Rising to her feet, she placed a hand on the wall next to her for balance, keeping one eye on the male, who didn’t move, looking up at her through tangled black hair. Long black hair, wild, and a face that would be called savage but for the grace of bones underneath summer brown skin.
“Do you know why we’re here?” she asked. It didn’t seem… reasonable… that she should be in a simple cabin out in the middle of… where? Moving to the shutters, keeping one hand braced on the wall to combat sick dizziness, she opened them. Forest. Thick forest that stretched for miles since she could see the rise of mountains shrouded in green.
What was she doing here?
“Izobelle.”
She turned away from the view to regard the male, regretting the motion when her vision darkened. “I don’t recognize that name.”
Resignation flitted across his face before it shuttered. He rose, taller than her, and much broader. Approaching with slow steps as if she were dangerous.
Was she dangerous? She didn’t feel dangerous.
“I won’t hurt you.”
She snorted. “As if you could, cub.”
He reached out, testing. A finger brushed the line of her jaw, then withdrew before she could react. The thing was, she didn’t react. He didn’t ring any alarm bells. He felt… familiar.
“We know each other,” she said, finally.
“Yes.”
“My head…” No. She wouldn’t admit to any weakness, though she wanted to curl back up on the mattress and whimper like a pathetic little ball.
“I was afraid of that.”
“I didn’t think you were afraid of anything.” The thought came from nowhere. She examined it, but there were no layers beneath. No memory to support the knowledge.
She…Izobelle…walked around him, her bare arm brushing his as she passed. For a flash of a second, her body tightened. Izo’s mouth thinned. So.
“You were given a drug,” he said behind her as she approached the door. “It will impair your memory for a while.”
Hand on the simple latch, she paused. “That isn’t a friendly act. Who would give me a drug?”
A heaviness to the silence. “Enemies.”
“Yours or mine?”
“Ours, now. They know you belong to me.”
Did he expect her to respond to that outrageous statement? She pushed out the door, walking into the open air. Well, more open air, since the hut offered very little shelter.
“If an enemy went to the trouble to knock me unconscious, drug me, and abandon me in the middle of nowhere with an ally-why not kill me?”
“They don’t have the stomach for murder,” he said. The heat of his body at her back, causing the fine hairs of her neck to rise. “They think they have honor.”
“And do they have honor? One male’s villain is another male’s hero.”
“I thought you would be in a bit of a temper when you woke.”
“Am I usually? In a bit of a temper.”
He didn’t answer that, instead walking past her. Wise. “Are you hungry?” he asked over his shoulder. “There’s a lake nearby.”
“Easier for Bear to hunt. I… can’t seem to shift right now.”
He stopped, turned. Stared at her. She forced her shoulders to remain still, not hunch and reveal her own sudden sense of vulnerability.
“Why is Bear still asleep?” she asked.
“She will wake, Izo. It just takes longer when this particular drug has been used.” Rage in his eyes, emerald sparking into scorching flame for just a split second. “I’ll take care of you.”
Izobelle laughed. Stopped, then grimaced. “I don’t need taking care of.”
“Every female needs taking care of. Even a-”
He cut himself off. Her brow rose and she walked towards him. “Even a what?”
He grinned, suddenly relaxed. “You know? I think I won’t tell you. You can be unbearably arrogant-this might be a nice break.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Take me to the lake, male, and feed me then. Since you think I need caring for.”
He led them through the forest. She smelled the water before she saw it, about a half mile away from their makeshift shelter.
“You didn’t tell me your name,” Izobelle said.
“Malvin.”
Malvin. She turned the word over in her head. She felt nothing. And sighed. “After we hunt, we should leave.”
“No.” He glanced at her, sharp and feral. “You’re vulnerable until you remember who you are. We stay here until your mind is whole.”
“And who am I? You said you wouldn’t tell me, like a game a spoiled male plays.”
“I won’t tell you because it won’t mean anything to you, and because rushing recovery can cause damage. I’ve seen the effects of this drug before. They probably meant to delay us.”
The situation sounded urgent. She responded to the tension in his voice, shoulders swelling, just slightly. It brightened her mood, the physiological response. It meant Bear was beginning to stir.
Izobelle knelt at the edge of the lake, looking into the water. Touched the smooth skin of her cheek. A female stared at her, deep eyes and mussed dark hair. Wide mouth and curving cheekbones.