Chapter 41
"Beastfolk wearing cloaks!"
"Those bastards are at the marketplace again...! Everyone, evacuate!"
Gridwolf's marketplace erupted into chaos at the shout. Several cloaked beastfolk sliced through the crowds, their eyes darting wildly.
The wolf merchants who had guarded their stalls for years grabbed weapons hanging at their shop entrances.
After countless similar incidents over recent years, their response was instinctive.
This time too—it had to be either leopards or beastfolk driven mad by Bluemoon's magic. The wolves swung their weapons with guttural snarls.
"How long will those leopard bastards torment the weaker species?!"
"Strong yet shameless creatures!"
Delta Leofid, the new leopard clan head, differed from his predecessors by avoiding large-scale assaults.
Instead, he conducted sporadic raids across territories to sow discord.
"Minor attacks" by wolf standards, perhaps—but enough to displace vulnerable communities.
Years prior, the rabbit territory had been ravaged. Its inhabitants now dwelled reluctantly in wolf domains, swallowing bitter tears.
"Get inside! Hurry!"
Wolf beastfolk with wide eyes urgently herded fleeing rabbits into shops.
Yet one couple remained stranded at the street's heart—a pregnant wife unable to run, her husband struggling to support her.
As the cloaked figures lunged toward them, a woman's urgent cry pierced the air:
"Sir Elliot! I'll handle the rabbit couple!"
"Yes, my lady!"
A girl burst forward, twin silver ponytails streaming like battle banners. Her movements blended lethal precision with dancer's grace.
But the wolf clan's ferocity burned in her emerald eyes.
The intruders ground their teeth at the interloper.
"Kitia Gridwolf?!"
Kitty grinned, sharp and effortless.
"You called?"
CRACK!
Her spinning kick sent a cloaked figure hurtling backward. As the others pivoted toward her, she shouted:
"Master!"
"Engaging!"
CLANG!
Elliot and wolf knights crashed into the attackers as marketplace steel rang out.
While blades clashed, Kitty knelt before the trembling rabbits.
"Are you hurt? You must've been terrified."
Tears welled in the couple's eyes as they recognized her.
"You're Lady Kitia of Gridwolf? The one who shelters our kind..."
"That decision came from Lady Caris and Lord Jackal." Kitty's smile softened as she offered her hands. "They both value peace among beastfolk."
The wife cradled her rounded belly—a sight that stabbed Kitty's heart with memories of lost family.
At least these unborn kits would be safe.
"Raids aren't frequent, but always shelter immediately if another occurs."
"Yes, my lady."
"We can never repay—"
"Just doing my duty." Kitty rose with a wink and approached the subdued attackers.
Golden magic pulsed from her palms, smothering the Bluemoon corruption in their veins.
"Contained the magic. Good thing we were nearby."
"Your assistance was invaluable, my lady." Elliot gestured to the bound prisoners. "We'll transport these to the mansion."
The wolf knights worked efficiently, protected from madness by Kitty's presence.
Nearby, young wolf boys sighed as she absently smoothed her hair.
Though all knew the Gridwolf heiress was feline—thanks to years of careful disclosure by Caris and Jackal—the wolves cared little for species when beauty was involved.
"Ten years ago when she first shopped here, she looked like a fairy tale princess..."
"Raised by wolves, she moves like one now."
"Did you see the mansion's hiring notice? They're only taking female attendants..."
Unaware of the stares, Kitty reviewed her shopping list. Only Elliot noticed the youths' flushed cheeks.
He studied the girl who now reached his chest height—no longer the scrawny kitten brought home years prior.
Environment shapes the beast, he mused. Timidity had hardened into lupine confidence, though feline quirks remained:
The hip-swaying strolls when pleased.
The sunlit afternoons spent draped over walls like liquid.
(Boxes and salmon would delight her even in old age.)
But her innocent habits now drew dangerous interpretations.
Where once she'd floated through crowds like a dandelion seed, now her swan-like neck and lethal grace set adolescent hearts racing. Boys clung to balconies for glimpses, her exotic feline heritage only heightening the allure.
Oblivious, Kitty flipped through her notes.
Perhaps cats lacked wolves' instinctual grasp of romance. Since realizing she'd never match lupine strength, she'd buried herself in books and strategy—yet remained clueless about matters of the heart.
Someone should teach her.
But not me, Elliot resolved. One misstep and the Gridwolf pack would skin him alive.
He'd inform Lady Caris after the council.
"My gifts for Theo and Deon are bought, yarn's acquired..." Kitty tucked away her notebook. "Time to return."
"Yes, my lady."
"These prisoners need transporting regardless."
As the carriage departed, Elliot adopted his sternest tone across the seating:
"Incinerating wolf hearts is a capital offense, my lady. Even unintentional arson."
At her adoption, such severity would've made her stammer "Y-yes, Mastwer" with drooping ears.
Now, a month from seventeen, she merely smiled with feline slyness.
"How many hearts have you torched, Master?"
Elliot's shoulders jerked.
"With 256 convictions, heed my counsel."
"A serial heart-arsonist!"
"Expand to other species, and it's 1,024."
"Only because you're irreplaceably dashing."
"In a world where excellence is criminal, I atone daily."
Elliot froze. Fallen for her trap again.
Since thirteen, she'd weaponized honeyed words—deadlier than any blade. Each compliment made youths' hearts stutter. If any dared touch her, his peaceful retirement would vanish.
"Temporary prohibition: no lengthy private meetings with Eden or Clyde."
"But they're my dearest friends! With my brothers away..."
Theo and Deon had left two years prior for warrior training, vowing to end the leopard conflict. Kitty had wept for weeks in the suddenly silent mansion.
Soon they'd return for her birthday. She hugged their gifts, ears twitching excitedly.
Elliot's chuckle held self-mockery.
"Young men on the cusp of adulthood shouldn't—"
"I understand."
Eden prepared for clan leadership between Wibis and Gridwolf. Clyde managed fox squads. Both focused on futures, not childhood bonds.
Kitty exhaled, cooling her racing pulse. Jerian's cold eyes flashed in memory—the man who'd exiled her mother.
Ten years of brutal training for this.
Soon. When Jackal returned from the council, she'd learn her father and brother's fate. Bluemoon's connection to her blood.
Her body thrummed with anticipation as carriage wheels rattled toward home.
