Page 99 of Tainted Gifts
Jase lowers his arm from my shoulders and intertwines our fingers. "I'll handle this. They won't try to touch you. They'd be too afraid to mess with you right now," he murmurs while pulling the back of my hand to meet his soft lips.
"I'm not worried about what they'll do to me. I'm worried what they might do or say to you. I've never been that close to turning savage, and I don't know how I pushed it back. If they do something to provoke me right now, in the state I'm in, I might just lose it completely, and then I'll finish what I started without meaning to."
His eyes drift over to the side once we reach the outside, and they land on Kellan. He cuts his vision off promptly, and then he looks front once again.
"Then you're worried you'll go to him," he almost whispers.
I glance at the hybrid with dirty blond hair as he kneels to the ground, bringing soil up to his nose to sniff it. He's lost in thought the way I am when I've found a trail to track. He's not even aware we're over here right now.
"I'm not worried about going to him and staying with him, but my savage will force me to be with him in ways I never want to be again. I love you and only you. The thought of ever having to belong to him in any way again is almost nauseating."
His eyes almost exemplify the same pain I feel. I shiver slightly, feeling the random wintry air finally trying to stir for the first time in so long.
"You're cold?" he asks, seeming confused.
"Yeah," I murmur, breaking away from his icy chill.
He laughs, and then he heats up, wrapping his arm around me to share his hybrid warmth. "I've got more than one temperature."
I smile, leaning into him more, soaking up the heat he's freely offering. This is a change... a refreshing one.
"You're perfect," I murmur while reveling in his sublime temperature.
I feel his smile against the top of my head as his breath warms me through my hair. It's so different than what I'm used to feeling from him, and I love it.
Rex and Melania stop behind us as we reach a tent that has been set up on the far corner of the city - the place where the city meets the wilderness.
"We'll be right here," Rex says in a whisper, his eyes focused on the tent as his teeth clench tightly together.
Jase nods to them while pulling me with him into the tent. I expected a formal gathering, one where the committee was assembled in an intimidating stature. I was expecting a long table, hooded heads, and a silently dooming air. However, the committee is still as bloodstained as we are. Some of them are missing, more than likely killed by the hounds that swept us.
The twelve that remain aren't hooded or cloaked from sight. They're all standing, discussing the events of the night and how lucky they are to have survived. They didn't even notice our entrance.
Finally, one of the men clears his throat while staring at us, and a silence falls on the rest as they all follow his gaze to me and my hybrid that is holding my hand.
"You wished to speak to us," Jase states, his tone strong and confident as he most likely reads the minds of the men and women.
His eyes are mismatched, making me feel a wobble. The effect he has on me in true form is baffling. They shift to a pale blue when he feels my staggering stance, and he stifles a grin at my reaction.
They all shift uncomfortably at his eye color change, and they look to each other to decide who will be the brave soul to decommission the commander in front of me. I'd be scared too if I was them.
A man steps forward just slightly, though he doesn't make an attempt to get too close. His eyes shift from me to Jase several times before he finally keeps them on the commander before trembling out his words.
"Before when we spoke, you most likely knew a decommission was coming," the man murmurs warily, letting his eyes accidentally find me before darting back to Jase.
"I did," Jase says, still not wavering in his confidence.
"We understand that we've recently amended the law to allow hybrids of all kinds to live, but-"
"Allowed us to live?" I scoff, my eyes burning violet and angry.
Jase's grip tightens on my hand, trying to remind me to bite my tongue, but I've avoided conflict my whole life. I'm sick of it.
"If anything, you should be begging more of us to come about, you arrogant prick," I growl, losing my temper. "Next time, I'll let the mutts shred you. I won't risk my life or the lives of the ones I love for people who think it's okay for us to breathe amongst them."
They all take a step back as my eyes try to dilate. This was a bad, bad, bad idea. I was too close to turning savage, much too close. Pushing me this soon is like issuing a death wish.
"I realize we've offended you greatly, Ms. Banner," the man squeaks out, losing all masculinity in his crackling tone. "That's why we've asked for you to be here today as well."
