My Fated Mate Can Have Her-Chapter 201: Underground City

Violet

We left the waterfall cave within the next few days.

Rowan had insisted we move, and though I had argued at first, I eventually relented. Staying in one place for too long was dangerous, especially with wolves still hunting me. The waterfall had provided good cover, but it wouldn’t last forever. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Our belongings hovered in the air behind me as we walked. It had become second nature now, using my syzygy to carry the weight instead of burdening either of us physically. Rowan had offered to take his own bag, but one look at him had been enough to silence that suggestion.

He no longer looked unwell, not exactly. The grey pallor had left his skin entirely, and the black veins had faded to nothing. His movements were steady, his breathing even.

Even though his improvement had been rapid, he moved slower than usual.

Not by much. Just enough that I noticed and kept my pace measured to match his without making it obvious.

The serpent that had bitten him, he had told me, was an endangered species. Rare, deadly, and mostly used for tracking because it could be tamed. Its venom alone would have been manageable for someone like him, along with the gravejaws’ poison which wasn’t as potent as the serpent’s.

But both toxins combined had proven to be far deadlier than expected.

I had come so close to losing him.

The thought sat heavy in my chest, and I pushed it away, focusing on the pull instead.

[ - ]

The tension that had hung between us since the cave had shifted into something lighter and it thankfully no longer felt suffocating.

We had gotten to a point when I heard him stumble.

My body moved before my mind caught up.

I turned around and caught him, my fingers closing around his upper arm to steady him before he could fall.

He swayed into me.

For a moment, we were too close. His chest nearly brushed mine, and I could feel the warmth radiating from his body. His hand had come up instinctively, landing on my waist to balance himself, and his fingers pressed lightly against the curve of my hip.

I looked up.

He looked down.

His green eyes were wide, startled, and something flickered in them that I couldn’t name.

My heart rammed against my ribcage at the shock and my eyes widened.

He genuinely looked surprised.

"Sorry," he breathed. "I—"

"It’s fine," I snapped then squeezed my eyes shut before opening them.

Neither of us moved.

His hand was still on my waist. My fingers were still wrapped around his arm. I could feel the muscle beneath his sleeve, the tension in his body, the way his breath had gone shallow.

I should step back.

’Move, you idiot!’

It took everything I had to bring myself under control.

"I know you’re alright, but maybe it would be best to rest. We’ve been moving for nearly a whole day and you’re still recovering. We should stop."

Rowan pulled back slowly, his hand sliding away from my waist, and I released his arm like it had burned me.

"Right," he said quietly. "That is likely a good idea."

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

We paused for the evening, and as my mind raced, I could still feel the faint sensation of his touch on my hip.

Whatever it was had changed the dynamic... again.

[ - ]

The neutral zone we were taking at the moment stretched on far longer than any of the others we’ve passed.

We had left the dense forests behind days ago, and now the land stretched out in rocky plains dotted with sparse trees and low scrub. Streams cut through the stone in silver ribbons, feeding into small lakes that glittered under the afternoon sun.

It was beautiful in a stark, unfamiliar way.

But something felt off.

I noticed it first in Rowan’s face.

He had gone quiet over the last hour, his expression distant in a way that made me uneasy. Every so often, his eyes would lose focus, like he was looking at something far away that I couldn’t see.

I recognized that look now.

I had noticed it a few times. He was using that ability of reaching put through nearby animals to keep track of our surroundings... the same way he had used it to watch when I had been travelling with Ana and the others.

The memory of what he had done then made my chest tighten, but I pushed it aside.

"Rowan?" I asked carefully.

He didn’t respond immediately. His brow furrowed, and something uncomfortable flickered across his face. He was disturbed.

"What is it?" I stopped walking to look at him.

He blinked, his focus snapping back to the present. For a moment, he just stared at me, and I could have sworn I saw genuine confusion in his eyes.

"The maps," he said quickly. "Can you get them out?"

I hesitated, then reached for my bag with my syzygy. The maps floated out smoothly, unfolding in the air between us, and I guided them toward him.

He laid some out of the rocky ground and studied the papers with an intensity that bordered on mania, his eyes darting over the lines and markings. Then he looked up, scanning the landscape around us. The rocky plains, the scattered streams, and the sparse trees just like the one we were under.

Then back to the map.

Then to the landscape again.

He studied the maps with an intensity that made my stomach twist and his expression grew stranger.

He looked like he was seeing a ghost.

"Rowan, what is it?" I stepped closer, trying to follow his gaze. "Say something!"

Aside from the looming wall of dense trees and forest in the far distance, the plains surrounding us looked empty to me. There had barely even been any animals around while passing through. I stretched my senses outward but felt nothing unusual. No wolves. No threats. Just... silence.

He didn’t answer right away. His jaw worked, like he was trying to find the right words and failing.

"I... I am not sure," he finally answered me. "The small critters I used to scout ahead... I sent some through a gap in the rocks over there earlier." He pointed to a cluster of boulders a few paces ahead "What they—what I saw makes no sense."

A strange feeling washed over me. I focused on the pull, but it wasn’t even going in the direction he pointed.

"I don’t understand."

"People." His eyes met mine, and the confusion in them was stark. "There seems to be a wolf pack underground..."