Chapter 65: The Wolf Mother’s Warning
Everyone looked at Nuan, who was sitting silently before the young elk, her knife resting on its skin.
To the rest of the pack, it looked like she was claiming a prime prize from the hunt despite doing absolutely nothing to earn it.
"Say something, elders!" Lyra pressed, looking directly at Syra and Nyra.
But both of the elderly females hesitated. Having just made up with Nuan a few days ago, they remembered how warm and respected she had made them feel despite their previous bad behavior toward her. Standing up to denounce her now felt wrong.
"Well... we have only heard stories about it," Nyra said, shifting her weight uncomfortably.
"Yes... it is not like we give out our clan’s bloodmark every other day," Syra added defensively, backing her up.
Selka stepped into the center of the clearing, her sharp eyes scanning the crowd before landing on Nuan. "The Witch’s bloodmark ritual can only happen during the night of the full moon," she declared with absolute authority.
"Why is that, Mother?" Lyra asked, refusing to back down. "From what we heard from the late Alpha, the mark can be given on any ordinary night."
"True for a common wolf... but the Witch is not just any beast," Selka countered smoothly. "Before this, we have only given our marks to other wolf clans when a daughter left after finding a mate. She is a witch. Her rituals vary entirely from ours."
Tsk. Tala clicked her tongue in annoyance behind her sister, but the rest of the pack let out a collective, understanding nod. The low murmurs started up again.
"It makes sense."
"She is a good witch, not a mere beast like us."
"Then why does she get special treatment and days of complete rest? She hunts nothing!" Tala demanded, trying to keep her boiling anger in check by framing it as a reasonable question.
"Have you forgotten the pack’s law?" Selka answered back, her voice turning dangerously firm. "We do not abandon or bother our injured members. Right now, just like the Alpha, the Witch is injured. She will rest until her ankle is fully healed."
"If she is a witch, she should just heal herself with her own witchcraft," Tala murmured under her breath.
Selka let out a soft sigh, looking over at Nuan.
Nuan slowly slid her hunting knife out of the young elk’s skin and willed it back into her system inventory. Kael stared fiercely at Lyra and Tala, his fangs practically baring, before looking back at his mother.
Selka raised her voice so it echoed across the entire clearing. "The good witch Aestra helped our clan many, many generations ago by blessing us with the Whiteclaw plants. She took care of our entire broken pack for months until everyone was better. This is our time to return that favor on behalf of our ancestors. Does anyone else have an objection to this?"
"No, Mother!" the pack shouted back in loud, fierce unison, effectively shutting down the rebellion.
Without saying a single word, Nuan stood up on her good leg and walked straight past the crowd, heading back inside the quiet sanctuary of Kael’s den.
Selka watched her go, then turned a cold, deadly gaze onto her two daughters. "You two. Come with me," she ordered, turning on her heel and walking toward the dense treeline.
"Kael, stay here with the pack," Selka commanded over her shoulder as she vanished into the shadows of the jungle, with a highly tense Lyra and Tala following closely behind her.
Selka stopped in a dense thicket of the woods, far enough away that the crackling fire and bustling noises of the pack had faded into a distant murmur. She turned around slowly, her eyes piercing through the shadows as she looked at both of them.
"So..." Selka began, her voice dangerously calm. "What is the true reason behind your constant, pathetic attempts to bother her?"
"We aren’t bothering her," Lyra said quickly, avoiding direct eye contact and looking down at the mossy ground. "We were just curious why an outsider is treated so differently from the rest of us."
"Is that truly it?" Selka pressed, her posture unmoving.
"Yes, Mother!" Tala chimed in, trying to stand her ground.
"Listen to me, you two... I know very well what you have been up to from the very first day she stepped foot into our territory," Selka said, letting out a heavy breath.
"What? We are not up to anything," Lyra muttered defensively.
"Sigh... Let us look at the facts. When Kael left the territory to find a mate, you two were incredibly worried for your brother. But when he finally returned carrying a furless, meek-looking creature as his chosen mate, the color completely drained from your faces."
"It’s... it’s not like that..." Tala tried to argue, her tail stiffening.
"Do not lie to me. I can tell exactly what is inside the minds of my own children," Selka said, cutting her off firmly. "Then, the very next day, Kael went down to the river with his mate and got attacked by the Tiger clan. You immediately thought it was because he went out with a fragile, meek piece of prey like her, didn’t you?"
Both sisters remained dead silent, their ears pinning back.
Selka continued, her tone hardening. "But we all saw the pattern of the ravens flying over the river that morning, didn’t we? That specific flight pattern indicates a battle of revenge with a member of our clan—not an ambush over a stolen mate or random prey. The tigers were there for Kael because he rashly invaded their territory few days ago."
"Yet, you kept resisting her. When she tried to teach our pack how to use the red evil’s fire, you fought it. Then, when Kael stubbornly got himself heavily injured while trying to take down a massive moose, you tried to stop her from using his own den to care for him."
"Listen to me, kids. I am well aware that you worry for your brother, and I know you find her completely unworthy of being an Alpha’s mate. You think she is the curse causing Kael to face all this danger—but it is not her. It is his own massive ego. He still has a lot of time to learn what it truly means to be an Alpha."
"Your late father passed away much too early, leaving us behind before he could properly pass on his wisdom. Otherwise, Kael would have learned the truth from him. But right now, your brother thinks brute power and a successful hunt are all it takes to lead a pack. All of you—including Kael—are simply too young to understand what real leadership is."
Selka stepped closer, her eyes flashing with a deep, unshakable respect. "That girl is the real deal. Do not underestimate her worth for a single second. She consciously chooses to live as a solitary predator, but make no mistake... she is fully capable of being an Alpha herself."
"Tsk... What kind of vile witchcraft has she used on you that you keep saying such grand things about her?!" Lyra suddenly snapped, her patience completely fracturing.
Losing her temper, Lyra exploded into a thick poof of grey smoke, transforming instantly into her massive, snarling wolf form. Her hackles stood straight up, her ears flattened aggressively against her skull, and she bared her long, razor-sharp fangs directly at her own mother.
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