My Wee Mate

48 - My Light

Fraser

We travel throughout the night, moving through the limbs of the trees. The forest is wide awake even with the sun gone and asleep. Small animals chatter and move away from us, sensing predators in the darkness and wanting to preserve themselves.

I jump to the next tree, making eye contact with with my brother and looking away quickly as my jaw turns to steel.

It didn't take much to figure out that Alec is to blame for this whole predicament.

It was he who made the decision to leave her behind. The others didn't do anything to help him move towards that choice, but they didn't exactly fight him on it.

Part of that is because when I am gone, the leadership position falls on my kin. Alec made a plan to rescue me, doing what he thought was best along the way, and they followed without question.

Just because he had the right to lead doesn't mean I have to be happy about what he did. It's my mate's life that's in danger now.

The thought makes a sudden sickness surge inside of me, and it's Nairn that calls out through the silence of the night air.

"Let's take rest." I grumble at the offer, keeping my eyes forward, ignoring my throbbing back.

My friends made good time dragging me away from the Sinclair clan. They had two whole days to travel with my unconscious body as I healed under their care. We are now forced to make up for that mistake.

Despite my injury, we are moving swiftly to return to Ailsa. I don't care what excuses any of them have. They insist my injury is still grave and I need frequent rest, but I don't heed those useless claims. They're just senseless words.

And now that I am awake and aware, I am the one that makes the decisions. I take any opportunity I can to remind them of that.

"We keep moving." I say, and Gavin shakes his head, shoving a pouch of blood into my hands, eyes desperate as he silently pleads with me to take my fill.

It's something they've often been attempting to push on me. Truth be told, I can't. I'm too disgusted with myself to take even a meager sip.

I haven't even tried. The mere thought of blood turns my stomach, igniting my mind into a wildfire of white hot memories.

That night has become clearer over the hours of silent travel, it's not completely crystal, but enough to despise myself.

I don't respond to Gavin's offer, I just push the sloshing bag away with a grim shake of my head.

I continue on, jumping from tree to tree, my hands clenching and snapping the branches and bark into shards that stick to the skin of my palms and fingers.

They follow far behind, giving me the space I crave.

It remains like this for hours as the sun rises, the sky flashing brilliant pink over the tree tops. I ignore the bird calls and the stinging sensation across my cheek from the beams of sunlight streaming in through the green leaves.

"Fraser." I don't look over as he stops me, physically blocking me with his body. Alec. I can't stand the sight of him. "We must stop. Gavin's too young, he can't handle the sun as well as us. Please."

I glance up, and then down when I realize that our companions aren't in the thick of sticks and leaves with us. Nairn and Gavin are at the base of the tree we cling to, looking rather worse for wear.

Gavin is panting, sticking to the shadows and eyeing the sky warily. Nairn is standing off to the side, looking unbothered but his face is slightly flushed. We've been moving all night without stopping and we have a few hours more before we get the Ailsa.