Kevin’s POV
I made it. We made it. I breathed hard as I jumped down the mountain on the other side and saw my pack members jumping down beside me and shifting into their human forms.
“That was close.” Liam grinned as he stood up on his feet and dusted his clothes.
I nodded, my chest heaving with exhaustion. I had imagined being taken down by those beasts and it wasn’t a good sight in my mind.
“What next now?” Ella asked.
I turned to her, watching her blank face. I didn’t know if she was angry or was tired. She hated it when she was threatened. I knew she must have imagined ripping those beasts off with her claws. I wanted that too but I had to be realistic. We couldn’t have fought those beasts and the only thing we could have done was what we did.
They were bigger than we were and it was their turf that we were on. We had no idea of how many they were and if those who we saw were the messengers. If the messengers were built that way, I didn’t want to know how the rest of them were.
Moreover, they weren’t my enemies and I was not interested in wasting energy on those who were not the Rogues.
“Kevin,” Ella called out.
“Uhn?” I replied absentmindedly.
“Did you hear what I said? I asked what the next plan is.” Ella stared at me.
Oh! I had zoned into my mind, I had forgotten she had said something that sent me that spiraled me down the path.
I pulled out the map from the side pockets of my trousers. “We go down to the river. It should be down that way.” I said, pointing to the north.
“Maybe we should rest and eat.” Loki said, rubbing his stomach with his right palm. “This is a wide land and there are no forests around us. I think it’s safe for us to camp here, eat and sleep. We can always go to the river tomorrow morning.” His stomach rumbled as if to show that he agreed with what his owner had said.
I chuckled at the sound of his stomach clamoring for food and looked around at the rest of the men. They all wore the same expression and seemed to agree with what Loki had said.
“Okay, let’s camp here for the night.” I said.
The men cheered and Augusta dropped his bag and started bringing out what we had to use. Two of the men went for firewood and were back in two minutes. I watched as they started the fire and roasted the meat. The men talked and laughed as they ate to their satisfaction.
The fire blazed all through the night as we drifted off to sleep. I hoped as I closed my eyes for some truly deserved sleep that it chased off other creatures from us and didn’t call their attention to us.
The next day, I stretched as I woke up, my eyes glinting in the sun and smiled as I looked around and saw the men already up.
“Morning, my lord.” They all chorused.
“Morning.” I waved at them, scanning the place for Ella. She was nowhere to be found.
“She is there.” Liam smiled and pointed to a small rock behind us, noting how my eyes were wondering all around.
I smiled at being too obvious and went down to where he said she was. “Thank you.”
“You are up early.” I said as I got behind her.
“I’m always up early.” She said without turning back.
“I know.” I sighed. There seemed to be a strain between us now as I realized that the last time two of us had something to say to each other that was idle chatter was when we were with the Blue River pack and she had betrayed me then.
I didn’t know what to say to her now. Scratch that, there was a lot that I wanted to say to her but I didn’t know how to start or how she would be receptive to it. I noticed that she had gotten withdrawn ever since we escaped from the count’s house and wondered if the reality of being with me was finally sinking in and she didn’t like the idea.
Ah, shit! I groaned as I ran my hand through my hair and blew out a breath. I didn’t like feeling this insecure. I wanted to hold her in my arms and not feel this way.
“Is there a problem, Kevin?” She asked, finally looking at me.
“Uhn?”
She frowned. “You are getting absentminded these days. What is the problem with you?”
I chuckled, realizing that there was a problem with us and it was hilarious. I thought that she was getting withdrawn and she thought that I was getting absentminded. We really needed to bridge the communication gap we seemed to be having.
“Let’s go back to the camp.” I said instead. “We need to start early on our journey.” The men should have been done decamping at the moment.
“I thought I was going to get some time alone.” She sighed as she turned to follow me.
I smiled. “You can do that when we camp for tonight.” I said but I hoped that she wouldn’t have to look for time alone when we camp for tonight as I hoped that we would have sorted out our communication issues.
“Okay.” She smiled brightly as we moved to join the others.
I had to confess that her enthusiasm to be alone bothered me though I didn’t let it show.