Chapter 222 I Can’t Be Mistaken
Chapter 222 I Can’t Be Mistaken
ROWAN
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I didn’t know where these little kids were dragging me, but I knew they were <i>my </i>best shot at survival. Children wouldn’t kill me, right? At least, not on purpose. Their sticks helped them traverse through the forest floors more easily, and if they were nning on using them to ambush me, that would be strange.
I had thought this ce was just for humans. I hadn’t scented a pack here when I arrived, and I definitely hadn’t heard rumors of one living in this stretch. But I was clearly wrong.
The tall one, who had pointed the stick at me carlier, puffed up his chest and walked a step ahead. “I’m Max,” he announced proudly.
The boy beside him, shorter but with sharper eyes, gave a short nod. “I’m Dave.”
The littlest one shuffled closer to my side, peering up at me with wide eyes. “And I’m Amiel.”
Max grinned, clearly their spokesman. “What’s your name, mister?”
I hesitated for half a second, then responded. “Rowan.”
“Oh!” Max’s eyes lit up instantly. Then, without missing a beat, he blurted, “My sister is currently single. I know you’re her type. Do you want me to introduce you?”
Hooked at him, caught off guard. “Ah,” I muttered, reaching up to scratch the back of my neck. What the hell was I supposed to say to that?
Max tilted his head, already dissecting my awkwardness. “I get it,” he said with a dramatic sigh. “My sister isn’t too pretty. She’s loud, too. She gets jealous easily. It’s okay, you don’t have to act polite.”
I raised a brow. Did this boy just throw his own sister casually under the bus?
Dave groaned, shoving his friend’s shoulder. “Max, stop embarrassing yourself.”
But Amiel’s voice piped up, soft but clear. “Doesn’t he look like Ca?”
Max’s brows pinched, and then both he and Dave gave me a long, careful look. I shifted ufortably, still bleeding from my temple and very much not in the mood to bepared to some random person.
“They have the same eyes,” Dave muttered, tilting his head. “And the hair, too.”
“Ca?” I asked slowly.
Max’s grin returned. “Oh, you don’t know Ca? She’s this cute kid in our neighborhood. Everybody loves
her!”
Well, I’ve never been in this neighborhood, so I definitely did not know their favorite kid.
“She’s the pack doctor’s daughter,” Max continued proudly. “She’s so cute. I want her as a little sister instead of my big sis.”
Whoever Max’s big sister must be having an asthma attack right now.
<b>15:43 </b>Mon<b>, </b><b>8 </b><b>Sept </b>3
Chapter 222 I Can’t Be Mistaken
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“She’s probably ying in the clearing right now. You should meet her so she can take you to her mom, Max continued.
I opened my mouth to protest. No, I didn’t want to meet some neighborhood child<i>. </i>I needed to talk to their leader, or someone with authority who could tell me where the hell I was. But before I could get <b>a </b>single word out, three small handstched onto my arms, tugging, pulling, and pushing.
“Come on, mister!” Max urged.
“Yeah, this way!” Amiel chirped.
Meanwhile, Dave just shoved me from behind like a soldier herding a prisoner.
I frowned, stumbling along. For pups, they were surprisingly determined. And let me tell you–it was harder than it should’ve been to resist three jumping, tugging children. If I shoved them off, they’d cry. If I used force, their pack would smell the blood and string me up before I could exin myself. So, for now, I had no choice but to let them herd me like a lost sheep.
We broke out of the forest minutester. My steps slowed when the trees parted, opening into a wide clearing.
It wasn’t crowded. Just a handful of people scattered about–adults and teenagers, most of them tidying or heading off. It was nearing dinner, I realized, and the scent of hearth–smoke drifted faintly in the air. Families were pulling their pups home, kitchens were warming, and the noise of daily life was thinning.
But in the middle of it all was one girl.
She was crouched near the grass, some small object cradled in her hands, her pale hair spilling forward. It wasn’t just blonde. Under the fading sunlight, it shone pale that it was nearly white, a shade so rare that it stunned me into stillness.
“There she is!” Max eximed, tugging on my arm.
“She’s not hard to miss,” he added with a chuckle.
“Ca!” he shouted across the clearing.
The girl’s head snapped up. Her pale hair caught the dying sun, and her eyes, sharp and bright, locked on
mine.
And in that moment, my entire being stopped.
This child.
I never thought of having children, not even once. The idea had never taken root in my mind. I had lived my life surrounded by bloodlines and duty. The thought of creating another life–of raising someone who depended on mepletely–felt like a burden I was never meant to shoulder.
And yet, the moment I saw her, something tugged <i>at </i>my heartstrings in a way I couldn’t ignore.
Ca
She was small, fragile in <i>her </i>movements, yet precious in every sense of the word. Watching her pick herself up from where she had <i>been </i>crouching in the grass and struggle to run toward me, I felt my chest
Chapter 222 I Can’t Be Mistaken
tighten.
So this… this was what it might feel like if I had a child.
For a terrifying second, I wanted it.
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My knees bent on their own, lowering me until I was eye level with her. She slowed just in time, stopping before her arms could wrap fully around me. Instead, she drew back slightly, her wide eyes scanning my face with a seriousness I didn’t expect from someone so young.
“You’re hurt,” she whispered softly.
Her tiny hands, so eager tofort, fell away as though she was afraid of pressing too hard.
When I looked fully at her face, I broke.
A part of me fractured so suddenly that it left me breathless. She looked like me. More specifically, she looked like me and… Tessa.
It was impossible, I told myself. It couldn’t be. My mind was ying cruel tricks on me. Still, the thought rooted deep–could it be?
No. I shook my head fiercely, trying to sever it. I couldn’t let myself spiral into that madness.
However, as Ca looked at me and smiled, I felt my defenses crumbling once more. “We have the same hair,” she giggled, pointing at the pale strands from my head before brushing her own nearly white locks.
Herughter was sunlight itself.
I found myself smiling back, weakly but genuinely. “We do,” I said quietly.
“Take her to your mommy, Ca,” Max piped up from behind, and the girl gasped.
She nodded enthusiastically, her pale hair bouncing. “Mommy is cooking. Let’s go!”
Before I could even stand on my own, her small hand slipped into mine and tugged hard. I let her drag me forward, helpless against the determined pull of her little frame.
“Bye, handsome man!” Max called with a wave and a mischievous grin. “Tell me if you want <i>to </i>hit it off with my sister. She really wants to have a husband.”
I should have reprimanded him, telling him <i>to </i>stop throwing his poor sister into conversations like this; however, all of my focus was on the little girl’s grip on my thumb.
Her hand was <b>so </b>small and delicate/but her presence filled the air around me. Larger than life, brighter than the clearing. I shouldn’t have been feeling this, not after only a few heartbeats in herpany.
This wasn’t good.
I was already attached to her; and I didn’t even know her parents!
As she led me into the woods, my mind turned over Max’s earlier words.
Her mother was the pack doctor.
n
Chapter 222 I Can’t Be Mistaken
That couldn’t be a coincidence, could it?
Still, there was only one way to find out.
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The forest path opened onto a small hut, nestled between tall trees. Smoke curled faintly from the chimney, carrying with it the aroma of something simmering over a me. My stomach clenched, not from hunger but from recognition.
Beneath the scent of stew, herbs, and firewood was another.
A scent I knew. A scent I could never mistake.
It hit me like lightning, searing straight through bone and marrow.
Ca tugged harder, oblivious. “Come on! Mommy’s inside!”
I couldn’t move. I didn’t know whether to go forward or turn back, whether to run or stay. But before I could gather myself, the door burst open and Ca dragged me inside.
Warm light spilled from the small hut, illuminating the silhouette in the kitchen.
A woman stood there, framed by the glow of the setting sun behind her. She wore a simple apron, her hair tied up carelessly, stray strands escaping to frame her face. She was holding adle with a calm expression when her eyesnded on me.
She froze.
Her chest rose sharply, her fingers tightening on thedle. Her lips parted, trembling around words that couldn’t form.
Thedle slipped from her fingers, ttering against the wooden floor.
“Tessa,” I whispered.