The Beast Within Us

Chapter 29: ↭ Yara & ⑄ Chala

↭ Yara did not pick up on the faint footsteps as Chala had. Her pure human senses made sure of that as she gazed intimately at Chala, who had pulled away lest a soft grip on her shoulder and peered into the forest. The wardeness thoughts were elsewhere as her new lover inspected the trees and by the time her guards had approached she had little time to react before their defense began.

Vincio.

It was no secret that using the word several times hastily caused immense strain on Chala's mental and physical strength. When attempting to break the hewan's stubborn nature, Serell had discovered this fact. Word travelled that the most effective way to subdue the hewan was through this method.

As Chala quickly pulled away from her and began writhing in pain beside her, Yara snapped back to the present and her previously softened feature resumed their infamous hardened state.

"Stop it! Stop it now! I said that's enough! Yara's voice thundered around them and she knelt on the damp forest floor beside her ward, hands running wild in an unsuccessful attempt to soothe Chala's pain.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" The warden directed her fury at the small flock of guards before her, weapons drawn and confusion flecked across their faces.

"My lady, at the inn-we thought-"

"You thought wrong. Chala is not, nor will she ever be a threat to me. I command you to stand down!"

The guards mumbled their apologies, obvious shame written blatantly across their expressions. "Return to your posts. We are leaving at sun's peak, and due to your impaired judgement, the group of you will be on latrine duty for the remainder of the trip. Do I make myself clear, soldiers?"

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After sending the soldiers on their way, Yara continued to flit and fret over Chala's well-being. The warden insisted they return to camp and let Chala rest in the caravan for the day rather than travel with the soldiers and follow Yara's horse in her shifted form as she often preferred to do.

"Really, Chala. I'd prefer to know you were regaining your strength. I will be perfectly safe at the head of the march for one day without you. Please just rest in the caravan at the back of the group? It's just one day."

Yara motioned to her mattress pallet in the caravan. As the caravan was the heaviest and slowest of the travelling party, it was logically at the end of the formation on their journey. The distinct sounds of soldiers packing up camp and readying for the day's march helped conceal their intimate quarrel behind the lattice screens.

Chala was being brutally stubborn as usual about the matter, and the thought of her overprotective nature for her made Yara selfishly feel giddy inside.

"Lady Wheiler! Excuse me, have you seen the warden? Lady Yara!?"

Furious knocks against the screen door made Yara straighten and pull away from Chala. The warden pulled open the wooden caravan door and addressed the squawking boy.

"Yes, what is it?"↭

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⑄ Once the initial pain had subsided, Chala groaned and grasped at her chest. The piercing that shot throughout her body was gone, replaced by a pulsing ache that was only better by a small margin. For a fearful moment, she how much more her heart could take before the damage became irreversible. As her breath came in ragged gasps, she wagered that the answer a rather small sum. The tigress focused on Yara and the comforting hand upon her back as she recovered–it was little else besides emotional support, but she appreciated it nonetheless. The soldiers had long since left by the time she climbed to her feet, leaning against the warden for support.

Their progress back to camp was slow and staggered at best, as Chala relied heavily on her companion to get to where she needed to go. Her muscles were sore from the pain spasms she'd experienced earlier, and her chest still ached from the forced transformation. It was as though the spell had grown worse over time, and the thought frightened the huntress greatly. Her fingers absentmindedly sought out the dark leather of the collar around her neck. Neither she nor Yara were sure how to get it off or if removing the collar was even possible for the two of them. For all they knew, only the king could remove it, and that would never happen if he could help it. Perhaps she would never be free of it, and it would linger as a cruel reminder of her stolen freedom and the family she was taken from. And the friend she lost. Chala shook her head to dispel the dark thoughts, but her hand remained on the collar.

The walk back might have been quiet, mostly due to Chala withdrawing into her thoughts, but Yara wasted no time worrying over her huntress once the two were safely behind closed doors. She insisted Chala rest there for the day, but the tigress shook her head vehemently, grey eyes hard and unyielding.

"All it takes is one day! It took one day of my carelessness for the king to capture me–" 'To kill Qifi.' The words caught in her throat, and she swallowed dryly before recovering. Chala took one of Yara's hands in her own and met her gaze. "It took that man a day to try to kill you. It's not that I don't want to take a day, it's that I can't. I'm all you've got right now. If something happened to you the one day I let my guard down..." Chala trailed off, her grip tightening at the thought. She'd lost Qifi to carelessness. She wouldn't repeat that mistake again.

However, the moment was broken by frantic knocking on Yara's door, and Chala glared at the door as though the boy on the other side would be able to feel her displeasure. The feeling only grew as her warden was forced to pull away to both answer the door and keep up appearances. She recognized the recruit in front of Yara: Randorynn Smith, one of the younger one that'd joined the ranked of the warden. Most of his friends called him Rando for short. He was fidgety, naive, and one of the most excitable people Chala had ever come across.

Currently, he stood trembling in front of the warden with an expression of urgence laced with fear, though whether that was due to Yara's authoritative stance or the glare Chala was shooting him, the tigress would never know. Rando gulped and straightened before his superior.

"Ma'am! It's the captain! He–" The recruit faltered and Chala rose to her feet, interest piqued as her friend was mentioned. It took Rando a moment to continue, once he was finished quaking in his boots. "He's gotten worse, my lady. We're no sure if he'll...if he can–"

"Just lead us to him," the huntress interrupted, patience worn thin by the stuttering idiot they sent to retrieve Yara for such an important matter. Rando nodded frantically turned to lead the two of them to the ailing soldier. ⑄