Chapter 91: The Things We Do To Stay Alive

Aina

Aina was ninety-nine percent sure she was going to die today.

They were huddled near the edge of the glass-like lake, the freezing rain drenching them to the bone. Keali was droning on in his weird, monotone voice, repeating for the third time that he was still sensing the ghoul bears creeping around the deeper parts of the forest.

"They won’t come near the water," Keali said softly, staring blankly into the waves. "Ghouls are afraid of large bodies of water. We shouldn’t leave the lake." Aina didn’t give a single damn about the water or the bears. She wasn’t even listening to the rest of his stupid explanation.

I am going to die, she thought hysterically, staring blankly at a wet pebble by her boot. This is it. This is the absolute end for me. Forget the ghoul bears! Forget the princes! I’m going to be exposed!

Her core was already starting to feel unnaturally warm, a sickeningly sweet scent threatening to burst through her suppressed skin.

I’m going to start reeking this place up very soon! her inner voice screamed, panic clawing at her throat like a wild animal. The second my de-scenting cream wears off, my jasmine scent is going to explode through these woods! Every single wolf here will know I’m a girl and omega! I am going to be so totally, completely exposed!

"You know what? This is so stupid!" Vance’s sharp, annoyed voice cut through her spiraling panic. He was pacing furiously back and forth, waving a hand in her direction. "If we had just shifted back then and fought those bears, I wouldn’t have been kissed by him!"

He pointed a harsh, accusing finger straight at Aina’s face. Aina didn’t even blink. She didn’t glare. She didn’t roast him back. She was entirely trapped in her own internal horror show. I need to get out of here. I need to figure out a way out of this right now, or I am done. Finished. Executed!

Malric stepped forward, his dark eyebrows drawing together as he took charge. "Listen up. We need to set up camp right here. Ghoul bears sleep at sunset. Once the sun goes down and they’re asleep, we’ll have enough time to run back to the camp grounds safely. They won’t come near the lake, so we set up camp here."

The word camp snapped Aina right out of her trance.

Her head whipped up, and before anyone could even breathe, her hand shot violently into the air like a desperate schoolchild.

"Camp?!" Aina yelled, her voice cracking with desperation. "We’re going to need a fire! I’ll get the wood!"

She didn’t wait for a reply. She didn’t look at Malric, or Vance, or Theo, or Keali. She turned on her heel and sprinted full speed into the forest, her bad ankle screaming in protest as her boots churned through the mud.

Behind her, Theo stood in the pouring rain, staring at her retreating back in absolute, stunned bewilderment. "It’s literally raining!" he screamed after her, his voice drowning in the storm. "What fire?!"

Aina completely ignored him, pumping her arms faster as the dark trees swallowed her whole. I need to think of something! I need to think of something right NOW! she panicked, her heart hammering against her ribs.

She slowed to a frantic halt behind a massive, mossy boulder, leaning against it as she brought her arm up to her nose. She sniffed her sleeve and instantly gagged. The sweet, unmistakable fragrance of blooming jasmine was slowly seeping through her wet leathery outfit. The cream was wearing off way faster than it was supposed to.

"No, no, no!" she whimpered, slapping her hands over her face. "They’re going to smell it! Wolves have insane noses! They’ll track this scent in two seconds!"

She looked down at the muddy ground beneath her feet. Maybe I should roll in the mud? Yeah, mud will cover the scent! She dropped to her knees, but as the freezing rain lashed down on her back, washing the mud right off her hands in seconds, her face fell.

"No," she groaned, tears of pure frustration brimming in her eyes. "The rain will just wash it right off! It won’t hold!"

BOOM!

A massive, deafening streak of lightning split the dark sky directly above her, illuminating the shadows in a violent flash of blue and white. Thunder blared like an apocalyptic horn, making her jump out of her skin. She stood there in the forest, shivering, weeping silently as she tried to sniff out another solution.

And then... a smell hit her nose.

It wasn’t jasmine. It wasn’t wet leaves. It was a stench so foul, so profoundly repulsive, that her stomach instantly did a violent, nauseating flip.

Aina slowly turned her head to the left, her eyes widening in horror as they landed on a massive, steaming pile of dark brown feces resting under the overhang of a rotting log. It was a lot of damn poop. definitely left behind by some giant forest animal. and the pouring rain was doing absolutely nothing to dull the eye-watering, putrid stench radiating off it.

Aina stared at the pile.

The pile stared back.

"No..." Aina whispered, her voice trembling as horror settled deep in her bones. "No, no, no... please, Goddess, no..." She took a step back, shaking her head violently, her lip quivering. "I don’t want to! I can’t! I literally cannot do this!"

She looked down at her wrist. She took another whiff under armpit. The jasmine was getting stronger.

If they smell the jasmine, they find out I’m a girl. If they find out I’m a girl, they’ll realize I’m their mate and only the goddess knows what will happen then!

"I have no choice," she sobbed out loud, tears finally spilling over her cheeks as she wept silently into the dark woods. "I have no freaking choice!" With shaking, terrified hands, Aina stepped up to the steaming pile. She squeezed her eyes shut, let out a pathetic, trembling breath, and plunged her bare hands directly into the pile.

"Goddess, look at me now!" she shrieked internally, her soul practically leaving her body as the warm, squishy texture coats her skin.

Gagging violently, she smeared a thick hand full of the putrid waste across her face, plastering it over her cheeks, her forehead, and her neck. She stopped, sniffing through her mouth, but even beneath the horrific stench of dung, she could still catch a tiny, lingering hint of jasmine on her arms. "Not enough!" she cried out, completely breaking down into a hysterical, sobbing mess. "It’s NOT ENOUGH!"

Driven by her survival instinct and sheer, unhinged rage, Aina threw her entire body flat onto the pile of feces. She rolled to the left. She rolled to the right. She thrashing around like a lunatic, smearing the foul, dark sludge over her hair, her clothes and her boots until every single inch of her was completely covered in the disgusting waste.

"The things I do!" Aina screamed at the top of her lungs, her voice echoing furiously through the thunderous sky as she kicked her legs in the filthy mud. "THE THINGS I FREAKING DO TO STAY ALIVE!"

She laid there on her back for a second, panting heavily, covered from head to toe in the most vile substance known to wolfkind. She smelled worse than a rotting carcass in a swamp. The sweet jasmine was completely, utterly obliterated.

Aina slowly pushed herself up, wiping a glob of dung away from her eyes so she could see. She was dripping with rain, covered in shit, and so utterly, thoroughly pissed off that her entire body was shaking.

I hate those princes, she swore fiercely, her dark eyes flashing with pure, murderous venom as she dragged herself back toward the lake. I hate Malric, I hate Vance andI hate Theo! If I survive this night, I am going to make every single one of their lives an absolute living hell!