Chapter 88 – Bruno: Why?
Walter was lying on his bed, staring at the dark ceiling of his room. He couldn't sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the same scene: Melanie talking to Titus. Too close. Too comfortable.
Walter clenched his jaw. He felt his chest burning. He didn't know if it was hatred. Or jealousy. Or something worse.
"Damn it…"
He rolled over in bed and grabbed his phone from the nightstand. He opened the group's private chat: Cristal, Bruno, Damián, Laura. He hesitated for a moment, then started a video call.
The screen lit up. The first to appear was Damián, his hair messy.
"What happened?" he mumbled.
Then Laura appeared. "Walter… everything okay?"
Cristal appeared next. Her face was serious, fully awake.
Bruno was the last one. The giant sat in silence, eyes fixed on the screen.
Walter spoke first. "Does anyone know where Titus and Sofía are?"
A brief silence followed. Laura answered. "Since they left school together, we haven't heard anything."
Damián shook his head. "They haven't texted either."
Walter let out a short laugh, bitter. "Right… what a surprise." He ran a hand through his hair. "Our alpha disappears all night… with Sofía… and nobody knows anything."
Cristal watched him in silence.
Walter went on, increasingly tense. "But that's not even the main problem."
The screen went quiet. Walter lowered his head. "The problem is Melanie."
The name dropped heavy into the conversation.
"That girl slipped into the group like it was nothing," Walter said. "No one invited her. No one really knows her." He clenched his teeth. "And now, suddenly, she's there… everywhere."
Cristal spoke calmly. "Go on."
Walter hit the table with his hand. "She's stealing Titus's attention!"
No one replied.
Walter kept talking, now angrier. "First she shows up like some random girl… and now it turns out she's a werewolf too." He leaned toward the camera. "Do you get what that means?" He looked at each of them on the screen. "We don't know what clan she's from. We don't know who sent her. We don't know what she wants." He took a deep breath. "And in the meantime… Titus gives her attention."
Laura lowered her gaze. Damián shifted uncomfortably. Cristal narrowed her eyes.
Walter finished in a low voice. "That's a problem."
Cristal spoke coldly. "I agree."
They all looked at her. "That girl doesn't belong in the group," she said. "And she's getting closer to Titus every day." Her voice held no emotion. "We should get rid of her before she causes more trouble."
Silence returned.
Bruno finally spoke. "Why don't we go out for a while? We could grab something to eat… or just walk. Maybe it'll help you relax."
Walter shook his head immediately. "I don't feel like it."
Bruno didn't argue. He just listened, steady and patient. "Come on, Walter. Staying locked up in your room isn't going to help."
Walter let the air out in a sigh loaded with annoyance. "I told you I'm fine."
Bruno folded his arms. "You're not fine."
The room fell silent. Walter fixed his eyes on the floor, as if lifting them was too much.
Bruno spoke again, softer this time. "Give me an hour. I'll come pick you up."
Walter didn't answer. But he didn't say no either.
---
An hour later, they were already together in the car. Bruno was driving through the dark streets with no clear destination. The city lights slid across the windshield like ghosts, while the engine hummed in the quiet of the night.
For several minutes, neither of them spoke. The air felt heavy, full of things left unsaid.
Finally, Walter broke the silence. "Bruno… tell me what's going on."
Bruno glanced at him for a second out of the corner of his eye. "You already know."
Walter turned his gaze toward the window, seeing only his own tired reflection. "Yeah…"
He clenched his jaw until his teeth hurt. "It's Melanie. And Titus." He let out a bitter, broken laugh. "The Alpha has betrayed me."
He slowly shook his head. "I thought we were friends." The word "friends" almost came out as a whisper. His hands curled into fists, knuckles white.
"That stupid bitch Melanie…" he spat the name out. "All she's done is cause us trouble." His voice grew darker, lower. "She tortured us psychologically… and physically."
A flash of memories crossed his eyes, and for a second he looked more exhausted than angry. Walter stared straight ahead, forcing himself not to blink.
"Titus almost died because of Melanie and Ken." His breathing grew heavier, more uneven. "And now he's blind because of her." He smacked his knee with his hand, full of contained rage. "That's the worst betrayal someone can commit."
Inside, though, it wasn't just the betrayal that hurt. It was the feeling that he was losing his friend. And that maybe, he already had.
Bruno drove for several minutes in silence. Finally he spoke. "Walter… I know where we're going."
Walter didn't respond. He just nodded slightly, staring out the SUV's window. His gaze was lost. Defeated.
Bruno kept driving. About an hour passed. Along the way, he stopped at a small place that sold donuts. But the best thing there wasn't the donuts. It was the coffee.
Bruno bought two coffees. Got back in the car. And they continued down the road.
The sound of the engine filled the silence. Until, little by little, another sound began to mix with the engine's hum. A deep, constant murmur, like the earth breathing.
The waves.
They grew clearer: a dull crash against the sand, the drag of foam retreating, then the swell returning again and again, like a huge, steady heartbeat.
Finally they arrived at a place Walter never imagined Bruno would take him.
Bruno parked the SUV. Turned off the engine. "We're here," he said.
Walter got out of the car. And for a moment he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
They were at the ocean's edge.
The smell of salt water filled the air, damp and clean, as if it washed away some of the weight in his chest. A cold breeze came from the sea. It prickled his skin and reddened the tip of his nose, but it wasn't an unpleasant cold: it was a cold that woke you up, that cleared your head.
The moon lit everything. It was beautiful. Its reflection trembled on the water's surface, broken again and again by the waves reaching the shore and dying on the sand.
Along the beach, several bonfires dotted the sand. The flames danced with the wind, sending sparks into the air. The fire painted orange glows on faces and shadows of people sitting around it. Some couples sat close, wrapped in each other's arms, sharing a blanket, laughing softly as the fire warmed their skin with golden light. Others stared at the sea in silence, their gazes lost on the black line of the horizon, as if all their memories were hidden there.
Laughter echoed in the distance. A small speaker played some song, nearly drowned out by the steady roar of the ocean. Others just sat quietly, watching the sky and sea as if remembering how wonderful—and vast—the world is.
Bruno handed one of the coffees to Walter. The cup was hot between his cold hands. The contrast of the warm drink, the cold air, and the sound of the waves brought a strange lump to his throat.
The two began walking across the sand. Their footsteps sank softly, leaving prints the waves would soon erase.
"I get it," Bruno said calmly. "I know what it feels like."
His voice came out low, almost lost in the sea, but heavy with a sadness Walter had never heard from him.
Walter said nothing.
Bruno went on. "Something similar happened to me with Cristal… and the Patriarch." He looked at the ocean as they walked. His eyes seemed to follow a wave coming and going, as if reliving something that still hurt. "I know what it feels like to have a broken heart."
In that phrase, Bruno's voice grew rougher, like it was cracking inside even as he tried to keep it steady.
Walter gripped the coffee cup tighter in his hands. The heat burned his skin a little, but he didn't let go. It was like he needed to hold on to something.
Bruno took a deep breath. "But something changed in my life almost a year ago." He paused briefly. The sea kept crashing on the shore, over and over, filling the silence between them. "Something that made me forget the past." He looked toward the horizon, where the sky and sea melted into one shadow. "And made me want to live the present… and the future."
Walter's eyes widened in surprise. He stopped. "Tell me, Bruno… what was it?" His voice sounded almost desperate, broken by exhaustion and jealousy, but also by a real longing to stop feeling this way.
"I want to feel the same."
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Hook: And that silence hid a danger that would soon come to light…