[Warning: Mixed Pov]

- Kael -

I was glad she was safe. Relieved beyond measure that she had found shelter, that she wasn’t alone in the wilderness being hunted down.

But knowing she was with him, now sleeping under his roof, eating at his table, and possibly even sharing his bed was a special kind of torture that constantly left me restless.

"You’re making that face again," Voya said.

"What face?"

"The one where you look like you want to tear something apart but you’re too noble to admit why."

I shot her a glare.

"Kael." Her voice softened, just slightly. "You should have known he would go after her at the very least. You would have if you were in his shoes, and—"

"I do not have the luxury to do that!" I hissed and then turned away from her, my fist tight. "I am not just idling around. I am making sure no more danger comes to her and that she is safe... please... stop," I finished in a whisper.

Voya looked away. "I just wish you are fine, you have been unsettled lately and—"

"I’m fine, Voya," I gritted out.

"You’re not fine. You’re a mess." She sighed, running a hand over her braid. "Look. I agreed to help you because you begged. Do you know how disturbing that was? I have never heard or even seen you beg for anything."

"This is serious, Voya."

"I know it’s serious. That’s why I’m still here instead of back in my territory where it’s cold and quiet and no one is bleeding all over me." She glanced down at the spreading pool of blood with distaste. "But you need to get your affairs in order when you see her again."

I frowned, staring at the tracker.

"We could have addressed all of this properly. The Lycan issue, if—"

"Enough, Voya. I hear you!"

I was so close to crushing the tracing device in my fists.

"You are right. Just stop," I clipped.

She was painfully right. It could have all been sorted in that room if I had convinced Violet to return and establish she wasn’t a threat, along with some rules in place to protect her.

It was easier said than done but there could have been a way.

’I feel so foolish...’

"You are foolish," my wolf snarled and I frowned. "Mark her, I said. Now look where we are. Get her back, and rip out that one’s throat!"

I couldn’t help but fully agree with my wolf, especially on that second count.

"We should move," Voya said, nudging one of the bodies with her boot. "Find the others. There should be more nearby."

"Yes," I just said, returning the tracker back to its place and looking around.

I had already spread out my senses, those wolves were not here. They were too far out to mentally link with these two to check if they were alive or not.

I didn’t know if I liked or hated the idea that they had split up to find her rather than go together.

"Silverwood is still two weeks away," I said. "Even if we push hard."

"Then we push hard." Voya started walking, not bothering to check if I was following. "The sooner we get there, the sooner you can grovel at your mate’s feet and beg her to forgive you for being an overbearing ass."

"I wasn’t—"

"Let’s just go, Kael," she groaned, stopping to stare back at me before shifting into her wolf form.

I shifted.

I would find Violet, and this time I would make sure I never leave her side.

If she would let me.

[ - ]

- Palisa -

The strand was barely visible.

It was as thin as a spider’s web, and faint as morning mist. It stretched before me in swirls, a whisper of essence that any other wolf would have missed entirely.

In my wolf form, my senses sharpened to a razor’s edge. Everything else faded to nothing. The rustle of leaves, the scent of prey, the movements of my wolves nearby... all of it became irrelevant noise when I honed in on that thread.

I padded forward, my senses fixed on that impossibly delicate strand. It shimmered faintly, a pale silver-gold that only I could perceive, stretching through the trees and disappearing into the distance.

Three weeks at least.

It had been more than two weeks since the brat had passed through here.

The trail had gone cold several times. Vanished completely, as though she had simply ceased to exist. Each time, I had nearly torn apart the surrounding forest in my frustration. Days of circling, backtracking, pushing my senses to their absolute limits until I thought my skull would split from the strain.

But I always found it again.

I always would.

The strand flickered, almost taunting me, before it steadied once more.

Pathetic little thing, running like a frightened rabbit.

Did she really think distance would save her?

I would follow this one to the ends of the earth if need be.

I traced the invisible line through the trees with my eyes, over the hills, and towards the horizon.

Southeast.

Two territories laid in that direction. Derxon and Silverwood.

She was in one of them. I was certain of it.

The little Lycan had either found shelter or had taken that route.

How quaint.

"That direction," I said, my voice cutting the mental link to my wolves in the near distance. "Head southeast and comb the area. Now."

"Yes, my Lady," they chorused.

Her lineage aside, that girl had humiliated me in front of hundreds of witnesses. She had forced the truth from my lips with power she had no right to possess. She had looked at me with those grey eyes filled with defiance, as though she were my equal. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

She would learn otherwise.

A few days would be all it takes to reach that region.

I allowed myself a small smile. My lips curled back from my teeth.

’Run all you like, little Lycan. Hide as many times as you can. I am coming for you, and nothing; no borders or politics will stop me.’