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I said nothing. Instead, I picked up the rope from earlier and wound it around my forearm. She scoffed and folded her arms over her chest, hiding her wrists. She cut me a defiant glare. I was irritated that she was trying to provoke me, but on the other hand, I was grateful that her arms were now hiding her sexy breasts.

“I’m not an animal.”

“I didn’t say you were.” I shrugged indifferently.

“You can’t just give me commands and expect me to do them,” she protested—her eyes flashing with icy rebelliousness.

“Your wrists?” I held out my hand.

She thrust out her arm. “Is this necessary?”

I lifted an eyebrow and she thrust out the second arm.

I tied a knot with the ropes around her wrist.

“Do you think I’m going to run out in that hellish dust storm?” she challenged.

I shrugged. “Don’t know. I guess you would if you like being tossed around like a twig.”

She bit her bottom lip and exhaled roughly. She was getting tired and annoyed of me.

“You don’t like stuff like that?” I continued. “You are a bit wild and you did jump into a mud pit.”

“I did not. And I’m not wild. You’re a pig-headed monster. You’re the wild one,” she hissed.

“Oink-oink,” I said flatly, hiding my amusement from her. She didn’t need to see that she was affecting me in more ways than one.

Even with her mad face, she was a sight to devour.

“Look,” I began, growing increasingly impatient. “Lay on the mat or stand over me, it makes no difference to me. I’ve only gotten three hours of sleep in the past three days, so you’ll have to excuse me for wanting to get a little shut eye to recharge my batteries—”

“You mean your aura?” she interjected.

“Yes, my ǔre. I suggest you do the same, especially because the beasts know both our scents. They hunt alone during mating season, but when they’re angry, they hunt in packs. And there won’t be just one next time. Once they discover the kill, they’ll be looking out for the culprit that did it—me. So, starting tomorrow, we’ll travel another route. The same path cannot be taken, and so, the journey back will be longer than todays.”

She stared at me, mouth agape, eyes unblinking. She was breathlessly beautiful. I wished I didn’t find her as enormously attractive as I did. It certainly would make the process of loathing her much easier to accomplish.

“What do you mean…back? You are taking me back to Roult’s cabin?” She ogled at me.

“The whole ordeal will be a lot shorter if you just confess to your crime right now so I can go ahead and punish you myself,” I explained.

She took a defensive step backward. I noticed her fingers trembling slightly. She was getting nervous. “I already told you I didn’t commit any crime. I didn’t cause his death.”

I stepped toward her, bridging the gap between us and relishing in how it made her squirm.

“Before you were almost consumed by the mud pit, you were covered in my uncle’s blood. You are guilty of something even if it was that you stood by and watched him die.”

She reddened and a visible lump rose in her throat. “How dare you?”

I had to admit. What I said to her was low, but I had squeezed out a lot of information from convicts like this. Yet, she wasn’t a convict…was she.

She began to stammer. She opened her mouth to speak but must have thought better of whatever bogus excuse she had because she immediately clamped her lips back shut again.

I was pissed off that I couldn’t read her mind. It was like a steel trap in there, whatever she was hiding, and it made me even angrier at her than I would have been otherwise. If she was lying about killing my uncle, I had no way to prove it.

I released a grunt and lied down on my back next to the sleeping mat I’d made for her.

“I’m hungry. And thirsty,” she said.