Page 85 of Forcing Fate

“Yes.”

“Have you learned your lesson?”

I choked on a sob before responding, “Yes.”

He released my hands and took a quick step back. I collapsed. Pure and unadulterated relief cascaded through me. My fingers dug into the forest floor, grabbing fistfuls of dirt, desperate to ground myself—assure myself I was safe. I was alive—my body unharmed.

General Rafe dragged a palm down his weary face. He pushed a hand under the cloth covering his eye, rubbing at the old wound. When he looked at me, he bared his teeth and dropped into a crouch beside me.

“This was your fault.”

I nodded—I knew better. I knew the men I chose to surround myself with. My careless actions put myself in danger. That man, my attacker, wasn’t the only one to blame. I’d given him the opportunity.

“Make a stupid choice like that again, and I won’t save you.”

I swallowed another sob and wiped the tears from my eyes with dirt covered hands.

“I will watch.”

My gaze inched back to his. Dread flooded my soul.

“Make a decision like that again, and I will stand by and watch. I won’t make a single move to help. I will make sure you see me. I’ll make sure you know I could have helped but didn’t, because you didn’t use that pea-sized brain of yours.”

Bile burned my throat, my stomach threatening to eject my dinner.

I wouldn’t make this mistake again.

Chapter Twenty-One

The sound of scraping against the floor jerked me from my sleep. I shot upright, fear racing through my veins as I willed my eyes to adjust to the dark. Something thudded against my cot. I scrambled back, terror gripping my throat.

Before I fell asleep, I shoved my bed lengthwise against the entrance. It pressed against the door, acting as a barricade, allowing only enough space for a mouse to get through.

My eyes adjusted enough to realize my door was cracked open. A hand reached around the edge, trying to force its way in. I dove off the bed, pulling my blanket with me as I tucked into the corner.

“They can’t get in,” I whispered to myself.

The door slammed into the cot, followed by a muffled curse.

“They can’t get in.”

Hushed whispers reached my ears, and the door was shoved harder, as if multiple people were on the other side. My heart stopped, then took off at a frantic pace. I curled into a ball on the hard floor, never taking my eyes off the door.

“They can’t get in.”

They tried, though. Several hands reached through the crack, trying to wrap around the cot and push it out of the way. They rammed the door over and over. Surely the noise had woken the other men. Someone would come to my aid.

No. They wouldn’t.

Horror pricked my skin.

They wouldn’t come because they didn’t care.

I was an intruder. I forced my way into their fold, but I was not one of them. They wouldn’t protect me.

I took a shuddering breath. “They can’t get in.”

No one was going to help me. I was alone.

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