Chapter 4 Did You Find Her?
Rhy's POV
“Any news?”
My voice came out cold and distant.
My beta was still standing by the door, and the fact that he hadn’t stepped forward yet only made my impatience worse. It showed hesitation, something I had no tolerance for, especially not now. Not when he knew exactly what I was waiting to hear.
“There were no rogues found at the borders, Alpha,” he finally said, stepping in. “Our men succeeded in driving them all away.”
I said nothing.
Because that wasn’t what I wanted.
That wasn’t why I had sent men out in the first place.
And he knew it.
My gaze remained fixed on him expectantly.
“Did you find her?” I asked, my tone quieter this time, but heavier and demanding.
He walked further into the study, slower now, like he was buying time.
Then he shook his head.
A tight breath left my chest, my jaw clenching as the answer settled in.
“Then what about within the rogues?” I pressed, my patience thinning. “What if she was among them?”
“They are outlaws, Alpha…” he started, then paused, his expression shifting as realization hit him. “Don’t tell me you’re considering…”
He didn’t finish.
I already knew what he was going to say.
Rogues were forbidden and enemies to every pack.
I wasn’t supposed to even consider the possibility that my mate could be one of them—let alone search for her among them.
But I didn’t care.
None of that mattered.
All that mattered was that I had felt her. And I needed to find her.
“Alpha,” my beta called, his voice firmer now, trying to pull me back. “It’s almost time for the alliance marriage. You need to start heading to the mayor’s residence.”
The reminder hung in the air between us.
“I was only weak a few days ago because…” I started, then stopped.
The words refused to come out.
“I didn’t imagine it would be this hard to find her afterward,” I muttered, more to myself than to him.
All my life, I had been told I wouldn’t have a mate.
That I was cursed and a lone wolf.
Destined to rule alone.
I never argued nor questioned it.
I accepted it like everything else.
But then, a few days ago, in the middle of blood and battle, with rogues surrounding me and death looming close, I had felt my fated mate.
And just as suddenly as she appeared, she was gone.
No matter how many men I sent out, no matter how far they searched,she was still nowhere to be found.
“You need to forget about her, Alpha,” my beta said carefully, watching me.
“You’re about to marry a human girl for the peace treaty between wolves and humans. What’s the point of chasing after a mate now when you already have a bride waiting for you?”
I wanted to respond but stopped, because I had nothing to say. I also didn't want to accept the wolf who had presented herself as my mate, the owner of the scent my wolf had perceived.
My wolf might have sensed it at times, but I just knew deep down that something was wrong. Something that needed to be searched for and uncovered.
My beta excused himself for a while, stepping out to answer a mindlink. When he returned, I followed him out of the study, trailing him toward the garage. I was already running late for the marriage with the human girl.
For years, the wolves and humans had been at war, each side killing the other whenever they found trespassers in their respective lands.
It was said that the two could never coexist, not even in business. Yet here we were, forced to attempt it, to put an end to the constant bloodshed.
I needed to save my wolves, growing weaker under my watch. As their alpha, this marriage alliance was the only way to prevent the endless fighting from consuming us all.
Hours passed, and we arrived at the Mayor’s residence. Everywhere was prepared for the wedding, every detail polished and pristine. But my attention wasn’t on the arrangements, nor on the guests milling around the room.
Not even my pack’s elders, who were smiling at me, trying to get me to appear happy, I could hold my focus but pretending wasn’t my way.
My attention was elsewhere, on the lady I had met a few days ago. I tried to recall her face, though it remained hazy in my groggy memory.
The bells began to jingle, signaling the bride’s entrance.
A lady began walking toward the podium where I stood. I noticed her approach, but at first, I looked away, uninterested. This was merely a political marriage to secure peace between the packs and nothing more.
After this, I would probably never see her again, even if she followed me to my pack. That was the way I had always been. That was what this marriage meant.
But as she drew closer, I couldn’t ignore the scent my wolf kept perceiving from her.
It was faint and dull, almost lost but it called to him, to me, tugging at something I didn’t understand.
A she-wolf from my pack had already caused the mate bond to stir within me, and though I had been unable to settle her scent, this woman walking toward me was different.
Her presence, her scent, it was impossible to ignore.
I couldn’t place it, yet it pressed on my mind, tugging at my wolf while he struggled with the confusion it brought.
When she reached the podium and lifted her delicate face, her eyes flew open, locking onto me as if she had seen a ghost or someone she had known long ago
.
“You… you are the alpha?” she asked suddenly, her voice trembling with surprise. I said nothing, merely watched her.
She seemed familiar. Her silhouette, the way she moved, it tugged at some memory buried deep within me. But I had never seen her before.
The priest cleared his throat, and I turned my attention to him, though my focus didn’t shift entirely. My gaze lingered on the woman before me.
Her presence and scent drove a slow, creeping confusion into the cold edges of my mind. My wolf stirred restlessly within, unsure of what to believe, torn between instinct and reason.
And for the first time that day, I felt the unsteady pull of something I couldn’t explain.