The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe Chapter 329: Confronting Thalor

"Want to co with you?" Fenric asked. He was holding the cubs, or well, they were ’holding’ him, and I smiled at how sweet he was.

"It’s fine. I need to look around alone to clear my mind," I said. "Oh, and sorry I have to burden you to babysit the cubs again."

"It’s fine," Fenric said, and then Raiden’s tail whipped his eyes. "Yup, very fine."

The cubs liked using Fenric as a playground. Whereas they were very obedient and comfortable in Damar’s arms.

Ah, they just know they can’t ss with him, and Fenric is kind of like a kid’s active playground. They’ll never stop.

I chuckled and walked closer.

"I should probably feed them before I head out," Though they seem to be doing fine on goat milk these days.

I’m glad they at least keep goats, even if not as livestock but as milking machines, haha.

When will they shift? Morphing into human babies should be a matter of ti, right?

I wished Damar could’ve just stayed a little longer to see Lyra turn into a little sweet girl.

But he’s gone now. And there’s no use crying over spilt milk.

After feeding them to their fill, I went to have breakfast as well, saw Noah off to the Nursery Palace, and then began my lone search.

In the vast lands that stretch in the West Way, there should be at least one location where listone is present.

I just have to find it.

And then, during my search, as I hopped from tree to tree, I felt soone following .

Just as I felt it, the crest on my wrist began to thrum with a quiet, patient heat.

"Thalor?" I stopped and looked back.

Was he the one following ?

I dropped down from the tree and discovered I was on a cliff. I wasn’t scared or anything. I believed in that fated mate stuff and knew he wouldn’t hurt .

At least, not on purpose.

But I felt I had been running from him for long enough.

I should probably talk to him now. Tell him what I had in mind.

But as I stood close to the edge of the cliff, I realized that this sturdy white rock hanging from the thick earth was actually listone.

Ah, I was in the right direction, it seed.

But before that, I should finish things with Taylor.

The wind blew gently, carrying my hair about and singing in gentle ’whooshs’ to my ear.

Thalor didn’t co out, even when I had stopped and faced the direction he was coming to from.

Was he scared I’d scold him? Or did he think I didn’t know he was following ?

Well, he should do a better job at hiding his emotions if he didn’t want to figure it out because the crest on my wrist was telling exactly what he was feeling.

He was anxious.

"Thalor," I called out. "I know you’re back there. Co out, let’s talk."

It took a mont before I heard the rustling of the bush, the way it violently shifted before parting ways and revealing the purple-haired rman who looked like he had been caught stealing the last piece of cookie.

I held my breath for a second; the realization of what Thalor had said the other day about my scent settled heavily in my gut.

Only Damar, Fenric, and Noah had ever spoken of it—that specific, ’calling’ scent that marked a fated mate. And now, this rman, who had appeared out of the depths of a forbidden well, was saying the sa thing.

The universe really didn’t know when to quit.

Well, at least it confird most of my doubts and complex thoughts. If he hadn’t been a fated mate, I don’t think I would’ve had the courage to call him my own without fear that he might betray one day.

’Then, does this an all incredibly handso beastn are my fated mate?’ The thought ca out of nowhere, and I nearly laughed.

It was unlikely that it was ’all’ of them. But then again, I’ve only ever seen these four incredibly handso beastn that match the high standards Damar had set.

So, who knows?

Thalor stepped closer, his eyes searching mine with a raw, almost painful longing.

He didn’t ntion Damar and the fact that he had left, but I could feel that the lingering bitterness from that night at the well was still there, a silent wall between us.

He could’ve ’convinced’ , he thought. But Damar ca and ruined it.

Still, even though he did not ntion Damar, he didn’t hide his intent either. He still wanted . Wanted to hold , wanted to kiss , wanted to do everything with , and not be looked at like an intruder.

I felt those emotions so clearly from the blue coral crest on my wrist and didn’t even need to ask him why.

The pull of the universe was there.

And though we t with saving him, it marked our beginning point.

Thalor stood there, vulnerable and powerful all at once, clearly wanting nothing more than to reach out and close the distance.

I stayed silent for a long ti, watching the way the wind caught his beautiful, almost translucent purple hair.

This man was truly ethereal even on land.

I didn’t step further away, but I didn’t move closer either. I let the weight of his gaze sit there until the silence beca a conversation of its own.

He opened his mouth to speak, but no words ca out. He reached out, but took his hand back, worried I would evade his reach.

And then I watched him bite his lip.

There was just so much his actions said that I understood as clear as day.

And then this silence, the one the wind intertwined with, finally broke as I spoke.

"One day," I said softly, my voice steady despite the hamring in my chest. "One day, you might be able to do all of that. Stand by , love ... freely, and no one will look at you like you’re a stranger... an outsider."

Thalor’s eyes widened, the violet depths swirling with a sudden, breathless hope. He looked like he’d just been handed a map to a world he thought was lost. "Arinya?"

"But not right now," I added, cutting through the sudden spark of emotion.

I turned around, my eyes sweeping over the horizon that was just beyond this cliff.

"Right now, I’m trying to focus. I’m trying to build sothing here, Thalor. A civilization that can change the way every beastman in the West Way thinks about the future. I have seeds to plant, tribes to move, and a palace to raise from this very stone."