Chapter 346

346 [Bonus chapter]The Day They Met

A little over forty years ago...

At a time when King Davin had only been a small prince, barely capable of performing any tasks in the name of their kingdom. At the time, he was still only a child. Back then, the current king’s brother was not known for staying in the same place for too long.

He was far too antisocial and wild to be capable of such a thing. He moved about the globe as though it was his home and spent more time in no-man’s-land than any wolf on the planet that wasn’t a rogue.

Rumours spread about why the man was like this. Some suggested he was simply too powerful to care about the rogues out there... as he never seemed to have trouble dealing with them when he was attacked. While others suggested he was in cahoots with the rogues.

Regardless of these rumours and the fact that the king knew nothing of his brother’s exploits, he allowed Sean to do as he pleased, letting him come and go at any time with complete autonomy. Seeing that the king tolerated his behaviour, the kingdom let the matter rest... however, not before nicknaming him, the Lone Wolf.

A black wolf calmly plodded through the woods one hot afternoon, making it to a raging waterfall. Despite how harsh the water beat down on the rocks beneath it, it seemed like paradise in the afternoon heat.

'

Sean had been hunting for a myth and this had been the furthest he’d made it following the great Sirius river. At its confluence with its other sister branch was a waterfall. The man had taken the time to observe the area surrounding it.

The confluence was surrounded by rich vegetation and was brimming with divine energy. The place where the first kings of the past parted ways and established the two empires on opposite sides of the world, using this great river to guide them.

The black wolf shifted back into his human form and stripped, placing all his belongings at the river bank before taking a dive into the cool river. The life of a lone wolf was filled with the constant need to refresh one’s mind. To keep himself from drowning in his own thoughts, he often found himself doing different extreme activities that set a pace for him to keep himself grounded. To keep himself from going insane from the painful silence that surrounded him. Only so rarely did he get the chance to let water from a waterfall beat down on his back.

.....

Usually, the man would have decided against it, but his wolf was convinced it wouldn’t hurt one bit and so, he went for it. After struggling a bit against the weight of the falling torrent of water, the man stabilised under the water and calmly let his mind wander.

Without his knowledge, a weakened panting wolf made its way through the grass and onto the river bank. The tired small wolf was starving and panting heavily from exhaustion. She was lost and barely had anything to eat. Well, she hadn’t known which way to go in the first place, but she ran, nonetheless. The cruelty of the wild was nothing compared to what she was running from. Thinking back on it, she decided this was much better than the alternative.

The sound of the river was soothing. Dying by a river did not sound like such a bad thing. ‘It would be peaceful,’ the grey wolf thought to herself, moving closer to the river. Just then, her nostrils flared with a sweet scent that swept her drowsiness away immediately. She looked about the river bank in search of the source of the scent, but couldn’t find it. After walking along the river bank, she made it to a waterfall. There were clothes and a bag at the river bank, but no sign of their owner.

The grey wolf walked up to the clothes and gave them a sniff before backing away. The scent she’d been following was intensified in the clothes. She could just roll in them and die a happy starving wolf within them, surrounded by this sweet scent.

The bag beside them, however, caught her attention before she could carry out this craziness. She shelved her recent idea and moved on to the bag. She began to open it using her paws and mouth. It was a slow task in her wolf form, but eventually, she got the bag open. Within the bag, she found a loaf of dried bread and a juice bottle. Along with other necessities that her mind wanted nothing to do with.

She was practically drooling at the sight of the contents within the bag. The wolf shifted into her human form, curling up when the biting cold breeze blew against her bare body. Without caring for the bag’s owner, the woman began to eat the bread in a rush and gobble up the juice inside.

It tasted heavenly and choked her more than once, but the more she consumed it, the more her other senses dulled. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten... well, anything. ‘If there is a goddess out there that cares about werewolves, thank you so much,’ she mentally screamed to the sky, savouring the food she was eating.

“Someone’s been starving. You’re eating like an animal even in your human form,” a voice broke through the silence, sending a wave of dread through the woman. She froze and turned her head towards the water and saw a man standing at the river bank with his hand on his hip, stark naked.

The woman quickly averted her eyes at the sight of him and inched further away from the man’s belongings, ‘What’s wrong with him? Could he be like one of those savages that don’t care for...’

“No, please, finish up,” Sean’s voice cut her thoughts short.

The man’s voice was nothing like she was used to. Instead of the cruel and commanding tone that she was used to hearing from men, this one sounded kind. The voice of a male being kind was foreign to her and the generosity even more so.

She wasn’t supposed to believe his words. She shouldn’t have... after all, he could have been asking her to eat up so he could take her back in one piece. What other reason was there? He was standing naked behind her after all. Regardless of these doubts, she couldn’t find it within her to doubt him... and she had an idea why. That sweet scent she’d caught earlier... It was everywhere now... and she knew the source.

Tears streamed down her cheeks uncontrollably. Tears she didn’t know she had. Her life was so rough that it never called for tears. They were a sign of weakness... and yet here they were. She didn’t even try to dry them off.

The biting cold of the wind suddenly came to a stop as a warm jacket was wrapped around her back. He was right behind her now. He didn’t bark at her or ask her to do anything he desired.

The wolf inside her knew why. She also knew why. What were the odds of her finding the one werewolf out of millions that the rest of the women from her home would never get to see... ever. And she was overjoyed... She found her mate.