Page 77 of Heart of the Hunted
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Natalia
Later that day, Natalia decided after all Taredd had done for her that he deserved the truth. Since the moment they first met, he has done nothing but be open and honest about everything, even when he didn't have to be.
He hadn't bothered to hide the fact that he hunted down and killed her kind. He hadn't even hidden the fact he had a bet going with his friend, which is why he hadn't just killed her right in the beginning.
Not only that, but Taredd has gone out of his way time and again to make sure she was well fed. He even went out of his way to find her a proper bed for the night. He could have just made her sleep rough again, but he didn't. So, the least she could do was be as open and honest with him in return.
Natalia just needed to make sure that he would treat her friends the same way he had been treating her. Even if he just promised not to kill them it would be a good start. He didn’t need to treat them exactly the same, as long as they were as safe around him and his friends as she was, she would be happy.
In fact, the thought of him getting as close to any of the women in her group... Amberly included… made her want to keep him away from any of them. She trusted Amberly with her life, but she still didn't want to share Taredd with her.
Natalia didn't know how… or when… she became so possessive over Taredd, but she had. She wasn't going to deny her feelings towards him any longer, especially from herself. There was no way she was going to admit it out loud, or let Taredd know her feelings just yet, but she couldn't deny it to herself anymore.
As soon as they were alone again after Dain had brought them something to eat, Natalia finally plucked up the courage to tell Taredd about her friends.
Hoping for the best, she blurted it out. "I can't leave this area without finding my friends first."
Looking over at her, his brows pinched together. "What?" he asked, confused.
"I want to go with you to your home, but I can't leave my friends behind,” she told him.
"How many friends are we talking about?" he asked.
Natalia was surprised by his question, she hadn't expected him to ask how many. She had expected him to just say 'no chance'. But as usual, he was still surprising her by doing the unexpected.
"I... I don't know,” she told him honestly.
Natalia couldn't be sure how many were left in the group since she split up from them. It had been a long time, and they had travelled a long way, anything could have happened to her group. She just hoped Amberly and Donovan were still together and safe.
"Okay, how many was there when you were last with them?"
"Eight."
"Eight?" he asked, raising his brows.
"Yes."
Taredd took a deep breath. "Do you know where they are?"
"No," she admitted.
"That's going to make things a little harder,” he told her before asking "Do you at least know which area they might be in?"
"No,” she said, looking down at her hands in her lap. "I'm sorry I can't be more helpful, but they could be anywhere by now. None of us know this area very well, so we didn't have a plan of where to meet up again."
"Don't worry about it, we'll figure something out,” he said, walking over to sit next to her on the bed.
"Thank you,” she said as he pulled her against him.
"Where was it you last saw them?" he asked.
"It was on the other side of the mountain pass,” she told him. "We were supposed to meet up somewhere when I got here, but then I bumped into you so I haven't been able to look for them."
"Why didn't you travel with them through the mountains?"
"Because of Bella," Natalia said, rolling her eyes. "She's this really annoying girl who was in our group. She wondered off when we were at the beginning of the pass. We didn't notice that she had wondered off straight away, but when we did, we decided that someone needed to go back and make sure she was okay and nothing bad had happened to her."
