Chapter 60: Interrogation

Chapter 60: Chapter 60: Interrogation

River raised her hand in a lazy, placating gesture, a chuckle rolling off her tongue like silk. "Relax, Caelus. I’m not going to hurt your precious fated mate." She paused, tilting her head with mock sympathy. "Even if her wolf is currently taking the world’s longest nap."

She shook her head, tutting like a disappointed grandmother at a family reunion.

"The four strongest Alphas in the entire region—and all of them are stuck with a mate who’s functionally no different from a human with good cheekbones. The future of the Blackwood bloodline is looking real bright, huh? Real bright."

Caelus’s jaw tightened, but he forced himself to lower his guard. She was right—she hadn’t attacked. She was just... being River.

That was his mistake.

Because the second his shoulders relaxed, River moved.

She was in front of Azura before anyone could blink, her hand shooting out to grab Azura’s face like she was inspecting a melon at the supermarket. Her fingers squeezed, forcing Azura’s cheeks to puff out obscenely as she tilted her head up, studying her like a curious cat examining a new toy.

"Buuh??!"

Azura’s brain short-circuited for the one hundred time that day. From this close, she realized River was TALL. Like, probably over 184 cm tall. No wonder she had that powerful, commanding aura—she literally towered over most people!

And that face! That sharp jawline! Those eyes!

Even though she’d been downgraded from "cool older sister" to "aunt," Azura’s heart still did a little flip.

River hummed thoughtfully, her thumb rubbing against Azura’s squished cheek like she was testing the texture. "Hmm... this girl’s face isn’t bad at all." She smirked, leaning in closer. "If you admire me so much, how about you reject my stupid brother and my even stupider nephews?"

She tilted her head, her grin widening.

"I’m more attractive than all of them combined, don’t you think?"

".....???"

Azura’s eyes went wide as dinner plates.

Wait—WAIT.

Does this novel have a GIRL-ON-GIRL ROMANCE PLOT TOO?!

Is this cool aunt actually a love rival—not to steal the male leads from me, but to STEAL ME FROM THEM?!

Azura’s mouth opened, ready to spew some absolute nonsense that would make a therapist weep—

When a sharp whistle cut through the air.

THUNK!

A fountain pen embedded itself into the back of River’s hand, pinning through the flesh like a dart hitting a bullseye.

"!!!!"

River’s grip released instantly as she hissed, yanking the pen out with a wet schlorp. Blood dripped down her fingers, splattering onto the pristine floor.

She didn’t even flinch.

Instead, her grin only grew wider.

She licked the blood off her wound, her eyes locking onto Kyler—who hadn’t even looked up from his paperwork the entire time.

"Tsk." River clicked her tongue, amused. "You didn’t even look at her since she walked in, but the moment someone else touches her, you throw a pen?" She twirled the bloodied fountain pen between her fingers. "And you used Mother’s pen, no less."

Kyler said nothing.

He just flipped a page.

Azura stared at River’s hand, then at the blood on the floor, then at Kyler’s completely unbothered silhouette.

Everything had happened so fast. She hadn’t even managed to see who was throwing it.

But from River’s words—it had to be Kyler.

She then remembered yesterday. Caesar and Caelian had been casually thrown a heavy coffin lid at each other like it was a frisbee, then destroying it. And now Kyler had just thrown a sharp object at his own sister without a second thought.

Azura swallowed.

The Blackwood family...

Their sibling fights are intense, no matter the generation, huh?

She looked at River, who was now licking the wound clean like a satisfied predator.

Then she looked at Kyler, who still hadn’t spared her a single glance.

What the hell did I get myself into?

Kyler finally lifted his head, his cold eyes locking onto River like a sniper zeroing in on a target.

"Get out of this room before I throw something at your head."

His voice was flat. Deadly serious. Like he was reading a grocery list that ended with "and also commit violence."

River clicked her tongue dramatically, rolling her eyes as she sauntered toward the door. But just before crossing the threshold, she spun on her heel and hurled the bloodied pen at Caesar’s chest with terrifying accuracy.

THWIP—THUD!

Caesar caught it effortlessly, blinking down at the now-blood-stained fountain pen in his hand like it was a cursed artifact.

"Fine, fine. I’m out." River paused at the doorway, not even bothering to look back. "Girl. Listen to me. Dump my rude brother and my dumbass nephews. They’re so boring~"

The door clicked shut behind her.

Silence.

Then Caesar stared at the blood smeared on his palm. His eye twitched.

"Aunt is so annoying." He shoved the pen into Wilson’s hands like it was radioactive waste. "Every single time she gets hurt, she deliberately makes sure we end up covered in her blood too! It’s like she’s marking her territory!"

Wilson looked down at the pen. Then at the blood. Then back at Caesar.

He let out a long, suffering sigh.

He was a Beta. A respected rank in the pack hierarchy.

But, he was pretty sure his actual job title was Housekeeper for a Family of Violent Lunatics.

I’m not a beta. I’m a goddamn babysitter for a pack of feral Alphas.

He pulled out a pristine handkerchief and began wiping the pen clean with the practiced resignation of a man who had long since accepted his fate.

Meanwhile, Azura was still standing in the middle of the room, brain buffering like a computer from 2005 trying to load a 4K video.

Then she felt hands on her shoulders.

"Come on, sit down."

Caelian guided her to the sofa with the gentle insistence of someone herding a confused puppy. He pushed her shoulders down until her knees buckled and she landed on the plush cushion.

"Since we’re going to talk about what you asked—about fated mates—you’d better sit. Because this is going to take a while."

He tilted his head, a sly smirk curling his lips.

"Unless... you don’t want to talk about it anymore? Since you seemed so charmed by my aunt. What was it she said?" He pressed a finger to his chin, pretending to think. "’All of us combined are no match for her’?"

Azura’s head whipped around so fast she nearly gave herself whiplash.

She looked at Caelian’s ethereal, almost unfairly beautiful face.

Then at Caesar’s rugged, chiseled features.

Then at Caelus’s cold, stoic elegance.

Then finally at Kyler’s sharp, dangerous handsomeness—even though he still wasn’t looking at her.

She immediately felt the urge to defend herself like a lawyer whose client was about to be sentenced to death.

"WHAT?! NO! NO! NO! I still want to talk!!" She waved her hands frantically. "About her—I mean, Aunt River is my type of woman! She’s gorgeous! Stunning! A visual masterpiece!"

The triplets’ expressions flickered with something unreadable yet dangerous.

"BUT—" Azura slammed her hands on her knees, leaning forward with fiery determination."That DOESN’T mean you all lose to her! It’s the OPPOSITE, actually!"

Because let’s be real. The male leads had that protagonist filter. That special sauce. That cheat-code-level aura that made them shine brighter than everyone else in the room.

River was a 10/10, but these four? They were 12/10 with protagonist lighting and dramatic wind effects.

Azura silently thanked whatever cosmic force gave her self-control. If she were any more of a simp, she’d need to wear sunglasses indoors just to survive looking at them.

It was just male lead privilege.

Caelian’s smirk softened into a genuine smile as he casually settled beside her, far closer than necessary.

"Good. So you still have eyes and taste."

Then his gaze flickered down, and his smile turned just a little bit sharper.

"...Even if your brain is...."

He wisely chose not to finish that sentence.

Because he had a feeling that if he called her brain damaged, she would throw another dramatic theatrical performance that would scar them all emotionally.

And after yesterday’s funeral-level performance, his sanity could not take a sequel.

Some battles weren’t worth fighting.

Caelus was already seated, legs crossed, looking like a silver-haired statue of judgment that had been carved specifically to make people confess their sins

"Enough with this pointless topic." His voice cut through the air like a scalpel. "We need to talk about the important matter."

He turned his gaze toward Azura, and she felt like a bug under a microscope.

"And we hope you’ll be honest and tell us everything you know."

Caesar, meanwhile, was sprawled beside him like a bored lion who had just remembered he was supposed to be intimidating. He flashed a grin that was all teeth.

"Yeah. And if we find out you’re hiding something..." He leaned forward, eyes glinting. "Maybe you’d be interested in visiting the basement of our pack house. You know—the special one. For people who don’t tell the truth."

Azura’s throat made an audible gulp.

She had never been to the basement. She didn’t want to go to the basement. She wanted to live her life on the ground floor where the sunlight was and where people weren’t interrogated.

"Hey, hey, hey—don’t scare her before we even start!" Caelian’s tone was light, almost playful. But when Azura met his eyes, she saw the same glint. The same promise screamed: "I would absolutely throw you down there if you say one wrong word :)"

Azura’s eye twitched.

"Guys... we’re just going to talk about whether we’re fated mates or not, right?" She gestured wildly between them. "So why does this conversation sound like a murder investigation?! Shouldn’t I be the one asking the questions?!"

Before any of the triplets could answer, a voice like frozen gravel cut through the room.

"When did your wolf go into hibernation?"

Kyler.

He was finally looking at her.

Azura blinked rapidly, her brain scrambling to catch up.

"U-uhm... almost a week ago...?"

"And in the past few days—without your wolf—have you been able to release your scent or intimidate anyone?"

A chill ran down Azura’s spine.

Intimidate?

She looked at the four alphas in front of her.

Caelus: stoic death glare.

Caesar: feral grin.

Caelian: charming but predatory smirk.

Kyler: expression of a man who had seen war and found it mildly disappointing.

And he was asking her—a she-wolf whose wolf was currently on an extended vacation in the Bahamas of her subconscious—if she could intimidate them or other werewolves?

She couldn’t even intimidate a golden retriever.

She shook her head frantically, hands waving like she was flagging down an ambulance.

"Of course I can’t release anything! How could I? My wolf, Cora, is sleeping so soundly inside me that I think she’s entered a coma!" She took a breath. "And as for intimidating someone—I’m just a weak she-wolf who can’t even shift right now! How am I supposed to intimidate anyone?"

Then her expression turned thoughtful.

"...Instead of intimidation, it’s better to just attack someone mentally if you’re weak, right? Right? Psychological warfare is the real weapon!"

She nodded to herself, proud of her own genius.

"....."

The four alphas stared at her.

None of them spoke.

Because the painful truth was—

She had been mentally attacking them for the past few days without even realizing it. And they couldn’t decide if that was impressive or absolutely terrifying.

Caelus broke the silence this time, his voice cutting through the room like a blade wrapped in velvet.

"Do you know about the trap involving a fake bond in your pack? The one that makes intruders feel a false connection? Is that the work of your pack witch?"

Azura’s brain short-circuited.

"Fake bond? What?" She blinked rapidly, looking between the four alphas like they’d just asked her to explain quantum physics. "I don’t know anything about that. But—" she held up a finger, "—it could very well be true! Our pack witch is known to be incredibly powerful. Like, ’could probably turn me into a toad with a sneeze’ powerful."

Caesar leaned forward, eyes narrowing like a predator who had just spotted weakness.

"You don’t know anything? Your brother is the beta. If there’s anything regarding territorial security, he would’ve told you." His grin sharpened. "Are you sure you’re not hiding something?"

Azura immediately made a cross with her fingers, holding them up like she was warding off a vampire.

"I swear! I really don’t know anything and—"

"Then what do you know about your pack witch?"

The question cut her off.

The pack witch.

Uh... they were talking about Mara, right?

The same Mara who looked at her like she wanted to hang her intestines on a clothesline?

The same Mara who probably had a voodoo doll of Azura tucked under her pillow?

"I...I am not close to her," Azura admitted slowly. "She doesn’t like me. In fact, she looks at me the way most people look at a cockroach that just crawled out of their sandwich."

She shivered.

"I think she wants to skin me alive."

The triplets exchanged glances.

Kyler, however, didn’t say a word. Instead, he reached into the pile of paperwork on his desk—a mountain so tall it looked like it could qualify as a geological formation—and pulled out a single piece of paper.

"The results of the investigation about you and your brother are minimal. No significant information." He slid the paper across the desk. "It’s like someone deliberately only put basic information about your family. Strange. But we won’t discuss that now."

Azura almost gaped. Someone deliberately hid information about her family? What kind of spy-thriller nonsense was this?

Curiosity clawed at her throat, but she knew better than to interrupt Kyler Blackwood when he was on a roll.

Kyler continued, his finger landing on another paper.

"Since there’s nothing important about you, we tried to find information about your pack instead." He tapped the page. "One thing caught my attention."

Azura leaned forward despite herself.

"It says here that a few years ago, a child was exiled to the forest near the border. One day, that child helped an injured witch. The witch, in gratitude, brought the child back to the pack and agreed to become the pack witch—on one condition: the child had to return to live in pack territory."

He tapped the paper again.

"Caelus informed me through mind link earlier that the exiled child was you."

He looked up.

"So... If you’re the child who saved the witch..."

His voice dropped, sharp as a blade.

"...why does she harbor malicious intention toward you? Why does she want to skin her savior alive?"