Claimed by the Ruthless Alpha Prince

Chapter21

Kael’s POV

Her actual path brought her away from the forest, down the mountain toward human settlements. Even with the masking agent interfering, I can still detect traces of her natural scent—a floral and earthy aroma that is surprisingly appealing.

What strikes me as odd is the complete absence of paw prints along her route. The ground is soft enough in places that any shifter traveling in wolf form would have left clear tracks, yet I see only the faint impressions of boots and what looks like a walking stick. Why would a shifter choose to travel such a distance in her human form? It would be faster as a wolf. More efficient and less taxing.

I find the girl in the early morning hours, sleeping on a thick branch about fifteen feet off the ground. She is curled up with her back against the trunk, a small black cat nestled against her chest. The defensive positioning puzzles me. Why sleep in a tree when she could shift and rest safely on the ground? Any shifter in wolf form would be the apex predator in these woods.

Even as she sleeps, there’s something about her that draws my attention—the way the morning light catches her brown hair cascading over the branch, the peaceful expression on her face that makes my chest tighten.

Moving silently, I leap from branch to branch until I’m positioned above her. From this close, I can see the delicate curve of her jawline, the way her dark lashes fan across her cheeks. Her lips are slightly parted, and there’s something unexpectedly captivating about the way she looks so serene despite sleeping in a tree. The photograph I found in her bedroom doesn’t do her justice; she’s genuinely beautiful in a way that makes me pause longer than I should. I’m close enough to touch her when she suddenly stirs.

Her eyes snap open, and she strikes without warning, a knife flashing toward me. But I’m already moving, disappearing into the leaves before her blade can connect.

The sudden movement sends her tumbling from the branch. She hits the ground hard with a pained grunt, the cat leaping gracefully clear as the girl rolls to absorb the impact.

“Ow, ow, ow!” She springs to her feet despite the obvious pain, spinning in a defensive circle with the knife still in her hand. “Damn it! That’s going to hurt. Remind me not to sleep so close to the edge next time, Luna.”

She rubs her backside with her free hand, wincing dramatically while scanning the canopy above.

“I know someone’s there!” she calls out, voice steady despite having just fallen fifteen feet. “Show yourself!”

I remain motionless, studying her. She should have caught my scent at once; any shifter would detect another of our kind from this distance. Yet she seems completely unaware of what I am, relying entirely on her human senses.

“Come on!” She brandishes the knife. “If you’re going to attack me, at least have the balls to do it face to face!”

The casual profanity surprises me. Most pack females are more restrained. There’s a rawness to her that is completely different from Harper’s calculated charm. I study her, curious.

I’m not easily intrigued, but this tiny slip of a woman manages to hold my attention.

After searching for another minute, she sighs, sheathing the blade and continuing to rub her backside.

“I’m growing more and more paranoid by the second. Sleeping in trees is bad enough without falling out of them,” she mutters to the cat. “Sorry, Luna. Didn’t mean to startle you.”

She talks aloud to the cat naturally, without self-consciousness. I find myself leaning forward to catch every word, though I can’t explain why her commentary fascinates me.

She sits down heavily against the base of the tree and rolls up her left pant leg. What I see makes me frown.

Deep gashes run from knee to ankle, the wounds angry and inflamed. They don’t look recent, so they should have healed completely by now. Healers have magic in their blood, healing magic that helps them recover from injuries even faster than a normal shifter. If she’s such a powerful healer, why does she have injuries that appear to be days old?

“Still looks awful,” she mutters, pulling a ceramic jar from her knapsack, which has been leaning against the tree she was sleeping in. “At least it’s not getting worse.”

She applies a green paste to the wounds, her face contorting with pain. The confident way she tends to the injury suggests this isn’t the first time she has had to heal herself.

“Almost out of healing moss,” she says to the cat. “Gonna have to find more soon.”

She digs some berries out of the bag and munches on them while studying a hand-drawn map, everything about her movements suggesting hard-won self-sufficiency.

“If we keep moving, we should be able to make it in about ten days. Although, with how my leg is going, it may take two or three weeks.” She sighs. “This sucks. But hey, at least I’m still alive, eh, Luna?”

Her lips curve in an infectious grin, and the cat rubs against her.

After rewrapping the wounds, she reaches for a walking stick I hadn’t noticed before. She tests her weight on it with a grimace, but her voice is determined.

“Time to go, Luna.”

The cat suddenly bristles, fur standing on end as she stares directly at my hiding spot. She makes a low warning sound that raises the hair on my arms.

“What is it, girl?” Elara follows the cat’s gaze but sees nothing. It’s the early hours of the morning, and the sun hasn’t risen yet, so it is quite dark out. “Just forest sounds. Come on.”

She shoulders her knapsack and begins walking, favoring her injured leg. Luna leaps to her shoulder but continues to stare back at me with unsettling intelligence.

I wait until they’re gone before following, my mind spinning with questions. Whatever this woman is, she’s definitely not the powerful healer Alpha Blackwood described. Which means the man was lying.

I decide to capture her now, but when I start to move, my wolf growls in warning, forcing me to a startled stop. It takes in her scent, and I feel it pacing inside my mind, anxious and a little tense.

It doesn’t want to harm her.

My wolf rarely reacts like this to anything. It’s curious about Elara, and as I gaze at her limping figure, I realize so am I.