Chapter 18: Desperate measures.

As Sascha followed the witch, a day away on horseback, a certain Fenrir desperately searched for his mate.

Askeladd searched every unimaginable crevice and nook. He searched the bloody human settlement from top to bottom for hours. It was only with two hours to go before dawn that he finally resigned himself to the indisputable reality.

She had fled, had dared to disappear from her sight. Complicated feelings took root and tightened the wolf's chest. On the one hand, he wanted to howl in pain, every fiber of his wolfish soul groaning with the pain of rejection, but on the other, he wanted to find his elusive mate, tie her to his bed, and torture her with such pleasure that he would never, ever in his life it happened to escape from him again.

The memory of her moans, the sweet tremor of her slender body under her fingers warmed him inside and painfully hardened her manhood. The heat reminded him of the other reason behind her desperation to find it.

The cubs of hers. He had to find her as soon as possible or he would lose all three of them. Askeladd wouldn't allow it. He had been alone for thousands of years, and for a long time he thought he liked it this way, now he understood that he had been a naive fool who did not know anything, mistaking knowledge for habit, after all how to recognize that you lack something until you experience said absence? And he had learned with just a few stolen little moments, what would he be like once he had her within daily reach of her clutches? When her scent was a constant mark on him? Askeladd perked up and instantly his spirits plummeted. He still had to find her and if for that he had to raze the world so be it.

For the first time in a long time he did not mind becoming the Calamity he was prophesied to be. The Calamity that would devour the world. The monster growled low in his throat and the catnapping atop the fence to the left jumped in fear.

He ignored the cat and did something he shouldn't even consider. He deactivated the Suppressor and revealed his true form.

Miles away and atop an observation tower the magic tracking devices went haywire. A carnival of beeps and flashing colored lights. The wizard knights - the Kingdom's second line of defense after the Guardians - looked at each other and exploded into a maelstrom of action as instruments registered the presence of a Calamity-level monster on the periphery of the Kingdom.

"Warn the witch" ordered the captain of the garrison and the subordinates prepared to obey.

But let's get back to the monster.

Unconscious or not at all concerned about the consequences that his actions will bring, the monster fell on all four of his legs. He gave his fur a hard shake to adjust it, then began to sniff for his prey.

Delicate, fragile emerald green tendrils unfolded before his senses. The scent of sunlight, spring, and medicinal herbs from the human was a bright, fiery beacon to him. The wolf took a deep breath, addicted to inhaling the delicate fragrance, and began tracking his mate.

He skillfully found the freshest trail and followed it to the exit of the settlement. A couple of meters away the trail disappeared so abruptly that Askeladd stopped in bewilderment.

The wolf's expression twisted in disbelief. Had he seriously lost a trace? he? The best tracker in the three earthly realms and the spirit realm?

Askeladd retraced his steps and repeated the entire journey until finally crashing into the same wall.

Askeladd's stomach clenched, because without a trace how was he supposed to find his mate? A lonely heartbreaking howl exploded from the monster's throat. The echo rolled invisibly across the world and traveled great distances, humans awoke to gasp in their bunks, goosebumps covering their skins. The soldiers and mage knights prepared to prepare their weapons. They had gotten no response from the Crimson witch, but that didn't matter, as the lady never responded. Still, they were confident that the county watchdog would do his duty.

Not far from the Garrison, Sascha froze, instantly she recognized the monster's voice.

"Are you OK?" Melida questioned the young woman impatiently, she was in a hurry, very aware of the storm brewing in the environment. are you an idiot? Melida wondered grimly.

Sascha quickly understood that her disappearance had been discovered. From the monster's tone, she sensed that she was not happy. At first, she considered the idea of ​​leaving him a note, but she quickly dismissed that idea. This was the perfect opportunity to run away from the past and the men in it, especially when she only wanted to focus on the babies growing in her womb. However, a small and treacherous part of her rushed after that voice.

Sascha shook her head, effectively burying that little voice. "No problems" she finally answered after a few seconds.

"Good" Melida accepted without thinking too much about the matter, she said goodbye to her and left the young woman so that she could install herself in the shed. She luckily she had gotten the damn pixies to clean it up early that morning. She knew she just had to deal with the stupid monster.

Unaware of the troubles that would soon fall into her lap, Askeladd breathed in, sucking all the surrounding Mana into his core. Thanks to the amount of energy accumulating in said space, the monster's body tensed, its dimensions beginning to grow.

"Sire?" A childish voice called out. "Let me find it for you"

The monster paused slightly, a flash of reason making its way into his consciousness. He looked down and he looked at the little boy with silver hair and slanted golden eyes. Askeladd seriously considered the boy, who was none other than Zen, the spymaster, and Shadow acknowledged of him. If there was a monster capable of finding her by more civilized means, that was Zen, for whom there was no better game than knowing everything.

"Do it" he finally ordered to then return to the Forest. Askeladd knew there would be trouble waiting for him when he returned. So the presence of the witch was no surprise.

He was not at all.