Zaku and Julia both want her to leave, so if I leave now without her, the likelihood that I come back to find her still here is slim.
I turn back for her room but hesitate. There is still the matter that if I take her to one of the encampments she could still talk… and tell the humans everything she knows about us. If the soldiers find out about Zaku’s…
I shake my head.It is too dangerous taking her with me.Anything could be happening out in the forest right now. Deciding to leave now before Zaku reappears, I give Julia’s door one last lingering perusal before turning away. When I do, I see abag on the ground by one of the chairs. Heading to it, I recognize it as Julia’s. With the top partially unzipped, I pull the bag open. Finding rations, folded clothes, and some tools and supplies, I close my eyes.
She is already packed.
Anger hits me, anger that there is nothing I can do to stop this or her from going. If I leave, then that is it. I will never see her again. I will never know if she ends up somewhere safe because it will be out of my hands. She may stay a few more days as more information about what has happened comes to light but it will not be for long.
She is like me. She does not want those she cares about to get hurt.
I close her bag and turn on my tail, heading across the room and towards her bedroom door.
Grabbing the handle, I turn it gently and push it open, surprised to find it unlocked. Peering into the smaller, dark space that I had been in earlier, I stare at the lumpy form on the bed. I hear deep, even breaths and as a fresh wave of Julia’s enticing scent hits me, I slip into the room.
I stiffen from the powerful aroma of berries and soap, pausing at the end of her bed, my senses are quickly overcome. Though she may be under the covers and draped in deep shadows, I am able to behold some of her soft features in the dark. Wearing a large shirt and small pants—called shorts if I remember correctly—her legs are bare from the thighs down. One of her legs is hooked over her blanket, revealing the supple limb to my perusal while the other is partially caught up in the covers underneath.
Unable to help it, I slide my fingers over her leg.
She’s not mine.
I do not even want a mate.
Noticing her eyes flutter, I take in her peaceful, sleeping features, my gaze trailing over the soft pout of her full lips, her curved nose, and her thick, wild black hair. Spread out behind her and across her pillow, some of the tendrils curl over her shoulders to drape across her neck.
Julia has the longest hair of all the females, and it drives me wild wanting to sink my hands into it and feel the tumbling strands with my fingers.
Reaching up with my other hand, I feel my own hair instead, pretending it is hers.
I can not take care of a female…
Closing my eyes, I let my hand drop to a fist at my side because all I have to offer her is nothing.
My nest is gone, my clan with it, taken over by humans now—twice. Annoyed at the direction of my thoughts, I touch her lower leg right above her foot, nudging her softly.
Her leg pulls inward, closer to her body and I follow it with my hand, clasping her boney ankle and giving it a squeeze. She tugs her leg from my grip with a grumble and sits upright. “Daisy?” she moans sleepily.
“No.”
“Krellix?” She says my name sharply.
“Yessss.”
She reaches over the side and turns on a light. Her tousled form and confused features come into view as my eyes adjust, hers being wiped rapidly with her hands.
“What are you doing here?” she asks, pulling the covers to her and pushing her legs over the side of her bed. I lean away and slip back towards the door when she covers her nose with her blanket and looks at me.
“I am leaving.”
Her eyes slip from my face to my body, eventually landing on my clenched hands before journeying back up to form a furrowin the center of her brow. “Right now? It’s the middle of the night.”
I nod. “Now. It will be dawn soon enough.”
She tilts her head, sending her hair tumbling over her shoulder. “Is Zaku sending you away?”
I shake my head. “I am leaving to find out what has happened.”
The furrow in her brow loosens as she stares at me. “And you came to tell me this and say goodbye? Thank you…” she glances behind her and at the entrance to the bathroom. “For earlier. I…”
