Chapter 6 The scent of a Lycan
Chapter Six - The Scent of a Lycan
Tristan's POV
The scent caught me as soon as I got up closer to her. It was faint but burning like smoke from a strange fire in my nose. It wasn’t wolf. It wasn’t human either. It was something more ancient, something powerful.
Olivia stood in her torn clothes pretending to be calm. Her mother was hovering by her, fussing like nothing was wrong. But I knew better. I’d spent my life among wolves. I knew every scent in this pack and what clung to her skin wasn't one of our own.
She tried to avoid my gaze. “I told you, I went for a walk.”
Her voice shook. I caught it. She tried to cover it up with a weak smile, but you could not see the tremor in her eyes.
I got closer and closer until she had to tilt her head back and look up at me. “A walk,” I repeated. “Through what? Fire?”
Her breath hitched. The smell - rich and deep - floated up again. It stirred up something dark in me. It was the fragrance of power, of dominance.
I studied her neck. Her pulse jumped fast. I could hear it. See it. She was lying.
"You didn't just go for a walk," I said quietly.
Her father cleared his throat. “Tristan, she’s shaken. "Maybe this is not the time."
I ignored him. "She went missing for hours," I said. "Good Lord, you said you couldn't reach her." Now she's back, and she smells like she doesn't belong in our territory."
Olivia's mother stepped forward before Olivia could say anything. “That’s enough, Tristan.” Her tone was firm; almost too calm. "She went in the old relic room before she left the house this morning. That's where the scent came from."
I frowned. “The relic room?”
“Yes,” she said. "You know the relics have traces of old magic. We keep them locked up for a reason. The scent lingers. Perhaps that’s what you smell.”
Her answer came too quick - too neat. My eyes flicked to Olivia. She stood frozen, with wide eyes, twisting hands in torn skirt. The story didn’t come from her. It came from her mother.
"The relic room," I said again, slower this time. "And she didn't think to wash it off before roaming about in the woods?"
There was a smile on her mother's face, thin and tense. “She was upset. She needed air. You know how she gets.”
I turned back to Olivia. Her lips part and close. She looked small beneath my gaze, but not weak. Scared, yes. Hiding something, certainly.
"Where have you been for hours," I said. “You’re covered in dirt. Your clothes are torn. And you expect me to believe that you tripped into a ditch, came home and smelled like ancient relics?"
Her father moved forward one step. “Enough, Tristan. She’s home now. That’s what matters.”
He tried to sound calm but his eyes said otherwise. He was worried- more about me pushing further than what I would find.
I took a slow breath and filled my lungs with that weird smell again. It made my skin crawl. "You said it yourself," I said to him. “It matters that she’s home. But it also their matters who or what she brought back with her."
Olivia’s mother stiffened. “You’re crossing a line.”
"Maybe," I said, still looking at Olivia. “But I’m not wrong.”
Olivia finally met my eyes. "You're overreacting," she said, her voice more steady. “I didn’t meet anyone. I just needed to be alone.”
Her lie came out clean but her scent betrayed her. Beneath the wolf, beneath the dirt, that foreign trace was clinging to her skin. Something male. Something that did not belong anywhere near our lands.
I took one more step towards her. “You should be careful, Olivia. Some things leave marks which can't be hidden."
Her mother moved between us. “She said she was alone. That should be enough for you.”
I didn’t move. “Not for me.”
Her father’s voice hardened. "You forget whose house you're in."
“I don’t forget,” I said. "But I don't ignore threats either."
The air grew heavy. For a long moment, no one spoke. I could hear the fire cracking away in the corner. Olivia’s hands trembled. The stare of her mother begged me to back off. Her father's jaw was set, like he was a word away from throwing me out.
I forced a smile. “You’re right. I should go.” I turned towards the door, but stopped. “One thing, though.”
They all looked at me.
I faced Olivia. "If you met somebody out there, if you brought something dangerous back, you'll tell me." Because if I know some other male touched you, Olivia," he said, "I won't be polite next time."
Her throat moved up and down, as she swallowed. “There’s no one.”
Her eyes did not match her words. I could see fear there but not of me. It was something else. Something bigger.
I walked out the house without a word. The cold night air confronted me at the door. I inhaled deeply. The strange smell was faint, almost gone, but I was still catching it on the wind.
I closed my eyes and focused. The forest was full of old sounds, owls, wind, leaves, but there was that same trace all through it. Faint. Distant. Male.
A Lycan.
The word was out of my mouth before I could stop it. I'd never smelled one before but I'd heard stories. Their scent had another quality: raw, wild, dangerous.
I clenched my fists. To have a Lycan on wolf land was an act of war. If that was the smell from one of them, someone had crossed the border. Someone had touched what was mine.
I walked on towards the edge of the pack grounds. The guards bowed as I passed. They were able to smell my anger even if they didn't understand it.
At the edge of the forest I stopped and looked into the darkness. The trees were swaying gently, quiet and empty. But I knew better. The scent wasn’t gone. It lingered like a ghost.
I remained a long time, breathing in, memorizing it.
By the time I got back to the pack house, my mind was made up. I'd not fight with Olivia again, not yet. I’d wait. Watch. Track that scent myself.
If some Lycan had crossed into my land, I would find him. And when I did, I would make sure he regretted ever breathing anything near her.
That thought calmed me.
Back in my room, I poured myself a drink and sat by the window with my eyes on the dark forest. The night was still but I could feel the pull of the danger that lay underneath.
Whatever secret Olivia was hiding began there.
And I was going to uncover it.