Chapter 417

417 Tension in the Wild

“Did you say... tents?”

“Yes. We carried one each, so there should be a spare in Bree’s backpack. Seeing as you didn’t pack anything, you’ll have to use that one. Don’t touch her clothes though,” Crysta replied nonchalantly while she began unpacking.

“Oh, okay,” Wyatt hesitated a moment before checking through the bag he was left with.

The alpha was somewhat shocked at the level of preparedness and thought the girls had put into the Trials, “I might have... underestimated you.”

Crysta paused, having taken the neatly bundled tent out of her bag, “You know... It’s true Bree wouldn’t have been able to keep up this pace but you’re barely an improvement. I’m supposed to be the slowest and even then, I’ve tried pushing my limits so that Lina wouldn’t feel like we’re slowing her down, but...”

“You don’t have to tell me. I know what this looks like. I’ll make up for it. Just you wait...,” the man replied, stretching his shoulders, “I have been meaning to ask. You haven’t said anything about the Mountain pass. Why can’t we use it? From what I saw on the map, going to the stream would set us farther from it.”

“I had to make a tough choice with that one. We won’t be able to make it through the mountain pass. I can’t find any source of water on the other side of the Sirius Mountain, so the stream is our only hope of restocking our water supply,” the delta explained.

“Okay... Well, I hope the Boss Lady agrees with you on that one. Crossing the mountain from that angle alone might wear down the water you’re after...”

Crysta’s eyebrows twitched with frustration, but she forced down her emotions. One of them had to be their sense of reason in this situation. Losing sight of their goal would only be a recipe for disaster. Then again, Wyatt’s infuriating arguments weren’t without reason, “We need to get to that stream. We’ll solve any other issues when we get to the mountains.”

.....

“Sounds to me like you have more than drinking water in mind,” Wyatt chuckled.

“A bath sounds nice right about now,” the girl replied, finally finding a place where the trees parted wide enough for them to set up their tents.

“Considering your condition, I’ll set up the tents instead. Why don’t you try collecting firewood, dry grass or leaves instead? Anything that can catch fire,” the delta ordered.

Wyatt froze with his hand on the rubber fabric of the tent he was just about to put up. His blood went cold and his muscles went stiff immediately. Something was wrong with all this.

He racked his brain quickly for a reason why he was reacting to what had just happened... His wolf pointed it out almost immediately. The delta had just ordered him to do something... A delta ordering an alpha.

Normally, he would brush this off and just do as she’d said, but this was different. He didn’t have a choice... The gentle throbbing of a headache at any thought of resistance made that dangerously clear.

Crysta’s order was binding. She might have not intended it, as her tone suggested, but something was odd about it.

“Very well,” the alpha replied before leaving to collect firewood on his own.

Crysta was done with two tents when a white wolf appeared along with the rustle of leaves and a cooling breeze of wind. The wind carried with it the scent of blood... and something else... Lina’s scent, which Crysta had only started to recognize recently. It reminded her of lavender.

In the white wolf’s bloodied mouth was a petite doe that it dragged with barely an effort. Crysta cast a wide-eyed glance at her friend, “Couldn’t you find something like a rabbit or a hare?”

The white wolf dropped the carcass and shifted back into her human form, “I might have... let loose a little while I was in the forest.”

The royal rushed to her backpack and retrieved a knife before starting to skin the deer. Crysta couldn’t help but notice Lina had not yet shown any signs of exhaustion since their trip had started.

It would be fine to at least make some panting sounds, right? No, the princess hadn’t even done that. Each time they’d stopped to rest, Lina had merely sat down and waited for them to catch their breath, sometimes clawing at a tree root drawing signs and exhibiting signs of utter boredom, “Are we slowing you down, Lina?”

The princess was silent for a moment before answering, her knife never slowing in the swift experienced motions between the doe’s hide and flesh.

“No, not really. If I was half as good at navigating as you are, maybe... but then there is nighttime. If I was alone, I couldn’t possibly go to sleep comfortably. There are so many dangers the wilderness has to offer.

I’m not as good at coming up with these strategies either. So, I would not be any good at coming up with efficient plans in case I was faced with a problem.

At first, it felt like I could just go through the Trials with speed alone, but the Great Arena is far. I know I’m fast, but I don’t know if I can make that trip. I’ve never been out in the wilderness on my own. There is a lot I don’t know about surviving a journey through the wild. So, to answer your questions... No, you’re not slowing me down.”

Crysta was starting on the third tent when she stared at Lina skinning away with her sharp knife. She made it look so easy, “You’re good with a knife.”

Lina chuckled, “If I didn’t know how to do this, Drake would never let me be. It’s a family tradition to know how to skin a deer as well as field dressing. You know how Royals are with venison...”

“You’re back already?” a male voice interrupted them.

“Yes, I am. Someone’s looking better. How are you doing? You looked like you were on death’s door,” Lina asked. The genuine concern in her voice stunned the alpha.

“I’ll be fine. It’s nothing a werewolf of my calibre can’t handle. Don’t underestimate me,” Wyatt replied.

“Of course, I’m sorry I doubted you,” Lina had just finished skinning the deer and was about to start field dressing when he offered to help. The princess spun the knife in her hand, pointing the handle to the alpha to take, “A hand?”

“Sure,” Wyatt walked over to Lina and took the knife from her, “You can get started on the fire. I’m all over this.”

Lina regarded him for a moment before shrugging, “Very well, you handle that. Don’t push yourself too much though. I wouldn’t want you to be dead weight.”

‘Ah, that’s why she sounded so concerned. Figures,’ he thought to himself, smashing all the delusions that had started to crop up within his mind.

Lina started searching through their bags once more in search of something to light the fire. One minute turned to three and then five... ten, “Crysta, did you pack matches?” Lina asked out loud, slightly irritated. This irritation was not lost on the mind link. The other two wolves both sensed it... clear as day.

Crysta paused with the third tent and thought out loud, “I don’t...”

“Crysta!” Lina squealed, her mouth hanging open in disbelief.

“You were rushing me when I tried double-checking for anything we’d missed. I didn’t have the time to think about it,” Crysta tried reasoning, but could feel her words hitting deaf ears.

Lina stood and began pacing, trying to regain a calm frame of mind. Her previous worries used this moment of weakness to resurface. She could already imagine her brother had made good use of his headstart and without a delta to hold him back, he was probably much further than they were at the time.

'

“Lina, don’t blame Crysta for...” Wyatt stepped between the two girls, but Lina was paying no attention to the alpha.

“I’m going for a run. I need to think,” the girl dismissed the man’s suggestion before he was even done speaking. Crysta dropped to her knees, sighing dejectedly.

“Couple’s therapy is a thing these days,” Wyatt broke the silence after several minutes. He was done with field dressing and was starting to set up the fireplace, removing any sticks and grass scattered about the clearing.

“I think that would help you and your buddy more than it would Lina and I,” Crysta retorted.

The alpha grunted in response to the sudden jab, “I lost my friend that day. I’m now convinced there might be no way of fixing that,” Wyatt sighed.

“Why did you choose to come with us, Wyatt? I can’t stand you already. You made a convincing argument back then, but all you’ve done so far is play the part of a useful pack mule,” Crysta barked, getting back to setting the third tent.

Wyatt’s face suddenly contorted in a look of anger, “Okay, that’s it. I get that you need somewhere to direct your frustration, but now you’re crossing a line and...” Crysta turned to face the alpha...

It was true that she was angry. Her frustrations had been gathering ever since she noticed the princess was simply caving to her arguments. Crysta wanted a way into Lina’s mind. No matter what Lina said, Crysta felt if only a little unsure of her true emotions... and it was eating at her...

Their little showdown of anger, however, was interrupted as a loud scream tore through the mind link. It was coming from Lina. The two wolves stopped their argument and shifted, abandoning their camp in pursuit of the royal.

Sensing her distress through the mind link, they could tell her location and quickly made it through the forest heading for the girl’s position. It was a short while before they’d made it to her... and when they did, both of them skidded to a sudden halt, a sense of fear gripping every fibre of their werewolf beings.

It was only the first day of the Trials and they’d faced the obstacle of Endurance. An obstacle that proved harder on the two escorts more than the princess... Now, however, there was something else facing them.

Standing in a defensive position was a white wolf, not daring to move a muscle at the sight before her. Lina wouldn’t take her eyes off the being that had her in this frightening stalemate. Her sapphire orbs were locked in a dangerous tangle with a pair of catlike eyes.

Eyes that belonged to a jaguar.

....