His Little Human Mate

Chapter 11

Noella

The fabric of the thin tent looms above me, taunting me with the fact that my eyes won't shut.

I sit up, huffing a sigh. A wolf howls in the distance, and I shiver. The sound of danger always comes out at night, and it's doing nothing to lull me to sleep.

A crack sounds outside, and I jump, my thoughts immediately thinking of ways to ward off a predator, but then I see the faint glowing light of the fire still burning outside.

I slip on my boots, wrap the thin blanket I was given around myself, and unzip the tent, but it's not until I've finished zipping it back up and turn around that I notice I'm not the only one out here.

A shadow looms by the flames, his head in his hands and his feet tapping a nervous rhythm in the snow.

I'm standing at least ten steps away from the fire, yet I know who sits there, bathing in the orange light. I also know that he's probably out here for solitude.

I turn around to try again at the impossible task of sleep, but then he calls out, "You can stay out here." I whip around, but his figure hasn't moved. "If you want," he adds. "I don't mind."

Something about his voice has the cold whispering away, heat replacing it as I take slow steps to sit beside him.

"You couldn't sleep either?" He asks softly as he glances over at me.

His eyes hold mine for a minute before flitting away, but the feel of them stays on my skin. It's strange, the effect he has on me.

"I haven't grown accustomed to sleeping in the woods, I suppose," I murmur. "Not like you guys have."

Silence stretches after that, and it's about to reach an awkward stage when he asks, "How's your wrist?"

I blink, then glance down at the sprained wrist I had definitely forgot about until now. The thin white wrapping is dirty now, but it's still holding up relatively well.

"Whatever that doctor gave me must have been very strong," I reply.

"You have no idea," he mutters with a shake of his head. "I have more in my bag if you need it. Just let me know."

Warmth spreads through my chest, and I smile to myself as I look into the fire.

"Do your parents live out here?"

I don't know what compels me to ask the question, but I'm suddenly overcome with curiosity.

His foot tapping gets faster, and his back straightens slightly, barely noticeable if one wasn't looking for it. If one wasn't searching
for it.

My question goes unanswered, but I'm not about to push him into something that's clearly too painful to voice, so I sit in silence with him.

"My mother passed while giving birth to me," he starts, voice thick. "She was very sick while she was pregnant, but none of the doctors believed her when she said it was more than morning sickness." He scoffs, his eyes, full of anger, stare into the fire. "They told her that pregnancy often made women delusional, that all she needed was a good nights rest. Giving birth to me was the last nail in her coffin."

I'm speechless. I have dealt with grief, loss, the agony of not knowing if someone will come back to you, but I have never felt guilty over someone else's death, never felt responsible for one. It's palpable, the pain of responsibility he carries. The fault he feels is swirling in the air, drowning him, suffocating his soul.

"How could you-" I stop, unable to even believe he thinks this of himself. "How could you blame yourself like that?"

"How could you think I'm innocent?" He asks incredulously.

My brows furrow, pain throbbing through my heart at what a terrible burden he's taken upon himself.

"You were barely a person. You had just been brought into the world. There's no way it could be your fault, Nixx."

He shudders, a feeling entering his eyes that I can't decipher.

"I think you believe if you make yourself seem like a monster, then nobody will expect a hero," I say, moving closer to him so our eyes connect. "But your walls aren't iron, Nolixx. I see you."

His eyes swirl with something akin to desire, but that can't be right..... right?

But then he's tilting his head, inching closer, and I don't stop myself from doing the same.

Our lips, moments apart, electricity pulsing between them. So close, so-

A scream reverberates through the air, and I'm fairly certain it's male.

"Rowan!" Kyler shouts, his voice shaky. "You can't do shit like that, man! You know how jumpy I am at night!"

Nixx chuckles, and I whip my head back to him, my lips twitching at the sight of his smile.

"Those two are always at it," he mutters. Then, standing, he says, "We should probably try to sleep. We have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow."

I nod, way too enthusiastically, as I answer, "Yes, yeah, we should do that."

He nods, and then I'm walking away, trying not to cringe at the fact that we almost kissed just now.

Trying not to cringe at the fact that I really wanted to.

•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*

Cold is my new nemesis. It's taking up room in my bones, filling my blood, and frosting up my insides. I don't know when the temperature dropped to this degree, but I can tell you that it is not fun.

"Almost there, guys!" Nixx shouts from the front of the line.

The hundredth shiver of the hour racks through me, and I almost groan at the feeling of my toes slowly being sucked of sensation.

None of the men are complaining, and it's either because they're really resilient, or incredibly prideful. It also could be both.

"You doing alright there, El?" Kyler asks.

His use of Alairia's nickname for me doesn't go unnoticed, so I reply with, "I'm doing great, Ler."

My voice is honey sweet, amusement threading each and every word.

"Ler?" He asks, incredulous. "Why not Ky?"

I shake my head, a stupid grin on my face.

"I'm guessing that's what everybody calls you. I want mine to be unique," I say with a shrug.

He scoffs, but I see the twitching of his lips.

"Ler is not unique, it's weird. Like, calling a deer an er or something."

I chuckle. "When did deer come into the conversation?"

"Since you decided that nicknames should no longer make sense," he answers with a laugh.

"It makes sense," I argue. "It's just not what you're used to! I promise-"

"We're here."

Nixx's voice is at once loud and quiet, the words he speaks forcing everyone into silence, too afraid to summon the dangers of the forest.

The space around us simply looks like a wide expanse of trees and snow packed earth, but I know how deceiving these bushes can be.

"Split up into pairs of two!" Nixx shouts. "Noella, you're with me. Search this place from top to bottom! No corner left uncovered!"

"Yes, Alpha!" They all reply.

I still haven't figured out why they call him that, but as I follow Nixx through the forest, I decide it doesn't matter.

I'm about to see my father again. We'll go home, and I won't have to sleep in my car anymore. I will have real company, instead of always talking to Bertha.

I'll have my dad back.

A/N
Thank you so very much for reading!❤️
Let me know if you have any comments or critiques!