My Fated Mate Can Have Her-Chapter 78: A Painful Truth

Violet

My mouth hung open and I snapped it shut before the meat I was chewing fell out.

"Having a healer look at you would be problematic. They would know what you are. I happen to have some skill with healing, though my methods are more... intense."

I thought back to the intense pain I felt after she touched me before the immediate release.

I looked down at my arms, where bruises that should have been deep purple and painful were now barely visible, mostly faded to nothing. I no longer felt sore, and the pain was gone.

She still looked over the city down the hill.

I mumbled, "I... thank you."

I wasn’t sure how I felt about being knocked unconscious without warning, but I couldn’t deny the results.

Ila nodded. "Don’t worry about it. Your syzygy carried the heavy lifting." Then she took a breath, and her tone shifted into something more serious. "Kael’s wolf visited me earlier today."

My heart raced.

"He wants you to stop training."

I frowned, confused. "What? Why?"

"I will be moving you to my home further within the capital," she continued, ignoring my question. "You’ll have to wait there until his return. That is his instruction."

I dropped the plate on the space between us, my mind reeling as I tried to process what she just said.

"I don’t understand. Why would he—"

She crossed her arms across her chest and finally looked at me. "That is what we need to talk about."

Panic clawed up my throat.

"I am aware of the incident with Lady Astrid, but what exactly happened after?" she asked, her voice gentle but firm.

The question so unexpected that my mind went blank.

What did that have to do with him stopping my training?

"Please, I am very confused. What does that have to do with my training?"

She glanced back at the outer district down the hill. "I thought Tow had been keeping me up to date," she said carefully. "But from what Kael told me today, it seems she kept certain details hidden from both of us."

My chest tightened. What did Tow even say?

"Kael mentioned that you said something that rattled her. And Tow doesn’t rattle easily."

I stilled, immediately remembering that moment when Tow had blamed me for what happened with Astrid, along with my bleak promise.

I leaned back, my eyes shifting to the city in the distance. The buzz of the marketplace faded in the background.

The moment I had been drowning in despair, when I had admitted that I’d wanted to die... she had told him all that?

My stomach sank.

"I..." the words caught in my throat. "I was in a bad place and I said... some things..."

Ila’s voice was suddenly gentler than before. "That’s what I thought."

The silence stretched for a moment and I wrapped my arms around myself, angling my body away from the plate and towards the view in front of us.

"Violet, if that’s where your mind was, if that is where it still is, then maybe this environment isn’t the best place for you to grow right now."

"No," I said immediately, my neck nearly snapping as I faced her. The words burst out before I could think. "I am fine. I can handle it. I just..."

My words faltered, confusion swirling beneath my panic. Deep down, I didn’t want the training to stop. Despite how the other wolves saw me, I wanted to get stronger.

"If I were in his shoes, and I learnt what I learnt about my mate... especially after I had thrown her into a stressful situation, I would make the same decision too—"

"Please, I don’t want to stop," I said, quieter now, the admission feeling vulnerable in a way that made my chest ache.

Ila studied me for a long moment, then stood abruptly.

"Do you like ice cream?"

I blinked at the jarring moment. "I... what?"

"Give me a moment," she said and headed back towards the same shop she had brought the meat from.

Minutes later, she returned carrying two round wooden bowls, each filled with a white, creamy substance that seemed to shimmer slightly.

It was cold, and I could see the condensation forming on the outside of the bowl as she handed one to me.

"What is this?" I asked, staring at it.

"Try it," Ila said, already walking away. "And follow me."

I hesitated, before following her, my mind still racing. One moment we were having a serious discussion and now she just changed it.

I paused, glancing back. "The meat—"

"Leave it. You were nearly done with the last stick anyway. The shopkeeper will get it."

Ila then used the small wooden spoon in the bowl to scoop some of the substance into her mouth. Her blank expression didn’t change.

I stared at the cold substance, sweet smelling substance, and carefully brought a small spoonful to my lips, my chest still aching from our unfinished discussion.

The cold hit first, a startling sensation that shifted into a sweetness flooding my tongue. It melted almost immediately on my mouth, leaving behind a lingering flavour that made me want more.

"What is this?" I asked.

"Ice cream," Ila said, a strange pleasantness creeping into her face. She took another spoon.

"You were telling me—"

"It can wait. Let’s just walk." The blank look returned to her face and I immediately kept quiet.

I took another bite, then another, and the simple pleasure of the creamy treat momentarily made my throbbing ache fade away. I never imagined a delicacy this sweet existed.

We walked in silence, consuming the ice cream while Ila led us away from the marketplace and into a quieter area of the capital. The buildings thinned out, giving way to open fields dotted with sparse trees. The night air was cooler here. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Ila stopped in front of one particular tree out of the rest. She stared at its exposed roots, her expression shifting into something that I had never seen before. Fondness mixed with sorrow... along with something else.

"I want to thank you," she said softly.

I froze, confused. "For what?"

"I don’t know exactly what you did," Ila said, still looking at the tree. "But I was surprised by Kael’s sudden interest in Omegas."

A faint smile touched her lips. "This is my mother’s resting place. She was an Omega."