The Commander of Orion ✔️

Chapter 9

The sun had barely peeked out from the horizon by the time Kaelon, Zoron and I were ready to leave. We did our final checks and said our farewells to Edrik, who seemed a little grumpy to be left behind before we took off on our journey.

Fucus was quite far from where we were situated. It would take us five days to complete the journey, too long in my opinion. I lead the three of us once we were out of Orion territory. We headed North East, following the directions given by the sun. Zoron and Kaelon had no trouble keeping my speedy pace as I tried to cover as much ground as possible. I wanted to get there now.

The three of us took very few breaks, only stopping by a creek or river to rehydrate ourselves before continuing on our journey. When the sun was high in the sky, we stopped for a small while to catch our breaths and eat.

Zoron was an amazing hunter, he had caught us large pheasants that were native to the forest around us. We quickly made a small bonfire, roasting the birds before we dug into our lunch.

The pheasants were tender, fatty, and crispy, cooked perfectly over an open fire. The three of us demolished the birds, leaving nothing left but bones.

We continued our journey once we were ready. And by the time the sun had set, we had made considerable progress towards Fucus territory.

We made camp in the forest by a small running stream when we couldn't find shelter. Nothing was protecting us from the elements which meant that tonight was going to be a long one.

I had tried multiple times to build a small fire, but the howling wind blew out all my attempts. Groaning in annoyance, I tried one more time. The fire flickered to life as I blocked the flames from the bullying winds.

I waited until the fire was big enough to sustain itself before I went to lay our sleeping mats out. I sat by the fire once I was done, waiting for Kaelon and Zoron to come back with tonight's hunt.

The men arrived a while after. I was still huddled next to the fire, but now with a blanket wrapped around me. The wind had harshened dramatically, blowing streams of icy air into the forest.

The men brought back two plump wild turkeys and tossed them into the flickering fire.

Kaelon came and sat behind me. I gave him my blanket to use as a shield against the harsh wind as I leaned back into his chest. Soft sparks of electricity buzzed around my body as our skin touched. I felt my wolf howling inside some the subtle pleasure of his touch.

"It's going to be cold tonight," Zoron said watching the fire flicker as another gush of icy air travelled passed us. He grabbed a stick and poked the fire, making sure it was strong enough to not blow out.

"We should keep the fire going all night," I replied, "otherwise we might freeze to death. Kaelon pulled me closer into him, letting me know he was never going to let that happen.

Zoron nodded before he went to his sleeping mat, pulled out his wool blanket and wrapped it around himself.

The three of us agreed that we would each take turns staying up and guarding the fire. I would take the first shift, Zoron next, then Kaelon, rotating again throughout the night.

We could've shifted into our animalistic nature and faced the cold with furs on our back, but that would mean we would also need to snuggle up against each other to retain our body heat. Snuggling was out of the question as my relationship with Zoron was not at that level of intimacy yet.

Only family members, long-time friends and mates had that kind of intimacy together. It would feel very weird and awkward otherwise. It was just like sleeping naked and snuggling with a stranger. There was no way I would feel comfortable doing that.