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I’ve never been caught in the intense stare of a lion as it was about to hunt down its prey, but as I stared into Vitri’s gaze, I think I had a pretty good idea what it might feel like.His voice had become animalistic, laced with growls and snarls at my perceived challenge of his partnership with me.I held up my hands in a gesture of surrender, but I could see it was already too late to calm him.My fingers curled around the spear I still held, and Vitri caught the movement with his eye.
“Vitri…” I whispered.
Was I no longer safe with him?His breathing was heavy and ragged.Everything had gone downhill in a matter of minutes, and now I was fighting the urge to flee from the danger he presented, the darkness rolling off him in waves.
“Run,” he whispered, the words barely a hint against the breeze.
“W-what?”I asked.But he didn’t answer, only ducked his head as a series of growls emanated from his barrel-like chest.I lifted my spear with a shaking hand, trying to at least portray the threat I would attack him if I needed to, although every nerve in my body was screaming at me not to hurt him.
I didn’t fight the urge a second time.
I ran.
***
Vitri wasn’t far behind me.I could hear him crashing through the trees, showing none of the care he did the first time I had seen him move.In his forest, he had swayed and swerved carefully around every plant as though they were a part of him, and I suppose they were.That forest was his home.But now he was an animal coming after its prey.
Me.
What would happen if he caught me?He wouldn’t hurt me—he said he would look after me.Hepromised.But a promise means nothing when all control is lost, and instinct has taken over.An instinct that has been programmed in him and was taking over his being.
I was sure he wouldn’t hurt me.
At least not on purpose.
I was as sure as I could be while fleeing through a strange woodland with an alien twice my size chasing me.
But he might hurt me accidentally.He was huge and intent on fucking me.What if he couldn’t hold back?What if he tore me apart in a fit of passion?
I ran, but my lungs were already beginning to burn, and I couldn’t keep this up for long.
Vitri wanted me to stab him, and I might not be left with a choice.
Clutching my spear, I pushed myself and continued running for as long as I could, but I was putting off the inevitable, and Vitri didn’t seem like he was going to gain control of himself any time soon.Every now and then, the growls from him would be punctuated by a frustrated roar, and his steps would falter and stumble.He was tryingso hardnotto pursue me, but he couldn’t help it.He’d asked me to take action if he ever got out of control, and I owed him this.
Before I could overthink it too much more, I stopped and spun on the spot, crouching low and holding the spear out, ready.In the leg,I repeated to myself, I didn’t want to kill him,just stab him in the leg.Hard.He said he could take it.
He promised.
Only seconds passed before Vitri came into view, and his wild gaze scanned the area, seeing me a moment too late as I lunged forward and drove the head of my spear into his calf.He cried out, and I pressed my hands over my ears, biting back the need to sob at the sounds of his pained cries and knowing it was me who caused him that pain.I didn’t want to hurt him, but I had to.
I wasforcedto.
No matter how much I told myself I had no other choice, the sound of his primal wailing as he stumbled away was imprinted in my mind, and I sunk near the base of the nearest tree and cried.
Was nowhere on this planet safe?
Chapter Nineteen
VITRI
Abruptly and with a massive dose of pain to keep me in check, clarity returned.
Stumbling to my feet, I reached down and removed Tori’s spear from my calf, snarling as I did so, the pointed edge catching on the muscle and bringing a steady flow of blood once removed.Undoing the bandage I had on my other leg, I used the same scrap of material to cover the newly bleeding wound, intentionally tying it tight and yanking, inflicting myself with another sharp dose of pain.
Twice so soon I had lost control.
Turning, I sniffed the air.The winds were rising, preparing for the nightly onslaught of extreme weather.Tori must’ve been downwind from me, and I couldn’t smell her.“Tori?”I called out.There was no direct answer but a muted shuffling sound, small feet dragging through the undergrowth.Moving toward the sound, I pushed the thin trees out of my way, needing to get back to her now that my head was clear.“Tori?”
