The Beast Within Us

Chapter 25: ↭ Yara

↭ When Yara's body finally succumbed to the tether of deep sleep weighing her down, she dreamt only of the Hewan who held her. Before Chala laid beside her, the warden's sleep was fitful and restless. The dream was blissful, Chala held Yara closely in her arms and they laughed together over the conversation. Chala had said something humorous, and Yara blushed in response, pulling Chala's face closer to her own. Creamy porcelain met tanned bronze as Yara melted in Chala's comfortable embrace. The soothe of Chala's purr made Yara's heart flutter with emotion as her soft lips grazed across Chala's neck. Yara had spent enough time with Chala to recognize her familiar scent, and as she inhaled blissfully against the crook of her sinuous neck the scent that assaulted her nose made Yara gasp.

Smoke filled her lungs and she suddenly felt too warm. Yara snapped her head up to gaze back into the face of Chala, only it was not. Serell's glassy blue eyes met her own and Yara felt the panic begin to set in. It's only a dream, wake up!

Yara shot upright in bed as Chala shook her gingerly. The warden blinked her bleary eyes questioningly at Chala as her gaze began to focus. Her caravan was filling with acrid smoke and the world around her was unbearably hot. She could hear her soldiers thundering around the campsite from outside, assumably a fire or attack of some sort.

Yara prepared to stand when the door of her chambers rattled violently. She obeyed when Chala commanded her to stay put, and Yara pulled her furskin blankets around her protectively.

She was not shocked to see the alchemist from the apothecary; Yara knew in her right mind that Briniel could be the only immediate threat at this time. Chala was quick and the massive tigress had him pinned before Yara could even think about screaming. Her ward held the elderly man pinned against the wooden floor and Yara rose from the bed when she was sure that Chala had him entirely incapacitated.

He whimpered into the floorboards as Yara approached him, her posture only straightened more as he begged for his life.

"Why have you come to execute me on this night?" Yara's voice was no longer her usual soft melody, her words thundered across the room like a raging storm.

"Please, me lady, I didn't want to..."

A reassuring glance at Chala communicated more pain and the man shrieked with agony as he shrunk his body closer to the floor.

"They asked me to spy! They only said that ye were advancing on Briniel, that they wanted Audor to turn around and go back- to leave us alone! We only fear our safety!"

"And you chose to attempt and murder the Warden of the North instead?"

"Me lady, you must understand, I-"

"I understand you have committed treason. The punishment for treason is death. By the command that is mine to wield as wardeness of the north, I sentence you to be executed."

• • • • •   

The next week on the road to Briniel, Yara was more comfortable with Chala than she had been. The warden was entirely too aware that Chala had saved her life that night and that it wouldn't have been possible if Chala was not nearby. The protective hovering that had begun with Chala was now more equally dispersed. Yara felt herself drifting closer to the Hewan at all times and often relied on her presence as a source of comfort. Yara often initiated the conversation within the relationship, and now allowed herself the enjoyment of Chala's presence.

After the attack and the fact that the country was growing colder with the advance of winter, Yara allowed the excuse of requesting Chala's presence at night. It became a nightly ritual for the pair to curl up in the warmth of her furs after a long day of riding and talk endlessly about insignificant things until either of them fell asleep.

Yara did not dare voice her emotions about Chala, but she often wondered how the tigress felt about her. She would often lay in bed at times and debate on the confusing feelings she had developed over the past several weeks. Darryn's absence had weighed heavily on her, but after Chala had saved her life, Yara began to wonder if she truly was in love with the soldier, or if she only loved the idea of him. He had been a staple in her life for so long, but regrettably, Yara felt she may have outgrown him. While her feelings for Darryn were warm and comfortable, Chala made Yara's heart race and excited something deep inside her core. Things felt different now and the wardeness felt closer to Chala in a way she had never experienced with Darryn before. Yara decided one night after Chala slept peacefully beside her that she would address the emotions, and more importantly, Chala's emotions.

Yara awoke the next morning with an anxious pit in her stomach. Chala was still blissfully asleep beside her and Yara reached out to stroke her cheek with the tender brush of her fingertips.

"It is morning."

Chala stirred beneath her and Yara prodded her to dress and meet her in the inn for breakfast. Yara dressed as well, her long chestnut curls she braid down her back in her usual riding style. Yara made her way around the camp before finding the inn, she even stopped in to check on Darryn, who had slept in a tent outside the camp as the small village they spent the night in was limited on space.

Darryn was sleeping heavily when Yara entered his buckskin tent. The woman allowed her eyes to adjust to the darkness before she knelt beside his sleepsack. His face was pale and solemn, his cheeks looked hollow and gaunt. Faint purple bruises rimmed Darryn's eye sockets and he was noticeably thinner. He was more ill than he had been before, and Yara felt a sharp pang of fear strike her gut as she retreated quickly from the tent. Darryn needed a healer and Yara feared his longevity if it was not soon.

The thoughts whirled through her mind as she entered the inn and found Chala sitting quietly at a round wicker table on the edges of the inn. A few of her soldiers greeted her as she steadily walked to her ward, and Yara gave them a courteous nod of attention.

Yara sat across from Chala, offering her a small smile in greeting as the innkeeper attended them. Breakfast and refreshments was served to them and Yara picked delicately at her plate of eggs as she picked and choosed the words she wanted to say carefully.

"Chala, there is something I'd like to discuss with you." Her voice was soft, and her smoldering coal gaze hesitated to meet the Hewan's own.

"You should know by now how reluctant I am to feel things. For many years I have felt frozen, even when I am with Darryn. I cannot help it much, my father always warned me that emotions could destroy a great warden.." Yara allowed her words to settle around them heavily and she took a small sip from her mug, still avoiding Chala's gaze.

"But you make me feel things, things I never thought I could feel. You are strong and passionate, two things I have always wanted to be but could not."

Yara's struggled to drag her shameful gaze to meet Chala's and when her onyx eyes met the mysterious steel of grey, she felt her pulse rise.

"I want you Chala, and I'd like to think you want me back."↭