CHAPTER 4: The Hunt

Fenrir's POV

Silence was a weapon and I wielded it like a blade.

The throne room stretched before me black marble, obsidian pillars, shadows that seemed to breathe. My court stood in perfect stillness, their heads bowed, their breathing shallow. They had learned long ago that when the Lycan King did not speak, it was because he was deciding who would bleed.

I sat upon my throne as my fingers drummed once against the armrest. The sound echoed like a death knell.

"Your Majesty." Nyko, my head escort stepped forward with the careful hesitation of a wolf who knew he was treading on dangerous ground. "The search parties have returned."

"And?"

"Nothing." He swallowed. "The eastern territory has been searched three times. The northern border twice. The southern"

"Search again." My words echoed.

Nyko's jaw tightened. He was the only wolf in my court who dared to speak freely to me a privilege earned through years of loyalty and the rare courage to tell me when I was wrong but even he knew his limits.

"Your Majesty, with respect we have deployed every available tracker. We have interrogated every innkeeper, every merchant, every wandering wolf who has crossed our borders. We have…."

"Found nothing." My voice dropped low and Dangerous. The candles in the room dimmed as though they sensed the shift in my mood. "You have found nothing, Nyko. Do not dress it up as progress."

He exhaled slowly. "No, Your Majesty. We have found nothing."

I rose from the throne as every wolf in the room immediately lowered their heads from the primal understanding that they were in the presence of a predator who had not yet decided whether to be merciful.

"One night," I said quietly. "One night since she vanished into the darkness like a ghost and you tell me we have found nothing?"

Nyko met my gaze to his credit, he did not flinch.

"We do not know her name. We do not know her face….."

"I know her face." The room went still.

"She was marked," I said, opening my eyes. "I marked her."

Nyko's expression flickered. "Your Majesty, that is... not possible. A mark only takes hold between fated mates."

"I am aware of how mating marks work."

"Then how……"

"I don't know." The admission tasted bitter on my tongue. I was not accustomed to not knowing neither was I not accustomed to uncertainty. I was the Lycan King and I took what I wanted. I conquered what resisted and never lost.

But I had lost her. She had slipped through my fingers like smoke and I had spent every hour since trying to find her.

"The mark is real," I said, my voice hardening. "I felt it take hold into a bond form and wherever she is, she carries it still. I will know her when I find her."

Nyko studied me carefully. "You are certain she is still alive?"

The question hung in the air like a blade.

I turned toward the window, my hands clasping behind my back. The kingdom stretched beneath me miles of forests, mountains, rivers, cities and millions of wolves who answered to my name and somewhere among them, one woman who had changed everything.

"If she were dead," I said slowly, "I would feel it."

"Would you?" The question was soft and Careful.

I did not answer because the truth was, I didn't know. I don’t know what I would feel if she died. I didn't know what this connection was like an thread that pulled at my chest every waking moment.

I only knew that she was mine and I would find her.

"Your Majesty." A new voice entered the conversation. Lord Caine, one of my senior advisors stepped forward from the shadows. He was old nearly three centuries and had served my father before me. He was also the only wolf in the room who had the authority to challenge me.

"The council grows restless," he said. "You have postponed your duties. You have redirected resources, soldiers, trackers all in pursuit of a woman whose name you do not know and whose face you have described as 'memorable.' The kingdom needs its king."

"The kingdom has its king."

"The kingdom has a king who is obsessed." The word landed like a slap as I turned slowly and Lord Caine to his credit

held his ground.

"Obsessed," I repeated.

"Yes, Your Majesty Obsessed. You have torn apart four territories searching for her. You have interrogated every unmated she wolf between here and the eastern sea. You have…."

"I have done what is necessary."

"You have done what is excessive." He stepped closer, his old bones creaking with the movement. "The council has given you time but the kingdom cannot function without a Luna and you cannot rule indefinitely without an heir."

"I am aware of my responsibilities."

"Then act like it." The room held its breath as I stared at Lord Caine. He stared back.

Most wolves would have been dead by now or either shedded apart for speaking to me with such disrespect but Lord Caine had known me since I was a boy. He had taught me to fight and how to rule. He was the closest thing I had to after my father died.

"I will find her," I said quietly.

"And if you don't?"The question hung between us.

I turned back toward the window as o watched the sun setting. The northern border stretched in the distance, dark and forbidding. She was out there and I could feel it. The bond or whatever it was pulled at me like a tether.

"I will find her," I repeated.

"You have been saying that since dawn."

"And I will say it until I do."

Lord Caine sighed. "Your Majesty ….."

"No." I turned as the room shuddered under the weight of my power.

"Listen to me carefully, all of you. I have ruled this kingdom for twenty years. I have conquered enemies your minds could not conceive. I have spilled more blood than you could ever imagine. I did not become the Lycan King by giving up when something proved difficult."

I stepped forward as the air crackled with tension.

"This woman or whoever she is, wherever she is…..she is mine. She carries my mark and she gave me something I have never given to anyone else and I will not allow her to disappear into the shadows as though she meant nothing."

My voice dropped to something softer and more dangerous.

"I will tear this world apart to find her. I will burn kingdoms to ash even slaughter armies. I will do whatever it takes and when I find her……" I paused as something dark and possessive curled through my chest.

"When I find her, I will never let her go again."

Then Lord Caine bowed his head. "Then perhaps... you should start by looking somewhere you have not yet searched."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

He reached into his robes and produced a sealed letter. "A messenger arrived this morning. The pack elders are hosting a gathering and representatives from every major pack will be in attendance."

"And?"

"And it occurred to me that if you do not know where your mystery woman comes from... perhaps she will come to you."

I took the letter, my eyes scanning the contents. Every unmated she wolf of noble blood would be present presented like prizes to be won, paraded before potential suitors from across the realms maybe she would be there.

The same instinct that had never failed me.

"Prepare my guard," I said, my voice cutting through the silence. "We leave for the gathering at dawn."

"Your Majesty……" Nyko began.

"Now." He nodded and hurried from the room. Lord Caine remained, studying me with ancient eyes.

"You truly believe she will be there?"

"I believe," I said slowly, "that fate does not make mistakes and if this woman is truly my mate, the one the Moon Goddess designed for me then no force in this world can keep her from me."

I turned back toward the window, my eyes fixed on the northern horizon.

Somewhere out there, she was alive and probably hiding with no idea that I would hunt her down and once I find her. I will not let go of her even in the face of death.