Chapter 206 206. He’s my son

Chapter 206 206. He’s my son
Jace

The forest changes the closer we get to Silver Fang territory.
The air smells wrong.
Colder. Sharper. Tainted with unfamiliar wolves and the metallic scent of too many patrols moving through the underbrush. My boots press into damp earth as we crouch along the ridge overlooking the valley. Below us, lantern light flickers between timber structures built into the trees and along the ground.
Silver Fang’s village.
My pulse pounds in my ears.
Sky is down there.
Our son, my wolf corrects, his voice a low rumble inside my skull.
I stiffen.
I’ve avoided the word. Avoided the truth that’s been clawing at me since they dragged him away.
Mine.
Not by blood. Not by birth.
But by bond.
By choice.
By every damn instinct screaming inside me.
Lina crouches beside me, her dark braid pulled tight over her shoulder, mismatched eyes scanning the patrol patterns below. Riven kneels a few feet to the left, quiet and watchful, while Tao adjusts the straps on his blades with calm precision.
“We count six on rotation,” Lina murmurs. “Two near the lower bridge. One at the watchtower. Three circling the perimeter.”
“More inside,” Riven adds softly.
“There are always more inside,” Tao says.
I don’t answer.
My gaze locks on the central longhouse.
Sky could be in there.
Or in a cell.
Or—
Alive, my wolf snaps. He is alive. I would feel it if he were not.
My jaw tightens.
“You’re too loud,” Lina whispers.
I blink, realizing I’ve been breathing like I’m about to shift.
I force myself to slow down.
Inhale.
Exhale.
But the anger doesn’t ease.
They took him.
They took him from under my protection.
My hands curl into fists.
I see his face the moment they dragged him away—defiant, scared but trying not to show it. Trying to be brave.
For me.
Something inside my chest splinters.
He is ours, my wolf growls again. They will bleed for touching him.
Yes.
They will.
I glance at the others. “We take the lower bridge first. Quiet. No bodies discovered.”
Tao nods once.
Riven smirks faintly. “You’re not thinking clearly.”
“I’m thinking clearly enough.”
Lina studies me for a long second.
She knows.
She sees it.
“You feel it too,” she says quietly.
I don’t pretend not to understand.
“Yes.”
Her expression softens—but only for a breath. Then steel returns. “Then let’s bring him home.”
We move.
The descent into the valley is steep, slick with moss and loose stone. Halfway down, the first obstacle hits us—tripwire.
Tao spots it just before Lina’s foot catches it. He grabs her wrist, halting her mid-step.
Thin silver thread stretches between two trees, nearly invisible.
Attached to small bells coated in some dark resin.
Clever.
“Smell that?” Riven murmurs.
I inhale.
Oil.
And something chemical.
“Not just noise,” I say. “Probably flare powder.”
Tao kneels, slicing the wire with careful precision while Riven cups the bells before they can jostle.
We ease it down without a sound.
My wolf prowls under my skin, impatient.
Too slow.
“If we rush, we die,” I mutter under my breath.
Lina glances at me but says nothing.
We reach the edge of the lower bridge—a narrow wooden span crossing a shallow ravine. Two guards lean against the railing, speaking in low tones.
They look relaxed.
They won’t be.
I hold up three fingers.
Count down silently.
Three.
Two.
One.
We move as one.
I hit the first guard from behind, arm locking around his throat before he can shift. My wolf surges forward, lending strength. I slam him into the railing and choke off his air.
Tao takes the second, blade to his throat before the man can cry out.
Riven moves to cover.
Lina scans for witnesses.
The guard in my grip claws at my arm.
“Quiet,” I whisper into his ear. “And you live.”
He thrashes.
I tighten.
His struggles weaken.
He would be better dead, my wolf states without sympathy.
The man goes limp.
I lower him carefully.
Tao knocks his captive unconscious with a precise strike to the temple.
We drag both bodies into the brush beneath the bridge.
“Too easy,” Riven mutters.
“It won’t stay that way,” Lina replies.
We cross the bridge.
The moment my boots hit the other side, something shifts in the air.
The scent of Sky is stronger here.
Fear.
Blood.
Rage detonates in my chest.
They hurt him, my wolf snarls.
If they have—
I don’t let the thought finish.
We move between structures, hugging shadow.
A patrol rounds the corner too soon.
No time.
I grab Lina and shove her behind a stack of firewood as the three wolves approach. Riven and Tao flatten against opposite walls.
The patrol pauses.
Sniffs.
One of them frowns.
“Smell that?”
My wolf freezes inside me.
We’ve been careful—but we don’t belong here.
The wolf steps closer.
Closer.
I feel Lina’s breath against my arm.
The patrol wolf’s eyes narrow.
Then Tao throws a pebble across the courtyard.
The faint clack echoes.
The patrol turns instantly toward the sound.
“All clear,” one mutters, and they move off.
We exhale together.
Lina elbows me lightly. “You almost lost it.”
“I know.”
You should have torn his throat out, my wolf argues.
“Not yet,” I murmur internally.
We reach the back edge of the village near a storage shed.
That’s when Riven stiffens.
“Tower guard’s coming down.”
We glance up.
A lone wolf descends the watchtower ladder, stretching his neck like he’s bored.
Perfect.
I nod once.
We split.
When he steps behind the shed to relieve himself, I’m there.
I slam him face-first into the wall.
He grunts, stunned.
Lina presses a blade to his spine.
Riven binds his wrists before he can shift.
Tao gags him with a strip of cloth.
We drag him into the shed.
Inside, it smells of grain and dust.
I rip the gag free.
“Where are they?” I demand.
The guard sneers despite the fear in his eyes. “You’ll have to be more specific.”
I grab his collar and lift him off the ground.
“The children. Taken two nights ago. Don’t play dumb with me.”
Recognition flickers.
He laughs.
Actually laughs.
My vision edges red.
Kill him, my wolf demands.
“Answer me.”
He spits blood at my boots.
“You think you’re the first to come crawling for family?” he taunts. “Elira loves when they come.”
Lina’s hand tightens on her blade.
“Where,” I say slowly, “is the boy?”
The guard leans closer despite the knife at his back.
“You’re too late.”
Something inside me goes very still.
“What does that mean?”
His grin widens.
“She’s already started her fun.”
The words slice through me.
Fun.
My wolf explodes against my ribs.
I will rip her apart.
I slam the guard into the wall so hard the boards crack.
“What fun?” I roar.
He laughs again, hysteria edging his voice now. “She likes to see how long they last. The strong ones scream the loudest.”
Lina swears.
Riven steps forward. “Where is she?”
The guard hesitates.
Tao presses the blade deeper. Blood seeps through fabric.
“The old stone hall,” he gasps. “East edge. Underground.”
“Entrance?”
“Through the main floor. Trapdoor beneath the iron brazier.”
I search his face for deception.
My wolf scents truth.
He’s terrified now.
Good.
I lean close, voice dropping to a lethal whisper.
“If any one of them is hurt—”
“Hurt..?” the guard blurts. “If you're hoping shes giving them milk and cookies your out of luck.”
Rage shakes my hands.
Sky.
Alone.
With her.
I see him fighting. Defiant. Stubborn.
Trying not to cry.
Trying to be strong.
For me.
The realization hits like a physical blow.
He is mine.
Not because fate decreed it.
Not because blood binds us.
But because when they took him, it felt like someone tore out my heart and walked away with it.
I would burn this entire territory to ash for him.
My wolf steps fully beside me inside my mind, eyes blazing gold.
Say it.
I swallow.
He’s my son.
The words settle into my bones like truth finally acknowledged.
Mine.
Ours.
No one touches him and lives Lina’s gaze hardens.
“Let’s go get them.”
The guard starts laughing again, broken and wild.
“You really think you can walk into Elira’s hall? She’ll smell you coming.”
I meet his eyes.
“Let her.”
I nod to Tao.
One swift motion.
Silence.
We leave him bound and unconscious—breathing, but not for long if he’s found.
No more stealth.
We move fast.
The old stone hall looms at the edge of the village, darker than the rest, older. Moss creeps along its foundation.
Two guards stand at the entrance.
I don’t slow down.
My wolf surges forward.
We hit them like a storm.
I shift mid-stride—bones snapping, skin rippling as fur erupts. The transformation tears through me in a violent rush of power.
Lina shifts beside me.
Riven and Tao follow.
The first guard barely gets his claws out before I slam him into the stone wall. My jaws close around his shoulder, crushing bone.
The second lunges at Lina.
She meets him in full wolf form, and tears him down with ruthless precision her shadows dancing around them with whips.
The courtyard erupts in shouts.
Too late.
We crash through the hall doors.
Inside, firelight flickers across ancient stone.
The iron brazier burns at the center.
And beneath it—
I can smell it now.
Blood.
Fear.
Sky.
My wolf howls inside me, a sound of fury and promise.
Hold on, I project with everything I am. I’m coming.
I shove the brazier aside, muscles straining.
There.
The trapdoor.
I rip it open.
Darkness yawns below.
And from beneath—
A scream.
Young.
Familiar.
My heart stops.
Then detonates.
I don’t think.
I leap.