Chapter 71

• HAERA It was oddly warm and I was comfortable. I didn't open my eyes as I snuggled more into the source of the warmth. Nowhere had ever felt this relaxing. This felt like home. And even home wasn't as peaceful as this. Wasn't I stuck in a wilderness with the Alpha? Shouldn't I be cold? What was this satisfying feeling of being protected that was zapping through my body? Curiosity compelled me to open my ears despite the fact that I wanted to sleep more. The urge to know what was making me feel safe and this peaceful was far greater than that of somnolence. I squinted my eyes open slowly and cautiously with this particular fear of scaring whatever had encircled me away, slipping into my consciousness. Saying I was stunned would be a big understatement. A smile spread on my face when I saw the big wolf with beautiful and shiny furs beside me. Although my back had been resting on its stomach through the night, the wolf was big enough to engulf me completely. "He's My Mate..." Dezra exhibited the feminine habit of claiming territory when they find something up to their taste as she purred in my head. I couldn't blame Dezra because I had done something similar the first time I sensed Alpha Zachary. A low laugh rumbled through my small body. I called myself small because, in comparison to Zachary's wolf, I was extremely small. I had imagined seeing his will countless times but not only did I get to see Zachary's wolf from the closest point of view. I also got to spend the night with him acting as my shield and blanket. My hands reached out to touch his fur and I didn't regret it one bit. I ran my fingers through his hairy stomach, making Zachary's wolf move more into my touch, purring the exact way Dezra had done but in a masculine manner. "He is hot..." I blurted out before I could think about my choice of words. "Absolutely...." The agreement from Dezra came too quick and realization drew on me. I instantly clarified that I was referring to Zachary's wolf's warm fur but Dezra simply turned deaf ears to my words. It was convenient to get lost in touching, creasing, and admiring my mate's wolf. It was way too easy as he was captivating, intriguing as well as..... I didn't know when Alpha Zachary's wolf opened his eye but when my eyes shifted to them, I also moaned loudly as the sparks I had been feeling, tripled suddenly. It was pleasurable to the extent that I lost for senses momentarily. It was just the both of us and nothing else matters.....momentarily. Because a few minutes later I leaped out of his embrace when his simple act of affection broke the trance we were both locked in. "What did you just do? The good part was about to begin, Haera!" It was obvious from Dezra's tone that if she could, she wouldn't hesitate to sniff life out of me. "He licked my face, Dezra. How on earth is that the good part?" I yelled through the mind link while Alpha Zachary's wolf rose to a sitting posture as he ogled me like he was trying to figure me out. His eyes were darker than Alpha Zachary and they were more fascinating too. "I didn't know you had been anticipating seeing him naked though." My wolf blabbed. I didn't understand what she was driving at so I asked her to stop beating around the bush or remain quiet. "He is starting at you because he wants to shift back to his human form and he is expecting you to look away but you keep gazing at him like a pervert." "How was I supposed to know that from his looks? Argh!!" I was mostly embarrassed, especially when I peeped at Alpha Zachary's wolf after Dezra's information. I turned my back to the wolf and soon enough, I heard the sound of cracking bones. I was tempted to take a sneak peep at Alpha Zachary when he was shifting and afterward. Probably to see him clad... Well definitely. But I fought against the urge while Dezra laughed at my expense. "You can stop staring at the tree husk now, Haera." Alpha Zachary called out to me. As if waking up to see his wolf behind me wasn't enough to drive me insane, he had to sound so damn good too. I squinted my eyes shut tightly when the deepness of his morning voice performed an incomprehensible wonder in my stomach and I felt it in my core like a soothing flame. A soothing flame of Desire.... "Are you alright?" Alpha Zachary asked when I remained fixed on the same spot. What he didn't know was that I was hiding my hot face from him. I couldn't meet his eyes, not after the dirty thoughts and mental images that Dezra was pushing into my mind. "Do you see me differently after what I shared with you yesterday? I don't blame you though. Everyon-" "I'm not everyone. I'm different from them because we are destined to be intertwined." The change in my mood and the atmosphere between us was sudden. Although I felt bad for passing the wrong impression when I had my back to him, I was pissed that after our moment yesterday, he still saw me as EVERYONE. "You know-" "Yes, I know. You marked the princess and there's no turning back but that doesn't change our fate." It had become a habit to cut him off whenever he was annoying me. Alpha Zachary didn't respond to my gibberish. He gazed at me with an emotion that came off as confusing to me. I couldn't figure it out. He was an Alpha and as far as I knew, Alphas don't take disrespect from a lesser wolf lightly but at that moment, Alpha Zachary appeared to be defeated....like he needed to be hugged. I wanted to hug him but he soon called me out of my stupidity. "We need to find a way out of here if we are to live another day." He said. Simply and void of Anger. My shoulder feel just as my building anger faded away. I wasn't expecting him to be that calm which made me rigid for some minutes. Was it weird that I found this side of Alpha Zachary thrilling? Thrilling is definitely not the right word to describe what I felt but I just couldn't explain it. "You find him manly and just like every she werewolf, you are attracted to him." Dezra etched in but she was wrong. If it was about the attraction then I can blame that on the mate bond between us. There was just no logical explanation but it was good to see my destined mate calm and gentle. "Come on, Haera. I have a pack to protect and a shrewd traitor to reprimand severely." Alpha Zachary said coldly. To be sincere I was scared for Tybalt because the chills that took over my body when Alpha Zachary ended his statement were out of this world. Cold Anger.... I followed Alpha Zachary who had taken the lead to heaven's know where. Both of us knew finding a way out of the hellhole wasn't going to be easy. I have heard tales about the cliff we fell from....terrifying tales to be precise. Some said it was dangerous to venture near the cave while others claimed anyone that fell down the cliff never return because they become food to the starving wild creatures that dwell beneath the cliff. "Those are mythical assumptions. I haven't sensed any living creature down here. It is a death hole indeed." Dezra asserted and I couldn't agree more. If anything, anyone who somehow falls down that cliff would have to die of starvation and thirst. "Watch your steps, Haera. I can't handle watching you and searching for an exit all at once." Alpha Zachary cautioned me. He was clearly becoming irritated and I was too. We have been going in circles ever since we left the tree that had been our shelter. The sun was scorching hot, impaling extreme fatigue on both the Alpha and I. "I think we have to go back to the bottom of the cliff. Hopefully, we find a way out from there." Alpha Zachary murmured and I wanted to cry out my frustrations. It was past noon and we haven't found an exit yet even though we began the search for it as early as daylight hours without taking a break. I couldn't complain though because even the Alpha was tired. I guessed he was struggling that hard because he was worried about the situation back at the Imperial pack. "Can we take a break, please?" I requested. I was panting at that point but my destined mate didn't seem to notice that. He didn't even hear me. Alpha Zachary was immensely into the search, forgetting that we might die if we proceed at this alarming rate. My eyes began to shut down as we arrived at the cliff but I strived to keep them open. I succeeded at first but after the fifth time we went around the rocky bottom of the cliff, my failure descended onto me in form of black blinding dots. I was falling... I was falling fast..... "...er..." "Haera!" I heard Alpha Zachary cry out, shooting his hand for me to catch before I crashed on the nearby rocks but it was too late. At least for my legs which had scratched and slammed into a pointy rock. I released an ear-piercing scream of anguish. "Fuck." My mate cursed as I anticipated the next crash which I knew would be more severe because the side of my head was about to meet yet another rock. The last thing I saw before I shut my eyelids was my mate's expression of horror. I was about to be scared for the rest of my pathetic life... Help!!!!!! "I got you." He did? "I got you, Haera." He really did! Instead of the coarse and sharp edges of the rock particles, my face crashed on a hard but not coarse and definitely not sharp surface. "You don't have to panic. I got you." Alpha Zachary reassured me, calming me and helping me back to my feet while I fluttered my eyes open slowly. I soon shut them again though due to the agonizing pain I felt on my ankle and knee. I held on to my mate for dear life and he didn't let me go too. "This is my fault. I should have given my ears to your complaints. I'm sorry." If I wasn't in pain, I would have laughed when he apologized to me. I had never witnessed him apologize to anyone plus his eyes held genuine worry for me. "It's alright. I'm sorry for being a burden to you." I also tendered an apology. Alpha Zachary gathers me in his arms, taking me to a less stony path to tend to my dislocated bone. "The bone is cracked. It will take a while to heal." Dezra confirmed my fear. I was scared I would be the reason for us to spend another night in that death hole. I was scared I would be holding my mate back from his obligations as an Alpha. Most importantly, I was scared he would hate me for it. "Brace yourself. I'm about to put pressure on your wound." His warnings should have prepared me but no, they didn't. I cried out when Alpha Zachary wrapped my injured leg with a piece of his robe which he had torn beforehand. My head fell backward as tears pricked my eyes. I didn't think anything good would come out of me throwing my head backward but that was when I caught a glimpse of Hope. It took more than five minutes for my brain to register what I saw and I almost shook it off until my mate spoke again after he laid me on the ground. "Stay here while I go in search of the exit. It's getting dark and I don't want you to spend another night here." My heart fluttered in response to Alpha Zachary's kind words. I noted that His face had returned to being expressionless before he turned to leave. "Wait...I saw something up there." I stopped him in his tracks, pointing to the wide cave like opening I saw earlier. I didn't know where it led to or if it was a dead end cave but it was something compared to our fruitless search. It was HOPE.... "I'm not sure- I will climb up there to see if it's what we have been searching for. I will be back for you. Okay?" My mate mumbled and I could only nod in agreement before he began his new quest. He had to climb the uneven and rocky bottom of the cliff up to a life-threatening height before reaching the opening. I watched my destined mate struggle against the sloppy mountain as he climbed but he didn't give up. Alpha Zachary eventually reached the opening, slipped into it, and disappeared from sight, leaving me to nothing but silence and my disturbing thoughts. "What if he leaves me here and never comes back?" The question I asked finally got my wolf talking again. "He'll be back." Dezra's confidence was at its peak. "What if that cave is where the creatures live?" It was a stupid question but I asked and Dezra responded regardless. I kept throwing questions at my wolf with little to no interval. "I didn't get to tell him Princess Ilvira had been supporting Tybalt and that she is Tybalt's mate. What if he runs back into her arms?" My last question rendered my wolf speechless and I almost cried due to the high possibility of that becoming a reality. I wished he would return to me. I hoped he would. I even prayed he would come back. I was losing hope as time zoomed by fast while I remained in the same position he left me because I was scared that the slightest move or adjustment would change my chances of being found IF he returned. "It's a way out, Haera! You found it!." Alpha Zachary bellowed from the top of the mountain, making me smile widely like a satisfied baby. I was actually satisfied. I was happy he came back to me and for me. "You found it! We are leaving!" He couldn't hide his happiness and I mirrored it perfectly. Alpha Zachary carried me on his back after he reached me, telling me that I should hold on tightly to him. I did just that and when he was certain I wouldn't fall off his back, he began to climb the rock again with less effort this time probably because he had noted the best way to climb it. The fact that he was carrying me on his back didn't even make the climbing difficult...I wasn't extra weight for him. "Can you see that?" He asked after taking several turns in the cave that the entrance led to. I took my eyes off my aching leg only to see the light. "I can." I replied cheerfully. It was the exit we had been searching for.