“We’re not that close. You’ve walked further into the forest than you realized,” he said glancing around.
Bria took in her surroundings more carefully then, noting how the trees and foliage had grown denser. He was right. She was much deeper in the forest than she expected.
“We need to return to the village,” she said anxiously.
“Nay, I mean to follow the tracks.”
His voice was strong with determination, the look in his eyes stubborn. He would have it no other way; let no one stop him.
She shook her head, not knowing how to dissuade him, but sensing that she must. “That is not wise, and for what purpose? To prove what we already know? That something dangerous walks these woods?”
A roar sounded in the distance and Kaelan hurried his arm around Bria and pulled her close, shielding her.
“We need to go back to the safety of the village,” she insisted, worried the creature would tear him apart, like it did the Hunter, if their paths should cross.
“Nay, I can’t take the chance of losing it.”
“And I can’t take the chance of you being harmed,” she argued. “You are still recovering from a serious wound that needed to be stitched. You cannot go hunting a beast of such size and strength. Your stitches will come undone.”
His arm left her waist and his hand latched onto hers. “Then it is best you come with me.”
Bria shook her head at once, pulling against his hold, though he did not release her. “Nay. I will not leave Willowmere to chase after some unknown beast. I am needed there. There are people who depend on me.”
“And they will remain so whether you stand within the village or just beyond it,” he said, his grip firm, though not painful. “You have already come this far.”
“That was not my intent,” she argued. “I came to find you, not to follow you deeper into danger.”
“And yet you followed.”
His words struck true, and she did not like it.
“I will return,” she said, her voice steadier now, more resolved. “You may do as you wish, but I will not be drawn into it.”
She moved to step past him.
He did not allow it. Not forcefully, but with quiet certainty, he shifted just enough to block her path, his presence alone enough to halt her progress.
“You would walk back alone?” he asked, having no intention of letting her do so.
“I have done so before.”
“Before what now moves through these woods?”
She held his gaze, refusing to yield. “I will take my chances.”
His eyes narrowed slightly. “You speak of duty, of those who rely on you. Yet you would risk not returning to them at all.”
“I do not frighten so easily,” she said, though the echo of the roar still lingered in her mind.
“Fear has little to do with it.”
“Then what does?” she challenged.
For a moment, he said nothing.
The forest seemed to press closer around them, the quiet deepening, the space between them charged with more than words alone.
Then he spoke. “What do you truly fear, Bria?”
