The Alpha Can’t Sense His Mate

ITHRA

I returned to a barely alive Zadok and immediately fed him the fruits.

As I fed the fruits to him, I prayed to the heavens above that I wasn’t wrong with my administration. I remember watching my mother boil the fruits, pound them and administer the content after drawing out its nutrients using water.

With our current predicament, we didn’t have such luxury. I gave Zadok the fruits raw and hoped that would help while I got to creating a fire to roast another batch.

My snake bite burned like fire, but I didn’t let it distract me. I put some fruits in my mouth for the poisonous effects of the snake bite and went on to put on a fire in the cave.

It took a while, and eventually, the fire burned. The cave glowed with a fiery red tone. I returned to Zadok, using my mediocre skills to assess the extent of damage.

Thankfully, his breath evened and gone was his previous laboured breathing. He was still unconscious, but I hoped he wouldn’t die.

While roasting the fruits, I thought about how I’d left the scene, reducing the scorpions that filled the valley to dust. It wasn’t the first time such happened, and I genuinely wondered what happened back then – the power surge, the light, and the killings afterwards.

I remembered the farm and a permanent picture of the dead rogues on the floor etched in my mind. I did that. I had killed them by the surge of power that ran through me.

The same power that brought us into the dark forest and killed the army of scorpions. For the first time in a long while, I ached to see Sarai.

I needed some clarity as to what was happening to me. After roasting the last batch, I squatted beside Zadok, looking at his face, which seemed too pale. His eyebrows hewn together, and it seemed like he was having a nightmare.

I thought to kiss them away and afterwards realised how odd that would be. It didn’t stop me from doing it. I placed a fluttering kiss on Zadok’s forehead, and like magic, his brows soothed, and he got into a deeper sleep.

I needed to know what was wrong with me. Why did these power surges happen, and what triggered them? It was clear there was no magic within me. After the deed, the power disappeared without traces.

The night was cold. I gnashed my teeth as I struggled to light another fire. I looked for ways to cover the cave’s entrance to prevent the wind from blowing off my fire again.

I needed to get more firewood to sustain the warmness of the cave, and on that note, I went out.

Setting aside the wind and the coldness that seemed to come from the mountains, gathering wood for the fire was a walk in the park. Within thirty minutes, I returned, albeit slowly, to the cave.

I came right on time to see the fire flicker off, as well as Zadok – who struggled in his sleep. I dropped the firewood and rushed to his side, taking his palm in mine.

Zadok’s fist tightened around mine, and he took both our hands to his chest. Despite the growing coldness, I let him and sat beside him, hoping my presence would at the least chase the demons away.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

I sat beside Zadok until I saw the goosebumps that spotted his arm. I also noticed the jitters that rocked him occasionally. It was time to raise the fire.

Slowly, I unwrapped his fist from mine, which proved to be an audacious job, seeing that, for some reason, his hold on my hand was quite strong for someone unconscious.

Eventually, I got out of his hold and got to work. I set up the wood and fanned the flames alive. This time, the fire was fiery. The temperature around us changed within minutes, and I returned to Zadok.

He seemed more comfortable, and all traces of goosebumps were gone. In its place was sweat. I wondered if it was too hot, but I figured it was better hot than cold. I needed to know he was still alive, and his dripping sweat told me there was a bit of normalcy in his system.

I looked around my arm. My eyes naturally drifted to the snake bite. There was a harsh scarring around it, and it matched the red in my hair. I needed to treat the wound to avoid harsher scarring and infection, but I couldn’t leave Zadok without supervision.

To treat this wound, I would need some herbs that I wasn’t sure grew in the dark forest. Besides, I couldn’t risk going into the thick of the forest alone. I picked out my knife and tore the helm of my dress – long enough to wrap around my arm.

I covered the wound and made a mental note to search the surroundings of the cave for something better. For now, this would have to serve.

A noise found its way into my ears, and my hand found its way to the knife on the floor. I turned around, armed and ready to strike, only to meet the presence of a rabbit, trying and failing to find its way out of the cave.

I could never comprehend its reason for leaving such a warm place for the biting cold, but that was beside the point. My stomach growled, and I decided it would have to do for both dinner and breakfast.

Seeing my hunter was down, the heavens sent me food on a platter of gold. I couldn’t deride their graciousness by letting the rabbit go scott-free. Besides, I was hungry.

With the agility of a warrior, I found my way to the rabbit and killed it using my little knife. I took a long look at its meat. It was far better than the ones Zadok caught the previous day.

I felt pride ooze within me and fought the urge to place the dead animal across his face to show off. Instead, I got to work roasting the meat, had my late dinner, and preserved some for breakfast the next day – Hoping that by some divine intervention, Zadok would be awake.

After executing my tasks, I returned to Zadok’s side, watching him sleep. I nearly fell asleep by his side but was jolted awake by his soft calls of my name.

My eyes fluttered open, and I wondered if I was hearing things. I looked at Zadok, and his features seemed troubled.

Another nightmare? I wondered and took his hands in mine.

“Ithra,” He mumbled in his sleep, confirming I wasn’t hearing things.

Nothing prepared me for his line of words.

“I hate witches.” he said, “They betrayed us. I hate them.”