Chapter 217: Chapter 217 Silver Bracelets
Phoebe’s POV
I wandered around the house with Justin trailing behind me, though he kept his distance since I wanted some space to think.
We’d just finished dinner together, and like always, Wade had made everything more lively with his endless chatter. Now I needed a walk before bed - my stomach was way too full.
"My queen, don’t go toward the forest. It’s dangerous."
Justin’s warning stopped me just as I was about to head in that direction.
"Why?"
"It’s..." Justin seemed nervous to tell me. "The wild wolves live there."
My eyebrows shot up with interest. It had been forever since I’d last seen the wild wolves, and Justin must have caught the excitement in my eyes.
"I know you used to feed the wild wolves, but I can’t risk your safety. Please understand - this is for your protection."
I wanted to argue, but I didn’t want to make things harder for Justin. Besides, I had no idea if this place was close to the wolf pack territory. I might run into other dangerous animals in the forest, and the last thing I needed was to put myself at risk.
So I turned away from the forest, but something caught my attention. I heard it first since I was closer.
From behind the bushes came a sound.
"My queen?" Justin noticed my interest, and when he came closer, he heard it too. "I’ll check what it is. Please stay here."
Justin followed the sound and found a wolf pup behind the bushes. Blood stained its hind leg.
"This is..."
I saw it and moved closer. I scooped the pup into my palms while it struggled against Justin and me, terrified we’d hurt it.
Gently, I stroked its head and tickled its belly. I could see the wound on its hind leg clearly.
"I’m taking it with me."
"But..." Justin didn’t think that was smart - he was worried the wolf pack would come to the house since we were taking their pup. "I think it’d be better to leave it here..."
I gave him a look that basically said how heartless could he be, which shut him up immediately.
The pup kept making distressed sounds, but when I cradled it like a baby, the little creature calmed down and snuggled against me.
"I still don’t think this is smart," Justin muttered, but as usual, he couldn’t go against me.
Inside the house, I tended to the wound on its hind leg and prepared some warm milk.
"How adorable," Wade said, coming over. He was fascinated by the wild wolf pup. "I’ve heard about the wild wolves the king takes care of, but since the forest area is off-limits, I can’t get close."
"Why would you want to get close? Want to become wolf food?" Orion chimed in, gently stroking the pup’s head.
It still amazed me how gentle Orion was despite his massive frame. A giant with a kitten’s heart.
An hour later, the pup’s wound was properly bandaged, and it was purring on my lap, drowsy after finishing a whole bowl of milk.
Meanwhile, rain began pouring down, the sky darkened, and the night felt a bit ominous.
I didn’t want to go back to my bedroom, so I chose to stay with my three warriors as we played a board game.
But in the distance, we heard distressed howling.
Wild wolves and shifters came from the same spirit, though they were different beings, which meant they could understand each other to some degree.
We could tell the wolf pack was in distress.
"I think they’ve come for this little guy," Wade said, looking at the wolf fondly and patting the pup on my lap.
I stood up with the sleeping pup in my arms. I liked the pup and wanted it to stay, but a wolf wasn’t a pet. It’d be better to return it to its family.
"My queen, let me take it out." Justin was still stressed about the pup.
But I refused. I wanted to see the wild wolf pack again. I wondered if it would be the same pack.
When I stepped outside, the pup in my arms woke up. Its ears perked up at the distant howling.
I set the little creature down. The rain wasn’t as heavy now. Tiny droplets fell from the sky, but I couldn’t care less when my dress got wet.
From the bushes, I saw the alpha of the wild wolves.
It was the same alpha. The same pack Perry had cared for all this time.
Somehow, seeing the wolf made me happy.
I missed Perry, so anything connected to him brought a smile to my face.
"You have a young pup in your pack again?" I mouthed the question, though I wouldn’t get an answer.
The pup walked toward the alpha and rubbed its muzzle against the bigger wolf’s front leg, while the alpha sniffed it, especially the bandaged hind leg.
They stayed like that for a moment before turning and leaving.
But the alpha looked back at me one last time before disappearing into the night.
I felt so sad...
---
"We’re here," Reginald said, shaking Fiona awake. "Get your jacket and we’ll head up."
Fiona opened her eyes groggily, looked around, and realized she was on the boat to the Valerium Kingdom.
She’d just been dreaming about her parents - a happy moment from her childhood. She missed that feeling of safety and peace.
Now that she was awake, she had to face reality. There was no peace or safety here - they had to fight to survive.
Reginald waited for Fiona, and when she was ready, they both went up to the deck.
This was Fiona’s first time in the Valerium Kingdom, and her first impression was... not good.
The kingdom looked barren. The people seemed poor, wearing shabby clothes. But she figured this might just be the harbor area.
She couldn’t judge an entire kingdom based on one spot.
However, when they got off the boat, a smell hit Fiona and she almost gagged from how awful it was.
It smelled like rotten food, and the stench came from the people approaching them.
Fiona looked around and saw all the warriors looked uncomfortable. They smelled it too. Only Reginald and Allen seemed unbothered.
Royal beta Allen immediately approached the border warriors, who nodded respectfully. They recognized him, which was good, but Fiona couldn’t shake her bad feeling about all this.
Her skin crawled, and she wanted to go back to the boat. Return to the Mya Kingdom. Even if she had to die, at least she’d die on her own land, not on foreign soil.
"Reginald, there’s still time to get out of here," Fiona said quietly, tugging his arm. "I don’t think this is smart."
Fiona was scared. Those shifters stared at her hungrily, like they wanted to devour her alive.
"And then what? What would you do if you went back?" Reginald asked matter-of-factly, and Fiona had no answer.
"What are they talking about?" Fiona frowned because they spoke in hushed tones while glancing toward her and the other warriors from her pack.
"Something’s wrong," Alpha Sterling said. He could feel it. "Why is this taking so long?"
They were still on the beach, waiting for permission to enter Valerium territory, but Allen had been talking with the border warriors for ten minutes.
"This shouldn’t take this long."
Ten minutes later, Allen returned with a smile. A sweet smile that made Fiona’s skin crawl.
"You may enter Valerium territory, but with one condition."
"What is it?"
"Put on the silver bracelets."
