“I will stay right here and watch you.” Claire was going to run at the first chance she got. She had to get away.
“I mean it.” He kept his eyes on hers.
“I’m not going anywhere.” She looked around them and shivered. Then she sat down, looking – hopefully – like she was making herself comfortable.
His eyes lit up and it seemed he might have changed his mind about having sex immediately. “Watch me!” He smiled. Then he shifted and tore a nearby tree from the ground. It was as long and thick-trunked as the others. Claire could see that he was powerful, but he still made it look easy.
Her mouth fell open. She gasped as he began breaking it into pieces. Snapping the wood like a twig. He used the huge pieces to build a base about two-thirds of the way up the tree. Then he broke down more trees, these were smaller ones, but it was still just as impressive. He used the thinner trunks to make the frame of the shelter by bending and tying them. She watched for about ten minutes as the medium-sized shelter slowly took form.
What was she doing?
Wasting valuable time, that’s what. She needed to get the hell out of there. She couldn’t rely on being rescued. What if they couldn’t find her? They might not even know she was gone yet. Worth had been pretty badly hurt and looked out of it when they had left him not so long ago.
One more glance at the engrossed Orrick, and she turned and ran like her ass was on fire. Claire was careful not to make too much noise. She did her best to avoid sticks and branches, as well as tree roots and rocks. It wouldn’t do to fall flat on her face or to break a leg or something.
She had no idea where she was going or even if she would be able to survive out there alone. All she knew was that she had to get away. It felt like one of those nightmares where, no matter how hard you tried, how quick you tried to be, you ended up getting nowhere. Her legs felt weak. Minutes ticked by, but she didn’t seem to make much progress in the thick undergrowth. Maybe she should hide rather? Find somewhere to hole up until…until when? How long would she have to hide for?
Claire looked around. Also, she couldn’t find anywhere suitable. There were trees. Lots and lots of trees and enough tangled undergrowth to make her progress slow, but not to hide in. Claire was so busy looking for a place to hide, she tripped over some unseen obstacle and went flying, landing hard on her chest and elbows. It felt like the air was forced out of her lungs in a whoosh. Her elbows throbbed. She struggled to pull in air for a few moments, relieved when she finally did. Claire sucked in deep breaths.
It took several valuable minutes to collect herself enough to stand up. Her right elbow stung. She checked it out and yep, she’d scraped it open. There was dirt and mud caked on her shirt and arms. There was no time to dust herself off. Claire needed to move. She needed to put more distance between herself and Orrick. Once that happened, she could find a place to hide. Just for a short while. A shadow fell above her, moving quickly across the ground over her. She grabbed the nearest tree trunk, trying not to breathe since the air was coming in and out of her lungs in ragged pants.
She listened and waited and listened some more. Nothing! Claire let go of the tree and turned around. She screamed, gripping a hand to her chest.
Orrick was standing directly behind her. He was frowning hard. His arms were folded.
“Why did you have to scare me like that?” she yelled at him. “You shouldn’t sneak around,” she muttered under her breath.
“It is you who is sneaking.” His voice was gruff.
Claire snorted. “I am not.” She so was!
“You were hiding. Holding that tree trunk to try and keep me from finding you.” He pointed at the trunk behind her.
“No!” she snorted, trying to come up with a plausible explanation. “I wasn’t. I was having a rest. I happen to like holding trees while I rest. It’s a human thing,” she added, spur of the moment. He didn’t seem to understand humans very well.
“No, it’s not a human thing,” he countered.
Maybe he knew more than she thought. She reminded herself that he was naked. That he was convinced that the size of his cock would entice her into letting him mate her…mount her. Whatever the word was that he had used. This guy knew nothing about humans. She nodded. “It is. We all do it,” she bluffed. “It’s soothing for our kind.”
His gaze softened just a touch. “Why are you so dirty?” His gaze moved down. “And you’re bleeding. You were running away.” His eyes narrowed once more, his voice turning hard.
“I was looking for water. I thought I heard a stream. I’m thirsty.” She rolled her eyes. “I fell over a stupid tree root.”
“You were going in the opposite direction to water.” Again, he looked skeptical.
Play it cool, Claire! “Figures.” She sighed. “I always was bad at knowing which direction to head in. My hearing isn’t great either.”
“Another human thing.” He dropped his arms, letting them hang at his sides.
“Yes, very much so.” She forced a smile. Feeling thankful he’d bought it. “How is the nest coming along? You are a very good builder.”
He brightened up a whole lot. “I told you. It is nearly finished.”
Shit! She needed to come up with another diversion.
“Come! I will show you.”
“I’m thirsty, remember?” She needed to buy time so that she could think of another way out of this.
He pushed out a breath. “Okay.” Then he was shifting.
“Wait!” she tried. “No,” she added when he picked her up and took off. At least he wasn’t as rough or as hasty as before. It took about half a minute and they were landing next to a running stream.
Orrick put her down and this time she found her feet easily. “There,” he gestured to the water after shifting, “drink.”
She nodded once, kneeling next to the water, sure to gulp it down. Claire suddenly realized that she was quite thirsty after all. She drank her fill. Orrick leaned down next to her and did the same.
Using his hand to wipe off the excess, Orrick stood back up. “I want to—” He didn’t get to finish the sentence. Something crashed into his side. He flew twenty, maybe thirty feet away from her in a tangle of griffin limbs, landing in a cloud of dust. Orrick was partially shifted by then.
She covered her mouth with her hand. The griffin who had come to her rescue screeched as it flung Orrick through the air. He landed hard against a cluster of trees. There was a tremendous cracking noise as several of the large pine trees were felled by the impact.
The newcomer screeched again as Orrick tried to get up. Instead of finishing his shift, Orrick turned back into his human form, staggering to his feet. “I’m sorry.” He hung his head.
His arm looked like it might be broken. She felt for him, despite her ordeal.
“Don’t hurt him,” she yelled, as the new griffin moved towards Orrick.
Instead of continuing, he turned her way. He was enormous in his animal form. Bigger than Orrick. His feathers were glossy in the light. His paws were enormous as well. Large yellow eyes narrowed on her. He opened his beak and screeched. His body began folding in on itself. He took his time shifting. It was quite beautiful to behold.
Holy shit!
Her eyes bugged out of her skull as she realized that the griffin approaching her was Leukos. He looked pissed. His eyes blazed and his jaw was tight. “Did you want this? Did I interrupt something? Maybe I should go.” He glanced up at the sky before turning his eyes back to her.
“No!” she yelled. “Please don’t leave me here!” Thing was, she didn’t think Orrick was a bad guy. Desperate and confused certainly, but not bad. He was a Feral and lived up to his name. She didn’t think he would have hurt her if push came to shove, but she couldn’t be sure. Having said that, she certainly didn’t want to stay.
Leukos cocked his head, looking confused. “This male took you against your will and disobeyed a direct order.”
“I apologize, sire,” Orrick muttered.
Sire.
That word again. Who was Leukos? “Don’t apologize to me. You can apologize to the female.” He looked her way.
Orrick kept his eyes on the ground. “The female wants me.” He looked up, a look of hope and expectation on his face. “She said so. She was about to come and inspect my nest…our nest. If she accepts, I will mate her.” He nodded once, eyes wide and filled with hope.
“Is this true?” Leukos went back to looking angry, his hands fisted at his sides.
Claire swallowed thickly. “I said that I would look at the nest. I humored Orrick but—”
“What does that mean?” Orrick asked. “Humored? You made me…laugh? Humor is laughter, right?” he muttered to himself, confused.
“I told you that I would look so that you would back off and because it was what you wanted to hear at the time.”
“What?” A look of hurt crossed his face. “You lied?”
“Yes.” She nodded, feeling guilty even though she shouldn’t. She’d done it to protect herself.
“Why would you do such a thing?” He looked stricken.
“I was afraid,” she answered simply.
“Why? I didn’t hurt you. I told you I would protect you.” The hurt look intensified.
“You said you were going to…mount me and make me pregnant. You wouldn’t listen when I said I wasn’t interested. In fact, you became more adamant about proving to me that you could make me happy…sexually. You were forceful about it. So much so that you scared me.”
“Is that true?” Leukos snarled, turning and bashing his chest against Orrick’s.
Instead of fighting back, Orrick got this petrified look. “No…” he stammered. “I would never have…hurt the female…or forced her…or…”
“Please don’t hurt him,” she begged, taking a few steps towards the men.
Leukos visibly relaxed. He turned back towards her. “I don’t think Orrick would have…hurt me in that way, but I couldn’t be sure,” Claire said; she turned her attention back to Orrick. “You weren’t listening to me. That’s what scared me the most. You seemed to have everything planned out in your head.”
Orrick pleaded with her with his eyes. “I did have everything planned out. We could have been happy.”
“No.” She held her ground. “I’m not attracted to you in that way.”
“You could have said so then.” Orrick rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes lifted in thought.
Good, she was getting through to him. “I was afraid,” she went on. “Scared out of my mind.”
“You didn’t look scared.” He shook his head, looking unsure.
“It was an act. I felt like I was fighting for my life. You abducted me…took me against my will,” she explained when he frowned. “You told me you were going to have sex with me and kept repeating that, even though I made it clear I wasn’t interested. I finally pretended to be interested in the nest just to buy time so that I could escape or be rescued. I didn’t want to be here, and I still don’t. I’m sorry,” she added when she saw his shoulders slump. “You can’t abduct someone and drag them out into the middle of nowhere, and then expect them to be interested in you. It won’t happen. Not ever!” Hopefully she was driving her point home.
“You should have listened to Worth when he told you that you still needed training. You still need to learn about human females. They are very different from our own kind in many ways. Although…” Leukos half-smiled…he was really gorgeous ‒ probably not the best time to notice such a thing, “in many ways they are very much the same. The trick is to listen. Not just that but – like Claire said ‒ to hear as well.” Leukos turned those golden eyes on her. “What do you want, human?”
It felt like she was on the spot. Like ten spotlights suddenly turned on and were trained on her. She swallowed thickly. “What do you mean?”
“What do you think should happen to Orrick? You get to decide his fate.”
Fate. That sounded serious.
Poor Orrick stood with his head bowed. His shoulders were slumped. He looked like he had shrunk in size, even though he was slightly more muscled than Leukos. The term ‘brick shithouse’ came to mind. He still cradled his injured arm. He had dirt streaks across his chest. His knees were scraped and bloodied. “I will take whatever punishment you mete out,” he mumbled.
“Punishment?” she whispered. What he had done was serious. It couldn’t happen again. Not to her or anyone else. At the same time, she felt he had learned from this.
“Yes.” Leukos nodded. “Time in a silver cage. A week, five weeks? Longer?” He raised his brows. “Lashes across his back with a silver-tipped whip? He didn’t actually touch you,” Leukos’ voice dropped several octaves and his jaw clenched, “but we could remove his prick. It would be agony and—”
“No!” she gasped.
“I agree.” Leukos nodded, like he was discussing the weather. “I do not believe he deserves such a harsh sentence but—”
“Good god! You mean you would actually remove his…his…?” She pulled in a deep breath, her gut churning.
“It would grow back.” Leukos shrugged. “It would take a week or two but—”
“Oh…” It was still harsh. Seriously barbaric! “No…don’t do that. Don’t beat him either.” She blinked hard, feeling bewildered. Claire was sure she looked bewildered.
“Do you want Orrick to do this to another female? You did the right thing by buying time. This could have ended badly. The next female might not be so quick-thinking, might not be so lucky. Orrick isn’t a bad male, but he needs to be punished.”
“What is this cage you’re talking about?”
“It’s exactly what it sounds like. It’s a silver cage. We sometimes string the cage up as extra punishment. I would recommend at least a week—”
“No,” she shook her head, “you mentioned that there is training available. That it’s all about humans – particularly human women. I think Orrick should do much more of that before being allowed to interact with humans again. Three months…at least.”
“Three months!” Orrick groaned.
“Yes.” She raised her brows. “At least three months. You need to learn a whole lot more about us. You would also need to listen when others give you advice. Worth is your friend. I could see it earlier when he told you to go home. He told you that you weren’t ready. You need to listen to him and do what he says. If he thinks you’re ready after three months, then so be it but if he feels you need more time…” she widened her eyes, “you have to listen to him. That is if he ever talks to you again after the beating you gave him. I would suggest apologizing to him as well.”
Orrick nodded. “He will be fine. I didn’t hurt him too badly.”
Not too badly? What? She felt her eyes widen.
“I will apologize though. You are right, he is my friend.” The poor guy looked so dejected and sad. His shoulders were slumped. His golden eyes misted.
“There is someone out there for you,” she insisted. “I’m sure of it. You’re not quite ready to meet them yet. That’s all.”
Orrick grinned. “You think so?”
“I know so…but, only if you follow my advice. Only if you listen to Worth.”
“It’s not advice. You must do as the female commands. You must do as I command.” Leukos used that same harsh tone that had the hairs on her arms standing on end and a shiver running up her spine.
“I will.” Orrick nodded, looking resolute.
“Okay then. I think Claire let you off easy. I personally would have had you whipped – at the very least. Do not let me down again or I will be in charge of meting out the next punishment.”
“I won’t let you down, my lord.” Orrick bowed his head. “I am determined to prove myself worthy of having a human female.”
“Good.” Leukos turned and strode towards her. “Are you ready to leave, human?” His eyes were on hers. “You don’t look badly hurt.” His gaze drifted over her, making every part of he
r body heat up.
Claire allowed her own gaze to move down the length of his body ‒ and what a body it was. Tall, impossibly so. Muscled…so much muscle. His member swung from side to side as he walked towards her. Not as scary big as Orrick’s but still…huge. All of him. She licked her lips, which suddenly felt dry. By the time her eyes had drifted to his face, he was smirking.
Caught.
She’d been caught checking him out. Claire cleared her throat. “I’m glad you don’t look injured either.” She pretended her perusal of him was to determine his health. Like hell!
Leukos gave her a half-smile that turned her insides to mush. “Not possible. I’m too strong…too…” He got this look. “Thank you for your concern.” Leukos sobered up. “Are you well enough to travel?” He touched the side of her scraped arm, his eyes on her elbow. “Do you have any injuries that can’t be seen?”
She dipped her chin. His hand felt warm against her skin. “No…I don’t think so.”
He lifted his brows. “You’re not sure? I can check you over before we leave.”
His offer was tempting. “I’m fine.” She shook her head once.
“Good. I’m going to shift and take you back.”
“Okay…but…” she gripped the side of his arm, “don’t carry me upside down and don’t fly too fast…it makes me sick.” Leukos’ expression turned murderous as he turned to face Orrick.
“I was in a rush,” the other shifter announced, eyes wide and fearful.
“I would have put you in a cage for a few days for the bad flying alone,” Leukos muttered. His eyes softened as he turned back to her. “I’ll take care of you.”
She knew Leukos hadn’t meant it in any kind of a romantic way, but her knees turned just a little weak anyway. That’s how she felt around Leukos.
Oh hell, she knew this feeling. Claire was in lust. Once she met someone she liked, she fell in love quickly but instant lust…
It had only ever happened to her once before. The star high school quarterback. Steve ‘Blue-eyes’ Jackson. Nothing had come of that. Would things be different with Leukos? She’d technically been on a date with Worth when she’d been nabbed. She didn’t want to go back to that date. She didn’t want Amy to have Leukos, or for them to swap tomorrow. Was that bitchy? It probably was but she hadn’t asked to be abducted. Maybe something good could come from her ordeal. This was her chance and she was taking it, dammit. Hopefully, that didn’t make her a bad person. She’d been kicking herself since letting Amy take Leukos, instead of stepping up herself and saying how she felt. She also took a back seat. Had done so her whole life. For once, she was stepping up.
Hate Awakened: Book 3: The Feral Page 5