Chapter 9 NAKED MAN
The fire went out at some point, my teeth chattering in my sleep, my arms all around me as I crawled into a ball. My nose got blocked only to unblock itself with the process going over and over again.
I shifted and turned not helping at all, rain pouring at some point with my eyes finally opening wide, all of me blue with nothing but cold deep to my bone. My eyes traveled to my right, the man just lying there staring at the sky enjoying the view as the rain fell on him. I cursed over and over again, my lips as if to fall off. Sleep was not coming back to me, just letting the rain have its way on me.
What I would do to be a werewolf at that point. He was warm, I could see with his skin the perfect color. Mucus fell to dry, the rain heavy on us with me getting dirty from the splatter of mud as the rain drops hit the ground. My feet moved, jumping up as I picked up my clothes and folded them. All I needed was his fur, just to bury myself in it and the only way to get it was if he shifted.
“I think we can continue with our journey. I won’t be going back to sleep and it doesn’t look like you were sleeping at all. I am sure we have a lot of ground to cover.” I said to him, sly little me wanting nothing but his warm body. The man said nothing back, cursing under my breath with me deciding to hop around as a sort of exercise to warm myself up. I was just wasting my energy, the rain heavy on us.
Movement was seen, hope blooming in me. He stood up, stretched his arms then walked to the forest. I nearly laughed in excitement especially when I heard the bones crack. I even giggled, clutching my clothes.
The large wolf came out, just holding myself from clapping my hands like an excited five-year-old. He maneuvered his way to me where he stood. I did not waste time, hopping onto him with my stomach on his back before turning around and straddling on him.
Aahh, he was so warm I could just hug him.
It was nothing but bliss, my skin on his fur with it so hot it left goosebumps on my skin as the cold met heat.
The rain was nothing on the heat I was getting, my face deep in his fur holding on tightly, my clothes under me, squashed between us. I felt the sleep come back at me, smiling even wider as I let the darkness take me.
It was the best sleep I had in a long time. I smiled as I woke up, my eyes taking the area around us seeing that it was a cold day. I sat up, stretching carefully as the wolf ran so fast I could barely see anything. I could not stay up for long since the air was just blocking my airways with how harsh it was. I lay back on his back, closing my eyes. It was a vacation for me, as if flying in a warm bubble.
I wondered how far we had gone. He was moving so fast in a way one would have thought impossible for a wolf and I doubt he took a single break. He was probably tired but I understood why the king left us behind. I was sure they were way far ahead from us but what kind of a mate left their chosen with another man. I guess he really trusted the man I was riding on, or he just did not care. The second option was probably the one. Why would he care, he just picked a girl he hated the most and left just like that.
Some part of me had hoped that since he had picked me my life would be better. I could start afresh and I would build something with him but after what the man said it looked like the king wanted nothing to be built. He needed a mate for political reasons so he picked a random girl who he had no interest in knowing. I could already see my life, I could already see myself literally begging for his attention which he would never give and it already hurt even before the games began.
How many more lashes could my heart take, how many more scars could it carry? I hoped a lot for it was still going to be a hard long life.
The day went away thinking the man would stop and rest but he never did. His speed decreased just a little but from there he maintained it all day long. It was amazing seriously. The night came, the darkness covering us as we passed more and more packs rushing back, chasing the king. I was worried, hours trickling away with the man still running. Was he used to it? I guessed so.
My mind went back to his words. He had said the place I was going to had nothing but death for me. He meant the war. I was going to see what nearly most of the wolves were oblivious to— the death war. I would be right in it and if so then surely they were taking me to my death.
His words made sense. They could not take someone who was like Elissa who was beautiful and full of life, someone who had a loving family and friends, someone who could still marry someone great and live happily with beautiful kids. It would be cruel to take all that away from her but me…I was the perfect cow to slaughter.
My hand slid back and forth on his fur. I don’t know why but I felt like it eased away his exhaustion in a way. It was the dead of night and he picked up his speed, running like none I had seen. I lay my head down and found sleep with nothing else to do and the next time I opened my eyes it was day.
We kept going, running with animals, passing through large waterfalls and beautiful land marks that stole my breath away. The ride quickly turned to an adventure for me. My eyes were wide, seeing different kinds of animals. I loved animals, I actually just loved nature. It was my dose of happiness. The animals ran after us in excitement as I stared back, giggling wishing I could pat them.
We went past the open land into another forest that was dense and dark but the man never slowed down. He ran through, making it out as the day passed. Even I was exhausted. My skin hurt where it was touching on his fur. At some point I bled but I healed immediately, it happening over and over again. He seemed determined so I did not want to slow him down. I just shifted, my legs coming to swing on the side, my upper body laying on him and holding tightly. It was an awkward position but it helped my inner thighs heal.
The night went on. The man took a sharp turn, sniffing in the air with my head picking up. I shifted and got back to my straddling position while listening around and that was when I heard the heartbeat of the animal he wanted. He went running fast, creeping behind bushes with me on his back and in no time, he went for the kill. I buried my face in his fur not to see. My heart broke, that poor animal. He tore it apart, the wolf eating so savagely getting blood all over his face and my hair too. I nearly puked all I had in me, the metallic smell of blood hitting me up.
Luckily for me he did not waste much time on his dinner. He ate fast and when done left the dead animal there for the sky birds that ate dead animals. It was just all disgusting for me. He tracked to a river where he drank water as they washed away the blood and I guess that was his pit stop. I hopped off, stretching my legs, getting some water to drink myself then peed.
He was done, me getting up and getting comfortable. The adventure was nice, first time being away from my pack but I really needed us to get to the royal pack at that point. I was dead tired.
The wolf leapt over the river and ran on. He ran through the morning, the day breaking with him not taking it slow. The sun was out burning down on me and having me nearly die where I was. My vacation turned to a torture ride with me sweating buckets, my skin taking the brutal beating of the sun rays.
When the day ended, I was more than relieved but I did not even want to see how I looked at that point. My clothes which I had been holding fell away at some point and I did not care really, I just wanted to get to civilization where I would sleep and not wake up for the longest time.
The further we went, the weather got cold. It began raining again then white things fell from the sky. I guess it was too cold the rain just froze in the air. That was the only explanation I could come up with. We reached mountains which the wolf began leaping up. His body heat was suddenly failing me with how cold it was. He jumped from rock to rock, it a dangerous route which was why halfway through he decided it was enough, taking refugee in a cave.
I hopped off, my whole body shaking as we went in. He went deeper in, and the deeper we went the warmer it became. I went to lean on a rock, they were warm and I got better. He did not change back to his human form since he did not have any clothes to wear. He just went to a corner where he sat and took rest. I decided to also pick a corner where I sat on the ground but as I sat something caught my eye. I shifted, moving to pick up the strand of fur. It was black in color, so long and I just knew the king had been there. I was not sure it was his strand but some wolves had also camped there. I wondered how far off they were, what if they had just left but I am sure the man I was with could have known and rushed to catch up to them. I guess they were far off. My eyes stayed on the fur not helping but to wonder what life waited for me where I was going.
I wished for nothing but a kind mate. I wished for nothing but a mate that could just look at me and see me. I wished for nothing more than to belong to someone to call my own.
My eyes closed, lying there with sleep claiming me.
The wind got harsher with the night, whistling where we were knowing that outside it was bad. I shivered, the rocks no longer enough to keep me warm with no fire to help me. I opened my eyes, peering to find the wolf just lying there having the sleep of his life. I knew if I snuck to him, I would wake him up and he needed his sleep. He had not slept in so many days and I could not even remember how many at that point.
I would not die from the cold, I hoped.
My eyes closed, sleep not coming to me until late.
I sank in sleep, shaking even in my sleep and the next thing I knew something smelling of nothing but stale blood was pushing at me. I groaned, my eyes opening and finding nothing but fur before me. I groaned and sighed with my body slow to shake off the sleep.