Outcast Among the Reeds

Chapter Nine

***Dedicated to xxbdbxxloverxx for her encouragement and listening to my ranting lol. I doubt I would have kept writing if she hadn't helped me out. :)

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    "I won't go with you. I refuse to leave my forest. I do not care what you do to me; you will not make me leave!"

   A knot started to form in his chest, making it harder to breathe. It had become clear in that instant why she had responded to him in such a violent manner. She firmly believed that he had come to take her away, against her will. And, if his assumptions about her current situation held true, that particularly poisonous thought could have come from only one place; Harracine.

   Truthfully, when he had seen her and recognized her as a possible slave, his second instinct had been to whisk her away, the first being the murderous rage that had even surprised him. But his sense had won through, thankfully. He could not make her leave without first gaining her trust. And so, he had sought to do so, even after she tried to kill him. When she had fallen apart in his arms, clinging to him as though he were her only lifeline, he had hoped that her initial reaction had simply come out of surprise and ignorance. Someone so frail and small could not possibly have the heart-or lack thereof-to take a life in cold blood. She had proven him wrong, quite firmly.

   I cannot blame her.

   Regret and shame assailed him as he leaped a log. He could still feel the sensation of her body pressed to his, the maddening heat soaking into his skin, driving his senses wild. It had become too unbearable, too hot to stand. So, he had plunged them both beneath the surface, pinning her to the bank. He had barely retained enough sense to not submerge them completely and drown them both. He had fully intended to make love to her in that moment. He would have, had she not suddenly come back to her senses, dragging him with her. He cursed under his breath, shaking the memory from his mind's eye, though his body was not so quick to forget. He turned his attention outward, attempting to cool the ardor that pushed him to catch her as hard as the fear for her safety did.

   Vaguely, he registered the subtle changes in the forest becoming more pronounced but he had little attention to spare them. He had to focus just to keep her in sight. She flitted between the trees like some kind of spirit, her black hair blending with the shadows, her long legs carrying her further ahead of him. It was a miracle she even had the energy to walk, let alone outrun him. But he could not dash ahead at full speed as she did; not while trying to keep his feet sound beneath him.

   She rounded a tree and he dashed to the other side, hoping to cut her off but she never emerged. Hopping onto a nearby raised root, he looked around, expecting to catch a glimpse of her still running, but she had completely vanished. He licked his dry lips, glancing back the way they had come.

   Did she double back?

   At this point, he would not put anything past her. She had fooled him twice with her innocent act; he could not afford to underestimate her again. He sighed, forcing his frantic heart rate and breathing to calm down.

   Where are you, my little wolf?

   Behind him, he could hear the normal night sounds; the crickets, bats, owls, night predators. He could even hear the river rushing by off in the distance and hoped that the two of them had not been discovered missing yet. If the others joined in the hunt, he feared the situation would escalate dangerously. He refused to admit the other, less noble reason he would rather the others not intervene.