Loyalty Or Honour (Book 3)

Chapter Forty Four

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"Hunter?" She says without believing it. "You are dead."

"If I am dead I hope this pain does not last forever." He grinds out. "Again, where did you learn to fight?"

"Mercy is teaching me." She replies slowly, cautiously. "Why did you attack me?"

"No one can know that I survived." He drawls as if it is obvious. Ari crosses the distance between them and slaps him soundly across the cheek. He grabs her wrist before she can do it again. She glares at him.

"You are dead!" She almost shouts but quietens at the last moment. "Why on earth would you think it is a good idea to attack a woman alone at night like you just did just because you want that grief to continue?" Her voice shakes but her eyes remain dry. Her anger keeps the relief and acceptance that he is here in front of her in check.

"I do not want to cause grief." Hunter softly states. He reaches out and touches Ari's cheek. She turns to stone under his touch. Brown eyes regard him warily. "I simply want to remain alive."

"She married him you know." His hand falls away from her cheek. "Yesterday they exchanged vows." She tells him, intending to cause him some of the pain she has felt.

"I did not love her." He admits. Ari pulls away and Hunter lets go of her wrist. She frowns at him. "I thought I did but I realised that I do not. She was forbidden and for once I wanted something that I could not have and I went for it to hell with the consequences. It was foolish. I should have paid attention to all the signs but I have never felt such a strong desire before."

Ari grits her teeth. "I am pleased that you are being honest with yourself." She turns to run away. He grabs her wrist again and she faces him once again. "What do you expect me to say, Hunter? I have lived this past month believing you dead." A tear slips down her cheek. "Today I had to find out that Theodore ordered it. Now you want me to be understanding that Arabella was simply a forbidden fruit? Why on earth do I need to know that?"

"You admitted to be how you felt once and I did not say anything." Hunter quietly tells her. Ari yanks her wrist back, glaring at him, embarrassment colouring her cheeks. "I am sorry that I hurt you. It was never my intention." Another tear slips down her cheek.

"That feels so long ago. We should forget that I ever said that." She does not see the flash of hurt that crosses Hunter's face. She does not know that it is her face and her voice that he saw and heard when fighting against the infection. She was the strength he needed and he knows now why she was. She has buried part of herself in his heart. But now she is telling him to forget.

But it is safer if he does as she asks. She cannot be caught up with him. His future will not be easy and he will not bring her into it. "It is forgotten." He agrees. Ari lets out a shaky breath and nods.

"I assume you need me to help with something." She changes the subject. Hunter lifts his shirt up and Ari fights the instinct burned into her by her mother to look away. Instead she studies the wound stretched across his side and she winces. "You need Zandar. I know exactly where he is. The question is who do you want to know that you still live?" 

"No." Hunter says sharply. Ari crosses her arms across her chest and frowns at him. "I cannot guarantee where his loyalty lies. He may tell the Prince that I still breathe." He explains.

"I do not believe that he would." Ari argues. "His loyalty is to Orion. It always has been from what I have gathered. If Orion protects you then he will do the same. They are all at Khiara's home. Zandar, Jacqui, Jasper and Ross. We have all grieved for you. Please come back with me." She pleads.