Chapter 142: Under The Rain

Aina & Varek

This Idiot.

Aina froze, her eyes widening in pure rage. "Seriously?! Vance, are you kidding me right now?! We’ve been walking for an hour, and you’re only telling me now that you don’t know how to read a map?! Where were we even going?!"

"I don’t know!" Vance cried out, dropping the stick. "I’m so sorry! I was just trying to make this date perfect, and I didn’t want to tell you that I had no idea where we were going because I didn’t want to worry you!"

Aina took a deep breath, clutching her temples. "Okay... okay. I want to be mad at you when I am up there, so get me out of this hole right now!"

"Okay!" Vance said quickly, dropping onto his stomach on the grass above. "Okay, just grab my hand, and I’ll pull you up!"

Aina looked up at his outstretched arm skeptically. "I don’t think you can pull me up from that angle."

"I may not be able to read a map," Vance said firmly, grabbing her wrist, "but I am an alpha, and I am strong. I’ll pull you up."

He grunted, his muscles straining as he hauled her upward in one powerful pull. Aina scrambled over the muddy edge, flopping onto the grass beside him.

She sat up, taking a deep, desperate gasp of air as she wiped the dirt off her pants. Wow he actually did pull me up.

Vance immediately hovered over her, his hands moving frantically as he checked her arms and face. "Are you okay?! Do you have any scratches?!"

"I’m fine," Aina grumbled, pushing his hands away. "But I am starving. We are lost in the middle of a forest, hungry, and neither of us can read a map. What are we going to do now?" She shouted and added with a sarcastic tone "This is so peaceful."

Vance hung his head, looking completely crushed. "I know... I know I messed up. In my head, it was so romantic... we’d have a long, botanical walk together, and then we’d eat amazing food on a cliffside. I’m so sorry..."

Tears began welling up in his eyes again.

"Okay, okay, no need to cry!" Aina said quickly, throwing her hands up. "There is zero need to be crying right now!" She held out her hand. "Pass me the map. Let me see it." Vance handed over the crumpled paper. Aina unfolded it, took one look at the maze of symbols and arrows, and immediately folded it back up.

"Yeah... we may be sleeping in this forest tonight," Aina said flatly. "I can’t read this at all."

Vance sniffed. "Neither can I... So, what are we going to do?"

"What can we do?" Aina sighed, pushing herself up off the grass. "Just keep walking. Just keep walking until we hit something."

The second she put weight on her left foot, a sharp, shooting pain flared up her leg. "Damn it!" Aina gasped, stumbling backward and grabbing her ankle.

Vance panicked, rushing to her side. "Oh! What happened?!"

"I sprained my ankle when I fell in the ditch," Aina muttered through gritted teeth, wincing as she tried to stand. "This is all my fault," Vance said, his face pale with guilt. Without hesitation, he dropped down onto one knee in front of her, presenting his broad back. "Get on my back."

Aina blinked, staring at him. "What?"

"Get on my back," Vance repeated firmly.

"No way," Aina refused, taking a tiny, painful step back.

"Just get on my back so we can find food faster!" Vance insisted, looking over his shoulder at her.

Aina looked down at her swelling ankle, then thought about the picnic waiting somewhere in the woods. Her stomach growled loudly again.

"Ugh," Aina groaned, completely hating her life right now.

She leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and letting him lift her off the ground. Vance hooked his hands under her knees, easily carrying her weight as he stood up and began walking down the trail.

They walked in silence for a while, taking random paths just hoping to find the outer fence.

"I’m really, really sorry, by the way," Vance murmured softly into the quiet woods.

Aina rested her chin on his shoulder, looking at the passing trees. "It’s fine. Just let it go."

"I’m really trying to make this work, Aina," Vance admitted, his voice quiet and sincere.

Aina let out a long, slow breath against his neck. "I can see that... but again, I don’t think anything is ever going to happen between us. Ever."

She tightened her arms around his neck slightly, her tone dropping into something tired. "There are just so many things I can’t look past, Vance. Too much has happened."

Vance didn’t answer. Knowing she was completely right, he chose to keep quiet, staring down at the dirt path ahead. For the first time in his entire life, he genuinely hated his own past behavior. He hated his arrogant personality, and he despised himself for being so terrible to this specific girl when they first met.

As they kept walking, the sky above the treetops slowly turned from bright blue to a dark, bruising purple. The air grew chilly, and the forest grew darker with every passing minute.

Suddenly, a heavy crack of thunder echoed through the clouds above.

Aina looked up at the sky, her jaw dropping. "Oh, come on! Every single time I am in a forest, it starts to rain!"

It didn’t take long at all. Within two minutes, heavy drops of cold rain began pouring down through the canopy, soaking the leaves and turning the dirt path into mud.

"Over there!" Vance shouted over the rising wind.

He jogged as fast as he could, carrying her under the massive, thick roots of an old oak tree, where the dense leaves above created a tiny dry shelter against the pouring rain. He gently set her down on a dry patch of moss, dropping down beside her as the storm raged outside.