Chapter 132: Lady Moonbound

~ Allene's POV ~

Duno's appearance on the security footage spread through Dravik Territory before the next sunrise. Even after another threat emerged, I refused to hide behind locked doors while everyone else carried the burden of protecting me.

Several wolves suggested I remain inside the cabin until Duno was found. Their concern was genuine, but I could not accept living that way.

If I kept acting as though I was something that needed to be hidden, everyone else would continue living in fear too. My awakening had already changed too many lives for me to pretend nothing was happening.

"I'll assign more guards," Caelen said as we finished breakfast. "You shouldn't be walking around alone."

"I don't want to spend my life surrounded by guards," I answered. "That isn't living."

His expression tightened immediately. I knew he was trying to protect me, not control me.

"I almost lost you once," he replied. "I'm not taking chances again."

"I understand that," I said. "But I won't disappear just because someone wants me afraid."

He stayed quiet for a moment before giving a slow nod. Although he accepted my decision, I knew he still disliked it.

Instead of remaining inside, I spent every morning walking through the territory. The wolves gradually became used to seeing me without constantly looking over my shoulder.

The younger wolves approached me first. Their curiosity was stronger than their fear.

One young warrior stopped me near the training grounds. He looked embarrassed before finally speaking.

"Is it true you can feel emotions?" he asked.

"I don't know if I can explain it properly," I answered. "Sometimes I simply know how someone feels."

He smiled nervously. There was no fear in his scent.

"That's incredible," he said. "I've never heard of anything like that."

Others slowly joined the conversation. Before long, several younger wolves were asking questions instead of whispering behind my back.

I answered honestly whenever I could. When I did not know something, I admitted it instead of pretending.

The older wolves behaved differently. They greeted me respectfully, but many kept their distance.

Some still watched me carefully whenever I walked past. Their caution did not surprise me.

I represented something their generation believed had disappeared forever. Accepting me would take time.

My abilities continued changing every day. They no longer appeared only during moments of danger.

I heard emotions almost as clearly as voices now. Joy, worry, fear, and sadness reached me in ways I still struggled to understand.

One afternoon I visited the training field while several wolves practiced together. Before one young female wolf spoke, I sensed her frustration.

"You think you're slowing everyone down," I told her gently.

She stared at me with surprise. Her shoulders slowly relaxed.

"How did you know?" she asked.

"I felt it," I admitted. "I don't really know how else to explain it."

She smiled faintly before returning to training with more confidence. Moments like that happened more often than I expected.

Another day, two merchants arrived to discuss supply deliveries. One of them smiled politely while speaking to the council.

The moment he claimed every shipment had arrived safely, something inside me immediately disagreed. The feeling came as naturally as recognizing someone's voice.

"He's lying," I said quietly to Kieran.

The merchant froze before anyone questioned him. Minutes later he admitted several shipments had disappeared before reaching the territory.

No matter how unusual these abilities seemed, I stopped wishing they would disappear. They were becoming part of who I was.

Sometimes frightened wolves calmed down simply by standing close to me. I never meant for it to happen.

One little boy cried after falling during training. The moment I knelt beside him, his breathing steadied almost immediately.

"I don't know why I stopped crying," he admitted while wiping his face. "I just felt better."

Neither of us understood exactly how it worked. Even so, I accepted it instead of fearing it.

Caelen remained beside me through almost everything. Wherever I went, he usually stayed only a few steps away.

At first I found it comforting. Eventually it became frustrating.

One afternoon I stopped walking and turned toward him. He immediately noticed my expression.

"You've been following me all day," I said. "You don't have to watch every step I take."

"I'm making sure you're safe," he answered.

"I know."

"But I can still breathe without someone standing beside me every minute."

He folded his arms across his chest. His frustration matched my own.

"You think I'm overreacting," he said.

"I think you're afraid," I replied. "There's a difference."

He looked away for a few seconds before answering. His silence told me I had guessed correctly.

"I am afraid," he admitted. "I won't pretend otherwise."

"I don't want to live like a prisoner because I'm different," I said. "If I start hiding now, I'll never stop."

"I'm not trying to trap you."

"I know you're not."

I stepped closer and rested my hand against his arm. My voice softened because I understood what was truly behind his behavior.

"We're both scared," I told him. "We're just dealing with it differently."

His shoulders relaxed a little. The tension between us disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared.

That evening we sat together outside the cabin after everyone else had gone home. The territory around us was unusually quiet.

"I need to tell you something," Caelen said.

I turned toward him without speaking. His expression was more serious than usual.

"When you disappeared, I almost lost myself," he admitted. "Every day felt like I was becoming someone I didn't recognize."

I listened without interrupting. Hearing those words hurt more than I expected.

"I couldn't think about anything except finding you," he continued. "Nothing else mattered."

I finally understood how deeply the mate bond had changed him. He had carried that fear quietly ever since my rescue.

I reached for his hand before he could look away. This time I wanted him to hear exactly what I felt.

"I'm here," I said softly. "And I don't plan on leaving you."

He held my hand tightly. The worry in his eyes eased for the first time that day.

"I don't want to keep fighting this," I admitted. "Not what I feel for you."

"I don't either," he answered.

"Even if everyone else does."

"Even then."

We stayed together in comfortable silence while the evening grew darker. For the first time, neither of us tried to deny what had already become impossible to ignore.

Farther away, my father stood near the council building watching us without realizing I had noticed him. His expression carried both pride and uncertainty.

He watched me laughing with wolves who had once been strangers. Everything he had feared was happening, yet I looked happier than I ever had before.

Before I could think about that any longer, another feeling reached me. My senses suddenly stretched far beyond the territory walls.

Someone was approaching Dravik long before the guards reacted. I recognized the certainty before I heard the distant footsteps.

Several minutes later, the alarm horn sounded from the entrance gate. A patrol wolf hurried toward the cabin.

"A visitor has arrived," he reported. "They're asking specifically for Lady Moonbound."