Chapter 601 A Woman In Love
The road had become quieter as the day slowly surrendered to evening.
The warm glow of the setting sun stretched across the endless fields on either side of the dirt road, painting everything in soft shades of orange and gold. Tall grass danced gently beneath the evening breeze while the distant forest ahead looked almost black against the fading horizon. Their horses had settled into an easy rhythm after traveling together for most of the day, their steady hooves producing a comforting sound that blended naturally with the rustling leaves and chirping insects beginning to replace the birds.
For hours, Tatiana had ridden near the front beside Irina.
The two had spoken about all sorts of things. At first, their conversation had revolved around their old pack, old hunting traditions and stories from before Tatiana met Liam. Somewhere along the way the topic shifted to food, then to traveling, then to embarrassing memories involving Gregor that had made both of them laugh much harder than they probably should have.
It felt... nice.
Normal.
For a little while they had almost forgotten that they were traveling through a dangerous world filled with monsters and mysteries.
As another laugh escaped her lips, Tatiana absentmindedly turned her head over her shoulder.
Her eyes instinctively searched for only one person.
She found him almost immediately.
Several meters behind them, Liam and Leonid were still riding side by side, seemingly lost in another conversation. Liam was saying something while casually gesturing with one hand, his usual relaxed smile resting on his face as Leonid quietly listened before occasionally replying. Whatever they were talking about looked important enough that neither of them had noticed Tatiana looking back.
She simply watched him.
The corners of her lips slowly curved upward into a smile so gentle that she herself wasn’t even aware she was making it.
There was no excitement in it.
No teasing.
No embarrassment.
Just quiet happiness.
The kind of smile that appeared naturally whenever someone looked at the person they loved.
Irina noticed it almost immediately.
She looked from Tatiana to Liam, then back to Tatiana again before a knowing grin spread across her own face.
"...Just how deeply in love are you?"
Tatiana nearly jumped.
She snapped her head toward Irina so quickly that a few loose strands of her red hair brushed across her face.
"W... What are you talking about?"
Irina burst into laughter.
"Oh, you twat."
She shook her head, unable to stop smiling.
"Don’t even try lying to me."
Tatiana frowned, trying her best to look innocent.
"I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about."
"You really don’t?"
Irina looked thoroughly unconvinced.
"I’ve been wondering all day why you smell different."
Tatiana blinked.
"...Smell different?"
Irina nodded matter-of-factly.
"You have a new scent."
"And you’ve been in an unusually good mood ever since we left town."
She tilted her head as though piecing together a puzzle.
"You’ve been smiling to yourself."
"Daydreaming."
"You’ve barely threatened to punch Gregor."
Tatiana quietly looked away.
"I was trying to figure out what changed."
Irina smiled wider.
"Then it suddenly hit me."
She leaned closer.
"It’s sex."
Tatiana froze.
Her entire body became completely still.
"It was with Liam."
For several long seconds there was absolutely no response.
Tatiana simply stared at Irina with wide eyes, her face rapidly turning red until even the tips of her ears matched the color of her hair.
Irina couldn’t contain herself anymore.
She laughed so loudly that one of the horses ahead flicked its ears in annoyance.
"Oh my gods."
"The look on your face tells me everything."
Tatiana opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
"I..."
"You..."
She completely gave up trying to form a sentence.
Her embarrassment alone had already confessed everything.
Irina laughed even harder.
"I knew it."
"I absolutely knew it."
Tatiana covered part of her face with one hand before mumbling something completely unintelligible.
Unfortunately for her...
Werewolves had exceptional hearing.
"What was that?"
"...Nothing."
"I think it was something."
"It wasn’t."
Irina continued smiling, but after another moment she noticed something strange.
Tatiana wasn’t simply embarrassed.
She looked...
Hesitant.
Almost uncertain.
Tatiana slowly lowered her hand before asking in a much quieter voice,
"I thought..."
She hesitated.
"I thought you would object."
Irina’s laughter immediately stopped.
She turned toward Tatiana with genuine confusion.
"Huh?"
Tatiana looked down at the reins in her hands.
"You know..."
"We’re in the middle of an important mission."
"We’re fighting vampires."
"We’re trying to save people."
"I thought you might think..."
"...that I was getting distracted."
Irina stared at her for several seconds before letting out the softest sigh.
Then she smiled.
Not teasingly.
Not playfully.
Warmly.
"Oh, you poor girl."
Tatiana looked up again.
Irina’s eyes drifted toward the fading sunset stretching across the horizon.
"This war..."
She spoke quietly.
"This fight against the vampires."
"It just keeps going."
"It never ends."
"Every time we think we’ve finally made progress..."
"Something worse appears."
She laughed softly, though there wasn’t much humor in it.
"It has taken something from every single one of us."
Tatiana remained silent.
Irina continued.
"It took friends."
"It took family."
"It took homes."
"It took peace."
She looked toward the endless road ahead.
"It even took the idea that tomorrow would simply be another ordinary day."
Her expression softened.
"So if somewhere in the middle of all this chaos..."
"...you managed to find someone who genuinely makes you happy..."
She looked back at Tatiana.
"Then why not?"
Tatiana blinked.
Irina smiled.
"You deserve that."
"All of us do."
For a brief moment neither of them spoke.
Tatiana had expected resistance.
She had expected Irina to remind her about responsibilities.
About discipline.
About focusing on the mission.
Instead...
She had received nothing but sincere happiness.
It warmed her heart more than she expected.
But as she continued looking at Irina...
She noticed something.
Beneath that smile.
Beneath the happiness.
There was something else.
A loneliness so deeply buried that most people would never notice it.
And sadness.
Not overwhelming sadness.
Not the kind that made someone cry.
The quiet kind.
The kind carried by people who had simply lived long enough to lose too much.
Tatiana slowly opened her mouth.
"Irina..."
Before she could continue...
Her words stopped.
Her eyes shifted past Irina.
Toward the road ahead.
Someone was lying there.
A small figure.
Completely motionless.
The horses instinctively slowed before coming to a stop several meters away.
Tatiana’s heartbeat immediately quickened.
There, lying in the middle of the dirt road...
Was the body of a young boy.
He couldn’t have been older than ten.
His clothes were little more than torn rags, stained with dirt and dried blood. One of his small shoes was missing while scratches and bruises covered his exposed arms and legs. His face was turned slightly toward the sky, his pale skin almost blending with the fading evening light.
He looked...
Recent.
Not like someone who had been dead for days.
Tatiana and Irina exchanged a quick glance.
Neither of them spoke.
The atmosphere around them changed instantly.
The warmth from moments ago disappeared, replaced by an uncomfortable silence.
The sound of approaching horses came from behind them.
Gregor, Mary and Agatha caught up after noticing the sudden stop.
"What happened?" Gregor asked before following everyone’s gaze.
His expression immediately hardened.
Mary quietly looked at the child without saying a word.
Agatha narrowed her eyes, carefully scanning the surrounding area instead of focusing only on the body.
Nobody moved.
Nobody climbed down.
Several seconds passed in complete silence.
Farther behind them, Liam and Leonid noticed that the rest of the group had stopped.
The two exchanged a glance before urging their horses forward.
Within moments they reached the others.
Liam guided his horse beside Tatiana and Irina, his eyes immediately moving from one face to another before finally settling on the road ahead.
He looked at the small body lying there.
Then at the surrounding trees.
Then at the empty fields.
"What am I looking at?"
Irina slowly shook her head.
"Honestly..."
"I don’t know."
"We just found him like this."
Liam remained silent.
His eyes continued moving.
The body.
The road.
The grass.
The treeline.
The sky.
Nothing escaped his attention.
Beside him, Tatiana’s expression softened as she looked at the child.
Without thinking much about it, she began climbing down from her horse.
"I should check on him."
She had barely moved before a firm hand wrapped around her wrist.
Tatiana looked back.
Liam was staring at her.
His grip wasn’t rough.
But it wasn’t one she could easily pull away from either.
"Where are you going?"
She looked confused.
"To check on him."
Liam’s eyebrows slowly rose.
"Check what?"
Tatiana blinked.
"He..."
Liam calmly looked toward the motionless child again before returning his gaze to her.
"He’s dead."
His voice remained steady.
"There’s nothing left to check."
He loosened his grip but didn’t let go completely.
"Let’s continue on our way."
"Don’t say that!"