Falling in love with my Ex's Alpha Chapter 170: Book 2 - Chapter 3

***The Healer***

I feel a presence approaching me, even with my eyes closed. Before the treat reaches me, my hand instinctively goes straight to the possible threat's throat.

Never let your guard down.

"Argh! Calm down, it's me!" Dana raises her hands in surrender. "You asked me to wake you up after a few hours. Don't you remember?" she says, patting my hand twice so I can take my firm grip off her throat.

"Where's Letum?" I ask as I let her go, then I sit up and start rubbing my eyes.

I must have slept at most three hours. Winter makes us lose track of time, I hadn't slept in a while. I needed that nap.

However, we can only stay in the open for so long; anyone can attack us. I only fell asleep after Dana pissed me off about my sleep deprivation, but to be honest, I was already almost passing out from sleep.

I run my hand through my hair and feel the roughness of it.

I need a bath.

Dana crosses her arms and scans our surroundings. She knows that the last time she let her guard down, it led me to yell at her for weeks.

"He's already left. He said he thought it would be better for him to go ahead since this territory has denser vegetation," she looks at the trees around us. "Well, not so dense now during the winter, but you got it," Dana says, pressing her lips into a thin line as she runs her hand over her arms, the temperature getting lower and lower. We need shelter.

We need to head towards the cave located in the eastern direction. The cave will be our meeting point in two days.

After we did a patrol in this forest border and saw that there was no one there, I decided to split up. I commanded Letum to go west, Dana to go east, and I will go north.

Usually, when Nige came with us, he went south. But it's been a while since he warmed my blankets...

After putting everything I used to take a nap in my backpack, I get up and put it on my back. I grab the hem of my coat and bring it to my nose. Urgh. It smells of sweat.

Goddess! *I really need a bath*!

Good thing the cave to the east has a hot spring. I'm already dreaming of getting there soon. Dana will be the first to get there, and she will wait for Letum. I chose the longer route, so I will be the last to arrive.

"I had a nightmare again! We need to finish this soon so we can go back to the central cave. I need my mate," Dana says with a pout.

Her mate is in the central cave, where my parents and the rest of what's left of our pack are.

"You're lucky you don't have your fated mate. Otherwise, you'd see how difficult these trips we take are," Dana says, and I immediately feel my blood heat up in my body with anger.

Who considers someone to be lucky?

Who would consider a person who doesn't have a fated mate to be lucky, for Goddess' sake?

Is she serious?

I shoot an angry glare at Dana. She has no filter and blurts out everything she thinks. When I'm about to curse her, she turns to me and realizes the shit she said, "I'm sorry, Lexi! I didn't–"

"It's okay, Dana!" I finish checking my clothes and the space around me to see if I haven't forgotten anything and then start covering any traces that we've been here.

"You will meet your fated mate–"

"Fuck! I already said it's okay!" I yell at her. Suddenly, I'm a little happier that I'm going north alone.

"Mhm... Okay," Dana says with her head down, looking down at the ground.

Everything around us is covered in snow and fog. I turn to her to say goodbye before leaving, "Be careful on the way, check–"

"I know, Lexi, I'm going to check what's in front of me with my nose and ears before I check with my feet," she repeats, imitating my voice in an exaggerated and thick tone with a straight face.

I roll my eyes, "Okay, I'll see you in a few days, don't stay too far out of mindlink's range–"

"I know, I know," she says and hugs me. "Don't shift in front of anyone, Alexa!" Whenever Dana wants to talk about something serious, she uses my name, not my nickname.

"You know I only shift when I'm sure I'm not going to leave any threat alive or when you guys are nearby," I remember her.

Having a red wolf has its advantages. I am a healer, but at the same time, I must constantly be alert to avoid any threats of discovering my wolf's color.

The Bloodmoon pack can't find me.

I hug her tightly as I look ahead towards the northern horizon. Then, I continue on my way north. I will be alone with nothing but my thoughts for at least two days.

That's okay. I'm used to it anyway.

🐺 🐺 🐺

I've been having nightmares for two days now about what Kyrie, Dana's mate, told me.

That little witch told me I was supposed to follow the light on my next journey and not be afraid.

Although she could not elaborate much, she did mention that her powers were still in the developmental stage, which is why she couldn't provide more details then. I didn't understand what she meant either. Following the light... Maybe it's a metaphor for me to accept my death?

Part of the reason my pack is in the situation *is* because of me.

My mind starts to wander, but I return to being aware of my surroundings.

It's been about four hours since I said goodbye to Dana. As expected, I didn't meet anyone on my way.

Everything around me indicates that no one has been to this part of the forest for a long time. Maybe it's because access to this place is so tricky.

My feet are starting to get tired from walking so much without stopping, so I start looking around for a place to rest. I'm going to take advantage and eat my last banana.

As soon as I find a tree with minimal snow accumulation at the base of the trunk, I immediately settle down and rest my back against its solid trunk.

I check again to make sure, but I can't hear any animal noises nearby, human or not.

When satisfied, I open my backpack and grab my last banana. I haven't eaten since before I dozed off. When we're on a mission, we can't afford to carry a lot of stuff, so we only take the essentials. It's crucial that we travel light so we can move quickly.

The problem is that this way, I always need to have our following meals in mind so I don't let Letum or Dana go hungry. Even though they are two years older than me, they are my responsibility.

As soon as I finish eating, my body starts to relax; the snow is getting thick. If I weren't a she-wolf, I would already be dead from hypothermia.

I carelessly close my eyes for a few seconds, giving in to the temptation of the rest that my body so desperately demands.

When I open my eyes again, I startle with a sigh because everything is dark around me.

I must have drifted into a deep sleep, and it got dark. I didn't even notice. Fuck! I need to be more careful!

I get up in a hurry to go on my way, but something shiny catches my attention.

A bright light far away from where I am, yet... the light seems to call me... to hurry me...

I take a step towards the little ball of light, and it seems to shine even brighter, as if it's alive and happy for me to come closer, even though it's very far away.

I take a step back and raise my hands to defend myself.

This could be a trap. I'm not going there. If it's a trap, I won't be able to shift because I can't reveal that I'm a red wolf. I can only shift when I'm absolutely sure that there won't be any witnesses left alive when I return to my human form.

The little bright light keeps shining and shining as if it's letting me decide what I do.

My body tricks me and starts heading toward the bright light.

This is wrong. There is something wrong here.

*You're smarter than that, Alexa!*

'I can't sense any threat,' Tyra tells me.

I have the strongest wolf in my pack. If Tyra says she doesn't see a threat, then I'm going to give in to temptation and continue to see what that beautiful bright light is.

It's as if I were guided by a supernatural force. The more I move in the direction of the light, the more it seems that my body calms down, as does everything around me, as if someone was singing a lullaby.

I'm not sure if I could stop going in the direction I'm going, even if I wanted to.

My feet appear to be moving on their own!

I look around, curious where my feet are taking me. I have the feeling that I've been here before, but I can't remember–

Shit. I remember. It was *here*. Here's where she's buried...

Images of her invade my mind, and I try to ignore it and think about something else. I must stop thinking about her, or else I will inevitably let my guard down. I need to pay attention to what's going on around me. It's crucial that I remain focused and attentive to avoid any mistakes.

Suddenly, the light stops shining, as if its objective had been fulfilled, and I abruptly stop walking. However, my attention is caught again when I see that underneath where the little ball of bright light was, there is something.

No. There's *someone*.

I run desperately without understanding why my heart is racing, and I'm filled with apprehension.

It better not be a trap because if it is, I'll fall for it like rabbits fall for mine.

Though the fog around me is still dense, the closer I get, the more it becomes clear what's in front of me. The silence around me is deafening. Besides the beat of my heart, the only sound I hear is the crunch of snow under my feet.

As soon as I got closer, I noticed a man lying on the ground, unconscious.

I immediately kneel down in front of him, somehow feeling panicked at seeing him in this state.

My body screams for me to be careful. Clearly, this feels like a trap. But my heart begs me louder.

I need to save him!