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Chapter Eleven

Alliana

The booming thunder of Xaixek’s footsteps pounded the ground. The vibrations seemed more pronounced than the thunder rumbling in the distance. The seven-foot-tall bounty hunter was hot on my trail once again. Before I even turned around, his brooding presence came burning through me.

I was ambushed by the intense flame of his irritation, his frustration, his energy. It swirled around me like a whirlpool sucking me under. I didn’t know how I ever thought I could be able to get away from him. What was I thinking?

I must have experienced a temporary lapse in sanity for thinking that I would ever be able to put any viable distance between us before Xaixek inevitably caught up to me.

“Alli. Alliana,” he called out, his voice bellowing through the trees, echoing through my body like a gong.

I didn’t bother to keep going. I halted in my tracks and slowly turned around, straightening my posture, and preparing to test the waters of my fate. I folded my arms curtly across the chest and shot him an acute scowl. “Why bother coming after me? You push everyone away anyway.”

“It would be kind if you let me explain my thoughts,” he said.

“You can tell me here,” I said. “There’s still more time before it’s pitch black.”

His vision trailed down to my side. “Hmm, that man purse looks quite familiar.”

“I’m sure it does. I picked it off of the alien who has abducted me.”

“I abducted you?”

“I was taken away by force and by ropes,” I said.

“Actually, you’re under arrest.”

I caught a hint of a grin twitching at his lips. Still I was tired of being pulled along.

“I left because I am fully capable to going before the King myself to tell him what happened to Roult.”

“Why didn’t you do it the first time?” he asked suspiciously.

“Maybe you should’ve stopped and asked me that before you tied me up like a horse.”

“We don’t tie our horses. We don’t have horses.”

“Oh, for crying out loud. My intention was never to run straight into the outer lands. I thought I was heading into the settlement, but I got lost. I told you I might have been drugged. I felt dizzy.”

“You cannot roam alone,” he stated.

“Why don’t you be truthful. You hate not completing a mission. It’s why you wouldn’t let me leave in the first place even though you can tell I’m innocent. You don’t need your aura to tell you that, do you?”

“You are innocent, then there is nothing to worry about. The King will free you from any guilt.”

“And then?” I demanded.

“And then you won’t see me again,” he said, his gaze fluttering to the ground.

“You are lying.”

His attention shot back up. “How do you know?”

“When you look to the left and then down and bit your lips, you lie. You’ve done it before.”

“When?” he asked.

“Back in the cave…when I asked if you have ever wanted a mate. You said no. That is a lie.”