My Fated Mate Can Have Her Chapter 106: Underground

Violet

Water ran beside us in a wide channel carved into the ground. The sound of it was constant, a soft rushing that would have been soothing under different circumstances. The sll, however...

I wrinkled my nose and imdiately dulled my sense of sll, bringing it down to a manageable level. It wasn’t exactly horribly slling, but it still slt bad, and there was a dampness to the air that made my stomach turn if I focused on it too long.

The floor was damp too.

I forced down my disgust and continued moving.

The crawl felt endless. My hands scraped against rough stone. My injured leg throbbed with every movent, and I could feel fresh blood seeping through the fabric where the teeth had torn into my flesh. My breathing echoed too loud in the confined space, mixing with Aster’s softer sounds ahead of .

I followed as he made different turns that made wonder how he even knew his way through this space in the first place.

Another gate soon appeared ahead, and Aster pushed against it. It swung outward with a rusty creak that seed deafening after the muffled quiet of the tunnel.

He scrambled outside and I followed him quickly, erging into another alleyway.

This one was empty. Quieter. The buildings here still looked luxurious. Older, but not less maintained. It had also gotten darker outside.

I tried to walk when I noticed a limp. Then I winced, as if just reminded of the injuries I had.

The sleeve of my arm, the one the first wolf had bitten, was torn and bloody, but the deep bites in my arm seed to be slowly healing. The bleeding had at least stopped.

My leg was worse. The fabric of my pants was shredded and soaked with blood, even thought my leg was healing too.

My clothes were filthy. Dirt, blood, and whatever substances we had crawled through in that drainage system clung to my clothes. My hair was rough and I felt I felt unclean in a way that went beyond the physical ss.

I looked like a mad woman.

Aster turned around, his chest heaving as he caught his breath. His eyes found mine, and for a mont we just stared at each other.

"Thank you," he said quietly. "Thank you for helping ."

I opened my mouth to respond, but he was already continuing, his words tumbling out in a rush.

"The wolves... security. They can’t fit through the market’s drainage system." He ekly pointed at the gate. "They won’t follow us. At least not that way. They’d have to co round and round and by then... Anyway, the drainage already masks our sll..." He trailed off, still staring at .

The water. The damp air. The mineral sll that had made dull my senses. Moving through all of that would have disrupted our trails significantly. Maybe even washed them away.

I heightened my senses carefully, testing the air around us, then turned my attention to myself.

The faint lingering sll of the drainage system clung to my clothes and skin, but it was there, and I hated it. My mood imdiately soured.

"You don’t sll," Aster said innocently, and I caught the faint reassuring smile on his lips.

I briefly closed my eyes.

There was no way he could tell. His senses were not that strong. And I feared the wolves in the streets would beg to differ.

"Please, let take you to my ho," he said firmly and I opened my eyes to find him gesturing at . "You can wash properly there. Clean your wounds. I have so clothes that could maybe fit?" He lowered his gaze. "I am so sorry you got hurt because of . This is all my fault."

"It’s not—" I started to protest, but he was already shaking his head.

"Please. It’s very close. You helped . Let help you."

I hesitated, my instincts pulling in two directions. The castle was the logical choice. I could go back, clean up properly, and get so rest while I fully healed.

But how could I move through the streets dressed like this. I would most definitely be pulled aside and interrogated. Even worse, I might not even be allowed entry inside. Even if I was a normal wolf, my tattered state was enough to invite scrutiny.

I didn’t like this.

And if his place was far from the castle, to make my way back would be another—

But wait... he said he lived nearby.

I focused my attention on him.

His clothes were decent, well made. And if he didn’t live far from here, did that an his family had money?

And he was out in the market trying to get food on his own...

I started feeling a slow sinking sensation in my stomach.

I agreed to follow him and he imdiately felt relieved. I followed him out into the street, sha following my every step at my appearance.

The streets here were thankfully more sparse and even quieter than the last one, but we still drew stares from every single person on the road.

And the way their expressions ranged from curiosity to poorly-concealed disgust made shrivel further inside.

I felt paranoid, convinced they could sll the dirty sll on .

So of the attention was on Aster too.

The boy walked ahead of with his head down, his steps quick and purposeful. Recognition flickered across so faces, and others just watched him pass with that sa casual dismissal I had witnessed at the market.

We turned down another street, this one lined with fenced houses. The structures here were nice. Not as elaborate as the residential district I had walked through earlier, but well-maintained.

Aster didn’t stop at any of the main gates. Instead, he followed the wall of one particular fenced house, moving along its periter until we reached a smaller gate in its side. This one was simpler, less decorative, clearly looked like it was ant for service access rather than guests.

He opened it without making a sound and slipped inside.

"Hurry," he whispered, glancing back at with urgent eyes. "My parents aren’t ho, so it’s fine, but I don’t want the neighbours to see."

I imdiately stepped through the gate.