Azura wanted to make a run for it. A full-on, cartoon-style sprint towards the nearest cliff, screaming profanities at the uncaring cosmos.
Could she please, please be excused from this particular brand of bullshit? She had zero memories of this body, no instruction manual, and was now the star of a drama she wouldn't even read on a dare.
The man—Adrian, apparently—finished his grand declaration and then leaned down, his face hovering uncomfortably close to hers, which was still smooshed against his chest.
His expression was a weird mix of concern and constipation. Her bizarre behavior was clearly starting to weird him out.
"Azura... are you back to normal now?"
"....."
Normal?! Brother, I died and woke up in a werewolf romance! The only 'normal' thing left about me is my blood type! Does this guy think his pecs are some kind of psychiatric medication?! That a quick cuddle could cure a full-blown psychotic break?
"I—"
She was about to unleash a verbal tirade that would make a sailor blush, but the silver-haired drama queen on the ground cut in again.
"Since you stopped before actually rejecting me," Selena whimpered, clutching at this final, desperate thread of hope, "can this all be postponed until my wolf is stronger?"
Adrian's lips twisted into a smirk so smug it could curdle milk. He looked down at Selena, his voice dripping with the kind of sarcasm usually reserved for reality TV show hosts.
"You know what? You're right. You did remind me. Thanks for the memo." He puffed out his chest, the one currently serving as Azura's involuntary pillow. "So, let's pick up where we left off. And this time, it's final. No take-backsies."
The crowd's murmurs erupted again, a symphony of juicy gossip. Azura, needing to get a grip on this dumpster fire, subtly tilted her head, her new super-hearing kicking into overdrive.
"Does that killer really think she's going to be our Luna? Has she lost her damn mind?"
"Shameless! After what she did to those two people, she really thought Alpha Adrian would just welcome her with open arms?"
"Shhh... quiet! Look at Elder Luna's face. She looks like she wants to skin Selena alive and wear her as a coat."
Azura's blood ran cold. Killer? Two people? Selena was a murderer?
Azura stared at Selena, her brain doing gymnastics. The girl looked like a gentle breeze could knock her over, all big, teary eyes and a body that seemed to be held together by sheer willpower and ripped fabric. A killer? Really? It was like finding out a fluffy kitten ran a dog-fighting ring.
But years of devouring trashy novels had taught her one thing: in these worlds, the saddest-looking kitten was often the one who'd secretly murdered your entire family and framed you for it.
Was Selena the villain, or just the universe's favorite punching bag? The jury was still out, but Azura's gut was screaming 'PLOT TWIST!'
While Azura's brain was hosting a full-blown detective convention, Adrian decided it was time for the grand finale. He puffed up his chest, ready to drop the nuclear bomb of rejection.
"I, Alpha Adrian Quinn of the Crimson River Pack, reject you, Selena Williams, as my—"
"STOP! STOP!!! DON'T DO THIS!"
Azura's voice, raw and panicked, ripped through the night air like a foghorn.
The world froze.
Adrian's mouth hung open, mid-rejection. The crowd gasped in unison, a collective intake of breath so loud it sounded like a vacuum cleaner. Even Selena, the weeping damsel on the floor, looked up with wide, shocked eyes.
"What the hell, Azura?" Adrian sputtered, his face a mask of pure, unadulterated confusion. "Why did you stop me?"
Azura's mind was a hamster on a wheel, spinning furiously and getting nowhere.
She didn't want to get involved! She wanted to be a fly! Or a potted plant! Anything but this!
But a tiny, annoying voice in her head—the one that read too many damn webnovels—was screaming at her.
What if Selena was innocent? What if this was all a big, fat misunderstanding and Azura just stood by and watched an innocent girl get her soul shattered?
The guilt would be unbearable.
She desperately tried to recall the only werewolf novel she'd ever forced herself to read, the one that made her swear off the genre forever. But it was a blur of angst and fur.
Wait. Hold on.
Right before the dumpling incident, she'd skimmed another one, the one recommended by Iris. It was less 'angsty romance' and more 'orgy in a forest.' A pornographic one, if she was being honest.
And the female lead's name... wasn't it Selena?
The one whose life was a non-stop parade of misery, where she was framed, abused, and passed around between four hot guys like a communal fleshlight?
Azura's head snapped toward the girl on the ground, her eyes widening in a dawning, soul-crushing horror.
This trembling, fragile-looking creature... this was the universe's favorite punching bag? The girl destined to be a sex toy for a quartet of overbearing werewolf dudes?
And if Selena was the tragic, abused heroine...
Then that meant...
Azura's blood ran colder than the frozen dumplings that had sent her here.
The evil sister Iris had cackled about... the one who must be gets what's coming to her in future, just like any villain... that was HER? AZURA LUO?!
SHE was the bitch who gets her comeuppance in a story she knew absolutely nothing about, except for the fact that it was basically 500 chapters of non-stop, plot-driven pornography?!
The disposable, two-dimensional evil woman whose only purpose was to get horribly humiliated and then probably killed off in some creatively gruesome way to make way for the main pairing?!
A strangled, wheezing sound escaped Azura's throat. She'd been isekai'd into a PORNHUB werewolf story... AS THE VILLAIN!