My Fated Mate Can Have Her-Chapter 42: The Climb

Violet

I stared up at the massive tree, my neck craning back to see where the lowest branches began... several feet above Kael’s head.

There would literally be nothing for me to grip or hold on to for me to even make my way up there!

"You want me to climb this?" I looked between him and the tree.

"Yes."

This was his idea of ’simple’?!

"I think I might have climbed trees, but never anything this big... I don’t think I can..."

My words faltered as I stared at the monstrosity once more. It hadn’t even been that long since I climbed trees back in Shadowpine. I could barely hunt, and I had to mostly reach hanging fruits when foraging in the pack woods.

But none were this huge. Even the supposedly big ones, I mostly used sticks to bring down what I wanted to eat.

He sighed, and his face softened. "You need to learn how to navigate different terrains, and you also need to build the muscle strength to be able to do so. Come."

I dragged my feet and walked towards him, silently sulking as I kept my eyes trained on the massive thing.

"I might have climbed trees, but I can’t say I was good at climbing them," I blurted out, my arms wrapped around me.

"That is fine..."

Silence stretched for a while before I turned to notice him staring at me.

His voice was gentle when he spoke up, "Don’t be afraid. Just try." He looked up. "Make your way to the first branch and come back down. That should be enough for now."

He said it like it was that simple.

Up close, the trunk was even more massive than I’d thought. The bark was rough, very rough, and deeply ridged, ancient and weathered.

I could faintly make out multiple scratches and claw marks.

Young wolves had to have likely practiced here.

I placed my hands against it, feeling for holds. For anywhere I could grip.

There was nothing like that.

Kael was a lot taller than me, and the branch was positioned farther from his head. How would these shallow grooves even help me reach that point?

"Struggling?" Kael’s voice came from directly behind me.

I spun around, my heart jumping. I hadn’t heard him come so close.

"There’s nothing to hold onto," I said, trying to keep the frustration from my voice. "The branches are too high, and the bark... it’s not entirely smooth, but I don’t think my fingers are strong enough to pull myself up using just these... grooves."

"You’re telling me, the way you put effort into improving your control over your syzygy and ability, you didn’t divert that attention into your physical prowess?"

I went rigid at the sudden realization.

A retort was at the tip of my tongue. Like how I didn’t even have the opportunity to actually do it being cooped up in the room day in day out.

But I hadn’t even bothered to try. Neither had I considered it.

I had thought just gaining energy from the sun and moon would be enough to give me whatever physical strength I needed.

I looked at him, the shock written on my face, and he could see it.

He glanced up at the sky and then back down at me, his expression turning serious. "Don’t try it. Not while we are here. Being too dependent on one or a few of many skillsets can be disadvantageous. And just because you can garner strength from the moon or the sun, doesn’t mean you should neglect your base physical strength. That simple thing was one of the downfalls of past Lycans."

"I see..."

He sighed. "More importantly, there are many ways to climb something."

Before I could ask what he meant, he crouched slightly, and leaped.

I flinched, stepping back to watch him grab the bark that looked completely smooth to me. His feet pressed against the trunk, and then he was moving, climbing the tree until I could no longer see him.

Then he dropped.

He landed in a crouch so silent I didn’t hear a thing. He then straightened to face me.

[ - ]

After my first few pitiful jumping attempts, Kael guided me through the basics first. How to read the bark’s texture instead of searching for large handholds. How to press my fingers into shallow grooves with focused pressure. How to use friction between foot and bark. How to distribute my weight properly... and a few other things I didn’t clearly understand until further breakdown.

Even with everything he explained and laid out, most of them still needed core strength.

Which I severely lacked.

Climbing a smaller or thinner tree had been out of the question. Something about injuring myself by scraping my skin when sliding upwards.

My first attempt was more than clumsy. My fingers searched frantically for holds, my feet slipped repeatedly, and I constantly fell after barely reaching anywhere.

He made me try again immediately. And again. And again.

Then something strange happened.

Despite being drenched in sweat, my clothes sticking to me like a second skin, and despite having removed my shoes to climb barefoot on his instruction, I started noticing small improvements.

I found it easier to pull myself up. Easier for my fingers to recognize and latch on to patterns in the bark. Being barefoot helped a lot to find my grip too, and before I knew it, I was getting higher after each attempt.

My arms were burning, my fingers felt raw where they pressed into the bark, and my legs burned from the constant tension, but I still—

My foot slipped and I fell.

To my shock, he caught me this time. His arms were solid around me, one supporting my back, the other cradling my legs. His chest rose and fell against my cheek with steady breathing and I became acutely aware of several things at once.

How warm he was despite the cool air.

How his hands, still holding me, pressed against my back and the underside of my knees.

How my hand had somehow found its way to his shoulder, gripping the fabric of his shirt.

His eyes widened slightly, as if he had also just realized how close our faces were.

Neither of us moved.