The Alpha Can’t Sense His Mate

ZADOK

Ithra stayed glued to me in a tight embrace. I tapped her back as she held tightly to me.

“It’s okay,” I managed to say, “It’s over.”

We remained like that for a while, and slowly, her breathing normalised. I fought against asking her why she left without a word, but I knew it wasn’t the right time.

Shilhi’s words strongly reverberated inside me. I couldn’t scare her away If this thing would work between us. I needed her.Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

And with the looks of things, she needed me to survive in this forest and get our desired results.

We needed to work together.

I knew that, seeing her nearly give up to the Sirion told me just how vulnerable she was to the beasts that lurked in this forest alone.

It scared me how easy it was for them to kill her and bring doom to my mission. There and then, I vowed never to let her out of my sight.

She needed me as much as I did her. I just had to make her see it.

“Thank you,” Ithra said after stepping away from me.

Her voice was so low. I almost didn’t catch it.

“It’s fine,” I answered, using a soft tone.

Her eyes met mine, and I could tell she was expecting something. However, I was still determining what it was she expected.

“We need to work together,” I said after a moment of hesitation.

So much for trying to get her to see it, my wolf said in my mind.

I resisted an eye-roll. My wolf only showed up when it was time to nitpick on me.

I shut him off and continued, “I understand you have your plans, but we need to work together if we are going to survive in this forest.”

She frowned, “Are you looking down on my ability?”

“This is not about what you can do and what not. In this forest, we are alone. Either we work together and try to make it out alive, or the beasts in this forest get us one way or the other.”

“I already made it clear to you. I am not leaving this forest! I am willing to die if that’s what it takes to remain here.”

Her breath was full of fury, and frustration grew in my bowels, “Last time I checked, you didn’t seem like you wanted to die.” I fired back,

“Last time I checked, I never asked for your help. I was doing fine until you decided to come play saviour.”

By now, we were facing each other, with our eyes aflame with anger.

“I don’t want to go back,” I finally said, and her eyes turned in confusion.

“What?”

“You heard that right.” I breathed, “We don’t have to go back.”

Ithra cocked her brows, and after a few seconds, she asked, “What’s the catch?”

I feigned ignorance, “What do you mean?”

“Just last night, you were strongly agitating for our return.” She whipped her hair to the side. It was the most attractive thing on earth. “Seeing me in danger couldn’t have caused a drastic change in your disposition.” Her eyes searched my own, “There’s something else. What are you not telling me?”

“Nothing you need to know,” I replied tightly, “I told you we were going to return to this place when we are more prepared, but then, I thought, why not get things over and done with?”

I was having a hard time convincing her. I could tell she saw through my bullshit, but I continued anyways.

“What do you say? Let’s work together.” I proposed and stretched out my arm, “No more taking off in the night. Let’s look over our backs in this forest.” She opened her mouth to speak, but I stopped her. “This is not an order from your alpha. It’s a proposition from a friend.”

Ithra was momentarily stunned. After a while, she said the words that nearly took my breath out of my nostrils.

“It’s clear you are hiding something. I am sorry, but I don’t trust you. We should go our separate ways.”

Ithra made to leave, but I held her back. “I need you.”

The words fell out of my mouth before I could think. “I am cursed. Unable to find my mate. I need you to break the curse.”

Her eyes widened in shock, “What do you mean?” She asked slowly, as though dreading my reply.

I had already started. It was about time I bared it all. I couldn’t turn back now. Ithra wanted my trust. And that’s what she would get.

“You are the chosen one. The only one able to hold the ghost orchid that will help break my curse.” I breathed, staring her in the eyes. “When I thought all hope was gone for me to find my mate, you showed up and gave me hope again.”

Ithra was enthralled. She stared at me in shock, unable to speak. I continued,

“For the past twelve years, we have been preparing for the visit to the dark forest. We have been waiting for you to show up to begin the long journey, and when you finally did, you became a puzzle we couldn’t fix.”

“You did this on purpose? You brought me here for your selfish reasons?” Ithra asked with a shaky voice. Anger was evident in her tone.

“Of course not!” I quickly defend myself.

Why was she so quick to assume the worst about me?

For the same reason, you quickly assume the worst about every witch. My wolf answered me in sarcasm.

“Our coming here was anything but planned. I don’t know how we managed to get here. The original plan was to go with Shilhi and some others, but we got thrown here together.”

I couldn’t hide the unhappiness in my tone, and Ithra picked up on it.

“You can still go back and pick up the others. I’ll be waiting here.” She said, and I nearly rolled my eyes.

“I thought so. But here’s the catch. The dark forest grounds are sacred. Everyone has just one chance to visit. That is if you can make it out alive.”

Ithra’s eyes narrowed, “What do you mean?”

“If I leave, I can’t return. Forever.”