12. VANYA

In all the times Charlene and I snuck out into the forest, we had never been so deep before. The deeper we went, the denser the trees became; and the darker and scarier it got.

I stopped and tilted my head to stare up at the tall trees that surrounded us. It seemed like they were never ending, and I couldn’t even see the sky any longer. At some spots underneath the trees, between thick bushes, bright flowers grew. Something about them seemed familiar, but that was insane since I had never been here or anywhere similar to this place. Maybe I had seen them on the TV or in one of the books at the library.

“Do you want to rest?”

I looked at Devrim and shook my head. “I’m just admiring the nature.”

His eyes darted over my face and then dropped to trail down my body. Thankfully, I had made the sensible choice by wearing sneakers instead of my usual sandals.

“We can rest if you want to, Vanya,” he said. “I know humans aren’t as fit as—”

My eyes snapped back to his. “Are you saying I’m fat?”

His mouth opened and closed as colour flooded his cheeks. “No! I’m just—”

 “I’ll have you know that I go to the gym every other day and I eat very healthy… most of the time.” I placed my hands on my hips and glared at him.

Ezra muttered something that was too low for me to hear, but Devrim had heard him because he spun around to hiss at him. Actually hissed like a cat.

My eyes darted between them. Devrim looked like he wanted to attack Ezra, and Ezra was smirking at him, almost daring him to do it. After a few seconds of staring at each other, Devrim turned away from him to face me again.

“We should get going before it gets dark.”

This was the second time they had mentioned getting home before dark. “Why?” I questioned in curiosity.

 “We’re not the only predators out here, sweet cheeks.” He winked at me.

Did he just call me sweet cheeks?

***

By the time we reached the house, my calves were killing me. Somehow, I had managed to keep my breathing under control, even though I was struggling to get enough air into my lungs. Was this payback for lying about going to the gym? Shit, why am I feeling so shaky?

The first thing I noticed when we stepped through the front door was the smell. My stomach grumbled loudly, making colour flood my cheeks when the men turned to face me.

“I… missed lunch and there wasn’t time for dinner.”

Ezra growled. “You should eat. You’re already so little.”

Little? 

My lips parted, but before I could utter a word, Ezra grabbed my hand and led me into the kitchen.  

“Sit.” Ezra gripped my hips and lifted me onto the high bar stool by the kitchen island. “I’ll get you food.”

I turned and leaned my elbows on the marble countertop and glanced around as I waited for him to bring me the delicious-smelling food.

The whole house—well, from what I could see of the first floor—was an open-plan. We had used the front door to enter the house which had opened right into the living room and the kitchen. The stairs were to the left and next to it was a dark hallway that led to another part of the house. Everything looked modern which was a surprise considering they lived in the middle of the forest.

“Do you have electricity?”

“Not yet,” Devrim said, making my heart drop. “It means allowing humans into our house and some of the pride aren’t too keen on having humans invading their homes. The main house is the only house that has electricity, which is why most of the members stayed there or close by.”

“The appliances and lights?”

“Gas and battery-operated,” Ezra said as he placed a plate down in front of me.

“They had it specially installed for you, princess,” a familiar voice sneered to my left. “We usually go hunting if we’re hungry and we don’t have trouble seeing in the dark.”

“Obsidian.”

He ignored them and walked around the island to lean against the sink opposite me with his arms crossed over his chest. My eyes darted over him, but my view was suddenly blocked by Devrim when he stepped in front of me.

“This was delivered for you,” he said, placing a can of Cola next to the plate. “I was told that it’s your favourite.”

“Eat,” Ezra urged. “Your stomach keeps grumbling.”

 I just needed to try and ignore the three sets of eyes burning into me. I reached out, but froze when I realized that Ezra hadn’t given me a fork to eat with. However, before I could even ask for it, one was placed within my reach. My eyes darted up and locked with Obsidian’s.

“Excuse them,” he muttered. “They’re not used to having... humans over.”

The way he said humans made it sound like an insult. I frowned at him. What the hell is his problem?

I gripped the fork tightly and looked down at my plate. It smelled as delicious as it looked, but I spotted something that could cause me another trip to the hospital.

“Something wrong, human?” Obsidian questioned. “Is it not up to your standards?”

Devrim spun around with his arm raised, but Obsidian was faster. A scream fell from my lips when Obsidian’s hand shot out and wrapped around Devrim’s throat.

I was off the chair and next to them in seconds. “What are you doing? You’re hurting him! Let him go!”

An arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me away from them before I could grip Obsidian’s arm to try and pull him away from Devrim. The moment I was out of the way, Obsidian stepped closer to Devrim and squeezed his throat. A low growl fell from his lips, making icy shivers race down my spine.

“Don’t fucking touch me,” he hissed at Devrim.

“Don’t fucking insult her,” Devrim hissed back.

Obsidian smirked. “Or what?”