My Fated Mate Can Have Her-Chapter 169: Sunset City

Rowan

The capital of Orpal spread out before us. Buildings rose in tiers, with each level connected to the next by wooden and stone bridges that arched and connected structures to each other. What was left of the setting sun caught on clay roof tiles to create a stunning patchwork of terracotta and slate that shifted colours as the clouds passed overhead.

It was impressive seeing this place again, but out of all things, I had not expected her to just stop and stare like that.

Her lips had parted slightly in that specific kind of wonder that came from encountering something unimaginable.

She had never seen anything like this...?

I may not know much about the pack she grew up in, but even if it wasn’t this grandeur, she had to have seen Fresna’s capital... Then again, it’s more practical with little focus on beauty and creativity the way Orpal’s capital presented itself.

My chest loosened with a warm feeling.

I don’t think I had ever seen such an unguarded look on her face before.

The way her dark lashes cast shadows against her cheek, and how her eyes, usually so guarded and clouded with worry, had gone wide and clear.

Even if it was for a brief moment, this was her face stripped of every defense. There was no fear tightening her face, no anger hardening her features, and no exhaustion dulling her eyes. Just pure, unfiltered wonder softening everything about her until she looked almost ethereal in the evening light.

Her hair moved slightly in the breeze, partially obstructing my view. While I had burned that view into my memory, I still had the sudden, irrational urge to reach out and tuck those stubborn strands back, just to have an excuse to touch her face, to trace the curve of her cheek with my thumb and see if her skin was as soft as it looked in this light.

But for this moment, standing on this overlook with the capital spread below and the sunset painting her in gold, I could pretend that someday she might look at me with even a fraction of that openness.

Because I knew, with painful certainty, that the moment she remembered I was standing beside her, all of it would disappear behind those walls again.

And I would be left with nothing but the memory of how beautiful she looked when she forgot to guard herself from the world.

My chest tightened as the guarded look crept into her eyes just as she came back to her senses.

She flinched as she caught me staring at her. I only smiled.

"We should be going."

She quickly nodded in response and we moved forward.

The roads leading to the Capital descended in slight slopes worn smooth by traffic. We passed other wolves passing by and heading in both directions, and when we finally moved deeper within, the change was immediate.

The air thickened with the scent of bodies, sweet smelling smoke, food and various scents. Voices layered over each other in conversations and arguments and laughter, and cart wheels grinded over cobblestones as the streets widened.

While Fresna’s capital was more crowded, Orpal’s residents weren’t as organised. But the artistic beauty of the city was enough to compensate for the disorderliness everywhere.

Violet’s head turned in nearly every direction as she took it all in, but her fascination had quickly shifted into something else.

Her eyes tracked everything and there was something deliberate in the way she looked.

Like she was searching for something specific.

Something in those eyes reminded me specifically of those days she had barely been eating.

Before she had collapsed from the lack of sleep and proper food.

She had been planning something.

I had tried to convince myself otherwise. That her distraction and the constant glances she gave me during those days had stemmed from worrying about the escorts I had sent away.

A disturbing uneasiness gripped my chest.

It looked like she was trying to memorise her surroundings...

Did she intend to get rid of me here?

Just as I tried to wonder how she would have done it, it suddenly dawned on me just how she might have pulled it off...

’So that’s why she was starving herself...’

Despite the hurt I felt, I don’t think I could ever blame her for making such a decision.

Still...

"We won’t be staying the night."

The words came out too quickly, rough with something I couldn’t quite hide.

Her head turned. Surprise flickered across her face. Her eyebrows rose slightly and her lips parted as if to question why.

"We’ll need to leave with the next moving ship," I continued, trying to sound as reasonable as I could. "It is safer for us to leave on time. You can at least relax when we cross the sea."

It wasn’t entirely a lie. There were legitimate risks in staying here, even if it was for the night. While I knew Orpal’s Supreme Alpha was staying behind in Fresna, I had no clue when he would be coming. He never said. And I wouldn’t want to take the chance.

Still being close to Fresna was another problem.

But the real reason sat heavy in my stomach like a stone.

Finding her in this place would be tricky, but not necessarily impossible. But I did not want to risk it.

"Ship?"

She looked really confused.

As if she actually didn’t understand the word.

"Wouldn’t a boat be carrying us across the sea?"

I stared at her. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Her innocent question hung in the air between us and something hot sparked in my chest. It spread before I could contain it, radiating outward until my skin felt too warm and I had to physically stop myself from... laughing?

I swallowed hard, fighting it off even as my heart did something complicated and painful.

She was asking about ships the way a child might ask about stars. Just how small had her world been?

I cleared my throat. "It is a bigger boat. Much bigger, and usually meant to carry many wolves and large amounts of load across open water. Some are even big enough to hold entire packs."

She looked around, trying to process the information. "I see..."