Nathan!

For 17 years, Cecelia convinced herself that she had forgotten about Nathan.

But Nathan is like a tangled undead spirit, hovering in her mind all the time. Every time he appears, he is so subtle, especially his bloody-red pupils, which are bright as if Nathan is in front of her!

Damn it. Why am I thinking about this asshole? Why is that?

While Cecelia was cursing, her one hand couldn’t help reaching up to her private part and began slowly rubbing her clitoris with her fingertips.

"Oh ~"

Under the double impact of the hot water and the movement of her hands, Cecelia was so comfortable that she could not help shouting out.

Cecelia had not slept with a man in 17 years. She explained to herself that Nathan had hurt her so much that she did not want to approach a man again.

But in fact, hot bath water, icy ice, or whatever the temperature that reaches the poles, turns Cecelia on.

Cecelia doesn't want to admit that she can't forget the fiery and icy Nathan, or the extreme pleasure she felt when she tasted the forbidden fruit on the eve of her adulthood.

"Oh ~ Nathan..."

With the movement of her hands, Cecelia cried out Nathan's name. There was no one at home, and she was a little unscrupulous.

As she grudgingly denied it, she fantasized about inserting not her finger, but Nathan's... The unspeakable intensity of shame even gave Cecelia a new sense of pleasure. Cecelia felt numb and ready to climax.

Just then there was a strange noise outside the bathroom.

“Who is it? “

Cecelia asked, startled and stopped immediately.

Cecelia and Damon live in a two-story house. The first floor is a cafe and the second floor is where they live.

If someone climbed up from the first floor and broke into the second floor, they would have passed through the bathroom window.

Cecelia was ashamed and startled. Did this man just hear or see what I was doing? !

The person outside the door was calm and did not hurry to explain, but after a moment, replied, "Mother, it is me."

"Damon?"

Cecelia shouted out in shock.

Why Damon climb from the window when there's a front door?

The most important thing is... Did Damon see her behavior in the bathroom? Did he hear that "Nathan"?

"Mother, are you taking a bath? Can I get into the bathroom now?"

Damon's question was out of her head. Confused, Cecelia replied guiltily, "No, I'm taking a bath. You can’t come in!"

Damon has an odd reaction. "Oh," he suddenly asked, "Mother, I thought I heard you yelling."

Damon paused. The pause was like a pair of hands around Cecelia's throat, taking her breath away.

"It sounds like a name."

Cecelia's heart sank and she blushed with shame.

"Mother, who are you calling?

Cecelia was freaking out, and Damon heard her! As she agonized over how to explain all this to Damon, his next question came like a bolt from the blue:

"Mother, the name you called... It's me, isn’t it?"

Cecelia felt tens of thousands of ants crawling over her. In desperation, she had to change the subject, "Damon, what are you doing back here all of a sudden? Why climb in through the window?"

Damon was silent for a moment.

Cecelia felt her heart beating. She asked in a low voice, "Damon? Are you still here?"

Of course he's here. Cecelia can clearly smell Damon just beyond the bathroom door.

"I am."

Damon's voice didn't have a ripple.

"Maybe I just misheard you. Mother, go back to your bath. I'll come back later."

Then Cecelia heard Damon's door opening and closing.

Cecelia breathed a sigh of relief, then realized something was wrong.

Damon just seemed to put a lot of weight on the word "shower." Did he mean something?

After a moment of wild thought, Cecelia tossed her head away.

After showering, Cecelia gave herself a quick wipe and put on a bathrobe before stepping out of the bathroom. As soon as she left, she bumped into Damon.

Damon had a big smile on his face and looked straight at Cecelia.

Cecelia, morosely shy, wrapped her robe tighter, glared at Damon and asked, "Damon, what are you doing standing in the hallway trying to scare your mother to death?" As she spoke, Cecelia noticed that Damon wasn't wearing the clothes he was wearing when he went out.

Instead of answering Cecelia's question, Damon threw a question out of the blue: "Mother, you hate that bastard as much as I hate him, right? Because he hurt you."

Cecelia was stunned.

When Damon said "bastard," he means Nathan.

Why is Damon suddenly mentioning Nathan?

Cecelia was convulsed with nervousness, and a thought flashed through her mind:

Damon heard that? ! He heared me yelling in the bathroom?

Cecelia, afraid to ask, replied vaguely, "Well... Of course I do." She immediately restated her question and tried to change the subject.

"Damon, you haven't answered me. Why are you standing in the hallway?"

Damon stared at Cecelia for a moment, and this time, he finally answered Cecelia's question, "Mother, I waited in the hallway because I couldn't wait to see your reaction when you accepted the gift I had prepared for you."

"A gift?"

Cecelia had some surprises.

"What gift?"

Damon has nothing to offer. "Please wait, mother.

Cecelia was made curious and nervous by her son's mystification and was about to ask when she heard a piercing scream outside.

"Ah!"

"Oh my God!! Is it Mike!?"

"Quick! Get Alpha right now!"

Cecelia's face changed.

Damon's face didn't change, as if he's anticipating it.

"Damon, is that you?" Cecelia grabbed Damon by the shoulders and whispered, "Damon, is that you? What did you do?"

Damon said slowly, "Mom, I told you, this is a gift for you."

As she spoke, Cecelia could clearly see Damon's amber pupils turning red. It's not glowing red, it's really, really red.

Nathan...

With her teeth clenched, Cecelia put on her bathrobe, pulled Damon aside, and sprinted downstairs and out the door. They ran fast in the direction of the sound.

Despite her preparations, Cecelia was inevitably shocked when she reached the spot where the crowd had gathered and saw the object that had provoked the scream. She felt dizzy and almost fell to the ground.

“Mother!”

Damon, quick of eye and quick of hand, helped Cecelia steady and cradled her in his arms.

"Mother, are you unhappy? This is my gift to you! I told you I would protect you. I said I wouldn't let anyone hurt you!"

As Cecelia looked up against Damon's growing chest, she saw a dry patch of blood on his lower jaw. Probably he was not careful enough, so he did not wipe all the blood on the body, leaving this piece of "criminal evidence".

"Damon, how, how could you...”

Cecelia looked at Damon with mixed feelings. She snapped back to that night in the woods, to Nathan, to the cruelest face in the world.

Damon said, "Mother, don't you like this gift I gave you? This Mike is really horrible, but Alpha is so generous, so I..."

With that, Damon points to Mike. But oddly enough, when he saw Mike clearly, his face changed and he said in panic, "That's not true, that's not true..."

When Cecelia saw Damon's reaction, her fear abated a little.

Not so? Then... ?

Before Cecelia can ask Damon, Jacques and Daisy arrived.

Alpha and Luna, who have ruled Burgundy Pack for decades, stood still after seeing what was happening. Daisy screamed again, her feet weakening as she leaned against Jacques' shoulder.

They saw the body of an adult male hanging from an Italian stone pine. There was a gust of wind and the body swayed slightly, like the heavy pendulum of an antique clock.

The victim is obviously Mike.

A few hours earlier, Jacques himself had beheaded him with the "Crescent Sword" and sent him into exile, with the intention of giving him a chance to live. Damon had the audacity to go after him and kill him.

Jacques suddenly remembered that Damon had left the cafe after Mike, saying he "has a date."

It turns out that "date" means killing Mike!

Jacques turned to Damon, who was holding Cecelia, and shuddered.

After years of working with Cecelia and Damon, Jacques considers her his daughter and Damon his grandson. Further down the line, Damon did have motive to kill Mike, but he didn't want to believe that 17-year-old Damon would do such a thing!

But just before he can ask Damon, a plain woman jumped out of the crowd and pointed at him with a frightened face, shouting, "Alpha, you're here! Catch this murderer! I just saw him beat up Mike and hang him up a tree!"

Damon's jaw drops for a moment, his face flushed, and he barks back, "That's bullshit!"

"I’m talking nonsense! It’s you!"

"Be quiet!”

Jacques used an Alpha tone to steady Damon and the woman. He gritted his teeth and walked down to five pins.

Right below Mike's body, an unusual reflection caught Jacques' attention. He stooped down and picked up the reflective object.

Jacques felt dizzy as he made clear the reflective object.

This is a silver pendant. He put it on when Damon was born.

"Damon, there's evidence and there's motive, and you... What can you say?"

Jacques said this without turning around.

Damon explained, "Alpha, no, I didn't kill Mike!"

Jacques sighed. So far, all the evidence was against Damon, and the public's anger was growing, blaming Damon and demanding that he be brought to justice.

Now, as Alpha, what he should do and how to do it is obvious...

"Damon, you have violated my will as the Alpha of Burgundy Pack and caused such a terrible commotion. For Burgundy Pack, I have to evict you. So Cecelia, go back to Silver Moon Pack! I'll have everything you need for your journey brought to the cafe before sundown. Positano is no longer a place for you. I don't want to see either of you at sunrise tomorrow!”

Damon cried and grabbed Cecelia and yelled, "Mother, explain this to the Alpha! I really didn't kill Mike! I swear! I was just angry, and I wanted to make sure he hadn't snuck any photos of my mother, so I hit him. Yes, I put him on the tree, but I only wanted to humiliate him so hard that I could make you happy as a gift. That's all! Really! I was angry, but why would I kill him? !"

Cecelia heard that, suddenly realized.

That's what Damon meant when he said "gift"!

As a mother, of course she trust her son 100%! But Cecelia also knew that Damon had no way to prove that he wasn't the one who killed Mike. At this point, they had to leave.

Jacques stood up, looking lonely from behind.

"Cecelia, hurry up, take your son and go! I promise in the name of the Alpha of Burgundy Pack, that we will protect you for another 24 hours. 24 hours later, you're rogue, and you know what that means."

Cecelia certainly knew. Once they become rogue, they would be subject to murderer, abused, and raped by any werewolves, including hunters and witches.

Werewolf’s fur and teeth are a valuable collection for hunters and witches!

Cecelia nodded feebly. She didn't want to embarrass Jacques, who had been like a father to her for 17 years.

"Damon, I believe you. But Alpha also has his difficulties. Alpha has taken care of us all these years, treated you like a grandfather, and you don't want to embarrass him, do you?"

Damon bites his lower lip and nods. "But I didn't do it..." he mumbles.

Cecelia smiles and gently touches Damon's head.

"Damon, I believe you. We, must find a way to catch the real murderer, to help you clear the name in the future, ok? At that time, Alpha will forgive you."

Cecelia looked back at Jacques and Daisy.

Jacques was also looking at Cecelia, and their eyes met, each clearly feeling the other's reluctance.

But Jacques finally shook his head, sighs and turns away. Daisy's mouth twitched as if she wanted to say something, but Jacques didn't give her a chance.

Cecelia was filled with bitterness as she looked back at the helpless elderly couple who had treated her like parents for the past 17 years. She stood up and made a silent bow, drawing a rest for the fate that had come to an end.

A tearful Damon, after a long silence, finally nodded.

A relieved Cecelia wiped a tear from her eye and said, "Damon, let's go. We must hurry, or it will be dangerous to wait until we turn rogue."

Damon sniffed and took on a serious look. "Mother, don't be afraid. I'll protect you."

Cecelia smiles broadly and pinches the tip of Damon's nose.

"Okay, great Damon, I'm counting on you."

Damon blushes and quickly puts all the bitterness and grievances of being wronged behind him.

"But mother, where should we go? Where will take us?"

Cecelia stared at Damon without speaking.

Damon suddenly realized that there is one place, or only one place. He almost blurted out the place, but he gritted his teeth in genuine disgust.

Cecelia shook her head slightly. "Come on, Damon. Let’s go back to the place we should have called home, Silver Moon Pack..."