Page 19 of A Hunger Soft and Wild

It’s a lie. Or at least, not the whole truth. I can see it in the tight line of her mouth, in the way her hands flex at her sides like she’s holding something back. Something she’s not ready to share. Maybe something she never intends to.

“That’s not an answer,” I say quietly, narrowing my eyes. I don’t have the energy to press hard—but I want to. Gods, I want to know.

She huffs, running a hand down the back of her neck again. A nervous tell, maybe. “It’s the only one you’re getting.”

I don’t look away. Neither does she. The air between us shifts, thick with something unspoken, something she won’t let me see. I know there’s more to this—more to her—but she won’t give it to me. Not yet.

Finally, she shakes her head, voice low. “Doesn’t matter. I’m here. And I’m not letting them take you. That’s all you need to know.”

It should frustrate me. It does, a little. But under the frustration is something quieter. Something warmer. I swallow it down.

I exhale, my voice softer now. “You don’t have to do this for me.”

Her smile flickers. Not the cocky grin she wore before. This one is faint, fleeting, like a shadow of something more vulnerable. “I know.”

And yet… shewill.

I glance at her, reallylookat her for a beat, then ask, “What were you even doing out here?”

She lifts a shoulder. “Contract hunting. I was on my way to Elden Hollow."

“Oh.” My brows lift. “So you’re a mercenary.”

Something like amusement flickers across her face, but it fades quick. “Something like that.”

I swallow down the questions that rise—about the blade on her hip, about how many things she’s killed and why—and force a nod.

“All right,” I say. “Let’s…start with leaving this place.”

She tips her head in agreement. “Soon as you can walk.”

I push to my feet, gritting my teeth through the pull in my shoulder. The blood helped. My limbs are steadier. The weakness still lingers, but I can move.

I straighten slowly and meet her gaze. “I’m ready.”

Her lips tilt in the barest smile, the kind that feels like a promise. “Then let’s go. We’ll head for denser cover. Easier to hide. Easier to hunt.”

She nods toward the broken archway, where morning light spills through the cracks in warm, golden streaks.

I take a step toward it. The path ahead is unknown, uncertain. But as Roan falls into step beside me, close enough that our shoulders nearly brush, I feel the slightest shift.

A tether. A pull.

Not to the past.

To her.

And whatever comes next, I won’t face it alone.

Roan

Thesuncreepshigherthan I’d like, warming the back of my neck as I lead Aria deeper into the woods. We’ve been walking for hours, leaving the crumbled bones of the ruins far behind us.

Aria trails close behind. I can hear her breath catching now and then, can feel the slight drag in her pace. She’s trying to keep up, I’ll give her that—but Elden Hollow is still too far, and at this rate, we won’t reach it today. Probably not even tomorrow.

The terrain isn’t doing us any favors. The trees here twist like old pain, thick roots buckling up from the forest floor, waiting to trip the unprepared.

The deeper we go, the more the forest seems to swallow the light—only fractured slants of gold make it through the canopy overhead, like sun filtered through a broken window.

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