Chasing His Scentless Mate

Chapter 387 Broken Seals

Third-Person POV

In a country villa in Tuscany, Italy.

Odelia held a cup of herbal tea. Her fingers touched the porcelain and she stiffened. Tea nearly spilled from the cup.

Nearby, Hilary opened her eyes. She had been resting in a wicker chair. Her calm face turned serious at once.

"My seal is broken," Odelia said. Her voice shook. She pressed a hand to her chest. Her wolf, Fabiola, stirred inside her.

"How did this happen? Ava might be in danger."

Hilary stood up. "No one else could break that seal. It was tied to Ava. She did it herself." She looked thoughtful for a moment, then calm. "Now we can go home."

"Go home?" Odelia asked, confused. "Why did we have to wait? We could have gone back to her long ago."

For almost three months, Hilary had taken her traveling. Odelia had never stopped worrying about her daughter.

"I brought you here so you wouldn’t get in her way," Hilary said. She put a hand on Odelia’s shoulder. "You’ve seen so much of the world. Hasn’t it changed how you see things?"

"You still want to control her life," Hilary said, her tone a little softer. "But Ava isn’t a little girl who needs protecting all the time anymore."

"I just..." Odelia looked down, her voice fading. "I don’t know what to give her now. I don’t even know what danger she’s in. What if she’s alone with no one to help?"

"Trust her," Hilary replied. "Children grow up. Learning to let go is part of your journey, too. This is your growth as much as hers."

She looked straight at Odelia. "You need to learn to give your daughter real freedom."

After a long pause, Odelia nodded slowly. "Alright. We should go back. It’s time to face what I’ve kept from Ava."

"We will go back," Hilary said, a faint, knowing smile on her lips. "But not yet. We’re in Tuscany. Let’s see a bit more of it first. Our trip isn’t over."

"But Ava—"

"Needs time to find her own way without us watching," Hilary finished firmly. "Believe me on this. The timing has to be right."

***

In the medical facility of The Pine Ridge Pack, Kenneth sat upright in his hospital bed. The gunshot wounds on his chest had been expertly treated, the silver poison purged from his system. His recovery was proceeding far faster than anyone had anticipated.

His gaze remained fixed on Ava’s unconscious form in the adjacent bed. Her normally vibrant face was pale and drawn, her breathing shallow as she lay in a deep coma from magical exhaustion.

Beta Owen stood behind him, fidgeting uneasily.After several minutes of tense silence, he finally spoke.

"Alpha, do we really need to go this far?" His voice was strained with conflict.

Kenneth didn’t turn around. "What exactly are you questioning, Owen?"

"It’s just that..." Owen hesitated, choosing his words carefully. "Ava has been nothing but kind and dedicated to our pack. The way she cares for our pups, how she manages daily affairs—she’s earned respect. Using manipulation against someone like her feels..."

"Wrong?" Kenneth finished for him, his tone soft. "Are you suggesting I’m being cruel, Owen? That I’m manipulating people for my own ends?"

Though his voice remained even, the Alpha authority behind it made Owen instinctively lower his gaze.

"Of course not, Alpha. I wouldn’t dare suggest such a thing."

"Good." Kenneth’s voice turned cold. "You may go."

Owen nodded quickly and backed out of the room, closing the door with a soft click.

Alone with the unconscious Ava, Kenneth got out of bed. He walked over to her and reached out to brush a strand of hair from her face. His touch was gentle, though his eyes held a calculating look.

"You were never my primary target," he murmured to her sleeping form. "Your mother was. I spent years tracking Odelia, but she and that old witch Hilary were too clever, too well-hidden."

He smiled coldly. "Then you appeared, and I realized if I couldn’t have the mother, the daughter would do just as well."

Kenneth had meticulously investigated everything about Ava—her habits, her personality, her weaknesses. He learned she was compassionate to a fault, loyal to those she cared about. Direct force wouldn’t work with someone like her; he needed subtlety.

So he crafted a persona—the gentle, protective Alpha who offered sanctuary when she was vulnerable. He made himself available whenever she felt lost or hurt because of Joseph’s actions. He played the role of savior perfectly.

Everything today was planned—the rogue wolves, the attack. After all, a simple mind-link could have alerted the entire pack to the danger. Why bother sending someone to inform Ava?

Kenneth was gambling. He was betting on Ava having the ability, on her kindness, and on his own importance to her.

The result was clear: Ava had saved everything. He had been waiting for her witch powers to fully awaken.

"And now they have," he whispered, studying her face. Even in her unconscious state, the furrow between her brows and the tension around her mouth were clear.

Ava looked to be in pain, her body struggling against some unseen force.

An unexpected feeling stirred in his chest as he watched her suffer. Was it pity? Guilt? Or something like heartache? He couldn’t quite identify it, but it was unwelcome regardless. The plan was in motion; there was no room for sentiment now.

A buzzing sound interrupted his thoughts. Ava’s phone lit up with a new message on the side table. Kenneth reached for it, easily bypassing her lock screen.

The message preview showed Eleanor’s increasingly frantic texts. "Ava, where are you? Please answer! Joseph is in the hospital. We’re all worried!"

A cold smile spread across Kenneth’s face. With a sudden flex of his fingers, the phone cracked and splintered in his grip, pieces falling to the floor.

When he looked back at Ava, any trace of softness had vanished from his expression. In its place was only cold, ruthless determination.