-HER-

"Why not?" I giggled and Lua laughed too. "It's a good idea," I commented and this made her stop laughing and look at me to ensure that I wasn't actually joking about this.

"What?" She asked in bewilderment. I bit my lower lip in excitement before I told her, "I think I know just the perfect way to test Ezekiel."

"You do?" Her eyes gleamed mischievously.

"Yes," I smiled evilly before telling Lua about my plan.

"You're wicked," she told me after I was done telling her what I'd decided.

"Am I?" I asked mischievously. Lua parted her lips to speak when Ezekiel and his equally annoying second in command appeared from the shadows of the woods. The camp was already set and the wolves had already lit a fire and now they were preparing dinner.

"What's so funny?" Ezekiel asked as his eyes blazed on me.

"Why? You two," Lua shot back and received a very low growl from Ezekiel.

"Anyway, we have made some plans to cross the river tomorrow," I interrupted, not wasting any more time. I wanted to get done with this already, have dinner and go to bed because I was feeling very much exhausted. I briefed them about my plan and of course, I'd left out the part about Ezekiel and Tryfon being bait for any kind of danger that might be lurking in the depths of the river.

And of course, them being them, they did manage to sneak a couple of casually sexist remarks here and there, which I deliberately ignored. After we were done talking about this, I went to have dinner. I didn't miss how Ezekiel was following me but I chose to ignore him as usual.

When I reached the middle of the camp where dinner was being served, I noticed there was some commotion going on. I didn't have to guess why. It was Nuessa again, causing a stir among the wolves. Her stench instantly reached my nose and it spoiled my mood and appetite. I reminded myself to do something about this soon.

"What's going on?" I demanded, crossing my arms on my chest and looking at the stir going on in front of me.

"This creature was found stealing food from us!" One of the wolves answered with an accusing finger pointed towards Nuessa. A growl ripped past Ezekiel's lips instantly before he took a step towards Nuessa but I stopped him.

"Nuessa!" I called out for that creature, who instantly appeared in front of my eyes, glaring at me. She was really digging her own grave at this point. "Did you steal food?" I demanded.

"Yes," She spat honestly.

"Are you forgetting what I told you in the afternoon?" I demanded.

"I haven't but I'm hungry since I had to walk all this way for not having a horse," She hissed at me, instantly earning another growl from Ezekiel. Ezekiel was ready to hit her already and this pissed me off slightly.

"You could have asked for food instead," I suggested to her and the glare in his eyes increased even more.

"I don't beg," she told me nastily.

"You'll go without eating for two days," I growled.

"She could go without eating for months. We are wasting our ration on her," Ezekiel growled at me. Now, I was starting to get a headache. I decided to leave it here because I was running out of patience. I'd already used a lot of it on our way here and I still needed to save for the rest of the journey.

"You can't do this to me!" Nuessa hissed but she was already being dragged away by two wolves outside the camp.

"Don't meddle in my business from next time," I gritted at Ezekiel lowly while I sat down at a makeshift table to have dinner.

"I'm not promising anything," He growled back. I finished dinner quickly and went back to my tent to get some good rest because tomorrow was going to be a very tiring and demanding day. Crossing the river wasn't going to be so easy. Even though I had planned out every single thing, I was feeling slightly anxious. I didn't want to lose any wolf. They were all precious to me.

I recorded some of my observations about the forest and the tribes before I blew off the candle and went to sleep. I kept my sword beside me, just in case because I knew what kind of scheming son of a bitch Ezekiel could be. He wasn't going to leave me alone after how I humiliated him in front of the tribe and the rest of the army.

I was right again.

That bastard came to my tent that night again. He didn't have to enter my tent for me to know that he was here. I could just feel him lingering outside my tent before he sneaked inside the same way he'd done last night. My fingers curled around the sword that I'd hidden beside me under the blanket.

"What do you want?" I questioned with my eyes closed and laying in my bed. He didn't move for a moment and simply stood there and watched me like the creep he was.

"I am here to talk to you," he replied darkly.

"I'm listening,"

"This is no way you talk to a king," He gritted.

I gave a short, humorous laugh, "What king?" In response, I heard a very low animalistic growl followed by metal sliding against metal, and in the next moment, I felt him stab my pillow with his sword, just an inch away from my face. It was very sudden and it had my heart racing but I maintained my calm.

How dare he!

"Trying to harm a sleeping she-wolf... huh? I didn't know you would stoop so low," I shot at him.

"A she-wolf sleeping with her sword," Ezekiel corrected me. "I know you've been waiting for me," He added with a tone of satisfaction in his voice. Okay, well he saw through it. I finally opened my eyes and sat up. I instantly found his glowing eyes in the dark.

"What do you want?" I demanded. He opened his mouth to say something but instantly shut it. I waited for him to speak but again, he didn't say anything. He simply continued to stare at me. I yawned and laid down in my bed, "Don't waste my time, Ezekiel," I told him nonchalantly while I tried to go back to sleep but that brute was determined to not leave my tent so easily.

"Celeste," He spoke after a while. I didn't respond to him.

"I'm concerned for you," He spoke. Did he really expect me to believe that? Unlike him, I didn't have my brain located in my genitals.

"Thank you. You can go now,"

"Celeste," He growled again. This time, his voice was much more closer to me. He was speaking right above my ear. A shiver ran down my spine and my wolf stirred inside me. She had been quiet all this while but I knew that she wanted to get closer to Ezekiel. I loved my wolf but I wasn't going to let her emotions destroy me again.

"Celeste," He called for me again when I didn't answer at first. His voice sounded much softer, tugging at my heart. I felt this urge to turn around and see if it was really him because I couldn't believe it was him but I knew better. He was a scheming bastard and this was just one of his traps. "Look at me. I wish to talk to you,"

"I'm trying to sleep, Ezekiel. Go talk to Tryfon," I told him and heard him groan behind me.

"I want to talk to you about us," he told me and my heart stuttered but I ground my teeth. He was playing with me again.

"I thought we discussed that in the evening," I tried to steer the matter but he cleared, "I am talking about you and me,"

"I'm not interested in that," I yawned again. I really wasted interest in anything related to or relating the two of us.

Was I?

All of a sudden, I felt some sparks dancing on my cheek. The sparks were strong enough to shake me up from inside and make my wolf stir even more. My heart fluttered in my chest and my stomach grumbled.

He was stroking my cheek with the back of his knuckles. I complimented his stroking skills with a low, warning growl. Though I must admit that he seemed very skillful at it and why not? He had a whole harem of women to practice with.

That bastard!

This tugged back those emotions in me which I thought I'd long discarded. All of a sudden, I was feeling this rage of emotions that threatened to escape me and destroy everything. I was sure that he was able to sense how stiff I'd grown under his touch but even after a warning growl, he continued to stroke my cheek.

"If you're thinking that this would get me to sleep with you like one of the women in your harem then you're mistaken," I growled at him after slapping his hand away from my face.

"Then what would make you to sleep with me?" He asked. He had the audacity to ask! Where did he get it from?

"Nothing would make me sleep with you, Ezekiel," I told him, turning around and giving him my back.

"Why?" He asked cluelessly.

Why was I surprised? I shouldn't have been surprised that this was coming from someone like him.

"Because you're ugly," I told him nonchalantly. A couple of moments of silence followed my words before he asked, "So, you're still mad at me for that?"

I couldn't understand how he could have the audacity to ask me that after he almost ripped my life in half. How dare he ask that after I'd spent years and years recovering from the wound he gave me, that too when I was just a pup? How dare he ask me that?

I'd been trying my best to keep calm all this time but this made me snap. I couldn't stand him anymore. I grabbed my sword and turned at him.

"ARE YOU GETTING OUT OF MY TENT OR NOT?" I roared, not caring if the whole camp or the whole forest heard me. I just couldn't care anymore. I shouldn't care in fact because Ezekiel doesn't deserve it.

He still had the audacity left in him because he growled back at me, "I am here to talk to you and I'm not leaving until you answer my question! You're my mate!" His hand reached at his sword again after seeing the stance that I had.

"I might be your mate but that doesn't mean that I you owe you an answer! I owe you nothing! If you don't want one of your limbs chopped off then leave!" I growled back at him. I was seeing red at that moment and I felt this strong urge to swing my sword at him.

"I'm not leaving until you answer me," He gritted at me, not knowing how close I was to snap but then again, I didn't think he'd care about that because he was blinded by his ego. A warning growl was all I gave him before I swung my sword at him. He growled back before both of our swords clashed but I didn't stop there. I kept swinging my sword, desperate to hurt him.

The two of us were very deep into dulling and when I recovered from the murderous haze, I realized that there was now nothing left of my tent.

"I hate you!" I cried at him before walking deep into the woods. I'd had enough of him but he followed me shamelessly.

"You can't run away from me,"

_

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