“Well, that’s—oh, look. There’s some mint here.” He paused by a tree, then bent down and picked the leaves off a tall plant growing from the ground. His smile was wide when he tilted his face up to mine, and I was so distracted by it that I didn’t notice what he was holding until he’d brought it up to my muzzle. “Here. Chew on this.”
He slipped something through one of the gaps, and my tongue snaked out before I could properly think about what I was doing. I dragged the leaf into my mouth and did as he told me.
It wasn’t until a few seconds had passed that I realized how stupid that was. It could’ve been a poison plant, a?—
“It’s mint. It’ll help freshen you up. It’s good for you.” He popped some into his mouth and started chewing and walking.
It tasted…cool. Fresh. I’d never tasted anything like it. I was fascinated by the texture, the flavor invading every inch of my mouth.
“I’ll come back and pick some for later, good to know it’s there.”
I hummed and kept chewing, scanning our surroundings as he carried me through trees that all looked the same. Except…no, they didn’t.
There were faces on these trees. Just like the ones I’d seen when I’d first gotten up here.
Excitement had me sitting up taller, trying to find every face I could. These could help me find my way out.
I pointed at the closest one and said, “What are those? Is that a warning?”
Cain slowed down, then stepped closer to the tree I’d pointed at until we were right next to the face. “That? A warning? It’s just a face. Actually, that’s Bessie.”
Bessie…?
“What’s a Bessie?” I’d never heard of that before.
Cain laughed and said, “Not a ‘what’. Bessie is a name. Like Bowen or Cain.”
When he said my new name in that deep voice, it brought a warmth to my chest.
“It has a name?”
“Yeah. They all have names.”
“Did you name them?” For some reason, I didn’t like that. I wanted to be the only one he’d given a name, and the idea that he’d given names to everything around here pissed me off.
I didn’t realize I was digging my nails into the nape of his neck until he reached back and covered my hand with his. “Bowen. You’re hurting me.”
I let him pull my hand away, embarrassment seeping through me. My face felt hot all of a sudden, and that sparked an immediate dread in my bones.
Was a storm coming? Already? So soon?
“What’s wrong? It’s okay, you didn’t do any damage, I just didn’t think you were aware that you were hurting me.”
His words became muffled as I turned my face up, trying to see the sky through the dense canopy. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, and I didn’t sense any kind of incoming storm. So why was my face so hot?
“Bowen?”
I lowered my gaze to Cain’s, finding nothing but concern there. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to seeing that. I wasn’t sure I wanted to, because it made me feel…
Good. Really, really good when I’d never felt good before. Every day had always beenbad, worse,andhorrible.
His eyes swept across my face, and he pressed the back of his hand to my forehead. “Are you feeling alright?” His touch was firm as it moved to my cheeks. It felt so, so good, and I wanted to grab his hand and rub my face all over it. But his eyes turned sad when they came to rest on the muzzle, and he said softly, “Let me get that off of you. Wouldn’t you like that? Doesn’t it…doesn’t it hurt?”
I was so used to it that it had become a part of me. It didn’t hurt, not anymore. But…
What would it be like to be rid of it? And the collar. He could do that for me. He could remove them for good.
And he wouldn’t make that sad expression anymore when he looked at me. Right?
