Fated To The Cursed Lycan Prince

Rufus’ POV:

I walked out of the woods with an icy expression. The two unconscious robbers were dragged out by the soldiers as well.

It was getting late. I didn’t stay there any longer. I turned my head and ordered the soldiers to organize a team to continue searching the area. I wanted to check if there were any other survivors. I also hoped to locate this child’s family.

As I studied the sleeping child on my shoulder, I felt that luck had been on her side today.

The military parade was going to be held in a few days. I just happened to have some free time today to lead my soldiers here to inspect the surroundings of the imperial capital and make preparations for the parade.

If I hadn’t bumped into the child today, she would have died.

The laws of the empire were strict. The loopholes had been revised a few years ago, leaving many criminals who wanted to take advantage of it with nowhere to go. As a result, the crime rate had significantly dropped in the past few years.

I had thought that no such blatant robbery and murders took place now, but instead, I encountered such a vicious incident when I happened to go out of the city for inspections.

Initially, I found a coach bus on the road. There weren’t many survivors at that time. The robbers had shot dead most of the passengers, and only a few children and she-wolves were alive.

I didn’t know where the robbers had escaped. After the survivors pointed us in the right direction, I led my soldiers into the forest to search for them.

As a result, as soon as we entered the forest, we spotted two robbers grabbing a little girl’s head and slamming it into a rock.

Fortunately, we had arrived in time, or the girl would have been dead.

But to my surprise, there was a large burn mark on one of the criminals’ faces. The wound looked new, but there was no sign of fire around.

I wanted to figure out what had actually gone down, but we had knocked the robbers out hard and they were still unconscious.

This was not the right time to interrogate them, not to mention that the girl in my arms was still in danger and she required immediate treatment.

I was left with no choice but to instruct the soldiers to take the robbers back and imprison them for now.

The cars for me and my men were parked by the side of the road. I got into the first one, cradling the child in my arms.

Once we were inside, the little girl seemed to have sensed that the danger was over and her grip around my neck loosened. But she cried intermittently. Sometimes it was a cry of pain; sometimes she called out for her mommy and someone named Arron.

Her cries were very soft. Her thin lips quivered slightly, and her bloody forehead made her look very pitiful.

Unfortunately, I was neither her mother nor Arron. I couldn’t comfort her.

My face was expressionless as she curled up in my arms. I was unwilling to soothe her.

The best I could do was hold her in my arms. I had never been a gentle person to begin with.

I didn’t know why, but my irritation was increasing by the minute. The child was still crying, but now she wasn’t calling out for her mother or Arron anymore. Only whimpers of pain escaped her lips.

I pursed my lips and looked down, inexplicable emotions churning deep within my heart.

“Hurry up,” I ordered the driver.

“Yes, sir,” he answered cautiously, pressing down on the accelerator.

The scenery outside the window was a blur and we were steadily getting closer to the imperial palace.

The little girl in my arms finally fell silent and drifted off.

I observed her for a while and I felt sorry for her. I grabbed the coat beside me and wrapped it around her.

As I was about to pull my hand away, she gripped it and called out for Ian.

Perhaps Ian was another one of her relatives.

My expression remained smooth as I eventually left my hand within hers.

She was just a kid and she was injured. I might as well just let her be.