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The male watched me for a moment.
I could feel his attention like a brand, but after a few minutes of me hiding away from him, I heard his audible sigh and then watched him relax from the corner of my eye.
He kept his knees bent with his bound hands trapped between them, but he slouched back against the wooden railing, tipping his head back and resting it there.
I wished I could relax, my entire body was aching from all I’d been through, but I knew better than to let down my guard.
I was confused, unsure exactly if I should be afraid of these catmen that maybe were keeping me prisoner. Or if I should be more fearful of them letting me go and having no way of surviving on my own out there.
I was also thrown off by the dynamics at play. This male was chained up, yes, but he’d said something to the others to get them to release me and they hadlistened.They’d actually jumped to obey him.
But now, they stayed away. Feeling a headache brewing, I forced my body to release some of its tension.
But even under the furs, I was still shivering. I was not made for the cold. I wanted nothing more than to close my eyes and wake up on that beach, but I didn’t knowhow.
I had to figure out how I got here to find my way back.
Refusing to look out into the icy landscape again, I glared down at my lap.
I already knew from the first glance that there was nothing out there that could help me. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been unconscious or how far this sledding boat had traveled, but there wasn’t a tree in sight.
Only mountains in the distance, far enough that I would die traveling on foot, especially now knowing the ice was fractured over a deadly body of water.
My eyes welled with tears, but it was too cold for them to fall. They only froze, and that was painful enough that I learned to stifle my emotion very quickly.
Crying wouldn’t help me here.
Emotion would likely get me killed.
I allowedmyself to wallow in self-pity for a little while. I had nothing better to do, but when the catmen milling about the boat seemed to stir a little more, move about with more purpose, I swallowed it down and started to pay attention.
I didn’t recognize anything around me and was beginning to wonder if I’d somehow traveled to another world as wacky as that sounded.
I also wondered if other people—human people—had been sucked through their phone. But I hadn’t seen any others when I’d first been dumped here, hadn’t come across any in those woods.
It was depressing—realizing that I was alone…
But I wasn’t completely alone, not when a pair of emerald-green eyes kept drifting my way, when he would shift just slightly, seeming to angle toward me when another male walked close by as ifshieldingme.
It was a disconcerting feeling, wanting to trust this male that seemed different than the others while also feeling afraid of him.
He spoke every few moments, trying to tell mesomethingbut there was just no way of communicating and I grew frustrated with him, ducking further into my cocoon.
He watched me shiver every few moments, a dark angry cloud brewing in his eyes as the fur became less effective against the temperature over time.
And then, startling me, he bellowed something over the roar of the boat as a male walked by, alerting him and another who immediately turned their attention to me.
A nervous tingle swept over me as they lumbered over, nervously eyeing the rigid posture of the male at my side.
One of the males said something to me, motioning with his claws for me to stand.
I huddled deeper under my fur cover, and he scowled, hissing something that was likely insulting.
The other sighed heavily and reached down, yanking the cover away from me, and I cried out in anger, refusing to lessen my grip on the edge of the fur.
We began a ridiculous round of tug of war for a moment before the meaner male hissed at me, reaching down and tearing my hands away from the fur.
The chained male barked something angrily and they both abruptly released me, seeming frustrated.
