Chapter 191 Not hard to find

Chapter 191 Something close to relief


Ira’s POV

My fist slams into the dummy, the impact tearing right through the sand sack at its center, throwing up coarse debris left and right.

I frown feeling nothing close to relief.

“Woah, woah.” Bukasvad voices from where he leans against the far post.

“Ira?” he calls. “Relax. We are not trying to ruin all the dummies we have today.”

I drag my wrist across my forehead and push my damp hair back.

“I’m worried,” I admit.

Bukasvad pushes off the post and walks over. “About Ruel?” he asks.

“Hmm. He left six days ago,” I mumble, picking up a cloth from the bench and pressing it to my wet throat. “And they said they'll be gone for weeks.” I glance at him. “How many weeks, Buk? Two? Four? Do they even know?” I gesture with my hands.

“He has a lot of ground to cover,” Bukasvad mutters kindly. “The packs are not going to warm to the idea of a joint council overnight. He has to go to each of them in person, sit with the alphas, let them ask their questions,”

I drop onto the bench. “I understand what he is doing. I understand why it matters. I am not asking him not to go.” I press my palms together between my knees, my gaze glued to the rough floor.

“I just keep thinking about how long it is going to take. It is almost too hard to breathe without him here.” I confess quietly. “My brain keeps imagining everything that could go wrong in any one of those packs.”

The bench groans when Bukasvad sits beside me.

“You think he will walk into those territories without reading every room first?” he asks.

I let out a breath. “His pride won't let him. He walks into every room like he owns it,” I scoff, “and sometimes that works perfectly but what if it makes people want to prove that he does not.”

“He will be alright. Even if any danger were to arise, don't you know the man whom you're mated to?” Bukasvad leans forward, resting his hands on his knees.

“I wouldn't say this in front of him but that is the strongest commander I have ever seen in my life. He is an alpha, yes, and that explains some of it, but even among the others here in Veilfang carrying a large share of alpha blood, he is still stronger.”

My heart swells with pride and I stare at the destroyed dummy with a gentle tilt in my lips.

“Okay,” I mutter finally.

Bukasvad stands and moves toward the ruined dummy.

“Good,” he mutters.

He props it upright again, wedges the base with his boot, and adjusts the frame.

I watch him work. Then an idea stirs in me.

Deciding to try it out, I open my palm.

The wind answers instantly, catching the dummy’s base, and tipping the whole thing halfway toward falling again.

“Oh, come on,” Bukasvad grunts, lunging for it with both arms.

He grabs the frame before it crashes down, and I press my lips together. But the laugh escapes anyway.

He straightens and turns to look at me and my laugh heightens as I watch realization grow on his face.

“You did that on purpose,” he says flatly.

I simply shrug.

He throws his towel at my face so fast I'm sure there's greater force behind it.

I lift a finger, slowing it with a gentle breeze right before it touches my cheek.

The cloth drifts and lands softly on my knee.

I pick it up, still laughing.

“Show off,” Bukasvad says, though the smile on his face sticks.

I fold the handkerchief neatly and set it on the bench beside me. Something in my chest feels lighter than it did some minutes ago.

Ruel knows what he is doing. I need to trust him to return to me safely.


With Anna and Oren's first month school report in my hand I reach up to knock on the door to Alpha Davan's study.

“She is not one of us.” The voice from within makes me pause.

I step back a bit, realizing I will have to come some other time.

“And we all know her loyalty is only tied to Caelvoryn.”

My ears perk up.

Isn't that Ruel's birth name? What about him? Did anything happen?

I lean closer, my hand tightening around the reports.

“Ruel.” Alpha says. “Call him by his name.”

“But should he carry the name an enemy pack gave him over the name his own father gave him?” A second voice mutters. “Clearly the boy still favors Vahl.”

“That is a very silly thing for you to say.” Alpha Davan does not try to cover the anger in his tone.

“I agree with the alpha on that point,” the first voice says. “Caelvo… Ruel has shown as much desire to bring down Vahl as any of us. His resentment is real.” A pause. “My only concern is the sempyr.”

My heart drops through the floor and keeps falling.

Me.

“Ira is Ruel’s mate,” Alpha Davan says. “She is not going to betray this pack.”

The paper in my hands squeezes as my heartbeat gets louder. Almost louder than their voices.

“And how certain are you of that?” someone else asks.

The first voice continues, “Alpha Davan, I say this with respect, but she is a threat. She took down half those men without so much as a scratch on her. How does one body hold both a wolf and the power of a sempyr? It should not be possible.”

“Did you feel the aura around her wolf when she shifted? That is an alpha wolf and a powerful sempyr living inside one person. That is a force we cannot defeat without casualty.”

I stand there in the corridor, tears welling up in my eyes. I’d gotten too comfortable. How stupid of me to think I'll ever be accepted.

Somehow I hear it when Alpha Davan exhales. As though my ears opened a little more just so I can hear clearly.

I brace myself. I must know what their plan is so I can plan my exit.

“That,” Alpha Davan says, “is exactly why all of you need to begin seeing her for what she actually is to this pack.”

The room goes quiet.

“She took down half of those men before a single member of this pack was seriously harmed. She did not hesitate, and she did not ask for anything in return.” His voice hardens. “She is an asset to Veilfang, not a liability.”

My throat tightens.

“And she is one of us,” he continues. “The marked mate of your future alpha is your future Luna, and I will not have this conversation a second time.”

A tear drops from my eye as I drop into a squat, my heart grateful that at least alpha Davan truthfully doesn't think like the rest.

“She has given us no reason for suspicion,” Alpha Davan adds. “Stop building threats out of your own discomfort.”

I stare at the crumpled reports in my hands, feeling a sob building at the back of my throat.

I hear approaching footsteps and quickly turn to leave.

But not before hearing the first voice speak again.
“You are right,” he says quietly. “It was foolish of me to think that way.”