Emma's Pov

　　I tell both stories to Charlotte. The first one was about Sleeping Beauty, and the second one Charlotte asked me to invent again.

　　"Okay, the new story is about an adventurer," I respond thoughtfully, my eyes wandering to Matthew, who is leaning back in his chair, his eyes intensely focused on me, paying attention to everything I say. "She's a young adventurer who one day meets a very mysterious and closed-off man. The young adventurer is fascinated by the man and decides to invite him on an adventure."

　　"Can the adventure be at sea?" Charlotte asks with a sleepy mumble, her eyes already too heavy to stay open.

　　"Yes, it can be a sea adventure. The young adventurer needed to find a treasure that legend says was lost at sea, in a shipwreck. What the young woman didn't know was that the mysterious man was actually a pirate, the owner of the sunken ship."

　　"She's already asleep..." Matthew whispers to me, nodding his head toward his sister. Charlotte is already in a deep sleep, and I smile happily in her direction. I calmly get out of bed, trying not to wake her.

　　Alpha Matthew gets up from his chair, and we both tiptoe out of the room. I close the door behind me and breathe a bit more anxiously with the recent revelations. Our eyes meet, and I see in Matthew a surprise similar to mine.

　　"I think we'd better talk in your room," Matthew suggests, and I widen my eyes at the possibility of what might happen in my room.

　　"I prefer outside if you don't mind. I think I need some fresh air," I argue nervously. Matthew nods in agreement and accompanies me to the back balcony of the house.

　　The whole house is quiet, the balcony overlooks the dense forest, with two rocking chairs placed along with a twisted metal table. I sit in one of the chairs and feel a breeze pass over my agitated body.

　　"My best friend is alive," I murmur the sentence a bit catatonically. Matthew leans on the balcony railing, facing me, he crosses his arms in front of his chest, involuntarily flexing his muscles. "Ava is alive!" I declare with hope in my voice. "I knew I hadn't gone crazy in that forest, that I hadn't been mistaken. It really was Ava!"

　　I lift my eyes to meet Matthew's. His eyes are shining at me, a friendly smile resting on his lips. My heart is beating too fast, pounding my ribs and lungs with the news. I can't wipe the smile off my face with this truth. "It was really Ava in the forest. I... I just thought Charlotte had said that because of the story, but when I saw Ava's presence, I couldn't believe it. I thought it was my mind playing tricks on me," I say with a choked voice, tears ready to fall. "After everything that happened yesterday with the Moonshadow Pack, I thought I had been wrong, that I was indeed my best friend's murderer."

　　Matthew moves closer to me, crouching beside me and pulling me into a hug. I allow him to envelop me in his arms, resting my head on his shoulder and also crossing my arms around his body. Matthew hugs me tenderly, squeezing me against his body. He kisses my forehead and strokes my back.

　　"It's not your fault, Emma. Don't torment yourself like this, please," Matthew whispers in my ear, his voice so gentle and soothing that I feel safe in this moment.

　　I don't know how long I stayed hugged with Matthew, with him stroking my back. I don't want to leave his arms, I don't want to move away from his touch. My heart skips a few beats hearing his breath, hearing his heart, smelling the alpha's scent. As I raise my face to look at him, our lips almost meet, brushing for a few seconds, and I consider surrendering to it. It's just a kiss, just one kiss...

　　"But Charlotte also said something else," I declare with difficulty, pulling away from Matthew's arms. He blinks a bit catatonically and stands up, stepping away from the chair I'm sitting in. He leans back on the balcony railing and rests his hands on it. "About another person dying that night."

　　"Emma, Charlotte she's..." Matthew scratches his neck, searching for the right words to tell me, perhaps. "I know she's special, a prophet. But sometimes it's just delusions of a childish mind, you know? Something imaginary. We don't say our parents died; we say they turned into a star in the sky... Charlotte is still just an eight-year-old girl who maybe, sometimes, doesn't understand things. The powers she has."

　　"I know you care about your sister, Matthew. And I agree with you about her still being a beautiful eight-year-old girl. But I believe in what she said. I believe Ava is alive, and another girl died that day," I declare optimistically. "You said you managed to decrypt one of the files, right?"

　　Matthew nods and shifts his weight onto the balcony railing, as if he's sitting on the fence. "Yes, I have Milena Golden's address. Maybe now we can get more information, who knows," he looks at the watch on his wrist, checking the time. "But it's late, I can see tomorrow with my IT team about the new information."

　　"Tomorrow I plan to go to the address. Meet this Milena Golden," I declare determined. Matthew raises an eyebrow in my direction, and I notice the subtle change in his emotions.

　　"You don't even know where it is. You don't know if it's dangerous," Matthew shoots with a serious and firm voice. I recline in the rocking chair, finding the alpha's concern amusing.

　　"She probably lives in the Lone Mountain Pack. I'll be safe, I just want to meet her." I argue.

　　"Not alone. I'll go with you," Matthew declares decisively. I quickly shake my head.