Chapter 162
"This is a bad idea. We should just wait at the camp for Dron to come." Gerax complained as he finished packing his bag.
Tempest knew that he was right. There was no real reason for them to leave without Dron besides the fact she felt as if she would go crazy if she had to stay here just waiting.
She needed to do something. Needed to be productive. There was nothing for her to help with here at the stronghold. Crilium and the rest of his men had a well-oiled machine here. Even if she wanted to lend a hand, it would feel more like she was getting in the way than actually helping anything.
"You are more than welcome to stay here. I have to go see it. This might be the only chance that I have to find out if there are more of my people here."
Gerax huffed, but he didn’t stop packing.
Tempest turned and saw Mexyn moving slowly with her items. It was clear that she didn’t want to go either, but she didn’t complain about it.
Tempest felt bad about pulling her away. Tempest might not have anything to do here, but she knew that this was the only time the usually emotionless omega would get with the man she loved. She didn’t want to disturb that, "Mexyn, I think you should stay back."
Mexyn’s eyes jerked up, and she narrowed them on Tempest. "No, I’m supposed to stay with you. That’s my duty." She shrugged her shoulders.
"You are supposed to make sure that I’m safe, and you’ve done that. Besides where we are going, I’m not going to need you. I think it’s better if you stay here as a connection between us and the people in the stronghold. If we run into anything we can’t handle, I’ll contact you, and you can organize from here. It’s logical." Tempest smirks at Mexyn, waiting for her to catch on to what she was really doing.
Mexyn’s mouth opens into a small ’o’, "Right, I can be the liaison. I’ll make sure Crilium is prepared in the event they need to send soldiers your way. It’ll get there much faster if I don’t have to run back."
"Exactly."
Rynax scoffed, "You two are hilarious. Why don’t you just tell her she should stay here and spend some quality time with her mate?"
Both Mexyn and Tempest looked at each other with a smile and shrugged. Tempest didn’t think her story was that see-through, but Rynax sliced right through that.
"I can go. It’s not fair that the rest of you should have to trek through this without me. I’m part of the team. I need to pull my weight." Mexyn stood and looked between Gerax and Rynax.
"No, at least one of us should be allowed to stay back and relax." Gerax grumbled, but he shrugged his shoulders to let Mexyn know there were no hard feelings about it.
He was just grumpy.
"Okay, if we’re going to do this, we need to get on the way. " Rynax secured the pack to his back and started to walk out.
"Yeah, our guide is waiting for us." Tempest spoke up as they walked out the door of their small hut.
"Who is our guide?" Rynax asked.
Tempest hadn’t wanted to tell him until the very last possible second. She didn’t want to hear him arguing for hours instead of just the few minutes she knew she would get if she told them right as they left.
Rynax followed her out the door before he stopped in his tracks. "No, not him. You can’t be serious."
"I am very serious. Aliq is a native of this land. If there is anyone who would be able to lead us to the settlement safely, it’s him. And I know he’s a good fighter. I saw it first hand."
"Not that good. I would’ve..."
"I know what you would’ve done, but we’re not going to have any of that on this trip, right?" Tempest pinned Rynax with her gaze. She knew it was a risk pulling both Rynax and Aliq together, but she trusted the man. When she asked him earlier if he would accompany her group to the human settlement, he was excited. Nearly as excited as Tempest was.
She’d only known the man a short while, but she trusted Aliq.
"Fine, just make sure he keeps to his own space. I don’t need another alpha questioning my moves." Rynax grumbled.
"He’s the lead on this. That means you don’t question his moves either."
Rynax snapped his eyes in Tempest’s direction. "If it puts you or the rest of us in danger, you better believe I’m going to question him."
"Agreed, just try to work together. I’ve already talked to him about what happened last night. He doesn’t hold any ill feelings toward you. He understands that it wasn’t in either of your control. He was doing his job, and you thought I needed help. Still don’t understand how you could have thought that, but it doesn’t matter."
"What do you mean, how could I think that? You took your wrist device off. One moment you were walking around out in the open, and the next you were just gone. You disappeared. That’s how I could think that."
Tempest stepped forward and stared Rynax down. "It’s your job to protect me. Not monitor my every move. I have been giving you some grace because I’m trying to be sympathetic to how you are feeling, but I didn’t come here to be your prisoner. If that’s what you think you are doing here, then you can hitch the first ride back to Thraqe."
Her words were strong and a bit harsh, but she knew that Rynax needed to hear them. He needed to know there was a clear line that he couldn’t cross. This was it.
Rynax clenched his jaw so hard Tempest could see the muscles on the side of his face working. He wasn’t used to anyone going against him. He was an alpha after all, and Tempest was only a little omega. If Tempest had anything to say about it, he would just have to get used to it.
"Fine. You’re right." He gritted out between his still clenched teeth.
"I’m glad to hear you say that. I’d rather you stay, but if you want to leave, I’ll understand."
"No, I’ll stay."
Tempest gave him a small smile. He grunted and looked away as if the expression pained him. Tempest knew that he wanted that smile to mean something more. For there to be feelings behind it that she just couldn’t give him. Her heart belonged to Dron.
The three of them walked in Aliq’s direction; he was ready and seemed to be a little hyper. Tempest knew just from looking at him that they were going to have a good time on their journey. She would bet even Gerax would be in a better mood once they started on their journey.
After all, with him being a scientist and Aliq having all the qualities she would expect to see from a great teacher, she was sure the two of them would have a lot to talk about.
She looked over her shoulder once to see Mexyn all but speed walking in the opposite direction. She must be on her way to see Crilium. It didn’t take her very long to agree to stay back.
Tempest giggled at the strange sight.
Usually, Mexyn moved slow. Right now she was in a rush.
Love will do that.
She felt good about her decision to let Mexyn stay behind and have some time with Crilium, but she was also starting to worry about what would happen when it was time to leave. According to Gerax, Dron was a few days away, but that wouldn’t take too long to get here. Would Mexyn be able to pull herself away from Crilium when the time came, or would she want to stay?
Tempest wouldn’t force her to leave if she wanted to stay, but she would truly miss her friend if she had to go back to Thraqe without her.
Tempest shook the thought from her head as she came to stand in front of Aliq. She was ready to go on the journey.
"Okay, where to?" Tempest asked.
"Is this all that you are taking in your party?" Aliq asked; he looked around as if he expected someone else to be there.
Tempest realized that he must have been looking for Mexyn. "Yes, Mexyn is going to stay back just in case we need to call here for backup. Do you think we are going to need anything like that?"
"I mean, anything is possible, but I highly doubt it. Of the last dozen or so journeys taken, there hasn’t been any opposition. Everyone who knows this community is there just stays away from them. Like I told you, they aren’t the most trusting out of everyone. There are traps closer to the entrance."
Rynax straightened up at that. "Traps? I didn’t know anything about any traps."
"I’m telling you now. Is that not how information works?"
Rynax took a step forward, and Tempest could feel the tension beginning to grow. "Boys play nice. This is the first I’m hearing of it too." She focused on Aliq. "These traps? Do you know where they are? I mean, I don’t want to get caught in one before I have a chance to see them."
"I know where the larger ones are, but I can’t promise that there aren’t any new ones. We will be cautious when we cross into the area." Aliq shrugged his shoulders as if that was all that needed to be said about the situation.
Gerax mumbled something under his breath, but Tempest didn’t think it necessary to ask any more questions. There would be some danger. She knew that. She just hoped whatever danger came their way they’d be able to face it without losing anyone.
Aliq turned on his heel and started walking to the entrance of the stronghold. Rynax, Gerax, and Tempest followed behind him.
Tempest took a moment to look down at her wrist device. She could still see Dron’s locator dot on her screen. He hadn’t moved from his previous location. That meant it would take him longer to reach her. Hopefully he would see that she was moving around and not think that she was trying to leave.
All Tempest wanted to do was pass the time.
Pass the time and find out the truth about who else was here.
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⏸ PAUSE■ STOP