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HUGH HATED HER. Trinity’s claws dug into her palm as she pumped water into the bucket. She hadn’t been able to stay in the cabin another moment. There was a rustle behind her. She wiped the tears from her eyes.
“Trinity.” Hugh’s voice was soft.
“What?” Of course, it’d be him. She kept pumping the water.
His footsteps approached, stopping a few feet away. “Your parents and Jackson are fine.”
The bucket was full so she lifted it off the handle.
“I should’ve told you that right away.” He paused. “I’m sorry.” The words were strained as if he’d had to force them past his lips.
“It’s fine.” She couldn’t be near him right now. She tried to walk past him.
“Let me.” He grabbed the handle on the bucket.
“I got it.” She tugged but he wouldn’t let go. She shoved him with her free hand, his chest warm and strong beneath her fingers.
“For once, just do what you’re told.” He yanked, water splashing on the ground between them.
“You’re not my master.”
“If you’d listened to me, none of this would’ve happened.” He jerked on the handle and it slipped from her grasp, spilling down his front. “Shit. That’s ice cold.” He dropped the bucket, pulling his wet shirt away from his skin.
“You jerk.” The bucket lay empty on the ground. All her work, her effort wasted. A sob broke from her lips. “This is your fault.”
He pulled her to him, holding her close. “It’s okay. You’re safe now.”
It felt so right to be in his arms. She trembled, fighting back the tears. If she started crying now, she’d never stop. She pushed him away. “You lied to me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Meesus and the lab. You had a deal with her. You tricked me. You were going to stay there and you weren’t even going to tell me you were leaving. You—”
“Is that what this was all about? That’s why you took off on your own to find Travis? Why you didn’t go to base camp?” His eyes were like blue ice, ready to cut.
“Yes. You were breaking your deal with me. There was no reason for me to honor mine with you.”
“No reason? None at all?”
She shook her head.
“You didn’t think to talk to me? Ask me what I was planning on doing?”
“No. You would’ve lied to me or distracted me.” With kisses.
“I wouldn’t have lied to you.” His voice was defeated as he bent and picked up the bucket.
Maybe, she should’ve asked him but it didn’t matter now. She couldn’t undo the past. “It worked out better anyway. If I hadn’t been there Mirra would’ve died.”
“Gaar would’ve found her.” He began filling the bucket.
“Not before Jethro.”
“Use your head for once.” His eyes looked her over and there was contempt in his gaze. “Instead of everything else.” He lifted the full bucket. “Jethro and his Guards wouldn’t have been in that area if they hadn’t been following you.” He walked away.
Her heart froze. He knew about her and Jethro. It’d been written all over his face. She headed toward the cabin but stopped. She couldn’t go inside. She couldn’t face him. She turned and went to the barn.
Gaar was on the ground outside of the cage. Mirra was curled up in a ball by his side. Rocco stood in the doorway, frowning.
“Convince the Guard to leave.” Gaar looked up at her as he stroked the fur on Mirra’s back.
“The Tracker has to be locked in the cage,” said Rocco.
“We’re not going in the cage.” Gaar’s voice was a soft rumble and his black eyes glittered.
Gaar was losing his temper and it wouldn’t end well for Rocco. She turned to the Guard. “Rocco, we’ll be leaving soon. Mirra isn’t going to do anything.”
“I have my orders.” Rocco crossed his arms over his chest.
“Please.” She’d like to tell him his life was in danger, but that’d make him dig in his heels. Males were so stubborn. “Mirra hasn’t been locked in the cage anyway.”
“What do you mean? I secure that lock every day and night.”
He wasn’t going to be happy with her. She stepped into the cage, pulled the door shut, snapping the lock closed. She removed the thin pieces of metal from her backpack and in less than three minutes the door was open.
Gaar’s laughter filled the barn.
“Gruntshit!” Rocco stormed away.
She hopped out of the cage. Gaar patted the place on his other side. She sat, leaning her head against his shoulder. He handed her some food from a tray that someone, probably Rocco, had brought.
“You weren’t asked to eat with Verly?” She didn’t like that her friends had been excluded. Sure they were dangerous, but they still had feelings.
“She offered. I refused.”
“Why? Because of Mirra?”
“No. She offered for Mirra to come eat too.”
“Really? She’d never offered that before.”
“Verly told me she was giving Mirra time to herself. Time to adjust to her loss.”
“And you believe her?” She sat up. “I think it’s because she knows she can’t push you around.”
“The Forest Witch fears none and Verly is usually exceedingly polite. Her aunt, the previous Forest Witch, was a little saltier.” He sighed. “But I was sorry to hear she’d passed.”
“You knew her?” She leaned against his shoulder again.
He shrugged and it was like riding a wave on the river. “We’d known of each other for years.”
“So, why aren’t you inside?” She reached across him, touching the soft fur on Mirra’s neck and then glanced up into his black eyes.
“That woman and I do not see eye-to-eye.” He rubbed Mirra’s ear and the Tracker’s contented purr rumbled through the barn. “It’d be impolite to accept an invitation to dinner when you know it’ll only end in an argument.”
“Why don’t you get along?” Verly could be a bit bossy but other than her cryptic messages, she was nice.
“I’m assuming she’s had visions about you.”
“Yes, and that’s annoying because she hasn’t told me anything about them. Nothing that means anything anyway.”
“You’re lucky.” He looked at Mirra. “Years ago, she and her aunt had the same vision about me. She still insists that it’ll happen. I insist it won’t.” He looked at her and smiled slightly. “She doesn’t take kindly to those who disbelieve her.”
“Did she say it would happen or might happen? She told me that some of her visions never come true.”
“She said I’d break my bond with Mirra. Abandon her. I’d never do that. Never. I don’t care what the witch has seen. I won’t allow it to happen.” There was a hint of fear under his anger.
“Of course not.” She took his hand and squeezed. “She’s just a crazy Almighty. Nothing more.” She was glad her voice sounded sure because now she was scared. If Gaar believed in the witch’s visions, then her fate was already determined.
“Why aren’t you in the cabin with Hugh and the witch?”
“Well...ahh...we...Hugh...We had a fight.” She didn’t want to talk about her and Hugh, but she needed to find out exactly what Hugh had heard.
“He’s hurt.” He was looking at her like he was going to give her a lecture.
“I didn’t mean to hurt him.” She rested her head against his shoulder again.
“I warned you.”
“I know.” She stood and began to pace. “What do you know?”
He raised a brow. “Keeping secrets?”
“Not from you. I’ll tell you everything, but I want to know what you’ve heard.”
He nodded and gave her a rundown of everything he’d heard since he’d returned from the mountains.
“I can’t believe Jethro stabbed Jackson?” The lingering guilt over drugging Jethro disappeared.
“And, since Hugh was with Jackson and Kim, he knows about the rumors.”
“What rumors?” She knew what he was going to say.
“Hugh didn’t discuss it with me, but Birdie’s nephew found me when I was searching for Mirra.” Gaar paused, glancing away from her. “There were rumors that you were with Jethro. Naked. In bed.” He looked down at Mirra, as a hint of red crept into his cheeks.
“Oh, no.” She dropped down on the floor across from him. If Avions knew, everyone knew.
“Is it true?”
“No. I mean yes, but I only went in there to drug him so Travis and I could escape. It just...it got a little out of hand.” Her face was on fire. She’d enjoyed what she’d done with Jethro and she should be ashamed.
“Did he force you?” His face was twisted with fear and rage.
“No. It wasn’t like that.” She ran her hand over Mirra’s soft fur. She didn’t want to see his disgust but she had to tell him the truth. “Before I was captured, Jethro and I were lost on the other side of Harbor Point. Together. Alone. For days.”
“How did you get over there?”
“There’s a waterfall.” She kept petting Mirra. This was the easy part of the story. “We were running from the other Tracker. The one we hadn’t seen in years. We went over the fall and were on the other side.”
“Lazaretto Falls?”
“No, another one. The heavy rains must’ve moved earth or rock.”
“Where did this happen?”
“A few miles north of Lazaretto.”
“How did you get back?”
“We saw the Tracker over there and realized there had to be another opening in Harbor Point. It took us awhile but we found it.”
“Unbelievable. Mirra and I spent years searching the wall.”
She shrugged. “It was a small crevice. It may have opened recently or something.” His eyes were on her again, but she refused to look at him. She was going to have to tell him everything and it wasn’t going to be easy. He liked Hugh and she’d been a fool.
“What happened when you were over there with Jethro? Alone. Together. For days.”
“He was different. He was like he’d been before. Kind.” She buried her fingers in the fur, wanting to bury her head and hide. “We kissed a couple of times.”
“Is that all you did?”
She nodded.
“Did you want more?” He lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him. “It’s okay if you did. You’re a young, healthy female with a generous heart.” His lips twitched a little. “Too generous and you’ve foolishly had a crush on the boy for years.”
A crush. He’d said that to her before, but this time the truth of it resonated inside of her. Everything she’d felt for Jethro had been a fantasy built around their friendship when she’d been at her loneliest.
“Now, comes the hard part.” He pulled her to his side, tucking her under his arm. “You have to decide who you want.”
“I hate Jethro. He was going use me to set a trap to capture Mirra and you and...Hugh.”
“Hate is a strong emotion. What do you feel for Hugh?”
She stopped, her lips parted. No words would come.
“You need to decide that before you do anything else. Hugh loves you.”
“He never said that.”
“He shouldn’t have to. You’re a woman, not a child. You should recognize the signs. Don’t play with him. His is not just an infatuation.”
“It doesn’t matter. He hates me. He’ll never forgive me.” She looked up at him, trying to blink back the tears but they refused to go away and instead trickled down her cheeks.
He patted her head, pulling her back to his shoulder. “I forget how young and inexperienced you are. Hugh is a man and in love. He’s angry and hurt, but he’ll understand you did what you did to survive.” His hand stilled. “But, don’t explain any of it to him if you don’t love him.”
“I care for him. I don’t want him to hate me.”
“That’s not enough. Let it go between you two until you know how you feel. If you decide you love him then tell him the truth. He’ll forgive you, but if you don’t love him, let time heal the wounds. I’m sure you’ll be able to be friends of a sort later, a long time later.”
She didn’t want Hugh to think she’d betrayed him, but the truth was she had. She’d kissed Jethro on the other side of Harbor Point and in the tent she’d lost control. If it hadn’t been for the drugs on her claws she wouldn’t have stopped. She would’ve mated with Jethro. She thanked Araldo that hadn’t happened. But Gaar was right. She needed to know what she felt for Hugh was love before she spoke with him. Hopefully, he’d be right about Hugh forgiving her too but she didn’t think so.