"Little female, they're already in the clearing. Five of them this time—no scouts, a full escort squad. The scarred leader is with them again, and he looks like he's done waiting."
Mu Lei's low growl carried through the vines as he stood guard at the cave mouth, shoulders tense, golden eyes fixed on the forest path. The early morning light had barely touched the trees, yet the Wolf Clan had come exactly as promised. Elder Shen stood beside him, staff planted firmly in the dirt, but his wrinkled face had gone pale.
Qinglan's heart slammed against her ribs. The mate bond in her chest burned hotter than ever, pulling like an iron chain toward the scarred leader and whatever waited beyond him in the Wolf Clan territories. She could feel it—the scent of her was changing, growing sweeter, more noticeable, just as the whispers on the wind had warned. The secret herbs she had crushed and rubbed into her skin at dawn were supposed to help, but the bond was fighting them.
She couldn't let them smell it.
Not the full strength of the fated pull. Not the sharp edge of her modern knowledge hidden beneath the frail orphan act.
"I… I'll come out," she whispered, forcing her voice to tremble as she rose from the furs. Her fingers brushed the small pouch of strong wild mint and crushed pine resin she had prepared in the night—her last desperate trick from past-life survival memories. One quick pinch between her palms, rubbed along her neck and wrists while Mu Lei's back was turned. The sharp, earthy scent bloomed instantly, masking everything else. It wouldn't last long, but it had to be enough.
Elder Shen glanced back at her, eyes narrowing for a fraction of a second as if he caught the new smell, but he said nothing. "Stay behind Mu Lei, child. Say as little as possible."
The moment they stepped into the clearing, the Wolf Clan squad turned as one. The scarred leader—jaw set, gray eyes cold as winter river ice—inhaled deeply. His nostrils flared.
"Her scent," he said, voice flat but carrying across the entire village. "It's… altered. Sweeter yesterday. Now it's sharp. Masked." He took one deliberate step closer, the other four wolves fanning out behind him in perfect formation. "What have you done, little human? The Alpha's orders were clear. A rare female does not hide her scent from the Wolf Clan."
Mu Lei moved like lightning, positioning himself directly in front of her, one arm half-raised as if ready to shift on the spot. "She hasn't done anything. The wind changed. The herbs in the air. Leave her be—she's still too weak from the boar attack last night."
The scarred leader's gaze slid past Mu Lei and locked onto Qinglan. Those gray eyes bored into her like they could peel back every secret. "The whispers reached us before dawn. Fated mate bond stirring. A human female whose scent calls to the strongest. The Alpha felt it all the way at the main camp. He sent us to bring you before the bond fully awakens and every tribe in the realm starts hunting you."
Qinglan kept her head lowered, shoulders hunched, letting her small frame tremble visibly. The mint and resin burned against her skin, but she could already feel the mate bond fighting through it, threading golden warmth into the air despite her efforts. One of the younger wolves behind the leader tilted his head, sniffing again.
"It's still there," he muttered. "Underneath the pine. Faint, but it's pulling. Like it's reaching for the Alpha himself."
Elder Shen stepped forward, voice steady despite the fear in his eyes. "She is under my guardianship. The bond—if it exists—is only a legend for now. Give her time to recover. Forcing her through the forest in this state could kill the very treasure your Alpha wants."
The scarred leader ignored the elder completely. His focus stayed on Qinglan, stepping closer until Mu Lei's growl vibrated through the air like a warning thunder. "Show me your hands, girl. Let me smell you properly. If you're hiding the bond… the Alpha will know. And he does not tolerate secrets."
Qinglan's pulse roared in her ears. The resin was already fading—she could feel it weakening with every breath. The mate bond surged again, almost painfully, as if Helian Xuan's distant golden eyes were staring straight through the forest and into her soul. She slowly extended her trembling hands, palms up, keeping her eyes on the dirt.
The leader leaned in. Inhaled.
For one terrifying heartbeat, his gray eyes widened. "There. It's fighting the mask. The bond is real. And it's calling to our King."
Mu Lei's form rippled, claws beginning to peek from his fingertips. "Touch her and I'll—"
"Enough." The leader straightened, signaling his men with a sharp gesture. "We take her today. The Alpha's command. The village can send an escort if they wish, but she comes with us. Now."
Qinglan's knees nearly buckled for real this time. The scent-masking trick had bought her minutes, not safety. The whispers of the secret fated mate bond were no longer whispers—they were a roar on the wind, reaching the ruthless Alpha King himself.
Mu Lei's hand found hers, gripping tight, that unexpected gentleness flashing in his golden eyes even as his body prepared for a fight. "She's not going anywhere without me," he snarled.
But the Wolf Clan scouts had already drawn their bone spears, forming a tight circle around the clearing.
The mate bond screamed inside her chest, golden and unstoppable.
And Qinglan knew, with cold certainty, that no amount of hidden herbs or trembling acts could hide her from Helian Xuan much longer.