The Alpha Can’t Sense His Mate

ITHRA

I can’t expect the pain I felt watching Zadok walk away from me.

I remember the urge that boiled within me, begging that I run after him, apologise to him, and tell him I never saw him as an enemy. Neither did I want to be his enemy.

I wanted to hold him by his leg and tell him just how much of a coward I was to get clean with him after holding back the truth from the beginning. I needed him to know I was ready to give up the ghost Orchid so he could find his mate if I could be in his good books.

From the moment he came back for me at the dragon’s cave, I fell hook, line and sinker in love with him. I was ready to carry this love I have to the grave if it meant I got to see him happy with his mate.

However, it was too late. I couldn’t say that because it would be no use. I had broken Zadok’s trust so foolishly and damned myself to a life of perpetual pain, agony and sorrow – A life I was born to live.

I walked towards the east, knowing fully that the forest’s heart was the opposite way. I had lost every will to live, and I wished that I could die by yet another profane beast of the dark forest.

Dying was the only way to ease the pain and fill the gaping hole in my heart. I didn’t have anything to live for. Returning alive without the Ghost Orchid was a shame I couldn’t take in the Celtz clan.

I couldn’t return to see the damage my decision might have caused either. The more I thought about it, the more dying seemed like the best option. My prayers got answered too quickly, and immediately, I realised how wrong I had been.

I wasn’t ready to die. I stared a python in the face. I didn’t have any weapons with me. I lost them while arguing with Zadok earlier on.

I didn’t even have Zadok with me. I was as good as dead. When the python opened its mouth wide and ready to swallow me, I screamed with every strength in me, calling the name that had saved me more than a few times already.

I hoped he wasn’t too far away. Because that would mean my end, and I didn’t want to end this way. After screaming Zadok’s name as loud as I could, I took off in a run, going in a zig-zag manner to get more time alive.

Soon enough, my strength waned. If I kept this up, I would likely die from lack of breath before the python got to me. It’s been a terrible minute. Zadok wasn’t coming. Did he not hear me? Did I not scream loud enough? Did he choose to ignore me?

A thousand thoughts rushed into my mind as I prepared for what I believed to be my last breath on earth. I fell to the ground, weak and loss of breath. The Python soon got to me, flashing me its deathly canines. I closed my eyes, ready to be swallowed, and I heard a large screech from the animal.

My eyes flew open, and I saw a long spear made from wood buried inside the serpent’s throat. I watched the serpent fall on its back, struggling to breathe and raising dust.

Who was that? I wondered in fear, searching for the perpetrator of the act – also known as my saviour.

My eyes widened when I saw a familiar body walking up to me, taut, manly and filled in all the right places. The dead butterflies in my stomach suddenly regained life and began their familiar flapping in my guts.

My eyes pooled. Zadok?

“I leave you for one hour, and you nearly get yourself killed?” He asked in a firm tone, leaving me short of words. “You couldn’t even defend yourself?! Where is the strong girl I groomed to take care of herself? Since when did you become so weak?!”

Every word cut me like a knife. Weak. Defenseless. Powerless. The mantra started in my head. I was still that girl. I hadn’t learned anything. I had given up without a fight. I have become too dependent on Zadok. I couldn’t even think for myself.Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

I bit back tears, “Why did you come back?!” I yelled in his face, “Why did you fucking come back, huh?!” I pushed him, “Why would you save your enemy?”

“Because I can’t let my enemy die at the hands of another. If my enemy is going to die, it better be at my hands. Not some dark forest beast, and not by fucking suicide! Do you understand me?!” He growled, and once again, I was short for words. “You will follow me, and we will get to the forest’s heart. That is not up for debate. When we get there, we’ll know who gets the Orchid.”

Zadok said, and to my greatest surprise, he dragged me along with him.

We journeyed in an uncomfortable silence till the sky darkened. “There is still a day’s journey ahead of us. We will pass the night here.” Zadok said, dropping our possessions on the floor.

I nodded, too weak to speak. “I’ll gather wood to burn the fire and maybe find us dinner.” He added and walked away from me.

A few minutes later, Zadok returned with wood for the fire. He instructed that I start the fire while he went hunting. As much as I doubted his ability to catch anything in this desert place, I obeyed his instruction and got to work.

In addition to being terrible at defending myself, I realised I was a mess with starting campfires after multiple attempts of trial and failure. I sat on the floor, glaring at the wood and hoping they would just catch fire.

Suddenly, I saw a flicker of light in the wooden assembly, and just like that, the fire started.