Chapter 21 CHAPTER 21
The café bell chimed softly as Liam stepped inside, holding the door for the two guards behind him. The warm scent of freshly baked bread and fried eggs filled the air - simple, human aromas that somehow grounded him. But beneath all that, something else stirred. Something old. Something wild.
The moment the door swung shut, the air thickened. His wolf stirred restlessly beneath his skin, hackles rising.
“Do you feel that?” murmured Bryce, the taller of the two guards.
Liam’s jaw tightened. “Yeah.”
It wasn’t the first time they’d come here. The café was small, tucked between glass-fronted offices and boutiques, a place they’d frequented whenever Ethan visited the city. Usually, it smelled of roasted coffee beans, and pastries - but today, it carried the faint, unmistakable trace of another Lycan.
A she-wolf.
“Welcome. You’re early today,” said Pauline, smiling warmly from behind the counter. The woman had the kind of cheer that belonged to small towns and honest hearts. “Your table’s ready, as usual.”
Liam grinned warmly. “Thank you, Pauline. We missed your dishes. Tastes like home.”
“Will your boss be joining you today?” she asked, referring to the king without ever naming him. She never pried, and that was why they trusted this place.
“Not today,” Liam replied. “He’s occupied for now.”
Pauline gave a knowing nod and motioned for Alina, the waitress, to lead them. “Take them to the back room, dear.”
As they followed, Liam’s eyes swept the room once more. There - near the kitchen window - a young woman stood behind the counter, her hands busy with plates, her head slightly bowed. For a second, she didn’t seem to notice them. Then she looked up.
Their gazes met.
And everything inside Liam went still.
Her eyes were clear, calm - yet behind them was the faint glimmer of something primal. She blinked, and in that instant, the scent deepened, coiling around him like smoke. His wolf recognized it before his mind could - the signature of royal blood.
He broke the stare first, following Alina into the smaller room at the back, but his pulse hadn’t steadied.
As soon as the door closed, Bryce leaned across the table. “You smelled it too?”
Liam nodded slowly. “It’s faint, but it’s there.”
“The girl at the counter?” the other guard, Mason, asked.
“Yeah,” Liam said. “That’s no ordinary wolf. She’s… different.”
“Could be a rogue,” Mason suggested.
Liam shook his head. “No rogue carries a scent that pure. There’s lineage in that blood. Power. Old power.”
Bryce frowned. “Royal?”
The word hung heavy in the air.
Before Liam could answer, the door opened, and Pauline peeked in. “Your waitress will be right with you.”
Except it wasn’t Alina who walked in a moment later.
It was her.
The same girl from the counter.
She carried herself carefully, shoulders relaxed, expression calm - but he could feel her wolf’s awareness, alert beneath her skin. She greeted them politely, her voice low, steady.
“Good afternoon, gentlemen. What can I get for you?”
Liam leaned back in his chair, studying her. Up close, her scent was even more distinct - wild yet refined, like the edge of a forgotten forest.
“You’re new here,” he said.
She nodded. “Started today.”
“Do you like it?”
A small smile flickered on her lips. “So far, yes. Pauline’s kind.”
“And where are you from?” Liam asked casually, though his tone carried a weight of scrutiny he couldn’t hide.
Her gaze met his for a second too long. “Nowhere in particular.”
Bryce and Mason exchanged a glance.
Liam’s wolf pressed closer to the surface, restless with curiosity. “Nowhere in particular,” he repeated. “That’s vague.”
Her smile deepened slightly - polite, cautious. “Then let’s say I’m from far away.”
He couldn’t tell if she was lying, but something in her tone said she wasn’t used to giving answers. He respected that.
“Very well,” he said finally. “Three roast platters and three coffees, please.”
She noted it down and turned to leave. But before she reached the door, she paused, glancing back as though she could feel the weight of their eyes. Their wolves were whispering, pulling at hers, and she must have sensed it - because for a heartbeat, her own wolf looked out through her eyes.
Liam knew then - she knew.
When the door shut behind her, silence settled around the table.
“She felt us,” Mason said quietly.
“Yeah,” Liam replied. “And she didn’t panic.”
“Should we report this to His Majesty?” Bryce asked.
Liam thought for a moment, rubbing a hand along his jaw. “Not yet. Let’s confirm first what we’re dealing with. But…” He paused, his eyes drifting toward the kitchen beyond the wall. “There’s something royal in her. I’d bet my life on it.”
When she returned with their meals, the air between them hummed - not hostile, but charged. She placed their plates neatly, thanked them, and left without another word.
They ate in silence, each one aware that this day was unlike the others.
Later, when they paid at the counter, Liam caught her through the kitchen window, wiping down a board, a faint smile on her lips. The sunlight spilled across her face, catching the shimmer of her long black hair.
He hesitated, then said softly, “I’m curious about you.”
She looked up, startled.
“I’ll be back,” he added, a faint smirk tugging at his mouth before he turned to leave.
Outside, the city was quieter now. The afternoon wind carried the sound of traffic and distant bells. Ethan stood a few feet from the car, hands clasped behind his back, talking to one of the guards. When he noticed Liam approaching, he lifted his head.
“Ready to go?” the king asked.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Liam replied. Then, after a pause: “But there’s something you might want to hear.”
Ethan’s brows lifted slightly. “What is it?”
Liam’s eyes drifted toward the café door behind him. “We may have found something - or it maybe nothing. I’ll bring you up to speed later.”
Ethan frowned. “Very well.” he said, climbing into the car.
As the convoy rolled away from the café, the wind caught a single strand of Cindy’s hair through the open kitchen window. For a fleeting moment, her wolf lifted its head, gazing toward the receding cars - unaware that her unknown past was already on its way back to find her.