The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 329: Confronting Thalor

"Want me to come with you?" Fenric asked. He was holding the cubs, or well, they were ’holding’ him, and I smiled at how sweet he was.

"It’s fine. I need to look around alone to clear my mind," I said. "Oh, and sorry I have to burden you to babysit the cubs again."

"It’s fine," Fenric said, and then Raiden’s tail whipped his eyes. "Yup, very fine."

The cubs liked using Fenric as a playground. Whereas they were very obedient and comfortable in Damar’s arms.

Ah, they just know they can’t mess with him, and Fenric is kind of like a kid’s active playground. They’ll never stop.

I chuckled and walked closer.

"I should probably feed them before I head out," Though they seem to be doing fine on goat milk these days.

I’m glad they at least keep goats, even if not as livestock but as milking machines, haha.

When will they shift? Morphing into human babies should be a matter of time, right?

I wished Damar could’ve just stayed a little longer to see Lyra turn into a little sweet girl.

But he’s gone now. And there’s no use crying over spilt milk.

After feeding them to their fill, I went to have breakfast as well, saw Noah off to the Nursery Palace, and then began my lone search.

In the vast lands that stretch in the West Way, there should be at least one location where limestone is present.

I just have to find it.

And then, during my search, as I hopped from tree to tree, I felt someone following me.

Just as I felt it, the crest on my wrist began to thrum with a quiet, patient heat.

"Thalor?" I stopped and looked back.

Was he the one following me?

I dropped down from the tree and discovered I was on a cliff. I wasn’t scared or anything. I believed in that fated mate stuff and knew he wouldn’t hurt me.

At least, not on purpose.

But I felt I had been running from him for long enough.

I should probably talk to him now. Tell him what I had in mind.

But as I stood close to the edge of the cliff, I realized that this sturdy white rock hanging from the thick earth was actually limestone.

Ah, I was in the right direction, it seemed.

But before that, I should finish things with Taylor.

The wind blew gently, carrying my hair about and singing in gentle ’whooshs’ to my ear.

Thalor didn’t come out, even when I had stopped and faced the direction he was coming to me from.

Was he scared I’d scold him? Or did he think I didn’t know he was following me?

Well, he should do a better job at hiding his emotions if he didn’t want me to figure it out because the crest on my wrist was telling me exactly what he was feeling.

He was anxious.

"Thalor," I called out. "I know you’re back there. Come out, let’s talk."

It took a moment before I heard the rustling of the bush, the way it violently shifted before parting ways and revealing the purple-haired merman who looked like he had been caught stealing the last piece of cookie.

I held my breath for a second; the realization of what Thalor had said the other day about my scent settled heavily in my gut.

Only Damar, Fenric, and Noah had ever spoken of it—that specific, ’calling’ scent that marked a fated mate. And now, this merman, who had appeared out of the depths of a forbidden well, was saying the same thing.

The universe really didn’t know when to quit.

Well, at least it confirmed most of my doubts and complex thoughts. If he hadn’t been a fated mate, I don’t think I would’ve had the courage to call him my own without fear that he might betray me one day.

’Then, does this mean all incredibly handsome beastmen are my fated mate?’ The thought came out of nowhere, and I nearly laughed.

It was unlikely that it was ’all’ of them. But then again, I’ve only ever seen these four incredibly handsome beastmen that match the high standards Damar had set.

So, who knows?

Thalor stepped closer, his eyes searching mine with a raw, almost painful longing.

He didn’t mention Damar and the fact that he had left, but I could feel that the lingering bitterness from that night at the well was still there, a silent wall between us.

He could’ve ’convinced’ me, he thought. But Damar came and ruined it.

Still, even though he did not mention Damar, he didn’t hide his intent either. He still wanted me. Wanted to hold me, wanted to kiss me, wanted to do everything with me, and not be looked at like an intruder.

I felt those emotions so clearly from the blue coral crest on my wrist and didn’t even need to ask him why.

The pull of the universe was there.

And though we met with me saving him, it marked our beginning point.

Thalor stood there, vulnerable and powerful all at once, clearly wanting nothing more than to reach out and close the distance.

I stayed silent for a long time, watching the way the wind caught his beautiful, almost translucent purple hair.

This man was truly ethereal even on land.

I didn’t step further away, but I didn’t move closer either. I let the weight of his gaze sit there until the silence became a conversation of its own.

He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He reached out, but took his hand back, worried I would evade his reach.

And then I watched him bite his lip.

There was just so much his actions said that I understood as clear as day.

And then this silence, the one the wind intertwined with, finally broke as I spoke.

"One day," I said softly, my voice steady despite the hammering in my chest. "One day, you might be able to do all of that. Stand by me, love me... freely, and no one will look at you like you’re a stranger... an outsider."

Thalor’s eyes widened, the violet depths swirling with a sudden, breathless hope. He looked like he’d just been handed a map to a world he thought was lost. "Arinya?"

"But not right now," I added, cutting through the sudden spark of emotion.

I turned around, my eyes sweeping over the horizon that was just beyond this cliff.

"Right now, I’m trying to focus. I’m trying to build something here, Thalor. A civilization that can change the way every beastman in the West Way thinks about the future. I have seeds to plant, tribes to move, and a palace to raise from this very stone."