UNCROWNED SILVER

CHAPTER FOUR

RONAN

Something felt off. The forest was unusually quiet, not the kind of silence that comes with the night in a forest far away from the heart of the pack, but the kind that screamed danger.

The sun was already setting, night looming over the Redfang pack, but the forest remained unsettled.

I stood at the Eastern ridge of the pack and stared at the darkness that stretched far beyond the border.

My wolf remained unsettled underneath my skin.

“What?” I snapped

He had not been this agitated in the last twenty years. He had been calm, almost too calm.

He remained silent, but I could tell he was anxious about something.

A gust of wind carried a faint scent across my nose

Metallic, sweet, unusually sweet

Blood

Something was definitely off

Three of my scouts appeared out of the darkness, with terrified looks on their faces. They knelt before me

”Speak” I commanded

“Alpha, a she-wolf has attempted to cross our territory” the eldest reported with his head lowered. “It appears she’s being chased by the White-thorne warriors”

My face hardened

“What does she want?”

“We don’t know”

“Find out” I said calmly. The scout hesitated, my eyes narrowed. He immediately lowered his head, he knew better than to delay any further.

“Yes, Alpha”. He hurriedly got up, the other two scouts following him.

“Wait”

They paused in their tracks

“How many warrior wolves in total?”

“About half a dozen” they said, trembling.

My nose flared

Half a dozen? What grave offense must a lowly she-wolf have committed to warrant that large number?

Well, it was nothing I should be concerned with…Or at least, that was what I thought. They crossed my territory, and now they answer to me.

“Listen carefully..” My voice remained calm, one thing my pack feared the most.

“Find out why they crossed my territory. If it was a mistake, escort them back”

The scouts exchanged nervous glances

“What if they refuse?”

“Break their legs” I said. A faint smile touched my lips. With that, they disappeared into the darkness, while my wolf remained uneasy

“She’s close”

“Who?”

“Mate”

Mate? What mate? My mate died 20 years ago, and since then, my wolf had been silent. There was no bond, no pull, no desire.

What other mate was he talking about?

“I can smell her” He sounded so certain that the knot in my chest tightened.

“You must be mistaken”

When have I ever been?

A gust of wind carried a faint smell of blood across my nostrils, but underneath that, there was something else.

A scent, something ancient. It was almost as if I had been waiting for this all my life, and just like that, every instinct in me rose. I ran.

***

I heard the White-thorne wolves in the distance, before I saw them. The sound of paws pounding against the earth, and somewhere within, a woman’s scream. She definitely sounded like she needed saving.

I had not seen this woman, but why did her scream cause me so much pain?

Then, I saw her.

I froze

Why did she look exactly like Kaya? She had died 20 years ago. Must be my mind playing tricks on me. She was definitely not her, Kaya had auburn hair and hazel eyes. Maybe, I just missed her a little.

Bleeding palms, terrified cry, she sat on the floor. I didn’t know her story, but I immediately wanted to protect her.

Her silver-white hair which had faint black roots, was scattered in messy waves around her face and curled around her shoulders. My gaze settled on her face, a pair of pale lavender eyes stared back in bewilderment, it was strangely beautiful. The fear in her eyes made the knot in my chest tighter.

Her full lips parted slightly , as she gasped for breath. Deep brown skin with a gold undertone that gave an oddly satisfying warmth I didn’t know I needed was stained with dry crusts of blood, instantly creating a strong urge to kill whoever put her in that state.

“Elara Awryn”

My wolf was definitely pleased. It was rather strange that she looked exactly like Kaya.

“Elara..” I instinctively called out her name and moved closer to her. She must have been wondering how I knew her name, but I couldn’t be bothered to explain myself to her.

I was too focused on the damsel in distress to notice the White-thorne warriors who were now preparing to attack. They had already hinted at me leaving the girl to them, but no way in Abyss was happening.

Something dangerous in me already awakened as I saw her bleeding palms, and her worn-out state. I wanted to kill something, but I didn’t want to stir up trouble.

My Alpha aura exploded at that moment. Seeing as the warriors fell to their knees in terror, I smirked in satisfaction. They definitely got the message.

She was mine now to protect.

I turned back to her, I couldn’t help but notice how fragile she looked. She had a youthful glow to her, but something about her felt so powerful, I just didn’t know what.

“Are you hurt?” I flinched at how unusually soft my voice sounded. Who was this woman?

She looked like she wanted to give in to the softness I was offering, but she was fighting it.

“I won’t hurt you” I just wanted her to feel safe around me for some reason, but I guess I couldn’t blame her for not trusting me yet. She had definitely been through a lot.

“Why should I believe you?” she asked wearily.

“Because whether any of us likes it, you’re my mate”. I was sure she also felt what I felt, as I had heard her wolf call out to me earlier.

I stared at her beautiful eyes in a manner which I was sure, gave no room for argument.

There was something not right about this girl. Judging by the way my wolf stilled, he felt it too. The air around her felt wrong; ancient, mysterious, powerful.

My wolf stilled yet again; not because she was wounded, not because she was beautiful, not because she looked like my dead mate.

The moment I looked into those pale lavender eyes again, a terrifying certainty settled into my bones.

I had seen her before.

Not in this dark forest

Not in this lifetime

Somewhere deeper, somewhere I had subconsciously buried within my memories.