My Fated Mate Can Have Her-Chapter 73: Blood and Ice

Kael

Shafts of moonlight pierced through the canopy of the Red woods, turning the dense dark vegetation into the faded colour of old blood. The trees here grew differently than in other forests, taller, their barks darker, and their leaves a faint crimson hidden underneath the green that never seemed to fade regardless of the season.

Moss clung to their bases in thick carpets, and the undergrowth was dense enough to hide multiple threats.

Which was exactly the problem.

I moved through the terrain, my paws silent on the soft earth despite my size. Close by, there were multiple wolves fanned out in formation, setting checkpoints, placing equipment, and marking boundary areas we had been setting up for the past three days.

My ears swiveled, tracking every sound. The rustle of leaves. The distant call of small critters and birds, and the careful breathing of my wolves.

The annual Culling Hunt was a month away, and preparation was everything.

"We’re done with the western area," Tow’s voice filtered through the mental link, and I paused. "Everything is in place. Measures to prevent tampering have been concluded too."

She was somewhere to my left, out of sight but her wolf started decreasing the distance between us.

"Good." I raised my head, scenting the air.

The Red Woods stretched for miles in every direction, a vast expanse of dangerous territory that had once been considered uninhabitable. The vile creatures that had called this place home had overrun the nation centuries ago, spreading beyond the forest’s borders to wreak havoc on pack lands and settlements.

Entire villages had been slaughtered. Packs driven from their territories.

Until one Supreme Alpha organized a coordinated hunt that brought wolves from every major pack together to drive the creatures back, cull their numbers until they were no longer a threat to civilization.

It had worked. Over generations, the annual hunts had pushed the creatures to the brink of extinction. Now they existed only here, in these woods, their numbers a mere fraction of what they had once been.

But the Culling continued.

It had to.

Partly as tradition, and partly as a necessity. Even diminished, the creatures were still dangerous.

Tow crept out of the shadows, the dark reddish sheen of her fur merging well with the surrounding environment. I started moving and her wolf fell into pace beside me.

"Please, I have a pressing concern. You might not like it."

"Don’t tell me it’s about her again?" I stopped, heat filling my eyes with an annoying glow.

This woman.

"Please..." Tow’s voice cut through my thoughts, careful in a way that meant she had been considering her words. "I only just have a different concern about the arrangement. Putting her in one of the main training settlements, with that many eyes on her... drawing attention aside, many might notice her abilities. I am not sure she can keep them hidden if she’s pushed."

I lifted my head, my ears twitched. Something moved ahead, a whisper of displaced air, leaving the faintest tremor in the earth.

"Ila knows what she’s doing," I sent back at her.

"I am not questioning Ila’s competence. I’m questioning whether Violet has the self-control not to expose herself when things get difficult. Because things will get difficult, Kael. You know what that settlements are like. What our wolves are like..."

I did know. That was why I had chosen it.

This was the fastest way for her to get better, and not only that, the wolves would see her strength in action too.

"You did not see what I saw those weeks. She can handle herself well without using her abilities. She is no fool."

I let my lips pull back from my teeth in a slow snarling grimace. Her ears pressed flat against her head and she lowered her head.

I continued, "I didn’t have to fully describe it to Ila for her to even get the full picture. You know better than anyone, the wolves will not accept a weak Luna. Won’t respect one. Her rapid growth aside, this is the prime opportunity to prove herself to them, even if she does not realise it."

Tow didn’t respond immediately. When she did, her mental voice was quieter.

"I apologise. I am just worried about her... That girl has been... you should have seen her when you weren’t at the estate. I just don’t feel that would be the best environment for her currently."

I continued walking. "She will be fine."

I could have skipped sending her to the outer district entirely. Kept her at the estate and trained her myself in private where no one could judge her progress or lack thereof. But I unfortunately did not have that time. She needed to get stronger without just relying on her Lycan abilities. I needed her to stand on her own when I wasn’t there.

Most importantly, that would be a good starting point for her to learn to navigate the complex dynamics of the pack. To earn respect rather than have it handed to her, to especially prove that she belonged not because I decreed it, but because she would have earned her place.

At least, that was the logic.

’Was this truly the right way?’

My wolf stirred, a rumble of agreement vibrating through my chest. ’She is strong. She will thrive.’

He was certain. Absolute.

"It will be fine," I told Tow, but it felt like I was also trying to convince myself.

I shook the thought away and looked towards the treeline, my senses expanding outward to take in the forest around us.

’Focus. Now was not the time.’

The faint tremor of the living, breathing creature I had sensed in the distance was closer now. I did not stop moving, but every muscle in my body coiled. Tow sensed the sudden shift in my form and her ears twitched, high at alert.

The creature hiding in the bushes had been perfectly motionless until now. It burst out from its cover in an explosion of dark feathers and flashing teeth.

My jaw ensnared its neck before it had fully launched out of hiding. The force of my bite crushed through feathers, flesh, and bone, and using the momentum of my strike, I dragged it further out.