The Alpha Can’t Sense His Mate

ZADOK

“You don’t trust me,” I said after a long silence.

Ithra didn’t budge – confirming my assumptions.

I let out a brief laugh, “After everything? I told you all there is to know about me, and you still don’t trust me enough to continue the journey with me?”

My tone was bitter. Because worse than turning me down, I hated not being trusted.

I hated that she chose to keep her guard up when I lowered mine to the ground.

“Trust is earned, not demanded.”

“I just saved your life.” I pointed out, “I also just told you how valuable you are to me. You couldn’t possibly think I have something bad in mind.”

“And there you go again.” She sighed, “Rubbing that you saved me in my face.”

I raked my palm through my hair, “Listen. I just want us to be together. This forest is crawling with beasts that you can’t imagine. We have a better chance at survival together than alone.”

Ithra’s eyes remained on mine. It seemed like she was contemplating my words.

“We will split ways at the forest’s heart. The one who comes in contact with it first gets it.” I said, and her eyes widened. “Is that good enough for you to work with me? Because that’s the last I can offer.”

I meant every word. If Ithra decided it wasn’t good enough for her to stay, I would walk away from her and do things myself.

If I failed… I couldn’t bear to think of what would happen then.

“Deal,” Ithra said, and I was mildly surprised.

I don’t know why I thought it would take more convincing to get the job done. My look must have said it all.

“I am bold enough to accept help. Especially on a platter of gold.” She looked around us. Dark mist and trees surrounded us. “I am not stupid to think I can do it without help.” Her eyes returned to me, “It’s nice having someone who isn’t after my life by the side.”

I heard the joke in her tone and shook my head in amusement. If her words were anything to go by, this was her subtle way of saying she trusted me. A burst of joy fills my heart at her hidden admission.

For some insane reason, I loved that she trusted me deep within her. Even though she wasn’t vocal about it, I could tell. She also knew I had picked on her words.

“We are on the same page.” she said, “Where do we go from here?”

I looked around, trying to remember where I came from, but it’s long forgotten. I remembered frantically following Ithra’s scent until it led me here.

Due to her predicament, I didn’t have the liberty to look back at the route I took or commit it to memory. Everything looked the same here, the trees, the paths – not one thing seemed separate.

We were lost.

Seeing the look on my face, Ithra started laughing. So much that I felt offended.

“I’m so sorry,” Her laughter slowed to a stop, “You looked so out of it.” She cleared her throat. “I was headed east.” She pointed in a direction. “If we go through that path, we will return to where I left you.”

I turned towards the direction, ready to begin our journey, but she stopped me. “Not so fast, big boy.” She said, “We keep moving eastwards.”

“Why? We need to return to the cave so I can map out the forest’s heart.”

“There’s no need for that.” She turned eastward, “If I can find my book, we will locate the heart of the forest.”

I got confused, “What are you talking about?”

She turned back to me, sporting a pointed look. “The ancient witch’s book.”

My eyeballs nearly fall off their sockets. “The ancient witch’s what?!”

“Try to keep up, will you?” She continued walking, not sparing me a glance.

I joined her in steps, “The last time I checked, the ancient witch’s book was locked up securely in my pack.”

“You mean in the greenhouse?” She corrected, shocking me the more.

“Did you steal it?” I shook my head, “No. Why would you steal it? It’s written in the ancient witches’ code. You can’t read it.”

“For someone who spent his life hating witches, you know a lot about them.”

“You have to know it to kill it,” I said, waiting for her reaction.

“I can say the same. I grew up reading about how the best way to kill a werewolf was to kill their mate. Better still, a pregnant mate. It’s like killing three wolves with one stone.”

“Ithra.” My tone was threatening.

“Can’t take a joke?” she marched forward. “The ancient witch’s book is somewhere around here. And no, I didn’t steal it. I borrowed it for some time and unfortunately lost it on my way here.”

“How do you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Read the book. A mere witch or mortal cannot read the ancient witch’s code.” My eyes scanned her dangerously, “and from my knowledge, you are not an ancient witch.”

“Good call.” She tsked, “You can imagine my surprise when I found out I could understand some inscriptions in the book.”

“What?”

“You heard me right.” She turned to me, “For some insane reason, the book chose to reveal itself to me when I visited the greenhouse. I took it out to properly study it and ended up here.”

My brain nearly blew up at the amount of information. “How do you know it has the map of this forest?”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“That’s for me to know.” She said with a wink. “If you want to help, I suggest you look for a book with a blue covering and-”

“Black inscription on the spine?” I finished up for her,

“Correct.” She said, after some seconds, her head whipped back, “How did you know that?”

“Because I’m staring at it.”

Ithra turned towards my direction, and a shocked breath escaped her at the sight before us.

A sleeping wild boar. You would never imagine what it used as its pillow.

The ancient witch’s book.