Knotting His Rejected Breeder

Destiny’s breathing would not slow.

Her father searched one pocket after another. Then the inside of his coat, then the ground near their feet as if the pouch might simply reappear if he looked hard enough. Her mother stood very still, face pale under the market sun.

"That’s everything we brought," her mother said quietly.

For the first time in years, Destiny saw real fear in her father’s eyes.

"I’ll find it," Destiny said. The words came out too fast. "I dropped things earlier, maybe it fell then or maybe someone picked it up by mistake."

Her father shook his head once. "Money can be earned again."

His voice said otherwise,the tightness around his mouth said otherwise, that pouch held months of careful saving. Without it, the trip meant nothing. The trade meant nothing. Going home empty-handed would hurt in ways Destiny did not want to watch.

"I’ll look," she insisted. "Stay here in case someone brings it back."

She pushed into the crowd before either of them could stop her.

The market felt larger now and less friendly as every stranger’s hand near a bag made her flinch. She checked the ground near the spice stalls and also asked two merchants if they had seen a plain leather pouch.

One shrugged, then the other waved her off without looking up, this made guilt sat heavy under her ribs as If she had not collided with that arrogant Alpha, if she had not dropped everything, maybe the pouch would still be with them.

A small body slammed into her side, this made Destiny staggered and caught herself.

"Hey!"

A dirty street boy, maybe eleven or twelve, ducked around her without stopping, before she could grab his sleeve, something small and folded pressed into her palm. By the time she looked down, he was already gone between two stalls, swallowed by moving legs and hanging cloth.

Destiny opened her hand.

A scrap of paper and it had just three words written in uneven ink.

They know who you are, with this, her stomach dropped.

Who?

She had no enemies, she had never left her village for longer than a day and she was no one important enough to know.

She ran after the boy anyway.

The market fought her at every turn. A cart blocked one lane. A shouting argument blocked another, she asked a woman selling dried fish and also asked a man carrying water jugs.

No one had seen a thin boy in a torn shirt. Destiny’s lungs burned. Her pulse thudded in her ears. The note stayed clenched in her fist until the paper grew damp from her skin.

She almost gave up near the central fountain.

Then she saw him.

He stood beside an old blind beggar on the far side of the water, posture too still for a child who had just been running. Destiny pushed through the last stretch of people until only a few steps remained between them.

"Wait!"

The boy turned.

His eyes met hers and for the the first time, he smiled.

"You finally found me."

Destiny frowned hard. "What are you talking about? Who sent you?"

The smile faded. "The lady."

"What lady?"

"The one who cried."

Destiny frowned. "I don’t understand."

The boy looked at her for a long second. "She told me that one day I’d find the girl with kind eyes."

Destiny’s throat tightened. "Who was she?"

The boy’s answer came quietly. "Your mother."

The boy nodded once.

"She said one day I’d find the girl with kind eyes."

Destiny took another step. "What do you mean?"

Before the boy could answer, a sharp whistle cut through the market noise. An arrow slammed into the wooden cart beside him with a heavy thud.

People screamed and Merchants abandoned stalls. Someone knocked over a stack of baskets and a child started crying nearby and was dragged away by a panicked adult. Within seconds the neat chaos of trade collapsed into pure panic. Bodies shoved in every direction.

When Destiny looked back, the boy was gone and So was the blind beggar.

Across the market, Dane’s head snapped up at the first wave of shouting. "What happened?"

A Bloodmoon guard answered immediately. "Someone fired an arrow, Alpha."

Dane did not hesitate. "Henrik. Helena."

Both looked at him.

"Protect the civilians and Seal the eastern exits. Find the archer."

As Dane scanned the frightened crowd, his eyes landed briefly on the stubborn farm girl from earlier.

Of course she’d managed to end up in the middle of the chaos.

Before he could think another thought, a frightened child cried for help from the opposite side of the market.

Dane turned away immediately. "Move!"

"Yes, Alpha."

Dane moved toward the chaos without another word, not because of any particular person in the crowd but because every life inside that market had become his responsibility the moment violence entered it.

People shoved hard around Destiny. Someone slammed into her shoulder, she lost her footing. Another body crashed into her from behind and her knee buckled.

Strong fingers caught her arm before she hit the ground.

"The jar girl."

Destiny looked up, breathless and furious with everything at once and then, Henrik looked mildly apologetic and still somehow composed.

"The polite one," she managed.

Even now, the smallest smile touched his mouth. "I’ll take that as a compliment."

Another surge of people pressed forward. Henrik stepped in front of her without thinking, using his body as a barrier while the worst of the rush pushed past.

"Stay behind me."

Destiny wanted to argue that she could stand on her own, but another wave of frightened people surged past them.

Henrik gently guided her a step farther from the crowd. "You always find trouble?" he asked.

She let out a shaky breath. "Today seems determined to find me first."

That earned the smallest laugh from him.

"Fair enough."

For the first time since arriving at the market, Destiny felt the sharp edge of panic ease just enough to breathe.

The panic took longer to fully fade than anyone wanted as Guards moved through the lanes in tight pairs. Merchants muttered and began reclaiming their stalls. A few people still cried. Most simply looked shaken and eager to leave, other packs present assisted.

The archer was gone and the mysterious boy had disappeared.

The blind beggar was gone too.

Destiny stood in the spot where they had been only moments before. Nothing remained, no scrap of cloth, no sign of the beggar’s bowl. Nothing except a small wooden carving of a wolf lying beneath the low stone bench near the fountain.

She picked it up.

It was old, the surface smooth from years of handling. On the back, three tiny words had been carved with careful, shallow strokes.

Find Silvercrest.

Destiny stared at the carving while the market slowly tried to remember how to function around her. She had never been to the main pack of Silvercrest and she did not know a single person there.

So why did it feel as though someone had been waiting a very long time for her to go?

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