The Desert Alpha's Mate

CHAPTER 12-JUBAL

Jubal was fuming, he couldn't believe everything that had happened to him. "This is all Ashraf's fault!" he screamed. He was fully naked in the middle of nowhere. Without anything in his possession, he looked up at the sky, and it was starting to darken. The wind was also starting to gradually increase its strength. The dust was slowly swirling around him, and because of it, his anger toward Ashraf increased. He hated the thought that once again, Ashraf was right and, as always, one step ahead of him.

He could not believe that his father would favor Ashraf over him and punish him this way. "When I survive here, I will kill you myself, Ashraf. I will kill you with my bare hands. All the humiliation that I have received you will receive too, tenfold!" He shouted in the direction where his father's troop had hurried together with Ashraf. He was flaring with anger. When a gust of wind blew on him, he shivered.

'I need to find shelter. It seems this storm will be longer and stronger,' he thought. Another gust of wind blew at him. This was stronger than before. He didn't have any choice but to change into his wolf form. Once he shifted, he howled his frustrations to vent his anger, then after a few seconds, Jubal in his grayish-beige wolf form started running. He didn't go in the direction where his father's troop went, he didn't want to bump into them or join them in their shelter. Which would be possible, because, in his wolf form, he could catch up to them easily. He might not be as strong and as intelligent as Ashraf, but he was the fastest among their clan. Hard-headed and stubborn as he was, he went in another direction. 'I will show you, Father, that you were wrong in choosing Ashraf over me!' He thought with conviction and started to run to find some dwellings or a cave where he could spend the night or at least until this storm passed.

The wind's strength increased every minute, forcing Jubal to run faster in seeking shelter. Dust started swirling around him, joining the wind. Although in wolf form, Jubal was having difficulty now that the sandstorm caught up on him. His vision was blurred by the swirling sand, and he couldn't use his sense of smell because of the strong wind. He knew that if he does not find shelter right now, he will have zero visibility, and he doesn't want to get caught up in the middle of the sandstorm or he will be buried alive in the middle of the Araba desert, in the middle of nowhere.

His fur was already full of dust, and it was getting heavier too. The wind and the dust were making his fur tangled and weighing him down. He picked up his pace. Jubal looked up to the sky. Although the sun was still out, he couldn't see it properly because of the dust. He ran as fast as his four paws could bear. When he spotted a rocky mountain ahead, Jubal didn't waste any more time and ran faster in the direction of the mountains. He didn't have time to check on his surroundings because the sandstorm was getting stronger.

As he reached the rocky-mountains, he tried using his sense of smell to check if there was any inhabitant already in it, or if there were other wolves around seeking shelter. But the wind was so strong and dusty that it became more difficult for him to confirm anything. When he spotted a small cave-like entrance not very far from where he was, he immediately ran into it. As soon as he entered, the strong tornado of the wind passed the cave together with the whirlwind of sand. The sandstorm was now making it impossible to see anything outside the cave. He could hear the whirl of the wind and sand, passing by the cave. Some of its dust was getting inside the cave. Good thing that the cave had a small entrance, the sand entering was minimal. The cave was swallowed by darkness caused by the raging sandstorm. If not for his wolf sight, Jubal would be blind in the dark.

He started shaking his head from side to side, and slowly twisting his neck and body in a shaking motion to get rid of the dust that clung to his fur. A loud whimper of satisfaction left his snout as he began to feel lighter. When he was satisfied that he was relatively clean, he finally paused and checked his surroundings.