Chapter 462
Dyne couldn’t understand why most of the people in the pack couldn’t see Iris for who she was, but then he realized, he saw the Luna in a new light only after he spent a lot of time with her when they went to the capital city, while the rest of the pack members didn’t have the same opportunity, thus the image of Iris as Gerald’s daughter still etched so deeply in their minds.
“Here, drink this,” Dyne said, as he gave her his waterskin. Her lips were chapped. Her eyes lit up at the sight of water, but she still looked hesitant, until Dyne got off from his horse and handed it to her. “Drink.”
Without a second thought, she drank all the water inside and looked at him sheepishly when she gave back the empty waterskin.
“Sorry,” she said in a small voice. “I finished the water.”
“It’s okay.” They would come across another brook later and could get more water. “Alpha Dristan didn’t let you drink?”
The woman lowered her head. “He is upset.”
It was a common practice, whenever your master was angry, they would vent it out on someone and this woman was the best victim. Alpha Dristan didn’t have any reason to not give her water, he only wanted to see her suffering.
Dyne was very familiar with that practice.
“Come, ride with me.”
The young woman shook her head. “The Alpha didn’t allow me, he told me to run.”
Dyne frowned. “A moment.” He then went to Iris, who was talking with Lady Cyan. He could see how uncomfortable she was. “Luna,” Dyne called Iris and told her what happened.
“Tell her, It’s okay, Alpha Cane will talk to Alpha Dristan.” It Was an insignificant matter when their lives were in danger. Alpha Dristan wouldn’t make a fuss over this trivial thing when he had to rely on Cane heavily in this situation.
“Okay ,” Dyne said joyfully, as he went back to the young woman and convinced her to ride with him. In the end, she relented and got on the horse with him.
Meanwhile, Lady Cyan made small talk with Iris, where one could see how she was dancing around the actual topic.
“Can you feel it? The weather is good, right?” Lady Cyan asked with her cheerful voice, but Iris caught her meaningful glance and knew exactly what she referred to.
“Yes, the weather is good,” Iris replied monotonously. She then glanced at her mate and saw how Cane, the King and Alpha Dristan conversed about something. She couldn’t read what they were saying, as she rode behind them.
“Do you think we can catch a beast before the sun sets?”
“I thought we were here hunting for white foxes.” Iris could feel strong discomfort in her chest as they rode closer to the black magic stones.
“Oh, right…” Lady Cyan lamented. “Alpha Cane gave a bloody fox to the King when the King visited for the first time after his slavery ended. Do you know what the meaning of the white fox is?”
Iris knew what it meant, but she didn’t know which direction Lady Cyan wanted to lead this conversation in. “No. What is the meaning of it?”
Lady Cyan tilted her head and looked at Iris, smiling beautifully. “A warning. A promise of revenge,” she said in a light tone.
Iris’ heart skipped a beat, but she kept her expression emotionless, some of Cane’s traits must have rubbed off on her by now. The Alpha would be proud of her to be able to keep the conversation going without giving away what was in her mind right now.
“Oh,” Iris intoned. “Such a beautiful creature has such a scary meaning.”
“Sometimes, scary things come in beautiful forms.”
“Yes.” Iris nodded. “But, not all scary things are bad things.” The lycan was a scary beast, many people feared this cursed creature, but aside from being so annoying, Lu was nothing like those people were afraid of. Lu was not necessarily bad, at least, in Iris’ eyes. He was actually adorable, at least, when he was not being so troublesome.
“The feeling of it is getting strong, right?” Lady Cyan asked all of a sudden. It seemed she was no longer interested in dancing around the topic, as they were getting closer to where the black magic stones were.
Iris subconsciously stopped herself to pull at her hair or fiddle with her horse’s reins, as she put up a front to mask her thumping heart.
They were black magic stones, she could purify them, there was nothing to be afraid of. Iris repeated the same thing over and over in her heart like a charm to calm herself down.
“What feeling?” Iris asked innocently.
“You can drop the act now,’’ Lady Cyan said casually, as if they were still talking about the weather. “You can feel it, right? You managed to find the magic stone in Princess Osana’s palace, there is no way you can’t feel them now.”
Iris reciprocated her smile. “Were you the one who put them here, My Lady?”
“’Them’.” Lady Cyan emphasized her choice of words. “You are indeed incredible. What are you?” She had checked her and was sure she was not a magic user. The feeling she got from her was nothing like what she got from those magic users or those dark sorcerers.
“Is this a hunt to look for black magic stones instead of white foxes?” Iris asked. They slowed down their horses before all of them stopped. The tension amplified when all the royal warriors circled them.
This was it, this was the place where all the black magic stones had been scattered around. Iris was the only one who was affected by this ominous feeling.
“What is the meaning of this, My King?” Cane asked. His tone was dark, while Alpha Dristan guided his horse closer to his.
On the other hand, four warriors from the Howling Wolf pack got off of their horses and shifted into their beasts. Iris backed away from Lady Cyan, letting herself be protected by the warriors and beasts from their pack.
In the span of a few seconds, the quiet forest turned eerie.