System Glitch: My Mate from “Love” to “Hate” Chapter 03

System Glitch: My Mate from “Love” to “Hate” Chapter 03 A Misunderstanding Breeds Madness

A turning point arrived on Friday evening.

The communicator stone flickered to life–it was my mother. She told me Auntie Grant from the neighboring pack had returned from her long journey and invited me over for dinner, adding that Auntie Grant’s son, Simon Grant, had come back with her too.

When we were little, I’d always trailed after Simon.

I couldn’t go against my mother’s wishes. I sent a quick message to Caspian and hurried off to the feast.

At the dinner table, Simon sat directly across from me.

After years apart, his gentle aura was even more pronounced. He had sleek black hair, thin gold–rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, and the collar of his plain tunic fastened all the way to the top. He spoke in a soft, gentle voice, his smile warm as spring breezes, and every small movement carried the refined mildness unique to high–born alphas.

The meal passed in pleasant harmony. As night fell deep, Auntie Grant insisted that Simon walk me back to the dormitory.

“We’ve arrived, Yvaine,” Simon said politely, “I’ve had a lovely evening.”

I was about to reply when Simon suddenly froze, his gaze drifting past me to my rear, “Is that person your acquaintance?”

I spun around sharply.

Beneath the night sky, Caspian leaned lazily against a tree trunk. His bold, striking silver–grey mane stood out glaringly in the dark, his handsome, harsh face clouded

with a stormy rage almost tangible in the air.

He strode slowly toward us, his amber wolf eyes locked unblinkingly on Simon, brimming with unmasked wariness and hostility.

I instinctively glanced over at Simon: smooth dark hair, scholarly gold frames, a shirt collar buttoned tight without a single gap–an air of restrained, ascetic gentleness.

This was exactly the look I’d forced Caspian to mimic and fake for an entire year.

It was the style I’d gushed about every single day, praising it as the most attractive and proper of all.

Boom.

It felt as if a thunderbolt had exploded inside my head. My blood seemed to freeze in my veins.

Caspian stepped before me, and the wolfish ferocity he’d held back for ages erupted completely. His irises washed over with frigid silver–white–the wolf gaze that only surfaced when rage consumed him.

He tugged at his lips, forcing a smile uglier than tears.

His voice was faint, fragile enough to blow away on a breath of wind, “Yvaine, So this is why you made me dye my hair black, told me to wear glasses, and banned me from the Arena…

“You’ve had someone else in your heart all along.”

I lifted my head stiffly.

The irritation points hovering above his head, already a deep, murky crimson, maxed out completely in that instant.

It felt as though all the air around me had been sucked dry.

Fine rain drifted down my collar, sending a cold shiver through my frame.

Caspian stood out in the downpour, his silver mane soaked by rainwater, clumping

in damp strands against his forehead. Water droplets trailed down his sharp jawline, slipped over his prominent Adam’s apple, and vanished beneath his unfastened collar.

He stared at me, his eyes hollow as a dried–up well.

No roaring fury, no hysterical outbursts–only a bone–chilling, suffocating silence.

The System blared emergency alarms inside my mind: [Warning! Warning! Extreme emotional fluctuation detected in the target subject! Irritation points–values glitching wildly! Host, run! He is extremely dangerous right now!]

Run? Where could I go? My legs had turned timp as noodles.

Simon held up a black umbrella to shield me from the rain, frowned at Caspian, then glanced back at me. His tone remained soft yet distant, “This alpha, you’ve misunderstood. Yvaine and I are merely-”

“Shut up.” Caspian did not spare him a single glance, his gaze glued firmly to my

face.

He stepped forward, his towering, overwhelmingly imposing alpha frame casting a thick shadow that swallowed my whole body.

Simon instinctively moved to stand in front of me.

That single action lit the fuse completely.

Caspian let out a bitter scoff, pressing his tongue against the inside of his cheek. All the resentment he’d suppressed for a full year burst forth like floodwaters breaking

through a dam.

“I see how it is, Yvaine.” He nodded slowly, his voice rough as if filled with sand.

“I wondered why your whole demeanor shifted out of nowhere these past few days.

“Your beloved’s come back, and I’m nothing but a disposable substitute getting in your way, isn’t that right?”