The Alpha Can’t Sense His Mate

ZADOK

I watched with horror as Ithra charged at the boar from behind, holding a sharpened wood.

She was trying to kill herself!

The boar noticed her as soon as she got closer and turned around with agility. Scared for her life, I charged at the boar from behind, hoping to get its attention away from Ithra to enable her to run away, but to no avail.

They were far too gone to stop.

Ithra went face to face with the boar, tightly holding a sharpened wood in her right hand. Her face was taut, and I could see determination coursing through her.

It happened so fast. Within a second, Ithra jumped into the air and stuck the beast at the centre of the head using her makeshift knife.

My eyes went wide when I saw blood pour from the head of the boar. It tumbled to the floor and breathed its last.

I couldn’t believe it. Ithra did it. She took on the darned beast and won!

My heart was relieved, and joy sprang instead of the horror I’d felt – one that knew no bounds. Ithra looked at the boar with astonishment. It was clear she couldn’t believe her eyes.

I walked up to her with a grin, resisting the urge to take her in my arms. She looked so beautiful. Blood splashed on her cheek, matching the colour of her hair.

“That was a pleasant surprise,” I said, pushing her hair to the side of her ear. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”

She finally acknowledged me with a huff. “Get the book.” She ordered. Despite her tone, I felt honoured to do it.

I picked up the book by the tree and presented it to her. “Your majesty,” I joked, and she bit a smile.

“Let’s get out of here.” She said, taking the book from my hands and walking away.

Ithra looked through a map on the first page while I followed her with watchful eyes. I wondered if Shilhi knew we were with the book. Was this what she was relying on to get us into the forest?

A hiss escaped Ithra’s lips, and I jolted out of my thoughts. I watched her try and fail to read the map. I guess there was something she couldn’t do after all.

“Let me,” I said after watching a few more tries and frustrated sighs later.

“I am doing alright. Just give me a minute, and we’ll be off.” She said stubbornly.

“You wouldn’t be able to figure it out even if you had a hundred days,” I said, and a frown marred her face. “Just give it to me already.”

She held her ground and suddenly threw the book at me, “You have two minutes to get us out of here.”

I caught the book and said, “That is two minutes long for me to figure it out.” Sporting a confident smirk.

Without further ado, I opened the book and studied the map. It was a normal one. Thankfully. I took a minute to analyse the map and soon figured out where we were.

“Let’s go,” I said, looking through the woods.

I didn’t miss the surprised arch of her brows when I spoke. “Are you sure you know where we are going?” She asked, looking genuinely worried.

“I’d hate to break it to you, but I know how to read a map. Sometimes, the difference between getting where you want is the right skill required.” I looked up and saw the clouds shifting. “Let’s get going. We need to cover up much ground before the sun sets.”My eyes focused on her till she agreed.

That settled it, and I led the way through the woods with the book in hand. To my surprise, the journey through the woods was free from unpleasant surprises.

Ithra walked closely beside me, eyes open for any creeping thing. With time, I understood that walking the dark forest without any form of guide was a recipe for disaster.

It was so easy to get lost with how similar everything looked. If I didn’t learn to read a map and monitor the woods, I’d think we were going in circles. Ithra kept looking around, and I could tell she felt we were lost but refused to voice her concerns.

“Finally,” I breathed when I saw the light. “I thought we were getting lost a second there.”

Ithra’s eyes narrowed at me, “Where are we?”

“Close to water,” I answered.

Her face scrunched in confusion, “How close is that to the dark forest?”

“Far away.” I answered, “Hopefully, we get past the bridge before nightfall, find a place to rest, and continue tomorrow.” I gauged her body language, “Is that alright?”

She swallowed, “Did you say a bridge?”

“Yes. Any problem with that?” A shiver ran through her, and her hand trembled. “Do you need to rest?” I said and internally slapped myself for forgetting she wasn’t a wolf.

Of course, she’d be hungry!

“No. Let’s get past the bridge. Then we will know how to sort things out.”

I heard her stomach growl, and I wanted to argue, but I resisted the urge when she shot me a look.

“Alright, let’s get going,” I said with arms raised in surrender.

As we walked, the sky grew dark. We maintained a comfortable silence until we got to a clearing. We walked on the sand until the water and the wooden bridge became visible.

“Is there a way we can go around it?” Ithra asked, surprising me with her words.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

“There’s a bridge.” I looked at her and back to the water before us. “It might not look safe, but that’s all we got.”

Ithra remained rooted to the spot. Her eyes fixed on the water before us, and her breath pattern changed. If I didn’t know better, I’d say Ithra was scared.

A light bulb went off in my head, and I asked a stupid question.

“Are you getting scared, Ithra?”