102: We can bring your friend back.
**Zion pov**
By the time the morning sunlight shone into the cave, I still hadn’t had a chance to close my eyes.
I just couldn’t sleep.
Despite the fact that Kala slept in my arms so peacefully, looking as beautiful and radiant as ever despite the circumstances, my mind still couldn’t find peace.
My thoughts kept drifting off to the day when everything really went downhill.
To be honest, in a way, I blamed myself for that. If it hadn’t been for my own decision to send Aife away, perhaps the monster inside my best friend wouldn’t have awoken.
But alas, it was too late to dwell on all the “what if’s” simply because I didn’t possess the power to turn back time.
Slowly, I stretched my sore limbs when Kala turned in her sleep, her back to me, her head no longer resting on my shoulder.
I took the chance to quickly get dressed, only pulling up my pants and the shirt, leaving the coat draped over her to ensure my mate was warm and comfortable.
Then, I gathered some woods outside, started the fire and took all but five minutes to quickly shift, hunt down a rabbit and bring it back to the cave.
“Can’t let my beautiful mate starve,” I muttered as I got to work on skinning and gutting the small animal before I positioned it over the fire to cook it.
The rabbit was nearly cooked when Kala finally blinked her eyes open at me.
Like always, I froze, staring at her like a complete fool. Every time this woman looked at me, I felt like time had stopped and I lost the footing under my feet.
How the Goddess did it, I had no damn idea, but fuck me, did I love the effect she had on me.
“Good morning,” she whispered and flashed me a beautiful smile.
I grinned back, abandoned the caveman type cooking and rushed to her just to steal a quick kiss. “Now it’s definitely a good morning,” I said as soon as we pulled apart.
Slowly, I stood up and pointed at the fire, “caught some food for you, it’s nearly finished cooking. I also found a stream nearby, so we have water and since I’m such a lucky guy, near the stream I found some bits of mint. I don’t have spices or sugar, unfortunately, but I believe this will be better than nothing at all.”
Kala’s eyes widened a fraction before she spoke, “are you kidding me? Who cares about sugar and spices if they have a mate who goes out of his way to go out in the cold and actually hunt to keep them full? Zion, you’re one of a kind.”
I could feel how my cheeks started burning with her praise, but instead of leaning into it, I did what I always did - I downplayed it.
Shrugging my shoulders, I returned to the fire and turned the meat around to ensure it cooked evenly while mumbling, “it’s not a big deal, my love. Just because I’m a pack guy doesn’t mean I can’t hunt. Yes, I love modern day life, but I can do just okay without luxuries.”
My words only made her grin wider as just as I glanced at her, my mouth went completely dry and my pants suddenly became too tight.
Kala stood up, still completely naked, and stretched. She didn’t seem to mind the coldness at all and the little light that entered the cave made her look like a true Goddess.
What made the view even better was the baby bump she carried so proudly and then, her hand, that cradled the bump seemingly on instinct.
“You’re so beautiful,” I blurted out without thinking.
Kala tilted her head to look at me, grinned and winked at me. “Guess you’re one lucky dog to have this cat as your mate, eh?” She teased me.
I couldn’t help but laugh at her words, but just like always, I agreed completely. “Yeah, I totally am the luckiest dog on this planet. Technically wolf, my love, but I don’t mind becoming a bitch if you want me to be one.”
That made her laugh, but instead of dragging out the banter, Kala got dressed and once she was done, she sat on the rock next to me.
We both enjoyed the silence while I made her a cup of tea and finally finished cooking the rabbit.
To be honest, it wasn’t the best thing I had eaten but definitely wasn’t the worst either. I missed salt and the meat had a weird texture, definitely not a juicy steak.
However, it was far better than the grilled cheese sandwiches Bane once made for me. His idea of cooked was charcoaled and stinky, but I still ate them because that smug fucker was so damn proud of himself, I just couldn’t tell him the truth about his cooking.
As soon as the thought of him crossed my mind, I tensed and Kala instantly picked up on it.
“Zion,” she whispered and placed her hand over mine, “I know you’re thinking about him, but trust me, we’ll get through this. I still have hope that we can bring your friend back.”
I smiled at her, weakly, but still smiled. “Yeah, for as long as there is hope, right?”
Kala shook her head, “don’t be so negative, my love. Worse things have happened and somehow, everything always runs its course and eventually gets back where it should be. I believe we should put more trust in him, don’t you?”
I thought about her words for a good while until I managed to nod weakly. “Yeah.”
Kala squeezed my hand. “Now say that again, but this time, make it sound like you truly believe what you’re saying.”
I chuckled and ran a hand through my hair. Somehow, she could read me better than people who had known me for years on end. This woman was out of this world, that was a fact.
“Yeah, you’re right,” I finally said. “My best friend is still in there, somewhere, and I know how Bane is. He is many things, according to others, but one thing he isn’t is a coward. He’s still fighting.”
Kala nodded in agreement and smiled. “That’s right. Now, let’s finish the breakfast and head down the mountain; I’m pretty sure I saw a village at the bottom of it during the drive here. Maybe people living there could have some idea about what is going on in the mountains and tell us if they saw Aife or Bane leaving.”
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
