The Exiled Alpha | ✓

34 | Homesick

It's like we're on top of the world, looking out across it. There's a vast sea of trees below— an entire valley of woods nestled in the basin of a circle of forest covered mountains. It's as if those mountains were hiding this place from the rest of the world, an impressive feat considering it's a world all its own.

"It's beautiful," I finally manage, at a complete loss for words. Beautiful doesn't even begin to describe it. There's something here, something in the air itself, that's eerily noticeable. There's a weird feeling swirling inside me just as indescribable as the place itself. Like power is radiating from the ground. Like something tragic took place here, lost within the grand scheme of time.

I'm astonished beyond utterance, but I'm still confused. "Why are you showing me this?"

He gives a small shrug. "You seemed homesick. I thought this kind of looked like your old territory." He's right. It does remind me a bit of the forests and mountainsides of Visari. Visari is a home that I can't go back to, a land I love with every ounce of my being. But not even Visari can compare to this.

The fact that Riot was thinking of me, of me missing my home, warms my heart. There's a little flutter in my chest, making me realize just how happy I am to be stuck with him. I may miss the place I grew up, but I would trade it for this any day. For a cabin hidden away in an unclaimed forest with my mate.

I smile and move toward him, wrapping my arms around his torso. "Thank you," I breathe into his collar bone. He hesitates a little before returning my hug. As if he didn't expect me to appreciate the gesture.

Over his shoulder, my eyes land on a massive strip of natural debris. It's an enormous landslide of boulders and dirt. Judging by the grass, weeds, and wildflowers that grow on it, it fell a long time ago.

An irrational and impulsive thought pops into my head. An image of me trapped beneath the landslide when it fell. Sealed off from any air besides the meager supply that was trapped with me. Air that I would waste by screaming and clawing at the rocks, trying to find a way out. All while ignoring the knowledge that if someone did hear me, they wouldn't be able to dig far enough to save me.

I find myself squeezing Riot tighter. Within his chest, his heartbeat speeds up, pounding in my ear. I look up at him with a gleam in my eye.

"You know I hate you, too, right?"

He chuckles a bit, pushing my hair back over my head. "I know."

I realize with a pang of excitement that he's smiling. A full blown, undeniable smile.

Holy shit I've witnessed history.

I've caught him grinning before, or even suppressing a smile. But never have I seen one as immensely happy as the one on presently on his face. And it's all because I hate him.

• • •

The trip back down the brutal mountainside is spent with me trying to use any method possible to accidentally make Riot fall the rest of the way down. So far, none of my attempts have succeeded.

He tries to counter my shenanigans with little pushes and shoves of his own, but his wolf scolds him before anything can happen.

About five minutes after I tried tossing a rock under his foot to trip him, his hand presses between my shoulder blades and gives me a swift little nudge. I lurch forward from the force, only to be immediately jerked back into place by his iron grip around my arm.