“You went up and came down there?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t do that again! You could have been hurt.”
“Do you care?”
Cyn’s question is so quiet that I almost dismiss it, but when I look up, he’s got this vulnerable expression on his face that gives me pause, and that pause unravels my brain.
“Of course, I wouldn’t want to see you get hurt.” Which completely goes against what I just said to Dakota. Why are they confusing me so much? I expected hostility, not this strange flirting banter.
“Because I’m one of your hikers?”
I speak without thinking. “And because you’re my alpha.” Where did that come from, and how can I delete it? I slap my palm across my mouth.
Cyn and Dakota whip their heads towards me, their shock flavouring the air with their scents and turning it spicy.
I grit my teeth, furious at my distraction and the ridiculous weakness I’m still harbouring and hiding like a deep, unhealed scar.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” I choke out. “I meant-”
Dakota shuffles me back, out of sight of the others, and leans down. I slam my palm against his chest, holding him back.
“Don’t do that.”
“But-”
“No. I’m working, and this is not…whatever you think it is. You rejected me, remember?” I let out a thread of my anger.
“An increasingly annoying decision,” Cyn murmurs.
“But still one that you made, so take your hands off me.”
He doesn’t move fast enough, so I duck under his arm, putting space between us. Cyn is the one who follows me, though, walking side by side with me.
“So, your father brought you out here and taught you how to survive.”
“He did.”
“Why out here?”
“Why not? Besides, I couldn’t get away from it. Everywhere I went, there were cameras and people watching. Out here, it’s just me and nature.” I try to keep the barbed anger out of my voice, but I can’t help it. Cyn’s expression isn’t mocking or filled with false guilt, it's contemplative.
That confuses me more.
“How did you stop the journalists from coming out here?”
I bark a laugh, remembering one of my favourite trips.
“I didn’t. I took them on a two-week hike, and we came to an understanding,” I continue to chortle as we walk. “It was a really good trip.”
Cyn’s confusion just adds to my satisfaction. I smile at the memories of their terrified faces. A three-day hike turned into a two-week bid for survival, and only when they all agreed to stop hounding me did I lead them out. I never laid a finger on a single person.
I saw Jolie Malkon a week ago. She saw me and crossed the street as fast as her legs could carry her.
“The press can be a lot. It’s definitely something I never got used to.”
I’m surprised, and I must show it.
