Grace of a Wolf by Lenaleia

Chapter 98: Caine: The Kids

CAINE

Something about these children sets my senses on edge.

I watch the kid closely as he speaks about the small sleeping forms in the alcove. His body language shifts constantly—defensive, protective, cautious. But it’s not his movements that catch my attention. It’s his scent.

A strange undertone clings to him. Sweet. Fruity. Similar to overripe strawberries, but not quite the same. It’s subtle beneath his normal teenage smell—sweat, hormones, and a hint of animal musk.

At first whiff, he smells like a wolf.

I take a deeper breath, letting my senses expand through the cave. The little one, Bun—she smells like prey at her baseline. Rabbit.

But different as they are, they all share the same signature of scent. Strangely, almost synthetically fruity.

Owen doesn’t carry it at all; he smells of summer and wind and something cleaner. Not human, though. Something else is there, but it’s not like theirs.

"What kind of danger surrounds these kids?" I keep my voice low, even though I already know Grace is around the corner, listening. She probably thinks she’s being quiet, but I can hear every shallow breath and the faint brush of her clothes against the wall. "Why is Owen the one saving them?"

He doesn’t answer right away, looking instead toward the sleeping children. Then he rubs at his head with a long sigh, pulling at a few strands as he thinks my question over.

"There’s something rotting in the bones of this place," he finally says. "But it’s not just here. Packs have been weakening for decades. Even prey shifters are struggling."

His jaw tightens as he meets my eye. "More kids like us are being born. Owen tries to get them out when he can, but he fails more than he succeeds."

I’ve observed unrest among the packs, but it’s always attributed to politics. Natural power struggles. Nothing like this.

"What’s an aberrant?"

"Owen says we’re the world correcting itself. Spliced souls, carrying too much. Built to survive what’s coming. But we don’t shift right, so our packs don’t want us. Owen can’t fix it, but he can take us away. The people who want us...

under the skin of the world, something I should have sensed long before now. So why

of this. It sounds like a fairy

never hear about kids who die mysteriously? The weak ones. The sick ones. The ones nobody

I go quiet.

heard of cubs lost to illness, or accidents. Even unexplained causes. Troubling statistics

never

might have formed

have I

are the future of any pack,

him quietly, once his gaze returns to mine. He’s tall, starting to fill out in his shoulders. Young still, but growing fast. In another year, he’ll look nothing like he does now. But he’s still a child at

a jerky little movement of his

hesitant to push this kid much further. But he knows more, and I

a heavy stone. His words are so simple, and his facial expression shifts. Like he thinks it’s

"Because she’s like us."

in his voice collides with everything

comes out hard, a little too

eyebrow instead. "Aberrants can be human,

pack link opening without warning.

need to hear

brings a frown to my face, and the kid watches intently. I force my expression into impassivity; an adult should never

Well... sometimes.

is not one of those

all in some sick magic ritual. Fiddleback is fucked, Caine. Rotten from the

takes a thought to force the link wider, bringing