Chapter Four
867 Words
Nyra didn’t stay still for long.
The moment he stepped back, she moved again.
This time, she didn’t hesitate or test him. She turned and walked straight past him, faster than before, her focus fixed ahead.
She made it three steps.
That was all.
He was in front of her again.
Nyra stopped, her patience gone. “Move.”
He didn’t.
Her grip tightened around the blade. “I’m not doing this again.”
“You already are.”
Nyra tried to go around him.
He caught her before she got far.
It was quick—one step forward, his hand closing around her arm. Nyra twisted immediately, trying to break free, but he didn’t give her the space.
“Let go.”
“No.”
She lifted the blade, but he caught her wrist before it came down, turning it away from him with ease.
Her frustration snapped. “Are you going to stand here all night?”
He didn’t answer.
He just looked at her.
Then he moved.
Nyra barely had time to react before he shifted his grip and lifted her clean off the ground. One moment she was standing, the next she was over his shoulder.
The shock lasted half a second.
Then she struggled.
“Put me down!”
She hit his back, twisted, tried to shift her weight, but it didn’t matter. His hold was firm, one arm locked around her legs, steady and unyielding.
“Stop,” he said.
“I said put me down!”
She pushed harder, trying to throw him off balance.
He adjusted his hold without breaking stride and started walking.
Nyra’s frustration spiked. “Are you serious right now?”
“Yes.”
The answer came easily.
Like this wasn’t even a discussion.
Nyra tried again, shifting her weight, reaching for leverage, anything she could use.
Nothing worked.
“You can’t just carry me like this!”
“I can.”
That only made it worse.
Nyra hit his back again, sharper this time. “You don’t even know me!”
“I know enough.”
She paused.
Just for a second.
Then pushed again. “Put me down or I swear—”
“You’ll what?”
The question was calm.
Too calm.
Nyra didn’t answer.
Because she didn’t have one.
That annoyed her more than anything else.
He kept walking.
Steady. Unbothered. Like her resistance didn’t change anything.
The forest shifted around them as they moved, the trees thinning slightly before closing in again. The ground beneath them was uneven, roots cutting through the earth, but his steps never faltered. He moved like he knew exactly where he was going, like this was familiar ground.
Nyra’s movements slowed, not because she wanted to stop, but because her body was starting to give in. Her arm still ached. Her clothes were still damp. The run, the river, the fight—it was all catching up to her at once.
And he wasn’t even affected.
She let out a breath and went still, just for a moment.
He noticed.
“Done?” he asked.
Nyra didn’t respond.
She shifted slightly instead, adjusting just enough to make the position less uncomfortable.
That irritated her too.
“You’re insufferable,” she muttered.
“Noted.”
They walked in silence after that.
Nyra stared at the ground passing beneath them, but her attention wasn’t fully there. Something about the forest had changed again. It wasn’t just quiet—it felt watched.
She frowned slightly.
Then she noticed it.
Movement.
Not close.
But not far either.
A shift between the trees. Another presence. Then another.
Her body tensed.
She lifted her head slightly, trying to get a better look, but it was subtle, controlled. Nothing stepped fully into view, but she could feel it now.
More of them.
Nyra stilled.
“They’re watching,” she said before she could stop herself.
The words slipped out without thought.
He didn’t stop walking.
“Of course they are.”
Nyra’s grip tightened slightly against his back. “Who are they?”
“My pack.”
The answer was simple.
Like it explained everything.
Nyra went quiet again, but her mind didn’t.
A pack.
Not just him.
Not just one.
She glanced toward the trees again, more carefully this time, trying to track the movement without making it obvious. She caught glimpses now—shadows that didn’t quite move like shadows, shapes that disappeared the moment she focused on them.
They weren’t approaching.
Just keeping pace.
Watching.
Waiting.
Nyra exhaled slowly, forcing herself to stay calm.
This was worse.
Far worse.
She wasn’t dealing with one person.
She was in the middle of something bigger.
And he was at the center of it.
Nyra looked at the back of his head, her expression tightening slightly.
“You didn’t mention that.”
“I didn’t need to.”
That answer sat with her.
Uncomfortable.
Unavoidable.
Nyra shifted again, not struggling this time, just adjusting as she let her thoughts catch up.
She didn’t like this.
Didn’t trust it.
Didn’t trust him.
But she understood one thing now, clearly.
She wasn’t leaving.
Not because she had given up.
Because right now—
She couldn’t.
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