Chapter 39: Rael: The Scent That Even Magic Can’t Hide

Chapter 39: Rael: The Scent That Even Magic Can’t Hide Rael~ I scoffed in my head, thinking he was just making a big deal out of nothing. I was going to marry Evelyn anyway, so what did it matter if I called her my wife now or later? Besides, I’d already proposed to her not long ago. "If by ’propose’ you mean asking her while she was half-dead and bleeding out, then I hope she says no," my wolf snapped. "How could you even think of proposing with a ring made out of tree roots?!" "That’s something only a broke man would do! You should’ve done better!" He scolded me so hard my head started to spin. Sometimes, I really couldn’t understand him. Just a moment ago, he sounded like he was against the whole idea of marriage, and now here he was, yelling at me for giving Evelyn a ring made of vines. I snapped back, "It was an emergency! If I had known I’d propose that soon, I would’ve prepared a proper ring ahead of time!" But he kept scolding me. "Exactly! That’s why I told you to buy one for your future wife ages ago, but you never listened!" Honestly, the way he acted, you’d think he was the one dying to get married, not me. But this time, I didn’t argue because as much as it annoyed me, he was right about the ring. Still, that didn’t mean I was completely wrong either. I really thought I’d never have a mate. The Moon Goddess never gave me a name, never sent me a sign, never whispered anything to me like she did with others. While most werewolves met their mates around the age of nineteen, I was already thirty-four by the time I found mine. Anyone else in my shoes would’ve accepted they were going to end up as a grumpy old man who spent his days gardening and sulking every time a cute couple walked by. Who would’ve thought the Moon Goddess would suddenly say my mate was in Valedorn Kingdom? I clicked my tongue just thinking about that trashy place. Out of all the places in this entire continent, why did she have to be there? But ... Here’s the weird part: Even though Evelyn was living there, she didn’t seem like a local. Just as I was deep in thought, someone suddenly jumped over the fence into my backyard. If I hadn’t recognized those footsteps, I might’ve ripped them apart before realizing who it was. "Alpha, you called for me?" Marek walked toward me as if nothing had happened, his face finally visible in the moonlight. "I just got back from cleaning up her blood." "I did," I said. "But seriously, can’t you come in through the front door like a normal person? This is what, the fifth time you’ve broken into my house? You’re making it seem like bandits could break in just as easily." I rubbed my temples and muttered, "Maybe I should install spiked fences." Marek chuckled. "You don’t even keep anything valuable in your house. Why would a bandit waste their time breaking in?" I rolled my eyes. "It’s called being cautious. What kind of idiot keeps their gold and precious things inside their house?" Without waiting for an answer, I changed the subject. "Anyway, about what I asked, were you able to track down where my mate came from?" He shook his head. "Forgive me, Alpha. But this time ... I couldn’t find anything about her pack or her background." That caught me off guard. It was very unlike Marek to fail at tracking someone so quickly. Out of all the werewolves in my pack, he had the sharpest nose. He could usually track someone down easily with just their scent. Just from someone’s scent alone, he could usually figure out their pack, their background, and even how often they bathed—alright, maybe that last part wasn’t really relevant—but this was the first time he had ever failed to do it. "I’ve got a feeling ... she’s not from this continent," Marek said, his brow furrowed in thought. "I’ll keep looking, but it’s going to take longer than usual." I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck, frustration prickling beneath my skin. "Alright. Take whatever time you need." There was a short pause before I asked again, "What about the scent blockade? Did you make sure everyone’s maintaining it? I don’t want any outside werewolves catching even a whiff of us." Marek nodded. "Yes, Alpha. Everyone’s following protocol. The barrier is up, and the guards are reinforcing it every few hours." "Good," I said. The Nocthra Pack never stayed in one place for too long. We constantly moved from one territory to another to avoid predators, like rogue werewolves, vampires, and even larger packs who wanted to force us into submission. It was the only way we could live freely, without chains or laws that didn’t belong to us. My father, the former Alpha of Nocthra, had accidentally discovered a strange kind of stone buried at the bottom of a river. When crushed into a fine powder and mixed into lotion, it had an incredible effect: it completely erased our scent. Once we smeared it all over our bodies, it was as if we vanished from the world. No one could track us, not even the most skilled hunters. It was a miracle for our kind. Something sacred that we never shared that knowledge with outsiders, not even trusted allies, because if it ever fell into the wrong hands, it could destroy us all. But even that miracle had a flaw. The scent-blocking lotion didn’t work on mates. That was the one thing it couldn’t hide from since the bond between fated mates was too deep, something beyond the physical. It wasn’t just scent they followed, but it was our soul. Even if we bathed in that lotion, even if we wiped every trace of our existence from the earth, it wouldn’t matter. A mate would still find us, like a compass that always pointed home. But I didn’t worry too much about that, since every werewolf in this pack had already brought their mate here. That meant all of them were allies. Everything had gone smoothly for years. But suddenly, I had this strange feeling, like something wasn’t right. I had asked Isa to apply the lotion on Evelyn’s body as well, but still, I couldn’t shake the worry that that bastard might be able to track her. "Hey, Marek," I said in a more relaxed tone, hoping to speak to him more like a friend than an Alpha. "Do you think it makes sense ... for a Luna to have two Alphas at once?"