Sebastian

Chapter Forty-Three

This chapter has 1024 words in it. I noticed a lot of you guys were asking about Elmer; the reason I didn't mention him was because I assumed it was understood that he goes wherever Elizabeth goes, and I'm sorry if it worried ya'll :') Elmer is just as much a character as Roy or Elizabeth Or Sebastian or Isaac. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING! ILY!

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I quickly became grateful that I'd changed clothes before we left. It was very cold, as if winter decided to come weeks early. We had only been walking for a short amount of time, and while I'd prudently packed a pair of winter gloves, my face was bare. Meanwhile, Elmer sat comfortably in his pet carrier, toasty warm. I had stuffed several short-sleeved shirts and a couple of pairs of pajama pants in the carrier, around the edges to cover the holes on the sides, and it created a perfect, cozy nook for the little black kitten.

Isaac wore a thick navy sweater that made his greener-than-green eyes pop, and a pair of blue jeans with holes in them. I wondered why he'd felt need to wear a sweater. Werewolves did get cold in very extreme conditions, but it was impossible for him to be cold in the weather we were walking in. Sebastian walked in front of us, leading the way. He glanced back over his shoulder.

"It will take us a very long while to get where we need to be. We'll be in the woods during that time, in order to avoid detection." His eyes flickered between us. "I'm wanted in various territories. When the sun comes up, we'll find somewhere to stay until it goes down again."

"You're wanted?"I asked. He looked back in front of him, but I saw him nod. He didn't elaborate.

"Did you bring something to sleep in?" Isaac asked me, his eyes still vibrant in the dark. How I could ever think he wasn't an alpha was beyond me. I nodded.

"How much food did you bring?" I shot back quietly. I didn't miss his grin as he patted his big backpack.

"Enough," He responded.

We were on an old, cracked road, so ancient that the threat of radioactivity made me nervous. It was something that had been mostly cleaned up throughout the world after everything happened, but there were still some areas that were questionable. The moon shone brightly above us, and the eeriness of it and the road made me shiver.

As time passed, I got colder and colder. We walked on and on, and my legs -which still had bits of black on them but had otherwise healed very nicely- slowly became numb. 

When the sky began to lighten, I fell. Elmer's carrier toppled forward and hit the ground, but I didn't worry about him; I'd packed more than enough clothes around him to provide efficient padding. Isaac was immediately at my side, and Sebastian appeared on my other side, his face bent close.

"Are you hurt?" His quiet voice was urgent, probably nervous that I slowed them down. I groaned and shook my head. He looked at Isaac, and the two of them stared at each other for a long moment, obviously silently discussing something. Finally, Sebastian looked back down at me.

"We're going to find somewhere to rest and divide up what you two packed." He said, moving his arms under my body. The ground moved as I was lifted, and Sebastian and Isaac retreated deeper into the woods.

It didn't take them very long to find something; in what seemed like no time at all, I was being carried into a scary-looking cave. I stared at Sebastian, my eyes wide. He glanced down at me.

"It's fine," He murmured. He set me down, and I flinched away from the cold ground. He apologized frantically, moving his arms to pick me back up. I waved him off, pulling the biggest bag that I brought and locating a couple of flashlights and a box of matches. Sebastian looked at the matches and nodded to himself.

"I'm going to go find firewood." He whispered. I nodded, hoping he'd find some quick.

I placed the two flashlights on each end of the tiny cave, and it did a good job of lighting it up just enough to see the basics. Isaac sat down in front of me, and suddenly started taking his shirt off. I blinked, shocked, and backed away a little.

"What are you-"

He flung it at me, and the thing was so warm I couldn't bother with being confused anymore. He was so large that his sweater completely engulfed me as I put it on; the bottom of it covered my legs because I was sitting, and the sleeves were far longer than my arms. I pressed the extra fabric to my freezing face gratefully.

Isaac, shirtless, laughed at me. I raised my eyebrows, and he shook his head. 

Isaac smelled amazing. It was a lovely mixture of rain and wind, a wild, free kind of smell. I looked at Elmer and shined a light into his carrier. He was sprawled out with my clothes draped over him, sleeping and looking content. 

Sebastian came in, arms full of firewood. His eyes immediately zeroed in on Isaac's sweater on me, before they floated to Isaac's shirtless torso. He paused for a second, looking at us. After a moment, he placed the firewood in the middle of the small cave and sat away from us. I started to get up and go to him, but Isaac shook his head ever so slightly. Instead, I grabbed a match, dragged it across the rough material on the side of the box, and held it to the firewood. It caught immediately, and soon, the cave was bathed in warm, orange light. Sebastian had also thought to find pine needles and, somehow, a bunch of straw for us to set the wood on top of.

I dug my sleeping bag out and spread it across the ground beside the fire and laid on it, still wearing Isaac's sweater. I didn't enjoy Sebastian being jealous, but Isaac's sweater was so warm. I quickly found my eyes drooping, despite the hardness of the ground through the sleeping bag. Sebastian appeared above me, and he shook me a little, trying to wake me up. I looked at him, confused, and he grabbed Isaac's bag and sat down by it with so much grace it made my heart melt. 

"You need to eat." His voice was quiet. "Both of you." He added. Isaac was staring into the fire, and he looked up. I sat upright and dug through the backpack, not looking at Isaac as I felt his heat come up beside me as he peered into the bag. I noticed the bowl of chicken from Roy's house; he'd obviously snagged it from Roy's fridge the day he came over. I heard him chuckle.

"For your cat," He said. I couldn't hold back the grin that found its way onto my face as I opened the bowl and tore a good amount of chicken off. I slipped into Elmer's carrier, not trusting him to let me open it all the way.

He perked up immediately, and began scarfing the chicken down. I grabbed the curved lid of the bowl and used a bottle of water to fill it up, so he could have something to drink.

After Isaac, Elmer and I were all fed, I burrowed into my sleeping bag. Isaac took out several thick blankets to lay on, and Elmer was quick to fall asleep. As I was dozing off, I felt a set of cool lips touch my ear.