Chapter 10 Ch 10

_Leon's POV_

The restaurant was quiet and warm but I felt none of it.

Soft golden lights hung from the ceiling. Red lanterns glowed in the corners. The smell of soy sauce, garlic and sweet spices filled the air. Plates clinked softly around us and low music played in the background. It should have been a pleasant night. Talia loved Chinese food. She had been smiling since we walked in. She had even chosen the table herself, near the window, where the city lights could be seen shining outside.

But no matter how beautiful the place was, I could not relax.

I sat across from her, staring down at my drink. My fingers were wrapped around the glass but my mind was somewhere else completely.

Anya.

I could not stop thinking about her.

I did not understand why my thoughts kept returning to her again and again. She had betrayed us. She had poisoned Talia. She had looked at me with tears in her eyes and still insisted she was innocent, even while the evidence had been found in her room. I had every reason to hate her.

So why was I still thinking about her?

Why was I wondering where she was and what she was doing?

Why was I imagining her in the Fireblood pack, alone among strangers?

Talia lifted her chopsticks and smiled at me. "Try this," she said softly. "You will like it. It is sweet and a little spicy."

I looked up and forced a small smile. "Alright."

She leaned forward and placed a piece of chicken into my plate herself. Her eyes were bright and warm. She looked beautiful tonight. Her blonde hair fell over her shoulders in soft waves. She had dressed carefully and I knew she had done it for me.

Under different circumstances, maybe I would have enjoyed this evening. But tonight, my chest felt heavy.

Talia tilted her head and watched me. "You are still far away," she said. "You have been like this the whole evening."

"I am listening."

She gave me a playful look. "No, you are not. I have been speaking for the last five minutes about the decorations I want for the spring festival and you did not react even once."

"I am sorry," I said.

She gave a soft laugh and reached across the table to touch my hand. "Then let me cheer you up properly."

Her fingers brushed mine gently. "Do you remember the first time we came here? You said the dumplings were too small and then you ordered three more plates."

I let out a quiet breath that was almost a laugh. "I remember."

"And you said the tea tasted strange."

"It did."

She smiled wider. "Then you drank all of it anyway."

I looked at her and tried harder to pull myself into the moment. "You seem to remember everything."

"Of course I do," she said softly. "Moments with you matter to me."

There was affection in her voice. For a brief second, guilt moved through me. I tightened my grip on the glass.

At once, Anya's face flashed in my mind. Her pale face. Her trembling lips. The way she had said, I am innocent, Leon. Please believe me.

Then I thought of Alpha Jacob of the Fireblood pack taking her away under the pretense of investigation.

My jaw tightened. He was supposed to have updated us by now. He was supposed to have sent word. But there had been nothing.

Not a single message.

Not a single report.

The more I thought about it, the more wrong it felt.

What if he was not investigating at all? What if he was helping her escape? What if this whole thing had been a lie from the start?

The anger rose so quickly that I did not notice how hard I was gripping the glass until a sharp cracking sound cut through the air.

Talia gasped.

I looked down.

Thin lines had spread over the surface of the glass under my fingers.

"Leon," Talia said quickly. "Are you fine?"

Her eyes widened as she stared at the cracked glass. A nearby server glanced in our direction, then quickly looked away.

I loosened my hand at once. "Yes. I am fine."

"You cracked it."

"I held it too tightly."

Talia's face softened with worry. "You are not fine. You look so absent-minded tonight. What are you thinking about?"

For a moment, I considered lying again. But I was too restless to hide it.

"I was thinking about Anya," I said coldly. "If the Alpha of Fireblood had not taken her away, she would already have been punished. You would already have received justice. Instead, we are still waiting. We still do not know whether he has punished her or not. Maybe he has helped her escape under the excuse of an investigation."

Talia's expression changed but only for a second. Then she sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Oh, do not worry about Anya. The Alpha of Fireblood is a cruel man. I am sure that he is dealing with her accordingly. Maybe we will receive an update soon. For now, let us focus on something else."

Her voice became lighter and softer. "We should start planning our wedding."

I blinked and stared at her. "Our wedding?"

She smiled, almost shyly this time. "Yes. Your parents were discussing it with mine yesterday. They want us to get married in the coming months."

For a second, I forgot about the restaurant, the cracked glass and everything else.

Married.

So soon?

"But why so soon?" I asked.

Talia lifted one shoulder. "I do not know. Maybe they do not want to delay it because it is a good thing. Maybe they are in a hurry for grandchildren." She laughed softly after saying it as if she found the thought amusing.

But the moment the word marriage settled in my mind, Shadow stirred violently inside me.

No.

His voice was low and rough in my head.

I stiffened.

We cannot marry Talia. She is not our mate.

My mouth tightened.

Anya was our mate, Shadow continued. The Moon Goddess chose her for us.

A dark emotion rose in me at once. I felt angry and frustrated. Anya is a traitor, I shot back inside my mind. She is a criminal. She tried to poison Talia. She is not worthy of being called our mate. She is a disgrace.

Shadow growled. I do not believe it.

I froze for the smallest second. What?

I do not believe she did it.

That answer hit me harder than I expected. My wolf had been restless for days, but until now I had refused to listen too closely to him.

Talia almost died, I said sharply.

And yet something still feels wrong, Shadow replied. Every time you think of Anya, you feel it too. You know something is not right.

I clenched my teeth and pushed his voice away. I lifted my chopsticks and forced myself to keep eating.

Across from me, Talia was watching me carefully. "You do not look happy about our marriage," she said quietly. "What is it?"

I immediately arranged my face into a smile. "No, I am very happy. I cannot wait to have you become my wife and Luna."

She smiled again but I noticed the way her eyes searched my face as if she was trying to decide whether I meant it.

Then I added, "But I will not feel at peace. Not until I make sure that Anya has been given the right punishment for her crime."

Talia's expression hardened. "Yes. She should be severely punished. She poisoned me and on top of that, the poison was a rare and expensive one found only in Fireblood territory. God only knows how long she had been keeping that poison in the drawer of her desk."

My hand stopped moving.

The air around me seemed to turn still.

I looked at her slowly.

She kept speaking, unaware of the storm that had started inside me.

"Maybe she had it for a long time," Talia said with disgust. "I did not know she was so dangerous even though I lived in the same house as her."

But I barely heard the second half of her words. One sentence was echoing in my mind.

In the drawer of her desk.

My heart gave one hard and heavy beat.

How did she know that?

I had not told her.

No one had told her.

The poison had been found during the search of Anya's room while Talia was still at the hospital, weak and barely conscious. Only I and the two guards who were with me knew exactly where it had been hidden. After we found it, I gave strict orders that no one was to reveal any details until the formal punishment had been passed.

The guards would not dare disobey me. Then how did Talia know?

My fingers slowly lowered onto the table.

There had been many places in Anya's room where something could have been hidden. Her closet. Her bedside table. Beneath the mattress. Inside the washroom cabinet. Under the floorboard near the window.

Why had Talia said the desk drawer so easily?

Why had she said it like she knew?

A chill crawled slowly up my spine.

Across from me, Talia lifted her cup and took a delicate sip. She was calm and graceful as ever.

I stared at her.

Suddenly, memories began to rise in my mind one after another. Anya crying and shaking as the guards dragged her away. Anya turning back to me with desperate eyes.

I did not do it, Leon. Please, I am innocent.

At the time, I had thought she was lying.

Had she been telling the truth?

My stomach turned.

Unless...

Unless Talia was the one who had placed the vial there.

The thought was so shocking that for a moment I could not even breathe properly.

No.

Could Talia do something like that?

She had been kind to me for years. She was gentle and soft-spoken. The daughter of a Beta family. The woman everyone expected me to marry.

But then why did she know where the poison had been hidden?

Inside me, Shadow was suddenly wide awake.

Now you see it.

I swallowed hard. No. This is just a mistake. Someone could have told her.

Who? Shadow demanded. You forbade the guards from speaking. She was in the hospital. You said nothing. So who told her?

I had no answer.

Talia smiled softly and placed more food onto my plate. "You have barely eaten," she said. "Do you not like it tonight?"

I forced myself to breathe normally. Do not react. Do not let her see.

If Talia knew something, if she was involved, I could not reveal my suspicion now. Not here. Not before I understood the truth.

I gave her a small smile. "I am just tired. There has been too much happening lately."

She reached for my hand again. "Then stop thinking about that girl. She is gone. Soon this whole matter will be over. Then we can move forward."

That girl.

For some reason, hearing Anya reduced to those words made something twist painfully inside me.

I forced myself to nod. "You are right."

Her shoulders relaxed. She seemed pleased by my answer.

But inside, I was burning.

I began to speak more easily after that. I smiled when needed. I even asked her about the wedding decorations she wanted and whether she preferred white flowers or red. Talia brightened at once and began describing the ceremony she had imagined since childhood. A long aisle. Gold decorations. Musicians. Silk banners. A crown worthy of a Luna.

I listened. I nodded. I said the right things. All the while, my mind was racing.

I watched every expression on her face. Every blink. Every smile. Every pause between her words.

Was there guilt there? Fear? Or was she truly innocent and I was losing my mind?

At one point, she laughed and said, "You are finally listening to me again."

I smiled back. "Of course."

But inside, I was counting every detail.

When dinner ended, she stood beside me while I paid. She slipped her hand through my arm as we walked out of the restaurant together. The night air was cool. The street was quiet. Lantern light from the restaurant door spilled onto the ground behind us.

Talia leaned lightly against me. "I am glad we came tonight. I missed having a peaceful evening with you."

I looked down at her. Her face was soft in the dim light. She looked beautiful and innocent.

And suddenly I did not know what was real anymore.

I opened the car door for her. She smiled and stepped inside. As I walked around to the driver's side, Shadow spoke again.

You need the truth.

I know.

If she framed Anya, then we sent our mate away in chains.

His words hit me like a blow to the chest. I gripped the car door for a second before getting in.

The drive back was quiet. Talia spoke of flowers again and guest lists and music, but her voice sounded far away now. My mind had already moved ahead.

I needed to question the guards again. I needed to know whether anyone had spoken. I needed to know whether there had been anything strange in Anya's room that I had missed.

And more than that, I needed word from the Fireblood pack.

Because if Anya had been telling the truth, then I had made a terrible mistake.