The Lycan King's Fate Calling

Crystal's POV:

'What did it say?" Rufus asked, turning serious now. "I deleted it," I lied without missing a beat.

That message was calling me out by my original name. Rufus must not see it, no matter what, or things would only get even more complicated.

"Do you still remember what it said?" Rufus frowned, his eyes never leaving my face.

I nodded. "I didn't recognize the number, and I have no idea who the sender might be. But whoever it was, they knew my name and made some threats. They even mentioned Beryl."

"Do you think you can recall the phone number?" Rufus asked, never doubting my words for one second. "I can have someone trace its IP address."

"Yes, I remember." I had pored over that message repeatedly last night, unable to sleep. Naturally, I had come to memorize the cursed number.

I cited the numbers without batting an eye, only for Rufus to hold up his hand. "Too fast, I didn't catch it." "Huh?" I frowned in confusion. This man had a photographic memory. How could he have missed a short series of digits?

Nonplussed, Rufus took out his phone and handed it to me. "Add me on your contact list and send me the number."

to? But our priority was to find Beryl, so I quickly swapped our contact details on

and made a few phone calls. When he faced me again, we finally had results. "The IP address was traced back to the imperial

he spoke, and I knew that

barked at his men, and we all headed to

shrouded with a foreboding aura, just as it had always

woods seemed to be denser, and a veil of mist seemed to hover among the branches. Rufus divided his men into several

with Rufus. We walked side by side, our senses keenly attuned to our

and Beryl had a special connection, after all, because he strode straight into a certain direction like a

sky turned darker, and the ground beneath us was covered with thick moss so green, it was almost black. If

intertwined on massive tree trunks in a

forbidden forest, I was still as creeped out as any newcomer would

was calm and focused, like he

Rufus had brought us to the spot where Noreen was buried; we just took a

a tall, prominent tree, and I recognized it immediately. This was how Laura and I remembered the spot we chose to bury

me and said, "Beryl is probably

heart sank. He moved forward, and I trailed behind him. My own intuition