CHAPTER 107: REAL CONFESSION

Magnus

The moment I step into my office, I am momentarily startled by the sight of a woman sitting near my desk.

Her once radiant dark skin now looks dull, stripped of the warm glow that used to bloom across its surface. The short, thick hair that used to frame her chin is gone; in its place is a buzz cut, growing out into uneven, stubborn spikes.

There is no makeup to soften her features. Her lips are pale and cracked, chapped until they look painful, and the clothes hanging from her frame are old, worn-out, and far too big for her, as though she has been swallowed by fabric that no longer belongs to her.

"Gloria." Her name leaves my mouth and reverberates through the quiet room, heavy and sharp. She flinches at the sound, shifting nervously in her chair, unable to meet my gaze.

I circle the desk and sink into my seat, letting silence settle between us like a weight neither of us wishes to break. My eyes linger on her face, studying, searching for something—anger, defiance, even shame—but all I see is quiet resignation and a sadness that clings to her like a second skin.

"You look..." I stop, the words dissolving on my tongue. I don’t even know what I was trying to say.

Gloria rescues me from the unfinished thought, forcing a small, brittle smile onto her lips as she continues in my stead.

"My family did this to me," she whispers, her hand brushing over the bristles of her short hair. "I tried to seek forgiveness, but I was a fool to think I deserved it. I am a disgrace now. They even erased me from the family registry."

Pitiful as she may appear, her state stirs no sympathy in me. Not an ounce. If anything, she deserved worse. Far worse. I could have sent her to the werewolf jail carved into the Glandale cliffs, where the prisoners have their eyes gouged out and their limbs bound in silver for the rest of their lives.

Still, I reckoned death would be too easy for her. A lifetime of degradation is the cruelest punishment—it eats away at a wolf’s soul grain by grain, driving it toward a madness from which there is no escape.

And I’m glad to see that madness already creeping in. Yet, here I am, forcing myself to steel my resolve, because despite everything, I need her help.

"What have you been up to ever since?"

"I got a job at a gas station," she replies with a dismissive shrug of her stiff shoulders. "I sell coffee there."

"Do you know why you’re here?" My question finally draws her gaze upward, locking her hollow eyes on mine. She doesn’t answer right away, as if weighing which response would be safest. Then a sigh slips from her cracked lips, and her gaze drops back down to her feet.

"I don’t."

"Three people have been abducted from Blood Moon. All females. They vanished through the glitch in the magic barrier—at the exact same spot you slipped through when the wolves chased you out. One of those taken was Kaya Moon."

I speak slowly, measuring every word, watching her for even the slightest reaction. But her vacant stare and blank expression betray nothing, masking whatever might be simmering beneath the surface. I have nothing to grasp onto.

A sigh escapes me, my patience already beginning to fray.

"It kept bugging me, you know," I begin again, shifting my approach. "Kaya never did anything to you, yet you hated her so much that it left everyone baffled. You said you couldn’t accept that she was here with us, that she didn’t deserve it. But as Alpha of the pack, I notice every little shift in our dynamics. At any time."

Her body stiffens even more, her dry lips pressing into a thin line for just a second—but it’s enough for me to catch it. Just as I suspected, the confession she gave us during interrogation wasn’t entirely true.

"The Kellan twins," I continue, my voice steady. "They were the focus of your hatred before Kaya ever set foot in Blood Moon. Why did you change your target?"

"I—" She finally opens her mouth, but whatever words she wants to spill seem stuck in her throat. I don’t let her stall.

"What happened on the night Kaya arrived at Blood Moon, Gloria?"

Gloria bites down on her lower lip so hard it splits, a bead of blood welling before she licks it away with a slow, deliberate drag of her tongue. Then she lifts her gaze to meet mine again.

"The twins approached me and told me who she was, which naturally made me upset. I wasn’t planning on bullying her at the start—I didn’t think much of her, honestly. But then, the twins began coming to me almost every day, whispering things about her... things I didn’t approve of."

She sucks in a deep breath, as if speaking for so long has drained her. I reach for the bottle of water, but before my fingers can grasp it, she begins again.

"I’ve never felt insecure about my standing in the pack or with... well, everyone here. But there was something about the way the twins used their words... It just kept making me furious, every single time.

Eventually, right before your birthday, they—" Another sigh escapes her, long and heavy, as if the right words are trapped somewhere deep inside her. But finally, she finds them.

"I didn’t get the heat inducer from rogues. I didn’t hire that fucker to assault Kaya either. The twins did all that. I just... I just had to spike Kaya’s drink. And honestly, I don’t even remember how I did it."

The more she explains, the more I realize I already suspected some of this. Sure, I had thought Gloria somehow tampered with the magic barrier—for whatever reason—but hearing her real confession now, another piece of the puzzle falls into place.

"Why didn’t you say all this during your interrogation?" I press a little more, wanting to understand the logic behind her actions. "Why did you agree to fight Kaya that night?"

"I—I don’t know," Gloria stammers, each word trembling with genuine uncertainty. "They talked to me through the mind link before the interrogation. They kept... talking to me, all the time. I felt... weird. Like I was in a fog... or hypnotized."

"That will be all, Gloria. Thanks."

I rise to my feet and round the desk, heading toward the exit. I’ve got everything I need, and now I have to figure out my next move.

I reach for the doorknob, ready to leave, when Gloria suddenly jumps to her feet, making me freeze in place. "I didn’t do it, Magnus, I swear."

"I know," I reply without turning back. "Aksel will get you a new job out of the state. Do not contact anyone. Just stay put. If you want to live, that is."

"Do I?" She scoffs bitterly, but all I offer is a simple shrug.

"You wouldn’t have come here if you didn’t."