She jabbed her finger towards me, her eyes blazing with fury. "You better hand over my property right now! I already told you I changed my mind before you marked him, so you had no right to take him! If you don't give him back, I swear I'll report you to the united beastkin council, and they'll make you return him! No one dares to steal what's mine!"
"On what basis do you think I forced you to give him up? You marked him with your own blood without my help, and it was your idea to do it this way in the first place. Honestly, I should be the one reminding you that you can't just take what belongs to me, especially since he's no longer under your control. That marking on his neck signifies that he's completely out of your reach, so don't even entertain the thought of trying to reclaim him."
"You! You have such thick skin!" Pamela exclaimed.
"All the better for delivering a good slap," I replied with a smirk.
"How dare you?! If you leave this yard without returning Sam to me, we will no longer be sisters!"
I laughed and shrugged, "We were never really sisters to begin with. I don't have a sister like you."
"Good! So you were planning to deceive me from the start."
"Planning? Please, you make it sound like I had a whole strategy laid out. I just had to improvise a little to handle someone like you; it was a piece of cake."
She leaped at me, shrieking like a banshee, but Titus was quick to step in. He expertly twisted her arm and pinned her down. "What are you doing? Why would you treat me like this? I'm your future mate!"
"What? Who said that you're going to be my future mate? Why am I unaware of it?" said Titus.
"You will be, simply because I decree it. It's a privilege for you to be chosen as my future partner!"
Titus raised an eyebrow and got to his feet, placing his foot on her back while wiping his hand on his skirt as if he had just touched something revolting. He let out a laugh, but it was far from cheerful; it had a menacing edge to it. "I've already made it clear that you hold no interest for me. A less tolerant male would have dealt with you by now, given your relentless pursuit. You sit there, all high and mighty, convinced you're the pinnacle of what society has to offer, believing no male has the right to reject you. You've harassed, blackmailed, and coerced countless males into submission, playing your dirty games to make them your mates or servants, all while living off the misery of others. You've even stolen the intended partners of other females, flaunting the males who love them right in their faces, relishing their pain. You've crippled those who dared to defy you and sent their loved ones into the wilderness to meet terrible fates. Don't fool yourself into thinking your misdeeds have gone unnoticed; your crimes are far from hidden."
"Honestly, what could possibly be wrong with my actions? The weak exist to be overshadowed, while the strong are destined to shine and receive admiration. It's their fault for being weak, and they should take joy in being of service to someone as exceptional as me."
"It's a terrible strategy to think you can just claim males as your own, especially when you lack the power to support your wishes. You have a red aura without any magical ability, yes?"
"Oh, so you managed to discover my red aura without any magic. Impressive, but I never let anyone outside my circle catch a glimpse of it. How did you find out?" she remarked, attempting to free herself from beneath his foot.
"I've got my own sources of information, and frankly, that's none of your business. What you really need to worry about is making sure you never show your face around me again. Next time, I won't be so forgiving," he said, leaning in and dragging a sharp claw down her arm, leaving a deep mark.
She let out an angry bellow as he removed his foot from her back and stepped away from her.
"Is this what you call forgiveness?!" she shouted, rising to her feet in a dramatic flair.
"I do, I'm allowing you to live which is more than generous considering all of the things you have done. Don't allow me to see you again and you will continue to enjoy that privilege."
"You have injured me!"
"A mere trifle in order to help you remember your mistake here today."
"Hmph! Just wait and see. One day, you'll be begging to be my male. You will belong to me!"
"We need to get out of here before you catch some awful disease from her. It's obvious she's not in her right mind," Sam grumbled as he turned his back on her and hoisted me up.
"Just you wait, Perla. One day, I will have my revenge! You will absolutely pay for the humiliation you've put me through today and for snatching my males right from under my nose!"
I ignored her as she screamed and started throwing chairs and breaking dishes while her arm spirted blood everywhere. Some of her males gained their footing and tried to stop her from making her injury worse but it was no use since she was in a horrible temper and they just ended up more injured than they originally were.
Sam walked while carrying me away from Pamela's yard and the setting that used to be beautiful, what a shame. He carried me while Titus followed behind us on the path to the healers house.
We arrived and Sam quickly tapped on the door before walking in before it was opened for him. He was greeted by Oliver who had a curious look on his face but blinked when he saw the paw print on his brother's neck. "Brother! You've been released to Perla, how wonderful!"
Sam walked past him and gently set me on the bed that I had been sleeping on before grabbing one of his brothers large backpacks, a sturdy brown leather bag with straps on if that he used for gathering herbs in the nearby forest. Then he started packing up his brothers things into the backpack and handed another empty backpack to Titus for him to fill up.
"What's going on?" said Oliver.
Sam grumbled, "Plans have shifted. I'm no longer tied to Pamela, but let me tell you, it hasn't been a walk in the park. We can't sit around waiting for tomorrow; we need to hit the road tonight."
"You knew about the plan?" said Oliver.
"Titus brought me up to speed, believing that if I was clued in on the plan beforehand, our chances of success would go up," said Sam.
"Why do we have to leave tonight, why can't we rest in our beds and leave tomorrow morning?" said Oliver.
Titus said, "By morning, Pamela will have rounded up most of the males in this village and dragged them to this hut. Or worse, she might just set this place ablaze while we sleep, and I wouldn't put it past her. We can't stick around; we need to move through the night and put as much distance between us and this hellhole as we can. She's bound to send a big group after us, mercenaries included."
"She's pretty bad but would she really go that far?" said Oliver.
"You really have no clue what she's capable of, but I do, and trust me, she wouldn't hesitate to go that far. Fortunately, Perla has kept her living situation under wraps, only sharing it with us, so we should be in the clear there," Titus said.
I watched as they spoke about the situation in a shocking way and finally realized that I may have made a bad enemy that could cause me harm. I hadn't really taken her threats seriously but it seemed that Titus sure was and that was pretty frightening considering his size and strength.
After hearing what the other two were saying, Oliver jumped up and rushed forward grabbing a backpack too and started throwing in everything that he needed, including some blankets and other household items.
Having filled the three backpacks with everything that they could fit in them, the three males put on the bags and Sam picked me up again. Oliver gathered some items that he couldn't take with him and lit them on fire within the main room. "I know that I won't ever be able to come here again and I'm willing to swallow my loss in order to gain a new life but I won't allow the people who tormented us to gain my property that I was forced to give up."
Then they rushed out of the house before others could notice them leaving and while there were sounds of beastkin rousing around Pamela's home. It seemed that the guys were right to leave the village right away.
Coming Next Time: Shaking off Pursuers.