Vurhg didn’t get out much more than that and I was launching myself at him. I couldn’t explain it. I wasn’t thinkingmuch other than this was all his fault. He’d ruined everything! When I snarled this aloud, grabbing handfuls of his hair to jerk him about this way and that, he yelped for help, doing anything but defending himself from me.
“What’s the matter? Nothing to throw me at this time, Suzy?!” I shrieked. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!” I was screaming, shrieking, yanking out handfuls of fur, anything I could get a grip on as he growled and yelped and howled for some being to help him.
Help was not forthcoming. At least not right away.
Eventually, about the time I promised to unalive him, a set of firm hands went to grip me but I snapped my teeth at them and they instantly disappeared.
A few seconds later a larger set of hands grabbed me under the armpits and effortlessly plucked me up. I snarled as those hands attempted to separate me from my prey.
I was blindly raging. I knew that much. No real clarity but for the anger and pain this jerkhole had caused dragging me all the way out to his world, from the only world I’d ever known. The only world with Cy and- and- and Elm.
The noise I let loose at being thwarted was something of a roar. It was probably pathetic compared to anything a Lo denaii might produce, but it felt good to let it out.
Curling the blanket around me, I was caught up and pressed tightly up against a thick chest, my back to their front.
My anger went on. I was properly restrained, though, and that anger soon slipped into pained anguish. The noises I made went from snarls to pained howls. I honestly had no idea I was even capable of making such noises.
Through tear filled eyes, I made out Vurhg staring at me. His entire countenance had fallen— in its place he stood there staring at me, fidgeting in place, sniffing back sympathy tears—I mean, unless it hurt that bad to have hanks of fur yanked from his hide.
“You have no idea what you’ve done!” I raged.
“Pfft. What Vurhg do?” the dummy had the audacity to huff and puff.
“YOU’VE RUINED EVERYTHING!” I screamed.
Vurhg jerked back, scooting closer to the human woman and the male she was with as if to dodge behind them for protection. Protection from ME.
The male with the woman grimaced in disgust and muttered what I thought sounded like, “Puny male,” causing the woman with him to clap her hand to her mouth to smother her reaction.
The beast holding me carefully turned me, taking a big gamble as they pressed my face to their chest and curled me into them tight.
A hug.
It felt like a supersized version of the one Elm had thrust on me. It was more restricting than the ones Cy offered— his gave me a chance to back out. This one felt born of necessity. It felt so much so like one of Elm’s hugs, tears sprang to my eyes.
Elm. The portal had closed, separating us. Would it open? Was this for good? Would I ever see him again? Would things just be left as they had been? Would I ever see Cy again? How long would he still consider me his?
What would happen to my parents’ things? Would they just be tossed away like trash? Like they didn’t matter?
Anger quickly followed the pain thinking about everything Vurhg was responsible for, the pain he’d caused. I was just so damn tired, flat out exhausted, and my hugger was so damn warm. It was hard to think straight.
“Kehl,” someone grumbled.
A short grunt left the male holding me. Kehl. Was that his name?
Hanging limply in his arms, my face pressed against his massive chest, I laid there docilely, listening, my legs dangling but out of his way, as he walked and gripped me tight, like I was a naughty toddler about to pass out. That word kept popping up from other deep, grumbling voices and each and every time he gave a short grunt in reply. A greeting? Does Kehl mean “Hi”, “Hello”, or “What’s up my fellow furry dude”?
“Where are you taking me?” I mumbled against his fur.
Pausing to pull away so he could look down at me, the male stared at me in surprise. “Think you sleep,” he admitted.
“Not by a long shot,” I huffed, which seemed to amuse him because his impassible expression cracked. It was small, an amused twitch of his lips that was there and gone in a flash but I’d noticed and noted it.
Slumping back against him, I told myself I chose to break eye contact. His eyes were insanely pretty this close, that deep molasses color tipped with a golden amber, the center shot through with bronze. It wasn’t obvious unless you got up close enough.
Realizing I hadn’t had a real good look at him before now, I catalogued a face heavily marred with scars, like it’d healed and been slashed again, over and over. The skin was loose in some sections, particularly a spot over his left cheek, then tight, pinched, in others. As a result of what looked like repeated wounds and healing, his face was rather distorted, missing hair in large chunks, nostrils misshapen. I had a feeling that beneath that fur thick on his body there would be much of the same hidden within.
Sliding my hand up his chest, an action that caused him to stumble a step, suck in a sharp breath, before continuing on, I only meant to satisfy my curiosity, not freak him out.
