Page 20 of King of Forest and Fur

“How long do you think I’ll have to stay with you?” she asked. It was hard to not give away the distress she was beginning to feel.

“It depends” came Rehn’s reply. “We have to figure out who was helping Drystan. And with him dead, that may take a little longer.”

Her irritation was back.

“That’s your doing. If he was still alive, I may not have to go with you at all,” she called into the hall.

“Not true.”

Leila jumped at his words that now came directly beside her. She hadn’t heard him enter the room.

She tried to quickly compose herself as she snatched all three books off the table.

“And why’s that?”

“We’d have to hold him for questioning. He wouldn’t talk right away. And then, you’d have to stay with us. Still.”

“Doesn’t it ever get tiring?” Leila asked. She was trying to ignore the way that Rehn seemed to be watching her.

“What’s that?”

“Getting everything you want.” Leila continued to shove more books into another bag as she waited for an answer.

When she didn’t receive one, she turned to Rehn.

He was still watching her, his hazel eyes locked on her body.

She knew she should be upset by it, but she wasn’t. In fact, it turned her on the way he was looking over her. As if he needed her to breathe…

Rehn broke the spell with his answer.

“Not everything.”

The sadness in his answer made her want to implore further. Before she could, he cleared his throat and leaned against her doorframe. His demeanor back to casual.

“Besides, if I were you, I wouldn’t get so distraught over where you’ll be living. You’re not going to want to leave once you arrive.”

His cocky tone triggered Leila’s frustration with him.

“For your information, Sire, I actually like the academy. It’s my home.”

“It’s your job.”

“It’s not just my job!” she snapped.

Rehn raised an eyebrow at her as he crossed his arms.

Leila let out a sigh. She zipped up her book bag and turned to Rehn.

“I love my job. Do you know I have never taken a vacation? Because I feel it’s unnecessary. There’s nothing I want to get away from. Not the students, the studies, anything. My whole life is here. And this… this disruption in my normal day-to-day is not something I was prepared for.”

“Are you always prepared?” Rehn asked smugly.

“No,” she cracked back. “I just like handling things myself. I know I’m capable and now everyone’s treating me like a child.”

“No one is treating you as such. You’re just being stubborn.”

“I am not! I just don’t like being told what to do. Or disruption,” Leila retorted.

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