"Are we going on this?" Emira asked slowly, her eyes fixed on the large motorcycle standing before them. It looked heavy and sharp, like some beast made of iron, and she could not imagine herself sitting on it. She could definitely imagine falling off it. And that would be painful.
"Of course," Prince Kael replied in the same indifferent tone as he seemed to have and continued, "Did you think we would be walking all the way to the Stormhold Mountains?"
"But I..." her words caught in her throat, and she shifted from foot to foot uneasily. This...
He seemed to have guessed her thoughts because in the next moment, he asked with a riased brow, "You’ve never been on a motorcycle?"
Emira shook her head. She had not even seen a bike this big before. To her, it looked monstrous, more frightening than any vehicle she had ever known. The Moonville Pack only travelled together, either in their wolf forms, running as one, or in the large SUVs that the Alpha kept.
"I can... I can take the bus," she said quietly, the words tumbling out before she could stop herself. "You can transform into a wolf and—"
Prince Kael chuckled at that, shaking his head. "Emira, the pack lands are more than four thousand kilometres away. I’d have to be a fool to cover that ground on foot. And you... have you ever even taken a bus? As far as I know, you’ve never stepped outside the pack’s territory, have you?"
Emira lowered her eyes and shook her head again. Of course she had never left. The omegas were not permitted to. They were kept where they belonged, never trusted to go far. The thought of an Omega stepping out alone was laughable within the Moonville Pack. For a moment, she felt ashamed at her own lack of experience but then shook it off. It was not her fault that she had been a prisoner all her life.
She watched as the Prince swung a leg over the bike and sat down with ease, as though he had done this a thousand times before. He might have actually. She didnn’t know. The engine was silent for now, but she could already imagine the roar it would make. Her poor sensitive ears might ache for days to come.
For a long moment, she stood frozen, staring at the machine, then at him. She wanted to turn back and run away, but there was nowhere to go. Why did it have to be Prince Kael. Even if she had to travel on this beast with Prince Kael, it would have been better. Slowly, she forced herself to move and climbed onto the seat behind him, and held onto the seat.
"Hold on," Kael said and Emira gulped.
Emira looked around, unsure of what he meant. The smooth leather of the seat gave her no grip, and there was nothing beside her to cling to. With trembling hands, she reached out and lightly caught the edge of his jacket, her fingers curling into the fabric as though it might slip away. Before she could ask if that was enough, the bike suddenly came alive beneath her, the vibration making her whole body jolt.
Then it shot forward.
A startled cry escaped her lips as she nearly lost her balance. Her body swayed backward, the air rushing past her, and panic surged in her chest. Hurriedly, she leaned forward, pressing closer to the Prince, and grabbed onto his shoulder with both hands.
Her arms tightened, desperate to anchor herself, and she held on as if her life depended on it. Closing her eyes, she tried to shut out the speed, the wind, and the fear that she might be thrown off at any moment and simply clung to the man in front of her.
She had no idea for how long they rode like that, but Emira knew one thing. Everything she had eaten in the morning, was going to come up just now. Her breath caught in her throat as they finally slowed to a stop. Hurriedly, she jumped off the motorcycle, wanting to run away but fate was not on her side.
Her legs felt like jelly. She barely managed a step before stumbling, and she would have landed flat on her backside if Prince Kael had not moved quickly to catch her. His hand slipped under her just in time, holding her up before she could hit the ground.
Emira felt her breath catch. She was about to thank him when the words froze on her tongue as she realized how exactly he was holding her up. His hand had slipped under her ass, supporting her weight firmly, the position leaving her feeling as though she had landed on his palm and was currently sitting on it.
Heat rushed to her face, and she stiffened, unsure whether to jerk away or pretend not to notice. The thought of actually acknowledging it made her stomach twist worse than the ride had. Before she could gather herself, she felt the faintest squeeze-almost a tap, casual and deliberate at the same time, as if reminding her that he held her.
"You’ll eat here and use the washroom before we leave again," Kael said evenly, his voice calm, unaffected, as though what he had just done was the most natural thing in the world.
Emira swallowed hard, unable to find her voice, and could only nod as she straightened up again.. This time, she did not try to rush away, but slowly walked away, trying to keep herself from falling all over again as she could still feel the imprint of the Prince’s hand on her bu**. As she did, she swore to herself that she would not make a fool of herself again like this and for the next part of the ride, she would not cling to him.
Prince Kael watched her hurry away and gave a small, almost imperceptible smile that vanished the next minute as he turned around to walk into the small cafe, only to frown when he noticed the people sitting there.