Chapter 813 - Our kind has been contracted as breeders

Chapter 813: Chapter 813 - Our kind has been contracted as breeders

The woman smiled, her eyes carrying an unusual sharpness that immediately caught Ravyn’s attention, a glint of something ancient and knowing that made it clear she understood far more than she was letting on.

"You don’t have to be so diplomatic, Mr. Walker. We aren’t humans, and your scent makes it quite obvious that you aren’t one either."

Mary’s head snapped toward her mother, confusion spreading across her face as she tried to make sense of what she had just heard. She had spent her entire life believing they were ordinary humans, and although her mother had occasionally made strange remarks that Mary never quite understood, she had never imagined there was an entire truth about their existence being kept from her.

"Mom, you’ve been saying things like this for ages. What are we? And what exactly makes us different from humans?"

Her mother smiled at her, her expression softening with affection before she turned her attention back to Ravyn. There was something strangely reassuring about her demeanor, warm and steady, but the weight of her gaze suggested that she expected him to understand what she was about to reveal.

"Tell me, aren’t you an Alpha werewolf?"

Mary stared at her mother in disbelief, the color gradually draining from her face as she struggled to process the question. Her lips parted, but for several seconds, she couldn’t find the words to respond.

"Mom, what are you talking about? What’s a werewolf?"

Her mother gave her a gentle, almost patient smile, as though she had been waiting for this moment for a very long time and the words she was about to say had been sitting on her tongue for years.

"Since your mate is finally here, I don’t see any reason to keep hiding the truth from you anymore."

She turned slightly toward Ravyn before delivering the revelation that left Mary completely speechless.

"We are Lycans, and your mate knows exactly what that means."

Mary’s gaze darted between her mother and Ravyn, her confusion evident in the innocent expression on her face as her brows drew together.

"What is that?"

Ravyn took a deep breath, his chest tightening as he tried to decide whether he should feel relieved or even more afraid.

Voren had forbidden Lycans from entering the packs, and considering all the trouble they had already experienced because of them, the revelation filled him with a cold dread he couldn’t easily dismiss.

He had come here expecting to meet a human woman, someone whose life would be much easier to explain and protect, and now he was being told that Mary belonged to a race his king wanted nothing to do with. He almost wished she had been human after all, because that would have made everything between them so much simpler.

"Ma’am, who is your king, and how long have you been living in the human world?" Ravyn asked, keeping his voice measured despite the uneasiness settling in his chest.

Mary looked between them, feeling increasingly frustrated as the two seemed to be having a conversation that excluded her completely.

"Mom, Mr. Walker, what are you talking about?"

Her mother, Matilda, smiled, the corners of her eyes crinkling with warmth.

"I think we should all eat first. I made your favorite steak, and don’t worry, that strange pull you’re feeling toward him is called a mate bond."

Without waiting for either of them to respond, Matilda made her way toward the dining room, leaving Ravyn and Mary to follow behind her.

The three settled around the dining table, and as they began eating, the occasional clink of silverware filled the room between their questions and answers.

Mary was still struggling to understand how an ordinary family dinner had turned into a conversation about werewolves, Lycans, and mate bonds, while Ravyn was already trying to piece together the implications of Matilda’s revelations.

"I escaped from the Lycan fortress when I got pregnant with Mary. At first, I thought I could hide her and raise her as a human, so I gave her the name Mary, and took a more human name, Matilda for myself but it hasn’t been easy. The Lycans can smell their own kind, and they’ve been suspicious of us for years," Matilda explained, her voice carrying the weight of all the fear and uncertainty she had endured.

"Why did you escape from the fortress?" Ravyn asked, his fork hovering above his plate as he gave her his full attention.

Matilda took a sip of water, swallowing before she continued.

"I’ll come to that, but since you’ve asked, I’ll tell you about it first. The Lycans are generous, but they are also very dangerous. Our kind has been contracted as breeders, and they take very good care of us."

Ravyn stopped eating, his attention fixed entirely on her as he tried to understand what she meant.

"But I noticed something strange," Matilda continued, lowering her voice as though even the walls might carry her words to the wrong ears. "Those who married the heirs, elders, or other high-ranking members of the leadership mysteriously died after childbirth.

Our clan elders told us it was because strong Lycan heirs were difficult to deliver, but I never believed that explanation. As time went on, even the women who were married off to low-ranking warriors began dying the same way, and our elders did absolutely nothing about it."

Matilda’s voice faltered, and her eyes grew wet as the memories came back to her. She had clearly carried the burden of those deaths for years, and speaking about them again seemed to bring back the grief she had tried so hard to bury.

Mary, on the other hand, was still too stunned by everything she had learned that day to know what to ask or even where to begin. Her entire understanding of her family and herself had just been turned upside down, and while she struggled to absorb the revelations, Ravyn was the one asking the questions she couldn’t bring herself to form.

"Wait a minute. Aren’t you Lycans too?"

"We are, but among all the clans, ours is the only one chosen to carry Lycan heirs. The other clans are free to marry whoever they choose or whoever they’re bonded to," Matilda explained.

Ravyn’s expression hardened as he considered what she had just told him.

"So you do have the mate bond? Are you saying the Lycan leaders are heartless enough to kill their own mates?"