woke up to find only a note by the bed.
[Emergency at the company.]
The handwriting was rushed.
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
In the end, I just tossed the note into the trash.
The day I was discharged, I went to the climbing gym I used to frequent.
It was also a place where wolves trained climbing skills and explosive strength.
I secured my harness and started climbing the wall.
My movements were clean, decisive like releasing wolf instincts I’d suppressed for too long.
Suddenly, a figure entered the edge of my vision.
That person cut in from a side wall, climbed, switched holds, locked strength—
Every move sharp and efficient, exactly the same, exactly the same way Henry had taught me.
My heart dropped.
A few seconds later, I finally saw that face clearly.
It was Isabella.
