The Alpha Can’t Sense His Mate

ITHRA

I watched Zadok as he looked between the bag and the dragon.

“Please don’t fall for it,” I prayed as I walked around the cave, shielding my presence with the mountains of treasures.

“Decide already, wolf!” I heard the dragon say, “What will it be? I don’t have all day.”

“I want the girl.” Zadok said after a while, “I don’t need anything else but the girl. Give her to me, and we have a deal.”

The cave shook with the bark of the dragon’s laughter. “How foolish! Foolish, foolish wolf. If only you knew what that witch is hiding from you, then you wouldn’t make a decision as careless as this.” He said, and I prayed that Zadok would see through its schemes.

“Give her to me.” Zadok’s stance was strong. “Give her to me or forget about it.”

The dragon let out a blaze of fire in my direction. The mountain of gold blazed at the fire, and I resisted the urge to scream out of pain. I couldn’t let him know I had escaped.

“Are you threatening me, alpha?” The dragon breathed, standing on its feet.

“Let her go,” Zadok repeated without fear. I felt scared on his behalf.

I had seen the bones of people in the prison he’d kept me in. I didn’t need a soothsayer to know they had died from abandonment. They were trapped with nowhere to go and eventually passed on as prisoners.

The dragon didn’t even care to check on them. All it cared about was adding new items to its treasures and tricking unsuspecting individuals!

He was a mastermind, and I was sure he had no way of helping Zadok find his way out. Instead, he would trick him like he did me – taking the item and Zadok’s freedom.

“Fine!” The dragon said, shocking me to the bones. “I give her back to you.” He gritted, “Now, give me the bag.” He said in desperation.

“Not so fast, bud.” Zadok said, “I need to see her first. Bring her before my eyes, and when we get out, you can have it.”

“You are biting more than you can chew,” The dragon roared, shaking the cave with fury. “Give me the bag and have the girl while I’m nice.”

“This is business. Give and take.” Zadok replied, maintaining his stance.

The dragon laughed. This time, it sounded light-hearted, but I knew it was the calm before the storm. “You caught me.” It said, “I don’t know where she is, wolf. I must have lost her somewhere inside the cave. You can look around. I’m sure she is hiding somewhere.”

“You did what?” Zadok thundered with his voice. “What do you mean you can’t find her? You took her!”

“And I said I lost her!” The dragon bellowed. “You have yourself a deal. Find her, and she is yours. Now give me the bag.”

“I don’t do business that way. I already told you to hand over the girl. When we are safely out of your cave, then you get the bag.”

“I think you may have forgotten whose territory you are treading, wolf.” The dragon said with blazing eyes. “Since you have refused to do this the easy way, you leave me no choice.” It let out a breath of fire, and it was raining rocks.

I dodged one of the rocks in an attempt to save my life but ended up dragging their attention.

“Ithra!” Zadok cried when he saw me, “How are you doing?” He asked.

Before I could muster up a reply, the dragon spoke. “So that’s where you’ve been hiding? Who would have thought!” He said in a dramatic tone.

There and then, I knew he was aware of my presence. Why did he make up those stories?

“Happy reunion to you two lovebirds.” The dragon said, then tsked, “Unfortunately, no one is leaving this cave.” He announced, “Smart, isn’t it? Why take one when I can have it all? A wolf, a hybrid, the thief, and my precious stones!”

“We had a deal! Let us go, and you can have your things.” That was Zadok.

“Don’t you get it? You all belong to me now. I don’t have to pick because everything is mine!”

“Ithra!” Zadok said, pointing towards the opening of the cave. “Run!” He ordered, and I obeyed, running towards the opening.

“Not so fast!” The dragon thundered and flapped its wings. It hit the side of the cave, and rocks tumbled, falling in their numbers.

I was undeterred by the rocks that rained. I ran towards the opening, dodging the rocks, till I got to the open entrance of the cave.

“Zadok! Let’s go!” I called out to him, but he was too busy, transforming into a wolf – Kir.

“You must be stupid to think you can defeat me with that dog of yours!” The dragon said, angered. “I’ll show you just how mistaken you are.”

A scream left my mouth, and my eyes widened when the dragon sent Kir flying and hitting the wall with one throw. A terrible sound of bone cracking hit the air, and tears pooled in my eyes.

Kir whimpered in pain as he rolled to the ground.

“Please!” I shouted when the dragon made to roast him using his fiery fire. “Please! I’ll do anything! Don’t hurt him!” I begged, meaning every word.

“Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do for me. You already belong to me, so maybe this would teach you not to misbehave moving forward.”

I fell to my knees. “Please. There has to be something I can do. Something we can do.”

“We?” The dragon said, his eyes confused.

“Yes. We.” Zadok said from behind him, holding a sword in his hands.

The dragon huffed and turned around, ready to end Zadok, but he was too late.

Before he could muster up a puff of fire, Zadok rose to the air in a big jump and thrust his sword directly into the dragon’s heart. A loud cry that shook the cave erupted from the dragon, but it didn’t stop Zadok.

I watched Zadok twist the knife into the dragon’s heart, and it swallowed his entire arm. With one pull, Zadok retracted his arm, and blood poured out of the dragon’s gaping heart.

“Let’s go!” Zadok yelled, “This place is falling apart!”Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

I rushed to the entrance, waiting for Zadok, who was limping. The dragon fell with a thud, and more rocks fell, threatening to close our only chance of survival.

Seconds rolled by, and a rock fell on Zadok, flattening him on the ground. My reaction was instant. I rushed to him and helped him up. We walked towards the opening, and it was nearly closed up.

I pushed the rocks, giving him space to climb out, and just when the opening was about to seal, I crossed over, falling on my butt beside Zadok.

We remained like that for a while, catching our breaths and holding hands. “We made it,” I said, close to tears, “You came back for me.” I breathed, “Thank you.”

Zadok’s lips tilted in a smile, “I will always come back for you, mi amore.” He said, and I laughed between my tears. “Don’t cry. You should be proud. We just slayed a dragon.” He joked, and I cried even harder.