12: Fated Mates Cross Paths

Gillow traced the rough lines of the ancient illustration, his fingers brushing over the delicate features of the girl drawn in ink. Her image seemed to breathe life, even on the brittle parchment. The word Moonchild was scrawled beneath it in faded, ornate script.

She was beautiful. Too beautiful.

Her innocence bled through the sketch—pure, untouched, and completely unguarded. She would look perfect beside him in the castle, in his arms, in his bed. But for now, she was exposed, walking in the open without a clue about the danger closing in around her.

His jaw tightened as he recalled the boy who she developed a relationship with and her at the restaurant. A growl rumbled low in his throat. It had taken all his restraint not to storm in and tear the boy apart.

Gillow’s sharp gaze shifted to the Elder, the long-bearded man standing silently before him. “How much longer must I wait?”

The Elder adjusted his grip on his staff. “She is close to graduating. Let her finish school first. Then she will be yours.”

“That is too long,” Gillow snapped. “She is already drawing attention. I won’t stand by and let her fall for some boy who can’t even protect her.”

The Elder remained composed. “You have to exercise patience. The rival packs, especially Cain and his men are still hunting the Moonchild. If they find her, they’ll kill her. Keeping her hidden has kept her safe all these years.”

Gillow slammed his fist onto the desk, rattling the old book. “And I’m supposed to keep waiting while my mate is out there? No.” He stepped closer, towering over the old man. “I will challenge Cain.”

“You risk exposing her.”

“Enough.” Gillow’s voice was sharp. “Tell the gods they have until the next full moon to speak. If they don’t, I’ll make my own decisions.”

The Elder hesitated, then bowed stiffly. “No one gives the gods an ultimatum.”

“I just did.”

Gillow’s eyes fell back to Arda’s image. He could not wait to claim her.

--2 – Night Hunt in the Forest

The next day, Arda lived her life like everything was normal. She set her concerns aside and went about her business.

In the house with her family, she performed chores, aided her mother in the kitchen, and went hunting with her father and sister at night.

The moon was out and half full, and the forest behind their home was alive with the night sounds of nature.

Twilight thrushes sang and owls called back and forth to their young. Insects and frogs took over where the daylight songbirds had left off while crickets chirped incessantly in the background.

Arda, Mabel, and her father were dressed in clothes that covered their bodies fully so that they were protected from the chill.

Ear defenders went around the backs of their heads and shielded them from any kind of harsh sounds. The three held local guns, and backpacks rested on their backs.

Presently, they were standing by a tree in the forest and looking around the bushes through the night vision glasses over their eyes.

"I will never get tired of this fun hunt of ours." Mabel chirped.

"Me too." Arthur and Arda responded in unison, smiling.

A wolf cry pierced the air. It was not the first.

“Daddy, should we be worried about the wolf cries?” Arda asked.

“Crybaby,” Mabel teased.

"Shut up " Arda said lightly.

Mabel laughed, and Arda couldn’t help but recollect how she and her sister had come to make up.

The two had reconciled that morning after Arda served her tea in bed and told her she loved her and would always love her whether she liked it or not. Arda had spoken with sincerity. It was truly how she felt about Mabel.

In response, Mabel had thrown her arms around her, apologizing profusely for her bad behavior towards her and promising to change. Then Mabel shocked Arda, who had thought Mabel’s behavior was borne out of a grudge about sharing her parents. Mabel admitted instead that she was hurt by the knowledge that they weren’t blood sisters. Her constant show of antagonism was merely an unhealthy reaction to the situation.

Their parents had been so surprised to wake up to the girls joking around as they made breakfast together. The girls had simply smiled at them with a simple chorused explanation: “We made up,” which had pleased their parents.

Arda’s mind returned to the present.

Mabel gently poked Arda under her armpits, aiming to provoke a laugh. Arda fell for it and the two giggled.

“You will scare the games away,” their father cautioned them.

Smiling, Mabel clamped a hand over her mouth to muffle her chuckle.

“Naughty you,” Arda told her and faced her father. “Seriously, Dad, the papers sounded serious.”

“The papers are serious about everything,” he replied. “Wolf cries are normal. If their cries have increased, perhaps their population has grown, so what?”

“Well, what happens if we find any?” Arda was worried.

“Simple, kill it. Besides, wolves are afraid of humans. They will rather avoid you.”

Arda sighed with relief. “Great.”

“Okay, ladies, we will separate from here. You already know the deal. Don’t venture too far. Use your whistle…”

“…and flash your light if necessary, should you encounter trouble,” Arda and Mabel finished for him, and he shook his head in amusement.

“The trouble that awaits your husbands.”

The girls smiled broadly, and they separated, the three going in different directions.

Arda walked forward, the grasses scrunching beneath her booted foot. It took her a few yards before she came upon a grassy clearing dotted by clusters of wood against a backdrop of thicker woodland.

Standing by a tree, she saw a single pig feeding on rape. She could not see any piglets but a single pig at that time of the year could be a sow. Its silhouette looked more like a sow than a male.

It was too dark to see any more details but she couldn’t pass up her first kill on the hunt. This was why they were here. Arda aimed her gun at the pig and fell into concentration.

Then she noticed branches breaking in the wood a couple of yards adjacent to the pig. It meant that something was probably going to come out. Her attention was divided at the moment. Even the pig raised its head and turned in the direction of the ruffling behind it.

It took about five seconds of waiting before a couple of pigs lazily emerged one after the other from the rustling spot. They were not too big and were roughly about the same size. There was no sight of piglets.

She wondered which one she would take down and finally decided on the one she had first seen which had returned to its meal. It seemed fatter than the others.

Giving it her full attention, she was about to pull the trigger when she heard a gunshot and saw a bullet hit her target, bringing it down. Her finger froze on the trigger.

Startled, Arda’s eyes went up because she could tell that the shot had come from somewhere close by in the trees. Her eyes fell on the figure of a hunter who was positioned on the sturdy branch of a tree just a couple of feet beside her.

Arda was angry. She knew that she didn’t own the area but that fat pig was her kill. It was almost her kill and the situation upset her. To add to her anger, the other pigs turned and hastened back into the woods, no doubt in escape.

Fuming, Arda watched the hunter make his way down from the tree. His movements were smooth and graceful. He seemed skilled and from his silhouette, tall and brawny. He wore a hat and his hair flowed underneath it.

Getting a clearer view of him, Arda was befuddled. She could recognize the handsome guy she had been drawn to at the restaurant on her date with Luke.

He seemed even more handsome in his rugged hunting outfit, raw and intriguing. As he stared at her, it felt like he could see through her soul. Why did he affect her so? She scarcely knew him.

Arda cleared her throat, reminding herself why she was there.

“You stole my kill.” She fumed and he arched an eyebrow.

“Oh, is that so?”