30: HER INSTINCT

HER INSTINCT

Cane had never heard of someone who was able to find magic stones easily, the way Iris did, especially when it came to a rare stone like the one that she kept.0

Probably she didn't realize it yet.

Cane had been in these mines for years, of course, when he was not being tortured by Gerald and Mason. The mining site was another form of torture for him, thus he was familiar with various kind of magic stones. The darker the color, the stronger the power it held.

And it was rare to find a dark blue stone like she did.

In ten years of slavery and working in mines, he was pretty familiar with various stones.

"Find it," Cane said, as they stopped in the middle of the site. "Find more magic stones."

"Pardon me?" Iris blinked her eyes, she didn't miss what he was saying, but she surely didn't believe that. Just because she could find one easily, it didn't mean that she could find more anytime she wanted.

However, Cane thought she failed to read what he was saying, thus he approached her with long strides and pinched her chin to tilt her head, so she could read lips clearly.

"Find the magic stones," he enunciated every word clearly and watched how she nodded her head as fear filled her blue eyes. She did not even reach his shoulder and her body was so skinny, as if a small gust of wind could blow her away.

Cane let her go and watched her stumble. She was at a loss, as she looked around her and pulled at her hair nervously. She glanced a few times in Cane and Aderan's direction, just in case they were talking to her, but also because she was afraid they would start feeling impatient or agitated.

In the end, Iris walked slowly toward the last spot that she dug in today, hoping she could feel that strange pull again, while the two men followed behind her.

She clutched her chest to calm her thumping heart because it was hard to catch that tingling feeling when she was trembling in fear like this. And so she stopped walking and took a deep breath. She looked around her and let her instinct guide her feet, which led her to the eastern part of the mining site, where they dug deeper into the mountain and created a few tunnels.

There were three tunnels that they dug, which were still active and produced magic stones occasionally.

"I think… it is inside there…" Iris said, pointing her finger at the second tunnel.

"Go."

"Inside?" Iris blanched when he told her to go inside, but Cane didn't reply to that silly question of hers. "I- I will find one again in a different place." Iris didn't want to go inside. It was so dark and she hated being in a dark place.

Being in the dungeon for a week was already bad enough for her, even though she still had dim light from the torch. But inside the tunnel was completely dark and she couldn't see anything.

"Go inside," Cane was being impatient with her. He frowned slightly when he watched how she couldn't walk into the dark tunnel. She gripped her dress until her knuckles turned white, but she didn't take a step forward.

Cane recognized this. There were so many people who developed this trauma within his pack members.

"Light the torch." He gave the order to Aderan, as he moved forward and then started to kindle the torch, letting the warm light illuminate the inside of the tunnel.

Only then did Iris's grip on her dress slightly loosen up and that didn't go unnoticed in Cane's observation.

Aderan ended up holding the torch to illuminate their path, while Iris walked behind him, followed by Cane, who felt disgusted to be in this place again. He remembered clearly what kind of torture that he had endured in this place.

During his second year of slavery, they stripped him naked and whipped him so hard, he thought it would be the end of him. They whipped him in front of children around the age of seven to twelve, while mocking how helpless their alpha was.

Their alpha couldn't even help himself and of course, he wouldn't be able to save them either.

It was one thing to be whipped, but to break those children's hopes by giving an example that their leader was so helpless, was another thing for Cane. He remembered very clearly how hope died in their eyes and how he hated himself that day for not being able to do something for his people.

The title as the alpha had turned into a burden for him, the weight of it was so heavy, even now.

He was the alpha's son at the time they went into slavery, but since Gerald killed his father, of course, it was him, who would be the next alpha for the people in the Howling Wolf pack. Their hope in him weighed him down so much.

"It is here…" Iris said, her voice interrupted Cane's intrusive thoughts, as he forced himself back to the reality of the present. "I didn't bring a tool to dig the magic stone out…"

"Is it close to the surface?"

Iris looked conflicted. "I don't know…" she answered truthfully. "I just feel it."

Cane looked at her sharply, which made her lower her head and then stepped closer to the part that she had pointed at.

"Where exactly is it?" Cane watched Iris point at a spot on the stone wall, precisely telling him the location of the magic stone.

On the other hand, Aderan frowned so hard, because it was very hard to believe that Iris could find it that easily. He then shifted his attention toward the alpha. Did he believe her?

But then, before there was another question, the alpha had half shifted his hand and clawed the hard stone wall, which made Iris jolt in shock by how strong he was.

How could he destroy such a hard stone with his bare hands?!

But then, if you did it for years, you would know how.

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