Robin and Victor had been walking through the dense forest of Heka for the past three hours. Robin's feet were starting to give up.
"Can we rest now?" Robin asked, coming to a halt.
"We still have a few hours of daylight left. We can cover more distance if we keep going. We will be able to reach Manu sooner."
"Manu? I thought your family lived in Dhasur's capital."
"They used to before the invasion. They are hiding in Manu now. It isn't as packed with Marcella troops as Tombak."
"Why did they spare Manu?" Robin asked, one hand on his hip, dragging each step forward.
"They did not spare Manu. They simply didn't see the point in sending troops to a town that has endless beaches and no real resources that they can profit off. At the moment they are focusing on looting the capital." Victor didn't hide the bitterness in his voice.
"I am sorry," Robin said, feeling guilty for his father's action.
Victor paused and looked back at Robin. "Don't be sorry. It's not your fault. I didn't mean to sound…accusotory," Victor said, softening his voice.
"I know," Robin nodded, looking down the dirty ground, trying to drown the awkwardness.
Victor sighed. "We can rest in half an hour. Okay?"
Robin looked up and nodded eagerly.
Victor found a campsite at a clearing in the forest. He cleaned the forest ground. When Robin tried to help him he asked him to sit while he set up the tent. Victor was much efficient at starting the fire with the flintrod Robin had brought. To say Robin was entranced was an understatement. The man moved effortlessly even though he almost died the day before. Robin's toes curled, a smile formed on his lips without meaning to, as he watched Victor focus on his work. He might have not wanted a mate but knowing the god adonis himself was at his service made him giddy. Robin looked away and pretended to be watching the tall trees when Victor looked up at him.
"Do you like what you see?" he asked, the flirty tone doing dirty things to Robin's body.
"I have seen better," Robin said, shrugging.
Victor walked up to him and leaned in. Robin's heart sped up every time Victor was near, a side effect of being a virgin.
"Do you have a knife?" Victor asked.
"What?" Robin's brain had stopped working, his eyes were focussed on Victor's lecious lips. No matter how hard he tried to pull his eyes away they landed back on them. It had to do something with the mate thing, there was no way he would be so enamoured by an Alpha. Robin had seen enough Alphas working in the palace and he had never felt this attracted to them. If anything, Alphas had always irritated him. Their narcissism made him want to punch them on the face.
"Robin, the knife?" Victor prompted.
"Oh," Robin searched his backpack and retrieved the knife he had bought.
Victor took the knife from his hand but not before brushing his fingers on his, setting his senses ablaze. Robin pulled away, clenching his fist by his side, hoping Victor didn't notice how he was affecting him.
They had chewed the last bit of dried meat while walking for the last four hours. They had no food or water left. Victor asked Robin to fetch water from the nearby stream, while Victor decided to forge for food. The river was near, Robin had seen it on their way to the campsite.
Robin got lost. He didn't realise he had such a bad sense of direction. He could see the campsite from the riverbank yet when he started to walk towards it he must have taken a wrong turn. He couldn't find the clearing.
He was starting to panic when he found a small rabbit eating grass. Robin crouched down, trying to remain quiet as he looked at the fluffy thing. It's little mouth moved adorably as he chewed on the fresh grass. Robin had never seen a wild rabbit before. The only rabbits he had seen were white ones that one of his cousins kept as a pet. This one was much bigger, grey in color and looked much softer than the one he had seen before.
Robin jumped when the rabbit made a shrieking noise and thrashed around in the ground. A rope had caught around his little feet preventing it from running. Robin ran to him trying to set him free when Victor's voice snapped at him.
"Do not touch it! It will bite you."
Robin looked at him in shock. "It's stuck."
"Aren't we lucky? We just found a random rabbit caught on some ropes. I wonder who put a trap in the middle of the forest." Robin decided he hated Victor's sarcasm.
"I am not eating that Rabbit," Robin said sternly.
"Why? Are you vegetarian?" Victor asked as he walked to the thrashing rabbit, took hold of it and swiftly decapitated it. Robin could only stare at the whole thing in horrified shock.
"You just killed it," Robin said more as a statement than a question.
"Yes. It's going to be our dinner," Victor said as he skinned tha rabbit with ease. "See, it looks just like chicken," Victor said, dangling the skinless rabbit in his hand. To be fair, it did look like chicken only if Robin hadn't seen the innocent rabbit alive he would have been convinced it was a chicken, albit a little big in size.
"I can't posilibly eat that," Robin said, feeling nauseous all of a sudden.
"What do you suggest we eat then?"
"Not that," Robin shrieked, pointing to the rabbit.
"I am going to prepare it in the fire," Victor said, ignoring him and walking towards the campsite.
"You are going to eat it?" Robin asked to his retreating form.
Victor stopped in his tracks. "Of course. I am not going to let his life go to waste," he said before walking off.
Robin followed him to the campside scared he would get lost again. Victor hooked the rabbit to a branch and started roasting it in the fire. The smell of the roasting meat made Robin's mouth water and his stomach growl.
"I am going to go, look for food," Robin announced.
"There is no Royal chef hanging out here for you," Victor said as Robin started to walk towards the forest. Robin grumped, ignoring him and walked towards the river again. This time he made a mental note of the path he took so he didn't get lost. There wasn't much around except for big trees and wild bushes. The fruit trees were barren. Robin didn't want to go back and eat the rabbit. He looked around on the forest ground to see if he could find some wild berries instead his eyes fell on a bunch of orange colored mushrooms at the base of a tree. He picked up the mushroom and went to the river to wash it off. He took a bite to see how it tasted. It tasted extremely bitter. Robin threw it away, knowing he couldn't eat it. He started to look for other types of mushroom when he realised his tongue was starting to go numb. His heart dropped. He knew a lot of mushrooms here were poisonous. He should have thought about it before he put it in his mouth. He ran towards the campside, hoping to see his mate's face one last time before he went to heaven.
"I think I ate a poisonous mushroom," Robin yelled as he reached the campsite where Victor was enjoying his hunt.
"What?" Victor asked, his eyes wide. "How do you know?"
"My tongue is starting to go numb."
"What color was the mushroom?" Victor asked, looking concerned.
"Orange, It had white spots on it," Robin managed to say.
Victor relaxed a bit for some reason. "I told you to eat the rabbit. Was it worth your life, Robin asked?" Victor asked, leaning back, hands behind his head as he looked at Robin with lazy eyes. Robin's heart started to beat faster and it had nothing to do with the mushroom and everything to do with the veins running along Victor's arms. Was it normal to feel aroused while dying? God he didn't want to die a virgin.
"Where would you like me to die?" Robin asked, his eyes not leaving Victor's bulging biceps, damn if Victor saw him staring. He was going to do whatever he wanted to do in the last hours of his life.
"Maybe you could sit by my side," Victor said, patting the dry ground. Robin nodded and took the spot.
"Can I put my head on your shoulder?" Robin asked.
"Of course," Victor said with a hint of humor. Maybe he was laughing at his stupidity.
Robin sighed. "This is tragic," Robin said at an afterthought.
"What is tragic?"
"Dying like this. I thought it would be more epic."
"How did you imagine it?"
"Maybe dying on the battlefield. Or on the throne."
"On the throne?" Victor asked, sounding very curious.
"Yeah," Robin tilted his head back to look at him. "I had a fantasy of becoming a king one day," he said with a chuckle.
Victor went quiet after that. "I think it's romantic," Victor said after some time.
"Romantic how?"
"Dying by your lover's side," Victor said.
"You are not my lover," Robin said mockingly.
"Yes, you are right. I am your mate. That's one step above being a lover."
Robin closed his eyes not wanting to argue with Victor.
"Chew on these," Victor said, nudging him awake a few minutes later. He had some crushed up leaves in his hands that he put in Robin's mouth. The leaves tasted like mint and Robin chewed on them until the numbness started to fade.
"What was that?" Robin asked.
"You should have asked that before eating it," Victor said, caressing Robin's cheeks.
"What's the point? I have already eaten a poisonous mushroom."
Victor bit his lips, hiding a smile. "Did I tell you, you are really cute."
Robin shook his head, pouting his lips.
"You are," Victor said. "And that wasn't a poisonous mushroom. It was a psychedelic mushroom. And it's making you really really high. That thing you chewed will make sure you don't throw up."
"I am not high." Robin hardened his face, trying to look sober.
"No?" Victor asked, tilting his head to the side. "How many fingers am I holding?"
Robin narrowed his eyes, trying to look closely at Victor's fingers that were turning into frog fingers the harder he looked. He took hold of his hand and examined it, squeezing on the individual fingers.
"You have really long fingers," Robin commented. "Very thick as well."
Victor cleared his throat. "Thanks."
Robin looked up. "That wasn't a compliment, merely an observation."
"Okay. Can I have my fingers back then?"
"No." Robin tightened his hold instead.
"I really liked what you did with them during my heat."
Robin laughed seeing Victor's face heat. "You are blushing," Robin sang, pinching his cheeks.
"It's the mushroom talking. You will regret it in the morning," Victor said.
"Oh great! Then I have an excuse for doing this…" Robin raised on his knees and placed his lips against Victor's mouth. Victor went stiff under his arms. He held his shoulders and pulled him away.
"Do you like playing with fire, sweet?" Victor asked, a hint of predetory glint in his eyes.
"Don't call me that," Robin slurred.
"Why?" Victor asked huskily. "Why does that bother you so much?"
"Because it turns me on," Robin mumbled.
"Does it?" Victor asked.
"Hmm… it makes my omega parts quiver."
Victor took hold of his face and squeezed. "Don't say things like that and not expect consequences."
"What consequences?" Robin asked with pouted lips held between Victor's fingers. His eyes couldn't help but go back to looking at Victor's lips. Those thick, pink, perfect looking lips.
"The only reason you are not under me yet is because I need you to be sober when I do it. I need you to fully understand what I am doing while I am doing it."
Robin felt a little sober at his words, his heart raced and adrenaline pumped in his system.
"Now, I am going to feed you the fucking rabbit and you are going to eat it like a good boy, you understand?" Victor said and Robin nodded. Now that he was high the thought of freshly roasted meat did sound intriguing.
Victor tore pieces of it and placed them in Robin's mouth bit by bit. The meat tasted devine as and Robin forgot why he refused to eat it in the first place. Robin couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as he looked at Victor. The Brooding Alpha didn't look so dangerous anymore. He looked domisticated.