"We are safe in numbers," he said, moving closer to her.
"Yes, but I am alone and I am unharmed. You need to leave this forest alone. Let us be, I beg of you," she pleaded.
He shook his head, and she wanted to scream. "It's already in motion."
"Stop it. I know you have the power to do so. Go back from where you came. You can worry about the other towns you built."
"Calista," he whispered, and her eyes narrowed. "You will be better off when you live in a town. So many years out here, you've gone wild. You forgot how nice it is to be a part of a community. Your obsession with these animals-"
"Wild! Obsessed? You know nothing, Reece," she said sharply. "I've lived in this village for five years. I see mountain lions once a week, but the only thing my whole life to ever scare me was man. Why you have so much power, I don't know. You would never make it a day out here without someone like me to show you how to survive, yet I must beg you not to take it all away? You talk to me about safety, what a laugh! You sicken me, Mr. Baker." With that, she turned from him and walked through the forest and back to her boat, feeling a harrowing mix of freedom and rage.
Crashing Into You Page 17