Chapter 43 — A Message at Noon
1128 Words
By the time the sun climbed high above the trees, Linda’s muscles felt like stone.
She had been training since dawn.
Again.
The clearing behind Illarik’s training grounds had become her refuge — a place where no one watched too closely, where she could fail without witnesses, and where the sound of steel against wood echoed freely through the forest.
But now the field had fallen silent.
The practice weapons lay scattered across the dirt where she had dropped them. Her breathing had finally slowed, though sweat still clung to her neck and shoulders.
Linda sat in the tall grass behind the field.
Her injured leg stretched out carefully in front of her.
It still hurt.
But the pain had dulled into something familiar.
Something she could ignore.
Beside her lay a small bundle of food one of the younger omegas had brought earlier.
Cold slices of roasted meat.
A handful of vegetables.
Three small apples.
Not a feast.
But enough.
She tore a piece of meat with her fingers and chewed slowly, staring out toward the treeline.
Her mind was quieter here.
Away from questions.
Away from politics.
Away from memories.
But not completely.
Silas’s face still surfaced in her thoughts sometimes.
Bailey’s laugh too.
She pushed the memory aside and reached for one of the apples.
The grass rustled softly behind her.
Linda glanced over her shoulder.
Trent stepped out of the trees.
Illarik’s son moved easily, like someone who had grown up surrounded by guards but never needed to rely on them.
His clothes were simple today — a dark shirt, loose training pants — but nothing about him looked careless.
He smiled when he saw her.
“You train like someone chasing ghosts.”
Linda sighed quietly.
“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”
“Maybe.”
He walked closer and stopped a few paces away.
She gestured lazily at the food beside her.
“If you’re here to talk, you should bring lunch.”
Trent chuckled softly.
“I didn’t know you’d still be here.”
“I’m always here.”
“Not healthy.”
She shrugged.
“Neither is betrayal.”
The words slipped out before she could stop them.
Trent’s smile faded slightly.
“I wasn’t talking about your past.”
Linda took another bite of meat.
“Everyone is.”
He sat down in the grass across from her.
For a moment neither spoke.
The breeze moved gently through the field, bending the tall grass in slow waves.
Trent studied her quietly.
“How are you?”
Linda raised an eyebrow.
“That sounds like a trap.”
“It’s a question.”
“I’m alive.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
She met his gaze.
“I’m healing.”
Trent nodded slightly.
“Your leg?”
“Yes.”
“Stanton said you push it too hard.”
Linda frowned.
“He talks too much.”
Trent smiled faintly.
“That seems to be a shared opinion.”
Linda picked up an apple and turned it slowly in her hand.
Trent watched her carefully.
“You don’t trust many wolves.”
“That’s a recent development.”
“Fair.”
Silence settled again.
But this time it carried something heavier beneath it.
Trent cleared his throat slightly.
“There’s something I wanted to ask you.”
Linda didn’t look up.
“Then ask.”
His eyes flicked briefly toward the treeline.
Then back to her.
“What’s happening between you and Stanton?”
The apple stopped turning in her hand.
She didn’t answer immediately.
Because she didn’t like lying.
And because she could hear the careful tension in his voice.
Trent continued.
“I’ve noticed the way he stays near you.”
Linda sighed quietly.
“He stays near everyone.”
“That’s not true.”
She looked up at him.
“What exactly do you want to know?”
Trent hesitated.
Then asked directly.
“Are you two… involved?”
Linda stared at him for a moment.
She could have lied.
It would have been easier.
But she had never been good at lies.
Instead she lifted her hand.
Turned her wrist slowly.
And revealed the mark.
The mate bond.
Silver lines faintly glowing against her skin.
Trent froze.
The reaction was immediate.
Shock.
Disbelief.
Horror.
“…no.”
Linda watched his face carefully.
“Yes.”
His eyes remained fixed on the mark.
He hadn’t imagined this possibility.
Not even once.
In his mind, Linda had been unattached.
Free.
Available.
The realization landed hard.
“You’re certain?” he asked quietly.
Linda gave him a flat look.
“The bond isn’t subtle.”
Trent leaned back slightly in the grass.
His expression had changed.
Completely.
Linda noticed it immediately.
His voice sounded different now.
Colder.
More distant.
“I didn’t realize…”
He trailed off.
“You didn’t ask,” she said.
He nodded slowly.
“No.”
For a moment neither of them spoke.
Then footsteps approached from the edge of the field.
A young omega hurried across the grass toward them.
He stopped a few steps away and bowed quickly.
“My lord.”
Trent turned.
“Yes?”
The omega looked slightly nervous.
“We received a message from Damien’s territory.”
Trent frowned.
“What kind of message?”
The omega swallowed.
“A challenge.”
Linda’s head lifted.
Trent gestured impatiently.
“Explain.”
“It’s been confirmed,” the omega continued quickly. “Silas challenged Morgan to a sparring match.”
Trent blinked.
“Silas?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
The omega shook his head.
“No one knows.”
Trent frowned deeper.
“When?”
The omega hesitated.
“At dawn tomorrow.”
Linda was already standing before he finished the sentence.
The apple fell into the grass beside her.
Trent looked up at her sharply.
“What’s wrong?”
But Linda was already moving.
Her heart pounded suddenly in her chest.
Silas.
Silas had challenged Morgan.
Silas — who had always known exactly how dangerous Morgan was.
And yet—
He had done it anyway.
Trent stood as well.
“Linda?”
She didn’t answer.
Her mind raced.
Silas wasn’t reckless.
Not like that.
Unless—
Something had pushed him.
Something serious.
She turned toward the path leading back to the house.
“Where are you going?” Trent called.
But she was already running.
Ignoring the pain in her leg.
Ignoring the startled looks of the wolves she passed.
She had only one thought now.
Stanton needed to hear this.
Immediately.
Because if Silas faced Morgan at dawn—
There was a very real chance one of them would not survive the morning.
And Linda refused to lose another friend.
Not like that.
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