-HER-
I was in utter shock as I looked at the lycan catching his breath and then proceeded to dust the snow off his deadlock and his thick animal skin coat.
"Why did you want to see me?" I questioned him next, narrowing my eyes at him. I was still holding my sword and sitting upright in a good position to strike at him if he ever thinks of doing something funny.
"I just wanted to see you and make sure that you're doing alright. What's wrong with that?" He asked me back after he was done dusting off the snow. His free hair rested over his forehead lazily while he tied his dreadlocks in a massive bun. Meanwhile, I sat there looking at his small grooming ritual. My wolf was already taking in how his muscles moved as he worked with his hair. I think I'd seen him do that the first time.
I wasn't going to buy that so easily. Why the king of all chauvinists would travel through the mountains in the dark while there's a snowstorm just to see a she-wolf whom he would never consider his equal? I knew there was a strong motive behind him traveling here.
"So now that you have seen me, why don't you leave? I need to get some sleep. I have more mountains to climb tomorrow, you know," I reminded him and laid down, still clutching my sword because it would have been stupid not to do so. Ezekiel shouldn't be trusted in times like these. Ever.
"Naw, I think I'll stick with you for the night. It's my tent," He reminded me while edging close to me. Even though it was pitch black in the tent and the night wind was howling outside, I was still able to hear the smirk in his voice. My fingers tightened around my sword handle.
"Alright. You can stay here but don't put your hands on me if you don't wish to be hand-less," I gave him a proper warning and heard him grumble something incomprehensible under his breath. A moment of silence fell between us before I felt him getting closer to me but instead of putting his hands on me, he laid behind me.
"Don't you think it's a bit colder tonight?" He spoke after a while. I knew what he really meant by that.
"I think it's rather hot tonight,"
"Why don't you take your clothes off then?" He suggested.
"Naw, I'm fine," I told him.
A couple of moments of silence followed before I felt his hot breath fanning the back of my neck.
"Don't fvcking-" I started to threaten him but he was already wrapping his arm around my waist and spooning my body with his. First, I gave him a warning growl but he didn't budge.
"Get your hands off me, Ezekiel," I growled.
"Why? I'm just laying with you. You didn't mind it for the last couple of nights?"
"I'm running out of my patience today, Ezekiel. If you want your arms attached to your shoulder tomorrow then get it off me,"
"Fine," He gritted before taking his arm off my waist but he made no effort to move away from me. The front of his body was still pressed against my back and this was irritating me. I gave him another warning growl at this.
"Now what?"
"Ezekiel, get away from me," I growled.
"Why? I just want to lay here with you,"
"I don't want you anywhere near me," I gritted at him.
"Why?"
"You know the answer to that question, Ezekiel. Don't try to act clue-"
"Because I called you ugly once?" He cut in and this was my snapping point. I didn't give him any warning growl or anything this time. I simply acted.
I rose from my sleeping position before wrapping my blanket around him to straddle him. He was definitely taken back by my suddenness and before he could properly respond, I opened the door to my tent and threw him out of it and of course, I took the blanket back.
This time I made sure to close the door to my tent properly so that it wasn't possible for it to be zipped open from the outside. All of this took me a lot of energy and the lack of oxygen at such altitude had me gasping for breath as I collapse back in my bed and pulled the blanket over me.
As the night got darker, the howling of the wind outside grew stronger and stronger. With each hour the temperature of that place only seemed to drop. The snowstorm was starting to get really bad outside.
This was making my wolf pace inside me because she was concerned for him. I knew that he was right outside my tent because I could hear him. A huge part of me was feeling guilty for keeping him out in a snowstorm like this but I told myself again and again that the scheming son of a bastard deserved it.
He didn't say anything at first but when the wind got stronger and more lethal, he finally gave in.
"Celeste, let me in," I heard him gritting from outside. I could almost hear his teeth chatter. He was most likely freezing to death but that's what he deserved for putting me through all of this. I repeated this to myself again and again and for the most part to it was working.
"Celeste, let me in!" He had the nerve to shout. Unfortunately for him, I was playing deaf. I closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep but his constant yells and demands were not allowing me to do so.
If I woke up grumpy tomorrow and a couple of mountains turn out to be missing from this valley then it would be completely his fault.
"Celeste, let me in!" He growled when the winds grew harder.
"Learn to be polite first,"
"I take it back. You're not ugly,"
"You deserve to die outside tonight," I gritted and tossed around while I heard him groan outside.
"Celeste," He called for the final time. Then he said something I wouldn't have believed had I not heard him with my own ears, "Please,"
My wolf stirred but it wasn't so easy to persuade me anymore. If he wanted to get inside then he needed to apologize properly like a grown, responsible man. I have put up with enough and there was no way I was going to let him walk all over me again.
Hell would freeze before I let him get closer to me so easily.
"Celeste, please let me in," He growled from outside. I didn't say anything at first and continued to lay in my tent, pretending to be deaf.
"It's getting worse, Celeste. Let me in. I promise to not tease you anymore,"
"I don't fvcking trust you,"
"Well, we could start working on that if you let me in first,"
"Fvck you!" I growled in the night. A momentary silence followed my words before I heard him mutter in confusion, "I thought you didn't want to fvck me. Make up your mind, pup,"
I finally rose from my bed with my sword and unzipped the door to find him standing outside in the dark with his eyes glowing. With my gaze locked with his, I poked my sword in his chest and spoke, "I don't want to do anything with a man like you, Ezekiel. The sooner you wrap your head around this, the better it would be for you. My world doesn't revolve around you like those women in your harem. I feel disgusted to be your mate. I'm simply putting up with you and that stupid mate bond for the sake of my job otherwise I don't have any interest in being anywhere near you and seeing that cursed face of yours!"
I didn't realize that I was speaking all of these until these words came out of my mouth. Something flickered in his eyes and he set his jaw while he watched me pensively for a moment without uttering a word.
Was he hurt?
I couldn't have cared less.
Don't lie to yourself. My wolf chimed in but I pushed back her sickening feelings at the back of my head and thought rationally.
He didn't say anything but flicked my sword away and walked inside the tent without saying a single word. I clenched my jaw and walked inside before zipping the door back and collapsing into my bed because I was feeling out of breath by just talking so much in a single breath. Meanwhile, Ezekiel laid on the other side of the tent with his back facing me.
Good for him.
I laid down and went back to sleep without uttering another word. I was soon falling asleep because of the exhaustion and the rest of the night drifted away in that snowstorm.
The next morning I woke up in my tent. Everything seemed normal through that obnoxious lycan was nowhere to be seen. I wasn't complaining though. I didn't feel like seeing him after what went done between us last night because I was somewhat pissed and feeling guilty for yelling at him like that. I definitely needed a break from him.
After eating breakfast and wrapping up the tent, we finally set out to climb the rest of the mountain. We had a head start this morning because the sun was up and the winds were much weaker so we didn't have trouble climbing.
After putting in some effort we were finally able to cross the mountain and now we had officially entered the valley. The river Levavin could be seen several hundred feet down under us. It was a beautiful view but at the same time, it reminded me again and again what Ezekiel had told us about the river. I should've asked him about this last night but I was just too mad at him to remember important things like these.
"We need to follow the path parallel to the river," I announced to the wolves in my group.
"Would we need to climb all the way down to the riverbed?" One of the wolves asked.
"But the Emperor had told us not to go anywhere near it or touch its water," Argued another wolf.
At this, I looked ahead of us. We were currently walking along the extremely narrow paths lined by the mountain. It wasn't safe and I could see that we would need to change paths ahead because the path got narrower and narrower and besides, we were in a vulnerable position. Even though we had camouflaged ourselves according to the surroundings, the Drakkons could spot us up here easily if they were paying a bit more attention. Besides, this path would slow us down a LOT.
I looked down at the river again and contemplated for a moment.
"Let's see what's the deal with the river,"
_
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