Page 75 of Heart of the Hunted
"Yes, I do." Dain nodded his head. "You would do the same for us if it was the other way around."
"How do you know I wouldn't just kill the Human you had fallen for?" Taredd asked him.
"Because you're not like that,” he said adamantly. "Neither am I or Arun, and you know it, especially not after the way I've seen you with her."
"Okay," Taredd agreed. "You can help."
"Why, thank you," Dain said with a smile. "But just so you know, I wasn't actually giving you a choice in the matter."
Taredd shook his head as he smiled. He should have known Dain wouldn't let him do this alone.
"Now, we need to find Arun," Dain told him. "I know for a fact he wouldn't want to miss the action that's bound to be ahead of us."
"Fine, but if he so much as looks at Natalia the wrong way, I will kill him," Taredd told him.
"Arun will not touch a hair on Natalia's pretty little head," Dain told him.
"How do you know that? He doesn't know what's going on or how I feel about her," Taredd said. "He could attack her before he finds out."
"That's not like Arun, and you know it," Dain pointed out again.
Deep down Taredd did know Arun wasn't like that, but it still didn't stop the worry floating around in his head where Natalia was concerned.
"Yeah, I know,” he admitted. "It's just..."
"I know, your head is up your ass where she's concerned," Dain interrupted.
"Yeah, something like that," Taredd admitted.
"Dude, you don't have to tell me, I know how much females can affect your way of thinking," Dain told him.
If anyone really did understand how Taredd was feeling, it would be Dain. His kind were extremely possessive when it came to their females, especially when their female’s life was in danger.
"So, what's the plan?" Dain asked after a moments silence.
"I don't know yet."
"Well, the first thing I think we need to do, is find Arun," Dain told him.
"That could take days," Taredd said. "Unless you know where he went?"
"Nah, I only know which direction he was heading in."
"At least that's a start." Taredd looked at the closed bathroom door. "But we can't go anywhere until Natalia is up to it."
"I can't see that being today, so, I'll go see if there's another room available for the night," Dain said as he headed towards the door.
"Good idea."
"Yeah, I know, I'm full of good ideas," Dain said jokingly.
Taredd couldn't help but smile as he shook his head.
"I'll be back in a couple of minutes,” he said just before closing the door behind himself.
Taredd continued to pace the room. He wanted to let himself in to the bathroom and comfort Natalia, or at least have her come out so he could hold her close. How the hell she had come to mean so much to him in such a short period of time, he didn't know, and he didn't care either. All he cared about now, was Natalia.
Walking back over to the bathroom door, he gently tapped on it. When she didn't reply, he said: "Natalia, are you okay in there?"
