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“They are definitely not like you and me,” Rik said, chortling to himself. “We've run into half a dozen groups of the things. They're wretched and violent. Had to put a lot of them down.”
“Put them down? You mean murder them,” William said grimly, his body stiffening with hostility.
Sarah had not spoken, she was still in shock at the sudden appearance of the citizen. It seemed there was nowhere, however wild, that was out of reach of those people once they set their minds to a thing.
“Only citizens can be murdered,” Rik said. “Animals are hunted. You know that.”
“Wildlings are humans with a mutation.”
“And monkeys share 98% of our DNA; what is your point?” Rik began to scowl. “You're being rescued. You could show some gratitude.”
“I don't need rescuing,” William said stiffly. “And you're trespassing on my property.”
Rik laughed. And laughed. And then stopped when he realized that William was actually serious. “Oh, my dear man,” Rik said. “You must be addled from the radiation. This isn't property. This is a hovel.”
“Get. Out.” There was now undeniable threat in William's voice. His hand lingered near his weapon, still holstered at his hip, still charged after all that time.
“William...” Sarah spoke softly. “Don't be rash. You miss the city.”
“The city,” William nodded. “But not this.”
“Listen to your pet,” Rik said. “She has the sense to know where you belong.”
“I decide where I belong,” William said. “And you are not welcome here. Leave. Now.”
“I'm afraid I've been tasked with bringing you back to Nalbin, and that's what I'm going to do.” Rik lifted his weapon. It was probably only set to stun. Maybe he never had any intention of firing it at all, but William didn't wait to find out. He rushed the man, throwing him to the ground with the sheer force of his body.
Rik went flying backward into the grass outside their house, narrowly avoiding crushing ripening marrows. In the process he lost his grip on the weapon, which skidded across the grass. Sarah scampered out to retrieve it before anyone could start wrestling for it. The two men were struggling, but Rik was at a disadvantage. His armor protected him from blows and projectiles, but it made him awkward and slow as well. William soon had the upper hand, pinning Rik to the ground beneath his powerful body.
“Listen,” William said softly as he held the citizen down. “I'm going to let you go with your life, but if you or any other city people come this way again, if I find out that even one wildling has been harmed, I will hunt you. Understand?”
Rik might have been a proud citizen, civilized and empowered with technology, but he knew when he was beaten. His nod of assent was accompanied by a small whimper of pain.
“William,” Sarah said. “Please let him up. You're hurting him.”
“Not nearly enough,” William growled.
It came as a shock to Sarah that William's response wasn't at all civilized. It was wild. He was not politely asking the intruder to go away, he was defending his territory with all necessary force. She had been wrong about him. William wasn't the same man he'd been in the city. The wilds had changed him, more than she had realized, and more than he knew.
“Please,” Rik said. “Let me go. I won't come back.”
“You won't come back and you won't tell anyone you found me. You'll have me removed from the records.”
“Okay.” Rik agreed quickly. He probably would have agreed to anything to get the great bearded hunter off him.
“If anyone else comes here. If we find hunting parties out here, rescue teams, anything that shouldn't be here, I will come after you,” William reiterated, his great fists clenched just below Rik's jaw. “Understand?”
“Understood.” The citizen's voice was cracking with fear.
Taking pity on the man, William got up and pulled Rik up with him. “Thank you for looking for me,” he said more kindly. “But I'm not lost. I'm home.”
“Can't say this is what I'd choose,” Rik said, straightening the plates of his armor. “But if this is really what you want...”
“It is,” William said firmly. “I have everything I need out here.”
“Mhm.” Rik's eyes slid over to Sarah and took on a shrewd expression. “This is about her, isn't it. I've heard some hunters engage in unnatural acts with their pets...”
“Watch your words,” William warned.
“Oh no, I get it.” Rik lifted his hands in preemptive surrender. “You like your pet.”
“She's not a pet,” William corrected him sharply.
“I'm not?” Sarah spoke up, confused.
“Oh, you're always going to be my pet,” he said in deliciously deep tones which sent shivers of excitement down her spine. “But you're not a pet in the eyes of the world here. You're a free woman, the equal of any other. And that's why we'll never return to a city. I won't ever ask you to go back to a place where you are not treated as an equal.”
