I always wanted the truth, but I was realizing it was far worse than the lies I had been told to swallow my entire life. Somehow, it was still easier to accept the world for the way it was in truth than it had been in the lies. The lies had been imperfect, but they also didn't involve anyone trying to kill me. The lie had been a simple way of life where women were subservient to men; where I would have married who Father had arranged, popped out kids and taken a societal role. The truth meant I was running for my life, attempting to find freedom while still trapped in the society that wanted me dead. Then again, I wasn't any closer to understanding why things were the way they were. I wondered if we were all just following orders blindly, or in Hunter's case, not following them.
I still didn't fully understand why Hunter chose not to kill me, but it didn't matter anymore. It was clear his choice to not kill me meant he was risking his life, and in a world where the future was infinitely gray, it was a comfort to know he would protect me. I knew I somehow helped him too, because I could see it in his personality shift; in the lightness that had entered his eyes and in the ease of his muscles. I just wasn't sure how I did it.
I glanced over at him, watching as the muscles in his arms corded with each stride before releasing again.
"What's wrong?" he asked, catching me mid drool.
I stumbled over my feet and grabbed onto the rough tree next to me to catch myself, swearing as my skin tore.
"Are you okay?" Hunter asked as he skidded to a stop with more grace than I could muster with time to actually think about what I was doing.
I looked down at my tattered skin littered with pieces of bark and squeezed my eyes shut.
"Sure," I replied as I shook my hand before he could look at it.
"Let me see?" he asked, stepping forward and holding his hand out. His eyes showed the slightest hint of laughter, but he held it in by biting the inside of his lip.
"I'm fine," I repeated, sticking my burning hand behind my back as I bit back tears.
Hunter raised an eyebrow as his hand dropped.
"Come on, Kate. I saw blood."
"So, blood doesn't mean I'm not fine."
"Kate, don't make me tackle you to the ground!"
"You'd enjoy that, wouldn't you?" I shot with narrowed eyes as I kept my injured hand hidden.
He towered over me, his muscular frame taking up my entire line of vision as I looked up at him, still obstinate.
"Kate!" he demanded again.
"Hunter!" I mimicked back. He fluttered his eyes impatiently, and I submitted, drawing out the word as I said it, "Fine!"
I brought my hand around and flipped it over. There were drip marks of blood crawling over my wrist and down the middle of my arm as they streamed from the shredded skin. It didn't look good. I blinked hard before looking up at the sky.
"Nice," Hunter commented with a shake of his head as he examined the damaged I'd done. He looked over his shoulder and then back down at my hand, shifting on his feet in unease.
"We're only a half a mile from home now, so I can get these splinters out and treated properly when we get back," he explained, and I felt my stomach flip at the thought.
Home. I wasn't sure what the word meant, but I knew now it was wherever he was.
"Are you sure we can't just run and never look back? We could go somewhere where no one knows who we are."
Hunter put his free hand on my face and sighed. "We're the children of the two most hated men in our world. Everyone knows who we are."
The sadness in his face, and the heat of his palm against my cheek made it hard for me to think, but the truth in his words stung.
"Too bad the world doesn't know we hate them too," I muttered as I looked down.
His fingers slid down my jaw line to tilt my chin up back up to him. "Kate, we'll figure something out. Please trust me as your friend."
The word friend caught me off guard. I wasn't really sure what this was, but I was pretty sure it wasn't like any friendship I ever had.
I gained my composure, giving him a slight smile as I fought against the stinging that had spread from my hand, up my arm directly to my chest. "I trust you."
"I'm going to go up ahead. This way I can warn them of our presence, and let them know you're with me. Stay here, and don't move—"
"Hide in a tree if I have to?"
"No, that didn't work last time," he replied, and his thumb skipped over my lips as he looked at them.
Who was I kidding? Friends didn't act like this. He wanted to kiss me, and holy God did I want him to give in.
"Nothing is going to happen now that we're here," he reassured me, finally dropping my face and gently lowering my hand.
He slipped his shirt over his head, and I raised on eyebrow before he smirked and gently took my hand back in his to wrap it in the soft cotton.
"This should ease the bleeding for now and keep any more dirt from getting into the wound."
"They won't think it's odd you're wandering back without a shirt on?" I asked as I cocked my head and took a secretive glance at his hardened abs and chest. He shrugged, and the muscles rippled in the way that had sent me stumbling in the first place.
"They've seen me shirtless more than once."
"All of them?" I asked as the thought of other women drooling over him crossed my mind and sent a tinge of jealousy through my veins.
"Yes, most of the guys have."
I nodded my head. Was I that obvious?
"So you'll be back shortly?" I asked, covering up my interest with a glance over his shoulder.
He nodded before heading off at a light jog, but once he was out of sight panic began to kick in. I glanced over my shoulder as I swore I heard footsteps, and it seemed like the forest was closing in on me. The heat rose in my muscles, and I felt sweat dripping down my neck as I glanced around me. I couldn't stand it anymore, and I took off at a sprint until I could hear a commotion up ahead. I strained to hear, and eventually scaled the tree in front of me. I could see Hunter standing in front of a group of young men no older than him. They stood in the front of an impressive fencing system that looked like no one could ever get in or get out if they weren't supposed to. At first they stood rigid, but soon their shoulders slouched as they listened to him.
"Where have you been so long?" one of the young men asked, and I shook my head at his boldness. This kid was looking for a beating from the look of Hunter's back muscles. They twitched at the question.
"That isn't your concern. What you should be concerned with is following my orders strictly. I will not tolerate any deviations from them," Hunter said, and I watched as he placed his hands behind his back. The veins in his forearms looked as though they might pop.
"Yes, Sir!" the group responded, going rigid again.
"I have a prisoner...a young woman," Hunter began, and I could see the white of his knuckles as his hands went into fists. Someone whistled, he stepped forward once, and they all cringed before he continued, "You will not lay one hand on her; you will not so much as give her a sideways glance. I will castrate you if I so much as see an unclean thought in your eyes."
"Yes, Sir!" the group echoed as they stood even straighter than before. I couldn't see their eyes clearly from the distance, but I imagined from their body language that Hunter could see the whites of their eyes. I wondered how it felt to control that much power. Hunter turned on his heel and sprinted towards me.
I saw the answer in his face. He was tired from it already. I tried to get out of the tree before he could reach me, but my bandaged hand hindered me, and instead I found myself tumbling out of the tree. It was a miracle that I somehow ended up landing on my feet.
"I thought I told you to stay put?" Hunter asked as he stood, legs apart and arms crossed.
I swallowed. Those men wouldn't dare to not follow his orders but for me it was so easy to do. I could tell by the glint in his eyes he wasn't surprised or angered by it. I definitely had the upper hand with him.
"I thought I heard someone behind me—"
Hunter's muscles tightened as he looked around me.
"There's no one."
"I said I thought I heard someone."
"Squirrels won't kill you, darling."
"Ha-ha."
"A tree again, though?" he asked, tilting on his heels as he put his hands in his back pockets.
I kept my eyes on his face. I didn't need to have him catching me staring again.
"You're going to castrate them if they give me a sideways glance?" I shot back.
He looked at the ground. "I'm not bringing you to the safest place and you're beautiful, so I needed to warn them."
"I'm beautiful?" I asked, stepping towards him as my skin tingled.
"Don't let it go to your head, darling," he replied as he held his hand out for me.
"You're not too bad yourself."
"I know. I saw the way you stared at me when I took my shirt off." He winked at me, and I had to take a deep breath.
I watched Hunter as we walked towards what was supposed to be his home. With each step he seemed to put on another layer of defense to protect himself from who he was supposed to be. He changed from the person I had begun to know to the person that kidnapped me. His composure became rigid, and now that I knew him I could see the darkness in his eyes building. It was as if he was preparing himself for another war, one that he waged completely alone. I squeezed his hand, and he looked down at me. I smiled and some of the light came back to his eyes.