Chapter 35: Phone

Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Phone

The sun had long since surrendered to the night when Caroline finally dropped Azura off at the Williams house. As soon as the front door clicked shut, Azura bolted up the stairs, took a sharp left into her room, and immediately began tearing through it like a raccoon who’d heard there was a loose french fry somewhere.

She was looking for something.

Something crucial.

Something she’d completely forgotten about for four entire days.

Azura Williams’ phone.

She stopped mid-rummage, her hand frozen inside a drawer, and let out a groan that could have woken the dead.

"I am a DISGRACE to the modern age. An absolute EMBARRASSMENT to Gen Z and whatever comes after Gen Z. I deserve to have my internet license revoked. I’ve been isekai’d into a modern world with TECHNOLOGY, and I’ve been running around like a medieval peasant trying to solve mysteries with my ACTING and GUT FEELINGS."

The she-wolves gossiping earlier had triggered something in her brain—a delayed reminder that, oh right, PHONES EXIST. And phones contain INFORMATION. And information is what she desperately needed to survive in this meathead-infested, furball-filled nightmare of a world.

She resumed her frantic search, throwing pillows, overturning desk drawers, and nearly decapitating herself with a flying coat hanger.

Bed? Checked. Closet? Ransacked. Desk? Violated. Drawers? Dumped unceremoniously onto the floor.

After an hour of archaeological excavation through the ruins of Azura Williams’ bedroom, she finally found it—buried at the bottom of the handbag she’d been carrying during the Ascension Ceremony four days ago.

She stared at the bag. Then at her hands. Then back at the bag.

"I literally threw this bag into a corner DAYS ago because I was too busy panicking about my new rack to do basic investigation work. I am a FOOL. A BUSTY, PANICKING FOOL."

The phone was dead, obviously. Because nothing in her life could be easy. She scrambled to plug it in, jabbing the power button like she was defusing a bomb.

"Come on, come on, come on..."

The screen flickered to life, and Azura let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.

Over the next few hours, she scoured the device like a detective on a sugar high. Chats, contacts, calendar, notes, photos, browser history (she immediately regretted that one).

But the more she dug, the more her excitement curdled into disappointment.

She found... absolutely nothing useful.

"Twenty-one," she muttered, scrolling past a selfie of ’Azura’ holding her birthday cake, looking dramatically beautiful. "She’s twenty-one. Four years younger than me. Great. Fantastic. I’ve been demoted."

Her contacts were mostly Caroline and a rotating cast of "friends" who only seemed to message her about pack gossip, designer bag releases, and creative new ways to torment Selena.

No diaries. No secret files. Azura let out a long, dramatic sigh, flopping backward onto her bed.

"Of COURSE. Because why would the villainess have anything useful like a secret journal with weaknesses of all her enemies? No, no, she just has seventeen unread texts about how to ruin Selena’s day and a group chat called ’We Hate That Maid Bitch.’"

She stared at the ceiling, phone resting on her stomach.

"Mind link," she muttered. "Werewolves communicate through MIND LINK. That’s why nobody uses phones for anything important. I’ve been trying to investigate a supernatural society using TOOLS DESIGNED FOR HUMANS."

Another sigh, this one tinged with existential despair.

"I am so out of my depth it’s not even funny."

Her phone buzzed again.

Azura lifted the device from her belly, fingers already scrolling with the desperation of a woman who had absolutely nothing better to do. She was still clinging to the fragile hope that something—anything—useful would magically pop up and save her from this informational wasteland.

She scrolled. And scrolled. And scrolled some more.

And then—her thumb stopped.

There, buried among the sea of unread notifications, was a group chat with a name so suspicious it practically had a trench coat and a shady mustache.

"Hot Alphas"

Azura squinted at the screen.

"...Is this a host club recruitment page? A thirst trap repository? A list of emergency backup boyfriends in case Adrian turns out to be a dud? Because knowing ’Azura Williams,’ it’s probably all three."

Several notifications were popping up, and curiosity—that cursed, insatiable beast—got the better of her. She tapped the chat open.

And immediately regretted it.

Her jaw went slack. Her soul briefly left her body. She had to read the messages three times to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating.

The chat was exactly what it said on the tin: a group of women from various packs, discussing the "hot alphas" across the country like they were trading Pokémon cards. And somewhere in this digital den of thirst, her predecessor—Azura Williams—was apparently a member.

"So you’re telling me," She stared at the screen in disbelief. "Azura Williams, the woman who supposedly has Adrian wrapped around her perfectly manicured finger, is ALSO part of a group dedicated to window-shopping other alphas? Was she building a roster? Keeping backups? Or was this just... a very aggressive fan club for handsome werewolves?"

She didn’t know whether to be impressed or horrified.

Shaking her head, she scrolled to the latest messages, which were being posted at an alarming speed by women from her own pack.

LunaWannabe23: [Did you guys know that the Blackwood triplets are currently staying in the human city near our Crimson Crest Pack?? My cousin saw them at a hotel restaurant during her business lunch! Unfortunately they were in a private room, but she said they’re even more handsome than the photos!]

AlphaBiteMe: [Ah, I just know their uncle is there too because he’s also on business there. Don’t ask me where I got this info, but it’s accurate!]

FurRealTho: [So you mean the Blackwood family is near our pack right now?? Do I need to go to the human city right now? I don’t care that it’s already nighttime—I’m going! I’ll crawl if I have to!]

PackPrincess87: [What?? I’m so jealous of Crimson Crest pack!! I need 6 hours to get there! Maybe I’ll just throw away my sleep tonight and go to that city too! I want to meet Alpha Caelian so much!!]

Azura stared at the screen.

And stared.

And stared some more.

"...Are these women okay?"

She scrolled up slightly, reading the frantic energy of the chat.

"This is like hardcore K-pop stans discovering their idol is in the same Starbucks. Except instead of buying albums, these women are ready to DRIVE SIX HOURS IN THE DARK to catch a GLIMPSE of some alphas they’ve never even met."

She let out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a wheeze.

"And I thought Weibo stans were unhinged. Werewolf women are BUILT DIFFERENT."

She was about to close the chat and move on when something clicked in her brain.

Triplets.

Uncle.

She shot upright in bed, phone clutched in her hands like a grenade.

"WAIT. Aren’t those—" She scrambled to remember the novel she’d skimmed. The male leads. The four male leads who shared the female lead like a group project nobody wanted to fail. "—THE MALE LEADS?!"

Her eyes went wide. Her soul left her body for a solid three seconds.

"THEY’RE IN THE HUMAN CITY. THE CITY RIGHT NEXT TO MY PACK!"