Return of the General's Daughter-Chapter 287: The Wolf Pups

Sandoz stepped down from the carriage first, his small hand clutching tightly to his mother’s. Linnea followed, her spine straight as a blade, her expression carefully composed—a porcelain mask perfected over years of quiet survival. Behind them, Lara and Reya descended in tandem, the hem of Lara’s midnight-blue cloak sweeping across the polished marble of the entryway like ink spilling over parchment.

The manor’s great doors yawned open, revealing a long corridor aglow with lamplight and cold silence. A guard, stiff and wordless, gestured respectfully, and a servant led Linnea and Sandoz down the east wing toward their quarters. Their footsteps echoed softly against the cobblestones, disappearing into the hush.

"I’ll see you both at supper," Lara said calmly, though her thoughts were already elsewhere. She turned, her eyes sharp with subtle alertness, and started toward the west wing with Reya trailing a few paces behind.

When Lara reached her chambers, she paused at the door, expecting the soft thud of padded feet and joyful growls of greeting.

But there was only silence.

"They’re not here," Lara said quietly, scanning the corners.

Reya moved quickly, peeking under furniture and calling softly, "Snow? Little Grey?" ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

They searched the antechamber, the balcony, even behind the heavy velvet drapes. Still nothing.

Lara’s brow furrowed, unease coiling in her gut like a tightening rope.

"Go," she ordered. "Ask the servants. Someone must’ve seen them."

Reya nodded and hurried off, skirts rustling against the stone. The moments stretched into a cold silence. Lara remained still, hands clasped behind her back, but her jaw clenched with growing dread.

When Reya returned, her face was pale and her voice trembled.

"Miss... Miss... They—they’re in the kennels. In a cage. Injured."

Lara didn’t wait. She swept past Reya and stormed down the servants’ corridor, cloak flaring like a shadow in flight. She crossed the courtyard under a moonless sky and reached the kennel yard where dim lanterns swung in the wind, casting swaying pools of gold across the ground.

There, in a far corner, half-hidden behind crates and barrels, was a barred iron cage.

Lara froze.

Inside, curled together for warmth and comfort, lay Little Grey and Snow—her wolf pups. Their dark coats were matted with dirt and blood, their bodies marked with cruel lashes and welts. One of Snow’s legs trembled violently. Little Grey lifted his head at her approach but did not rise. His bright eyes had dulled, and his ears were flattened in pain.

Lara dropped to her knees, fury and anguish slamming into her chest like a blow.

"Little Grey... Snow..." she whispered, reaching between the bars with trembling hands. "What happened to you? Who did this?"

The pups whimpered softly, inching closer to her touch. But there were no answers—only pain, and trust still lingering in their eyes despite it all.

Reya knelt beside her, lips parted in horror.

"We have to get them out," Lara said, her voice low but deadly calm. "Now."

Something had shattered in the manor’s quiet. And Lara knew—this wasn’t random.

Soon Lara’s brothers joined them in the yard.

"What happened to them?" Asael asked while watching their sister treat and bandage the pups’ wound.

"What do you think hurt them?" Lara did not answer but asked back instead. She asked no one in particular.

"Looked like someone whipped them." Galahad answered

"Yes, it is a whip," Lara uttered under her breath.

She stood slowly, her fingers brushing over the pups’ fur one last time as she straightened. Her jaw was set, eyes gleaming with cold fire. Reya, still kneeling, looked up at her mistress with a mix of fear and reverence.

"Fetch the kennel master," Lara said. Her voice was low—measured—but it hummed with restrained violence. "Now."

A threat cloaked in blood and silence.

And someone would answer for it.

Reya sprinted off.

The air was thick with tension, the lantern flames twitching in the wind like nervous birds. Lara waited, arms folded, her silhouette still as stone. Her gaze never left the cage.

Minutes later, Reya returned with a pale, trembling man in tow. He wore the leather apron of a kennel keeper, but his expression suggested he’d rather be anywhere else.

"Y-Your Lady" he stammered, bowing deeply.

"Who put them in the cage?" she asked, not wasting a single breath on pleasantries.

"I—I was told to—"

"Who gave the order?"

The man swallowed hard. "Lady Mira, Your Lady. She said the wolves attacked her. That they were dangerous and needed to be restrained."

"Restrained," Lara repeated, voice like a blade unsheathing. "Is that what this is?"

She stepped aside, revealing the bruised, shivering pups behind the bars.

The kennel master looked, and his face contorted in shame. "I didn’t— I never meant for— They were already hurt when they arrived."

"And you did nothing."

He dropped to his knees. "Forgive me, My Lady. Please. I tried to put medicine on them, but Lady Mira said they should suffer for her grievances."

Lara took the two pups and gently placed them in separate baskets, then turned away without hesitation. Her cloak billowed as she marched back through the courtyard, through the kitchen entrance, up the servants’ corridor. Every footstep echoed with purpose. Reya trailed her, breathless and wide-eyed.

Her brothers followed.

She dropped the pups in her room and asked Reya to watch over them.

Then she proceeded in the direction of Mira’s room. She didn’t stop until she reached her room.

The door was open as if she were expected.

Mira limped back to her bed and sat down with difficulty. Indeed, she was bitten.

"Lady Lara," she said without looking up. "How pleasant to see you again. I trust your quarters were to your liking."

Lara stepped inside, uninvited. "Mira, what did you do to my pets?"

The air between them felt brittle.

"May I ask," Lara continued, each word honed like the edge of a knife, "when this household began treating nobility’s personal companions as vermin?"

"If you’re referring to those wild beasts you insist on keeping, they attacked me. I had them restrained—for everyone’s safety, of course. Look here."

She lifted her skirt and show the scratches and bites on her lower legs.