The Alpha Can’t Sense His Mate

ZADOK

The ride with Ithra was joyous and filled with hearty laughter.

Despite being relegated to the back of the fun, I derived joy seeing her lay freely in Kir’s fur as he took us through the cold Valley.

At some point, I felt stupid for not allowing Kir to take the reins earlier. He was more suited to take us through the Cold Valley than I will ever be.

“I see you are getting wiser, human.” Kir’s voice intruded my thoughts, and I tried not to be offended.

“I didn’t realise you were paying attention.” I said bitterly, “Last I checked, you shut me off without a care.”

“Jealous?”

I near damned coughed blood at the audacity of this wolf.

“Jealous?!” I said incredulously, “What in the world am I supposed to be jealous about, Kir?”

“Me.” He said it so casually that I felt like smacking his head.

“We are the same person, so it’s not feasible,” I said before Kir, feeling a sense of accomplishment afterwards.

“Good to know you’re learning.” He said, and once again, put up the mental barrier.

I couldn’t win with him!

I remained silent, sulking as I watched him breeze through the Valley while Ithra slept comfortably in his fur.

I guessed that Kir’s fur formed a solid shield for Ithra against the biting cold – So much so that she fell asleep.

Kir’s pace slowed, and I pulled from my thoughts. I looked through the window of his eyes, wondering what was wrong.

“Ghouls!” Came the sturdy voice of Kir. “They are here and in large numbers. I can smell them!” He explained, and every atom of peace left me.

Ghouls were bad news, and Ithra lay asleep on Kir’s back, totally undisturbed. They were dead spirits that escaped the underworld, roaming through the dark forest and sniffling souls from every living thing they sensed.

Thankfully, as a werewolf, we learned to mask our scent using the earth, and Kir was ready to do that. Except that Ithra was still asleep and in harm’s way.

“How far are they?” I asked Kir, who sniffed the air in return before answering me.

“Very close. We need to do something and fast.” He said with urgency in his tone.

While I wrecked my head for a solution, Ithra stirred awake.

As though she sensed the upcoming danger, she jumped to the ground, looking around with her hand hovering around her dagger.

If only she knew how useless a knife was against ghouls!

“I need to talk to her. I need to transform now.” I demanded from Kir, hoping he would understand me for once and not argue.

Thankfully, he understood the gravity of the situation, and immediately, I felt him rescind within me. A few crackled bones later, I stood before Ithra in my human form.

“Zadok!” She exclaimed with a smile, but I shushed her off.

“We don’t have time. I need you to keep your mouth shut, roll on the floor and cease your breath till I tell you otherwise.”

Ithra did the opposite. She took out her little dagger, eyeing the surroundings warily, and muttered, “I knew something was off. What are they?” She asked, using a low tone.

I didn’t have time to explain. I already felt a strange coldness that seeped into my soul. They were here! I fell to the ground, dragging Ithra along with me, and in one big turn, we rolled in dust from the ground.

When I noticed her mouth open, I placed my hand over her mouth, hoping she got the message my eyes passed. After a moment, I removed my hand from her mouth, and her gaze transfixed on me.

I held my breath, physically puffing up so she got the memo, and like a child, she replicated my actions. We remained like that for some seconds, and the coldness grew worse.

With my eyes, I begged her to persevere – to hold her breath for some time so we could go undetected by the ghouls. The plan worked, and I saw the dark shadow of a ghoul pass by us.

Ithra’s eyes widened when she saw the thing, and I urged her to close her eyes, using myself as an example of what she needed to do. The Ghouls had no eyes. They could only tell if you were alive by your heartbeat and breathing – two of which temporarily seized from us at the moment.

Just when I thought it was over, the second shadow stopped in its tracks, and for the first time, I heard the voice of a ghoul. “Can you hear that?” It said, and the other stopped in its tracks.

My eyes opened, and I found Ithra holding her breath afresh with her eyes tightly shut. She slipped up.

“Hear what?” The other ghoul answered, seeming uninterested.

However, the other refused to let up, “I just heard the heartbeat and breathing of something.” It said, sounding sure of itself.

“Maybe an animal just took its last breath.” The other opined, “It’s the dark forest. Things die by the second. Let’s go.”

“No. Just wait a second. If I am right, it means one more soul in the bag.” He stated gleefully and walked around, kicking everything in sight.

I knew that move. It was a ghoul’s tactic aimed at catching anything that thought it could outsmart it by holding its breath. It was general knowledge that a ghoul would kick everything – including a dead animal – for days to ascertain it was truly dead and not pretending.

“And if you are wrong, you would have wasted my time.” The other one added in a sour tone. “If something was living out here, don’t you think I would hear it too? We already spent a couple of hours at the forest’s heart. So please, cut it out. It’s not funny.”

At the mention of the forest’s heart, I let out a shocked breath, and the ghoul exclaimed, “I heard it again! Did you hear? There’s something out here! I need to find where it’s hiding and give it the beating of its life before stealing the soul.”

I held my breath, and sweat dripped from my face. The ghoul was coming this way.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.