Page 12 of All's Fair in Lion and War
He forced himself not to step closer. Not to make her more uncomfortable than she already was.
“I am not yours. Thesoul callyou see is a mistake.”
Dalmeck. But at least she saw it too. He wasn’t going crazy all on his own.
“I will not hurt you,” he repeated.
“Sure, you say that now. But I’ve apparently traded one jailer for another.”
“If I let you go, they will catch you.” His voice was bitter.
Her mouth snapped shut. Then opened. Then closed again—like she couldn’t decide what to say. At least she wouldn’t try to run out the door the second he turned his back.
At least he hoped she wouldn’t.
Rivian and his warriors were out there. The storm was excellent cover for now, but it would only be so long before the snow cleared, and they were able to hunt again.
And they would find them.
“Do you know how long Rivian has had you?” he asked, his tone hesitant.
He knew the tribe’s reputation. Rivian was a prince of the house of Ka’lagh. He knew what they were known for and it wasn’t being kind to women. They were hated on Reylea and feared.
“I don’t remember him taking me. I remember being home yesterday. And then this morning I was here in this land you call Alaska.”
Saul choked on his own tongue. “Yesterday?”
He sank to his knees on the floor. What she was saying meant she remembered nothing from the previous year here on earth. Nothing at all.
Unless females were taken as breeders, they were killed usually within weeks. He’d never heard of the Ka’lagh keeping their prisoners longer.
“Did Rivian claim you?”
Her eyes widened, she sucked in a breath. She opened her mouth to spit more harsh words at him, but then…everything went out of her.
“I was with my mate yesterday, but the guards mentioned I almost got loose yesterday. That they were beating me harder today because of it. The pieces don’t make sense in my mind.”
The vulnerability in her tone was humbling.
Mate?She’d had a mate too. She just didn’t remember losing him. She wouldn’t be seeing asoul callin him if her mate was still alive.
Fate was giving them both a second chance, but she was wasting her energies. Neither of them were ready to move on.
“I am sorry for your loss, female,” he said, his voice barely more than a whisper.
“My loss?” she said, almost spitting the word back at him. “I’m not sure what that means.”
Saul cringed under her hate. She was in pain. It was acceptable. Whatever she needed to say or feel. He could take it for her. He wasn’t bonded to this female, but he felt her pain as his own. It was the same pain he’d felt when he’d lost his mate back on Reylea to Rivian’s pride.
It was happening again.
History was repeating.
“I need your help to get home. Why won’t you help me?”
“You’ll die if I let you go,” he said. He wouldn’t burden her with more than that right now. His death meant nothing in the grand scheme. All that was important was her health and safety and happiness. He needed her to survive, but she wouldn’t. Not if she left him.
She shook her head. “I’ll die if they catch me. Rivian will eventually kill me to punish Tallix. He’s waiting for the right moment. And it should be my choice, not his. You have to let it be my choice.”
