Kah trembled and lightly whimpered. I clicked my tongue at her prey-like behaviour. She knew she was in no danger from me, but still, she allowed herself to get upset enough to resort to female tactics to appeal to my soft side. I had no soft side, so Kah’s sounds bounced off me and disappeared into the air surrounding us. I knew I was being harsh with her, and I knew it was for two reasons. One was because it infuriated me how vulnerable she was and two … was because of Levi.
My visit with the human last night tormented my sleep. I played my conversation with her over and over. She admitted her fear and nervousness in my presence were due to her lack of experience with males. I was elated to hear this when I shouldn’t have been. To soothe her worries, I made it clear to her that mating was not an interest of mine. It seemed to be the right thing to say because she did appear to relax. We even agreed to be friends at the end of the conversation.
Friends. With a female. Me.
I didn’t know what to make of it all, so when I couldn’t sleep, I gave up and went running until the daystar rose high in the sky. I was still full of energy after a four interval run. After I washed and came across Kah reporting for morning work at the palace, I wasted no time in taking her to the training yard. Focusing on her kept my mind off Levi, which was what I needed because I had no idea what to make of the human. No idea at all.
“One more drill, Kah,” I snapped when my focus returned to her. “Eyes closed. Listen for me.”
Her big eyes squeezed shut, and she slowed her breathing. The calmer she was, the more sounds she could pick up from farther distances. I dragged my approach out on her. For twenty minutes, I circled her, watching as she twitched and jerked her head where she thought I was located. Twice, she called out a position where she thought I was. She was wrong both times.
She didn’t hear me, so she definitely didn’t hear her father and Zaha enter the yard. Both were tense the second they realised that they were summoned because of Kah. I watched as their eyes scanned over her as she stood in the centre of the yard in her black work ensemble, looking for signs of injury, and when they saw none, they relaxed but only slightly. Kah’s father’s eyes were locked on his young, and Zaha followed my movements as I approached his sister. I crawled up behind her small form, and when I jumped up and grabbed her, and she yelped, fury filled me.
“Kah!” I roared. “You are not listening!”
“I’m so sorry,” she whined. “I am so sorry, my prince.”
“Ach!” I growled. “Sorry means nothing when you become a beast’s prey.”
She looked up at me, and I found her to be quite pitiful, gazing at me so helplessly sad. She had her back to her family and had yet to realise they were in her presence.
“Your father and brother will be informed fully—”
“Papa will send me to the Endless Forest, and Zaha will escort me to the treeline.” Kah dropped to her knees. “Oh, please, please. My heart will stop out of fear before I even reach the treeline. Please, my prince. I’ll shame my parents and my siblings if they know.”
Kah’s father’s eyes widened and so did the eyes of her brother. They said nothing. They did not even ask for permission to speak. They were waiting for me to address them first.
“Know what?” I asked Kah. “That you aren’t aware of your surroundings?”
“That I’m a wasteful female, my prince.”
I growled, angry she would place herself in such a category.
“You’re not wasteful. You’re female, so you’re precious. Why is it that I know your worth and you do not?”
Kah remained silent with her head bowed.
“Shall I bite you?” I threatened. “You’ve never had a male outside of your family force your submission, have you? Do you want your pride to be hurt in order to make you answer my questions?”
Still, she was silent. I stared down at Kah in disbelief. She was not a disrespectful female, but she was behaving unlike herself. The urge to bite her was bubbling under the surface of my skin. I hated given submission bites, but sometimes, they were required. With a growl, I reached down and hauled Kah up to her feet. She looked up at me with her silver and gold eyes.
“Disrespectful,” I hissed at her, lowering my face right down to hers. My nose almost touching the tip of hers. “Ignoring a prince when he speaks to you.”
“I didn’t hear you, my prince.”