Separation

SINBAD Hate to admit it, but I'm starting to think that we might be lost. I kept that thought to myself, though. Garsam was in high spirits as we walked further into the forest and farther away from civilization. With his character, I'm already surprised he didn't yell, "Are we there yet?" every five minutes, so of course, I won't take the initiative to remind him that we've been walking for the past four hours with no end in sight. I took another step when my legs shook. I grabbed a tree branch to steady myself. Garsam also stopped and looked at me. His expression was both disdainful and mocking. I could see the word "weakling" in his eyes. I subconsciously defended myself. "I haven't exercised in a while." He shrugged with a smirk. "Didn't say anything." He leaned against a tree and played with the leaves. I punched my thigh to ease the slight cramp as I watched him. The silence was a tad unnerving, so I decided to ask about his home. I was really curious about the royals. "I heard the royal pack has a cold climate." His hand, which was stretched to catch a falling leaf, paused. His aura became more subdued. "It's an eternal winter," his tone was the same, but his expression said he didn't want to talk about his pack. I wondered why. After all, he is the heir to all Wolf Shifters, so he must have been treated like...well, a royal. I was curious, but since it wasn't in my place to pry, I wisely shut up. Definitely not because I'm afraid he will whoop my ass if I said another word. "We're exhausted," I said. "Let's set up camp." "Speak for yourself," he sneered. "I can walk another four hours, kiddo." "I'm older than you are," I drawled. "So?" "Stop calling me kiddo!" "What you gon' do 'bout it...kiddo?" "I...I...I'll go to bed." I turned around and ignored him. I heard a burst of laughter and smiled; he was no longer gloomy. So I stayed in place even though a root was poking me in the neck. When his laughter died down, I turned back to face him. "I'm curious..." I began. "No!" he cut me off. "Dude," I rolled my eyes, "you didn't even let me finish." He kicked a small rock in my direction and said firmly, "My answer is still no." I shifted in time to avoid being impaled. "Geez, I just wanted to know why you followed me, okay?" He paused in the midst of throwing another rock at me. My eyelids twitched; what the hell is wrong with him? He let go, and the rock fell by his feet with a thud, making my toes curl at the sound. He shrugged. "Nothing much... I just wanted to miss my birthday." My eyebrows raised in surprise. I didn't expect that. I thought he had some important matter to attend to, and that we would soon go our separate ways. Anyway, I didn't think he actually wanted to help me search for my mate, but who knew he just wanted to miss a birthday party? Around him was an aura I was familiar with, inky black and curling about him like a demon, fear. He was afraid of something, and that something or someone would be at his birthday. "Your birthday," I muttered. I saw him staring at me. "You're turning eighteen, right? So you meet your mate...you don't want to mate?" The realization struck me as odd. "None of your business," he snapped. I thought of Aria, whom I disobeyed my father to search for. The thought of her sent a warm current through me, and I smiled. "Mates are a blessing from the goddess." I turned, wanting to give him a lecture on how beautiful having a mate can be, but there was nobody there; he was gone. "You can't run forever!" I yelled. *** Barely two hours later, we continued walking in the direction my mate bond pulled me. Garsam was back to being moody, and no amount of jokes or sarcasm would bring him out of it, so I gave up, and we walked in silence. Suddenly, Garsam halted. "Shhh," he whispered. I stopped and shot him a questioning glance. 'What?' I mouthed. He didn't reply, just stared in a particular direction. Then, before I could blink, he shifted and took off without a word. I was ten seconds behind as I shifted almost subconsciously and followed him. His wolf, which was at least a size bigger than mine, zipped past the trees with practiced ease. I'm ashamed to say that not only was I slower, but I was also trying to avoid smashing head-first into a tree. When I finally caught up to him, I was heaving so much that I felt my lungs would burst. He had shifted back to his human form and was crouched down behind a thick shrub that hid his figure. Without turning, he tossed me a shirt and a pair of shorts. Once clothed, I sat beside him and looked ahead. In front of us was an iron fence. A rather low one, but it was barbed with cruel-looking spikes. It looked rather gloomy. I lowered my voice to a whisper. "What's up? Do you know this place?" He shook his head. "There's something in there." "Okay?" "I want to take it." "What??" I thought for a second and clenched my fist. "Is it yours?" If something was stolen from him, then I could help him get it back. But he shook his head. "No." I looked at him like he was a fool. "Then why the hell should we go into such a sinister-looking place? Are you tired of living?" "I didn't say you have to come," he drawled. "Well, I don't intend to," I replied with a huff. "I'm not putting my neck on the line for a whim." He sneered, "What a thing to say," then turned to me with eyes that glowed an eerie violet. "To someone that saved your life." I breathed a sigh. I'm not ungrateful that he saved my life, but I currently can't afford to be distracted. "Sorry, but I need to find my mate." He stood and walked to the wall. Just as he was about to jump, he turned slightly to meet my eyes. "If you like her so much, maybe you shouldn't have locked her up."