As soon as Seth received the report that Lena had joined the convoy going to the South today from Alpha Calypso, he immediately embarked on a journey to meet the convoy halfway to see her.
He was aware of the existence of the second batch of the caravan carrying their supplies, but what puzzled him the most was why would Lena join the convoy in this cold weather in the first place. Things would be extremely uncomfortable for her if he recalled, and yet as soon as he saw her there with her beautiful smile that simply brightened up the gloomy mood of the winter, it was more than enough for him to inwardly rejoice and feel rejuvenated, batting away any and all doubts in his mind.
Truly, her mere presence alone was like the sunshine that kept giving warmth to his life.
The moment he arrived, Seth immediately talked to the royal guards through the mindlink to relay his instructions to Lena. How he dreamt of talking to her directly through a matebond link like this, but for that to happen, he had to mark her first, and he wanted Lena’s consent before he did that to her.
With his instructions given, he could only sigh out his frustrations as he waited for Lena to climb on top of him in his wolf form. How nice would it be for her to climb on top of him in a different scenario, he wondered…
[You and your dirty thoughts,] Saul teased him.
Seth only chuckled at his wolf’s pitying tone. He always daydreamed about their mate, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t doing anything else. [Patience is a virtue.]
[That old saying is getting annoying!]
Seth chuckled at his wolf’s growls in his mind as he waited for his mate to settle on his back. But before he could prepare himself to start their journey, Lena said something that made his whole body tense up.
“I missed you so much, Seth,” she whispered. “I’m glad you came to pick me up.”
[Did you hear that?] Seth immediately muttered to his wolf. [Isn’t that a good sign?]
[Yes, I did. Why don’t you move away from the others now and take her to some private place to mark her already?] Seth pressured. [Go! Move quickly!]
Seth just chuckled once more, considering the suggestion to bring Lena to a nice private place while excluding the part where he marked her without consent. From there, he immediately ran and began their journey. By that time, it was already snowing heavily, so Seth had a stopover at a cave he knew was safe inside the forest. It was already dark anyway, and he was sure that Lena was already starving from all of the travel they’d done.
Stopping inside the cave, he bent down and allowed Lena to climb down his back before shifting back to his human form. Shen then quickly turned around, having been taken aback by the sudden shifting.
“Apologies, I wasn’t able to give you any warning since I was in my wolf form,” Seth quickly explained. Then, with a grin, he asked, “Milady, my clothes please.”
“Oh, right,” Lena yelped as she fidgeted, quickly pulling out his clothes from her big satchel. Turning back to face him, she handed it to him with her eyes closed, “Here.”
‘So adorable…’
Seth kept that thought to himself. If only Lena knew the amount of control he was exerting at that moment to not just sweep her off her feet and crush her in his embrace and kisses.
But those things didn’t happen. Instead, Seth quickly put on his clothes and said, “I won’t take long. I’ll get us some food.”
Lena simply nodded. “I will prepare the fire then,” she nodded. “Come back safe and quick.”
She had a wide smile as Seth went out to get them food. Left alone, she quickly moved and used a spell to create a fire in the cave to keep herself a bit warm. Staring at the fire, she took in a deep breath before promptly releasing it, and she did again numerous times while waiting for Seth to try and calm her nerves.
This was it. She had decided that she wouldn’t waste time anymore. The night would definitely not end without her telling Seth how his patience paid off and how her heart was literally beating for him now.
“I wonder how I should say it,” Lena mumbled as she moved her palms closer to the fire for more warmth.
She honestly didn’t know how she would start her confession. And before she could start thinking about it, another sigh came out of her mouth when she heard Seth’s voice.
“Did I keep you waiting for too long?” he asked.
Looking at him, he had some rabbits and some vegetables on him along with some coconut shells. Lena simply shook her head, as she then watched him prepare everything quickly as if he was afraid that she would starve far too long if he didn’t work fast enough.
“You don’t need to move in a hurry, Seth. I’m not that hungry yet anyway,” she said with a smile. “Do you need help?”
Shaking his head, Seth sat beside her and said, “I’m done already. I just have to cook this and everything will be ready in time, milady.”
“When will you drop the formalities?” she mumbled with a pout, taking a sip of the coconut juice she was just given while she was speaking. “I mean, I told you to call me by my name: Lena.”
“Hmm… I’ll drop the formalities when it’s appropriate to do so, milady,” he answered with a smile while roasting the rabbits.
“And when will it become appropriate?” Lena questioned with a frown.
Seth didn’t reply. Instead, he simply handed her some meat. “Here. Eat first, then you can ask me anything you want,” he replied with a grin. “Careful though. It’s still hot.”
Blinking, Lena shrugged before quickly eating through everything even though she wasn’t really that hungry. She didn’t really care as much, but she halted when she felt Seth’s intense stare boring into her.
She turned to him. “Stop watching me and eat too.”
“I’m full already just looking at you,” he lovingly muttered.
Lena felt a lump suddenly make itself stuck inside her throat, so she quickly drank some water to try and clear it. “So, tell me. When will the appropriate time to call me by my name come, huh?” she asked out of nowhere to loosen the tense mood.
“When you’re already my woman and my official mate and wife, Milady,” Seth answered with a serious face and tone.
Lena gulped, her gaze refusing to break as she firmly replied, “Then how about calling me by my name now, Seth? Starting now, I want you to call me Lena…”
Updated from 𝑖𝘦.𝒸𝘰𝘮