The Alpha Can’t Sense His Mate

ITHRA

I rushed to Zadok with my heart beating fast.

“Open your eyes!” I held him and placed his head on my lap. “Don’t even think about dying on me.”

His eyes fluttered open, and blood gushed from his head down to his face. “Ithraa,” He said, breathing heavily.

It was a struggle for him to breathe. “Shush,” I said, “Just stay with me. Let’s get you out of here.”

His mouth was slightly open, and I could tell he wanted to say something, but I didn’t let him. Without further interference, I helped him up to his feet.

Damn, he was heavy! He put his weight on me, and there I noticed something odd.

His clothes were soaked. Instinctively, I raised his clothes and noticed a gash on his stomach. Blood dripped from the wound, and I contemplated putting him down and searching for some herbs to stop the blood.

“Don’t. Find a place. Let’s get out of here.” Zadok wheezed,

“You’re bleeding!” I spoke like it was news to him, panicking.

“It’ll heal.” He said, “This place,” He coughed, “this forest is crawling with deadly creatures. We need to get out of here.”

He didn’t need to speak twice. I looked around for our possessions and walked us out of the darned valley. True to his words, his gash was healing and no longer dripping blood.

We soon got to the front of a cave, and I felt Zadok’s weight heavier on me. My head swished, and with horror, I realised he passed out on my body.

“Hey,” I shook him, “Wake up!”

No answer.

He was healing. Last I checked, his wound was closed up. What was going on?

I dragged him into a cave and gently placed him on a rock. Without a second thought, I rid him of his clothes, and as expected, the gash healed with little scar marks.

A light bulb went off in my head. The Scorpion! Its poison!

I remembered seeing the scorpion sting his head and dashed out of the cave, looking for a palm tree. When I was a young child, I watched a witch get stung by a scorpion get treated.Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

As I ran through the dark forest, looking for a palm tree with fruits, I hoped that I would be able to replicate the results as my mother did.

While I scoured the forest for a palm tree, I kept track of where I left Zadok. I hoped with all my heart that I didn’t make a mistake.

My eyes finally caught a palm tree holding fruits. But I needed to climb to get them. I looked up the twenty-metre-high tree and felt my resolve waver.

I couldn’t climb it. I was scared of heights.

A flash of Zadok lying unconscious in the cave entered my mind, and my hands balled into a fist. I couldn’t disappoint him. I couldn’t let him die.

I looked down at my hands. Time was of the essence.

Looking at the large tree, I felt my legs stick to the ground. I couldn’t do it.

Zadok. I couldn’t let him die.

I swallowed a scream and moved my feet to the tree. With my eyes focused on the palm tree’s fruits, I began my journey, one step at a time.

Soon enough, I was climbing. As I ascended the tree, I felt a strong urge to look down, but I resisted. I couldn’t look down even if my life depended on it.

Why? Because the moment I did, everything would go downhill, and I wasn’t ready to lose at all.

I climbed the palm tree, taking my time and going as fast as I could manage without falling. After what felt like a decade, I finally got to the tip of the tree.

Using one arm, I held on to the tree as my life depended on it. With my other arm, I took out my knife and cut down three palm fruits the size of a beaver. That will have to do.

I heard the descent of the fruits on the ground before proceeding to retrace my steps. What I didn’t take into consideration was the fact that it was going to be a different ball game altogether.

Slowly, I climbed down the tree, refusing to see how far above or close to the ground I was. I climbed down, using the tree bark to support my balance. One wrong step and I was dangling on the tree, far from the ground.

My heartbeat accelerated as I took in the height, and my hands suddenly felt sweaty, and jittery. I was going to fall. I was going to fall and die. I needed help.

Suddenly, I felt a hiss above my head and then spit. I hugged the tree like a koala bear, afraid to lose my grip. When I felt a slithering sensation on my arms, I hit it, thinking it was some insect, but oh was I wrong.

A snake crawled on my arm and a scream left my lips, causing it to retreat, but not without biting me on the arm. As a result of my pain, I let go of the tree, and within seconds, I was free-falling down the tree.

In my dying moments, I realised one thing. I didn’t care about my life, neither did I care about getting my powers. I just didn’t want him to die – Not without finding his mate and not in this dreaded forest.

Charged with a fresh will to live, I struggled to get a hold of the tree just a few metres to the floor. I grabbed a tree bark, bringing my fall to a stop. Using my free arm, I held on to another and did the same with my feet until I was balanced.

Slowly, I climbed down, careful not to miss my steps. It didn’t take long, and soon enough, I was standing on the ground close to my feet were the fruits I’d fought so hard to get.

I stretched my arm and took in the damage of the snake bite. However, I didn’t have time to fuss over it. I needed to get to Zadok and fast.