CHAPTER 37: THE POLICE

The moment Harris spoke, the whole clearing fell into a stunned silence.

Even the wolves who stood under the trees stopped shifting their weight.

No one knew how to react. His words were too twisted... too cruel... too much even for a pack used to darkness.

One elder finally managed to speak.

"Captain Tucker... are you certain?"

Harris gave a grim nod. His Alpha aura stayed steady, grounding the shocked crowd.

"Yes, Mr. Morrigan. Our trackers and healers examined her remains. Someone coated her body with a rare preservative strong enough to stop decay and keep her looking... alive."

He hesitated.

"But in truth, Ms. Elena Morrigan had been dead for days before she was ever found."

A loud, broken gasp tore from Vivian’s throat.

She covered her mouth, shaking violently.

"How could any wolf be so cruel? She was already gone! Why torment her body like that?"

Julian didn’t move.

His skin turned pale, almost gray.

His wolf scent usually strong and confident crumbled into something hollow, soured with regret.

For days he believed I’d betrayed him.

He clung to that lie.

He used it to justify running to Camilla... letting her into his den... his bed.

He had used my "betrayal" as an excuse to destroy everything we once had.

But Harris’s revelation hit him like a silver blade straight to the heart.

His voice broke into a whisper.

"What... what have I done...?"

No one spared him a second glance.

No one knew he’d been wrapped up in Camilla’s arms while I died.

Someone asked, "Captain Tucker, was anything else discovered?"

Harris didn’t waver. "The investigation is active. I can’t share much. But one thing is confirmed. The explicit photo that started the rumors... the one that ruined Ms. Morrigan’s name..."

His eyes cut toward Camilla.

"It was submitted by Ms. Camilla Morrigan. Correct?"

Every wolf turned to her.

Camilla didn’t blink.

Her wolf aura stayed smooth and controlled, like she’d trained it to hide her scent.

"Yes," she said simply.

Harris continued, "And records show you were the one who called Julian away from the mating ceremony that day. We’ll need you to come to the station for questions."

A flicker just a flicker of irritation crossed her face.

"Fine. I called him. But that doesn’t make me a murderer. While Elena was by the riverside, Julian and I were watching the fireworks. There were dozens of pack members around us. I couldn’t have touched her."

Harris’s tone stayed steady.

"Relax, Ms. Morrigan. We aren’t accusing you. You’re an important witness. There are inconsistencies to clear."

Before he could continue, Vivian rushed forward, trembling with grief and fear.

"Captain Tucker, please my daughter has a heart condition. She can’t take this. If she collapses, I’ll lose another child. I can’t survive that!"

Harris softened his voice, using calm Alpha energy to soothe her panic.

"Mrs. Morrigan... we understand. We’re not forcing her. But we need to follow procedure. If you want the truth about Elena and I know you do then we have to keep digging."

Vivian finally quieted. She squeezed Camilla’s arm gently.

"Sweetheart... don’t be scared. Just answer their questions honestly."

Camilla nodded, voice steady.

"I’ll be fine, Mom."

....

No matter how many questions the enforcers asked her, Camilla didn’t crack.

She wasn’t just strong she was the kind of wolf who hid her scent, controlled her heartbeat, and twisted her words so smoothly that even trained trackers struggled to read her.

Bringing her down would never happen through simple pack interrogation.

She needed solid proof. Evidence sharp enough to pierce every lie she wrapped herself in.

Harris finally turned his sharp Alpha gaze toward Julian.

"Mr. Morrigan, you’re coming with us too."

That didn’t surprise me at all.

Julian might not have killed me, but he was far from innocent.

My body my statue had been found in the den that was supposed to be ours.

That alone painted him in shadows.

And a wolf cannot pretend to smell no blood in his own home.

So my "funeral" ended with both Julian and Camilla being escorted away two wolves with secrets, two wolves finally cornered.

For the first time in a long time, I felt like I could breathe.

Really breathe.

Like the air didn’t choke me anymore.

When I turned, my eyes found Lewis.

He sat in his wheelchair near the stone line of the graves, still as winter.

Sometime during the ceremony, he had picked up a bouquet of deep crimson roses so dark they almost looked black in the gray snowlight.

Theo stood beside him, holding an umbrella overhead, but the icy wind still cut through everything.

Snowflakes rested on Lewis’s coat, his hair, even on his long lashes...

and he didn’t brush them off.

He didn’t even seem to feel the cold.

He only stared at my gravestone photo with a quiet, heavy sadness that wrapped around him like fog.

He hadn’t cried.

Not once.

But his grief felt heavier than the howls echoing through the whole cemetery.

I couldn’t explain it.

On paper, he was nothing more than a distant pack relative.

But he looked like a wolf who had lost a piece of his soul.

If I didn’t know he cared for someone else...

I might have thought he had deeper feelings for me feelings that went past pity or family duty.

I walked closer and said softly, "Do you want to lay those flowers for Ms. Morrigan? I can take them for you."

He looked down at the bouquet.

The petals were dark, soaked from snow, almost pulsing with sadness.

He didn’t speak.

He simply handed them to me with a slow, steady motion.

I held the roses against my chest and walked toward the grave.

The earth was cold beneath my knees as I knelt, placing the flowers at the stone.

Then I whispered, "Elena... may you rest in peace."

Those words weren’t for anyone watching.

They weren’t a performance.

In that moment, I spoke to the girl I used to be...

and gave peace to the woman I had become.