Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Silas
The dark-haired female is stunningly beautiful, and there’s something about her that draws out my protective side. There’s also something about her that draws out my darkness. I want to enjoy her and perhaps torment her a little. I want her moans of pleasure and her tears.
Her life. I want to feel all the things that make her alive. All that makes her who she is. It’s been ages since I’ve spoken to a human female, and even longer since I’ve touched one. My fingers tingle with the urge to stroke her smooth, pale flesh.
Kiera, Kiera, Kiera. The wind whispers the true name of every creature I encounter within the forest, and it carries her name to me now. Kiera, Kiera, Kiera. What a lovely name.
More arrows zip through the air, but I easily redirect them into the surrounding trees. Clearly, the villagers have set a trap for me. They’d hoped to lure me close enough to shoot.
Fools. The lot of them. Don’t they realize my power? Don’t they know I’m as enduring as the mountains? I’ve inhabited these parts since the very first plant sprouted from the soil.
Don’t the villagers comprehend the devastation that would occur if I suddenly ceased to exist?
Without me, the natural balance of life in the forest would become upended, and evil spirits and creatures would flourish unchecked.
Vegetation would rot, the soil would become barren, and fires would break out.
Eventually, the destruction would swallow all the villages that border the forest.
Yet they’re trying to kill me. Why?
I growl as I gaze at the tiny human female. She pales and takes a step back, though the scent of her excitement heightens in the air. How curious. She fears me, yet she’s becoming aroused in my presence.
I’ll take her, I decide. I’ll question her. Then I’ll have my fun with her, and eventually, once I’ve had my fill, I’ll release her. Maybe.
I reach out and curve a hand around her waist, causing her to tumble forward over my shoulder. She gasps and immediately starts wiggling around and trying to escape. Her panicked whimpers and cries make my shaft swell larger.
“Please, no. No, no. Oh, please put me down.” She draws in a huge breath, then screams, “Help!” As she kicks harder, her shoes go flying into the bushes.
I laugh. “They can’t help you, little girl.”
After diverting a final barrage of arrows, I turn from the altar and carry my prize away from the village and deeper into the forest. Kiera, Kiera, Kiera, the wind continues to whisper.
She keeps thrashing around, but I maintain a firm hold on her and navigate the path that leads up the mountain. Eventually, she grows tired and ceases moving. The abrupt silence is almost startling.
My cabin finally comes into sight, and I hasten my steps, eager to get her inside. I have many questions for her, and I know I’ll savor the interrogation. I find myself hoping she’s uncooperative, at least initially, so I’ll have an excuse to punish her.
I scan the area around my cabin for any signs of recent trespassers, and when I don’t glimpse any footsteps, I open the door and carry her inside.
I kick the door shut behind me and walk to the center of the cabin, halfway between the sleeping area and the kitchen.
Then, I set the dark-haired beauty on her feet.
She gasps and peers up at me with wide eyes. She takes a few steps back and glances around the cabin before her gaze returns to me. “Please don’t hurt me, sir,” she whispers in that lovely, pleading voice of hers.
I approach her with slow but deliberate steps. Ravenous urges heat my blood, and I take another deep inhale of her intoxicating scent. She smells like herbs and flowers and feminine slickness. Gods, I can’t wait to taste her.
But first, I must learn exactly what the villagers were planning. Well, I know they were planning to kill me, but why? I need to know why. I also need to know whether they know what I am.
“What’s your name?” I ask, even though the wind has never whispered a wrong name.
“Kiera. My name is Kiera.” Her eyes fill with tears. “Are you the demon? Are you going to… kill me?”
Demon? I draw back. I fucking despise demons. The wretched creatures are not welcome in my domain. I’ve killed scores of them over the millennia.
“No, Kiera, I’m not a demon.” Why does it feel so good to utter her name aloud?
Her eyes brim with relief, and she blinks away the tears before they fall.
She exhales slowly and no longer appears so tense and frightened.
She still looks wary of me, however, and she’s smart to remain cautious.
I carried her miles away from her village and brought her to my home.
And I’m not planning to release her anytime soon. She’s very much at my mercy.
“Do you have a name, sir?” she asks in a hesitant voice, and she takes another step back.
I draw myself up taller. “My name is Silas.”
She glances at my antlers. “If you’re not a demon, what are you then?”
“I am a guardian, and this vast forest is my domain.”
She studies me more intently, and I stand still for her perusal.
Given her increasing excitement, the sweet, pungent slickness I keep detecting, I suspect she likes what she sees.
Though her opinion of me shouldn’t matter—she’s in my domain and she’s at my mercy—I find myself feeling flattered by her approval of my human form.
“A forest guardian.” She stares at me in awe. “Oh, thank the gods. You’re not an evil creature then. Right?”
“That depends on your definition of evil.” I approach her until I have her backed against the wall.
I place my hands on either side of her shoulders, ready to grab her if she attempts escape.
“I have some questions to ask you, little girl, and I expect you to answer honestly. If you hesitate or I suspect you’re lying, I will punish you.
I will put marks on your flesh, and I will make you cry. ”
Her breath hitches, and she stares at me in shock, her dark eyes wide and filled with uncertainty. Not that I can blame her for the sudden return of her fear. I just threatened to hurt her.
“What do you want to know?” She lifts her chin, and she keeps blinking fast. Ah, she’s trying to summon bravery, yet she remains so very frightened of me.
“Why were you standing on the old sacrificial altar dressed in white?” I briefly tug at the sleeve of her gown.
She takes a deep breath and meets my eyes.
“My brother is set to hang at noon tomorrow, but the Elders said if I agreed to help them kill a demon that’s been plaguing our village, they would release my brother.
So, the Elders’ wives helped me get ready.
They dressed me in a white wedding gown because they said it conveys innocence, and demons are attracted to…
virgins.” She whispers the last word, and a deep blush covers her face and neck.
“I-I was supposed to be bait for the demon, and the Elders promised the archers wouldn’t miss their target. ”
“A demon? Why do your Elders believe a demon is plaguing your village?” It riles me that the archers released their arrows. The villagers thought I was one of those dark creatures I despise so much.
“A lot of terrible things have happened in Zochal during the last few years. A plague of locusts, a deadly illness, poor rainfall, and several disappearances. Many of the hunters who venture into the forest claim to have seen a demon.”
“How do the hunters describe the demon?” I tense as I await her reply.
Only one demon has eluded me over the years, the Nameless One, a wraithlike demon that ventures from forest to forest across the realm, taunting guardians.
I can’t kill the Nameless One, and neither can my fellow guardians, because the wind never whispers its true name.
It’s impossible to vanquish a demon without possessing such intimate knowledge.
Kiera sighs. “Well, some say he looks like you. A huge stag that watches them from afar. Some of the hunters also say he looks like a man with antlers, so I suppose they must’ve seen you in this form as well.
Still, others have described a red-eyed creature that slinks in the shadows and never quite appears solid. ”
A red-eyed creature that slinks in the shadows?
I suppress a growl as I glance out the window.
Demons always have red eyes. Even when they shapeshift or inhabit the body of another creature, their red eyes always give them away.
Fuck. It sounds like the Nameless One. I pray the creature has departed for a distant forest across the realm, though I vow to stay vigilant in case it remains nearby.
I also pray that one day the wind will whisper its true name, allowing me to finally destroy it.
“I’m sorry the archers shot at you,” Kiera says, “though I’m glad they didn’t hurt you.”
I study her expression for any hint of deceit, but she looks honest enough. Not that I have much experience with humans. I’ve observed them for ages, mostly from a distance, and I only interact with them on rare occasions.
Lately, however, I’ve been taking my human form more often.
I’ve spent the last few years living in an abandoned hunter’s cabin and sleeping in a bed in my human form.
It’s an odd compulsion I’ve been experiencing as of late—the need to understand humans more.
Sometimes I’ve found myself wondering what it might be like to seek companionship among the humans.
In particular, I’ve found myself longing for a female of my own.
Finding Kiera on the altar feels a bit like fate.
Dare I keep her? Some forest guardians take mates from among the humans. The wind whispers about it from time to time. The wind also whispers that the human mates of forest guardians become as ageless as the guardians themselves.
“How old are you?” I blurt.
“Twenty-four, sir.”
Twenty-four. Gods. So young. So delicate and breakable.
Why do I want to protect her?
I want her to be my sweet little human, my Little girl, and I want to be her guardian. Papa. I want her to call me Papa. I want her to look to me for security and guidance.
“How old are you, Silas?” She utters my name in a soft, imploring tone that makes me want to gather her on my lap and hold her close.
“I am ancient and enduring,” I say. “I’m as old as the forest.” In truth, I don’t know the exact number of years.
“As old as the forest?” She blinks a few times. “So, you’re thousands of years old?”
“Yes.”
“Are you immortal?” Her head tilts to the side as she appraises me. “Are you like a god?”
“I don’t know whether I’m immortal,” I admit. “But all those who’ve tried to kill me have failed.” Only humans and demons have tried to kill me. The animals who inhabit my domain recognize me for what I am, and even the fiercest wildcats and bears have never so much as growled in my direction.
She casts a look around me, and I realize she’s glancing at the door. My ire rises when I suspect she’s contemplating escape.
Mine. The word echoes in my head, and a deep sense of possessiveness for Kiera fills me.
“You’re not going anywhere, little girl,” I tell her in a stern but patient voice.
“But I can’t stay here with you.” She gives me a beseeching look. “I need to get back to Zochal. I have to make sure they don’t hang my brother.”
I growl. “I suppose you must care about him very much if you risked your life to save him. Had an actual demon come across you on the altar, it would’ve ravished you to death.”
She frowns. “He’s my brother. I couldn’t just let him die. Besides, the Elders promised the archers would—”
“The archers wouldn’t have succeeded in killing a demon.
” Unable to resist touching her, I reach for her hair and caress my fingers through her dark locks.
“So yes, little girl, you risked your life today.” Why does it make me so angry that she risked her life?
Well, assuming the Nameless One really is hiding out in the forest.
I contemplate my threat to punish her if she fails to answer my questions truthfully, and I can’t help but lament her fucking honesty.
The idea of anyone else hurting her makes me want to go on a rampage, but the prospect of seeing my marks on her, particularly during a disciplinary session, is enough to make my breath falter.
“Please let me go, Silas. Please.” A little noise escapes her throat, a whimper she tries to quell. It makes my cock go painfully rigid.
I continue caressing her hair, and gods how I savor the scent of her growing excitement. It would seem my touch has incited her desires further.
I place a finger beneath her chin and force her to hold my gaze. “I’m not letting you go, Kiera. But if you’re very, very obedient, I might be inclined to save your brother.”