GUARDED BY THE LESHY

Copyright © 2024 by Cara Wylde

All rights are reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in book reviews.

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real in any way. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter One – Taran

Chapter Two – Thea

Chapter Three – Taran

Chapter Four – Thea

Chapter Five – Taran

Chapter Six – Thea

Chapter Seven – Taran

Chapter Eight – Thea

Chapter Nine – Taran

Chapter Ten – Thea

Chapter Eleven – Taran

Chapter Twelve – Thea

Chapter Thirteen – Taran

Chapter Fourteen – Thea

Chapter Fifteen – Taran

Chapter Sixteen – Thea

Chapter Seventeen – Taran

Chapter Eighteen – Thea

Chapter Nineteen – Taran

Chapter Twenty – Thea

Chapter Twenty-One – Taran

Chapter Twenty-Two – Thea

Chapter Twenty-Three – Taran

Chapter Twenty-Four – Thea

Chapter Twenty-Five – Taran

Chapter Twenty-Six – Thea

Chapter Twenty-Seven – Taran

Chapter Twenty-Eight – Thea

Chapter Twenty-Nine – Taran

Chapter Thirty – Thea

Chapter Thirty-One – Taran

Chapter Thirty-Two – Thea

Chapter Thirty-Three – Taran

Chapter Thirty-Four – Thea

Chapter Thirty-Five – Taran

Chapter Thirty-Six – Thea

Chapter Thirty-Seven – Taran

Chapter Thirty-Eight – Thea

Epilogue – Taran

Epilogue – Thea

Monster Security Agency

About the Author

Chapter One

Taran

I stood among the trees at the edge of the woods and watched her. She was clutching a map in her hands, so hard that her fingers were white with tension. Despite her efforts, she was shaking, nervous and anxious. Beads of sweat peppered her hairline, though the sun was in the clouds, and the morning chill still lingered in the air. Her long, dark hair was pinned atop her head. Rebellious strands had escaped the loose bun and were framing her oval face. When she looked up to study the woods, her green eyes shimmered with fear. She looked at me but couldn’t see me. Even as her eyes took in my body, I was invisible to her. Because I was not human. I was a tree.

Okay, that was an oversimplification. I was not a regular tree; I was what was called a leshy. Regular trees could not move or speak. They felt, yes, and they could communicate telepathically, but where they were born from a seed, that was where they died. They couldn’t change shape, either. My species, however, the leshy, was different and similar enough to regular trees that the untrained eye might’ve been deceived. We looked like trees, but we were so much more. We were living, breathing, moving, speaking creatures. We loved and lusted, we hurt and despaired. We felt the whole range of human emotions, and maybe more. I’d long had a theory that the leshy felt more than humans did. And therein lay the problem.

My attention was drawn back to the human female. She put the map in her backpack and drank a sip of water. I didn’t understand why she was so frightened. Yes, a long trek awaited her, but it couldn’t have been just that. Judging from the clothes she was wearing, she didn’t seem the outdoorsy type. She had the right jacket, pants, and boots, but the quality and make was superior to what usual hikers wore. Her backpack, too, was appropriate, yet too perfect and sleek. Unused. Luxury was written all over her things. This wasn’t her usual scene.

Which was fair enough. But why had she been given this challenge?

There was something not quite right here. As her bodyguard, hired by her father to protect her from the shadows, I didn’t like the idea that some information might’ve been hidden from me.

But then I had to remember – I didn’t care. Not about her father, and not about her.

Her name was Thea Everhart. The daughter of Bill Everhart. When Monster Security Agency briefed me about the job – guard and escort a young woman through the woods – my instant reaction was to say no. I didn’t work with humans. At all. I wasn’t interested. Frankly, I was surprised my handler even brought this job to me. I’d been working for the MSA as an elite bodyguard for five years, and they knew my one rule – no human clients. I was happy to assist any monster, but not humans, who, in my opinion, were the real monsters.

But then my handler uttered the name Everhart. I realized I couldn’t stay away. The MSA wanted me to take the job because I was uniquely qualified to escort Thea Everhart to her destination – a luxurious resort deep in the mountains – while not letting her – or anyone else, for that matter – know I was there. I was to be invisible. Because Thea wasn’t supposed to have a bodyguard.

It was the most ridiculous thing! Another reason I disliked humans. Their rules and traditions didn’t make sense. Apparently, Thea was supposed to be married in three days. The three days it would take her to cross the woods and reach the Celestial Pines Sanctuary. Her future husband was Soren Sinclair – another name that sent unpleasant shivers through my branches – who was well known for his involvement with politics, but not only. He was a spiritual leader of some sort, and his condition for taking Thea as his bride was that she had to prove to him and his family that she was worthy. Her challenge was to cross the woods in three days’ time, all on her own.

But Thea’s father, Bill Everhart, apparently loved his daughter enough to hire me. I’d honestly never thought Bill Everhart was capable of love. I still didn’t. He probably just wanted to see her married off, gods knew for what selfish reasons.

The Everhart family was a disease. They owned Everhart Furniture, a company that had single-handedly decimated a third of the forests in the US. And that was why, when I heard their name coming from my handler’s mouth, my branches reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt. Poor Harrison. He didn’t deserve the scare I gave him.

That was the only reason I took this job. Thea Everhart of Everhart Furniture. Given how her father had cut down entire forests, it was silly how she was standing here, at the edge of these beautiful, dense woods, hesitating. The family that chopped trees left and right. Here was their daughter, shaking like a leaf in the storm, unable to convince herself to step into the forest already.

She didn’t know about me. Only her father knew. It was supposed to be a secret, or apparently, her husband-to-be might declare her unworthy. Soren Sinclair didn’t chop trees, but he was just as bad as the Everharts. All in all, two old-money families that were a plague to this planet. What man in his right mind asked his fiancée to prove herself by hiking through the woods to meet him at their wedding venue? Given his spiritual proclivities, it sounded like some kind of ritual. Humans and their nonsense. I sometimes wondered if they were all the same, and then my better judgement reminded me it was healthier to not ask myself such questions and just stay away.

As I watched, unmoving from between the trees, Thea started pacing back and forth and muttering to herself. I strained to hear, slightly leaning in, my branches heavy with vines and rustling leaves.

“I can do this.” She nodded to herself, then her hand went to her stomach as she cringed. “Ugh!” She seemed to be in pain. “No, it’s fine. This is fine. I can do this.”

She planted her feet firmly and faced the forest. She took one step towards the tree line, and then another. On her third step, she crumbled to the ground. The leaves in my crown rustled with intrigue. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand what was going on with her. She was behaving very oddly. She was in a heap on the ground, her knees drawn to her chest, her arms going around them as she rocked back and forth.

“I can do this,” she sobbed. “Come on, Thea. Come on. Get up, get up, get up. You’re wasting time. Just wasting time.”

I inclined my crown to the right in an inquisitive manner. I looked at the surrounding trees, but they were silent, as expected. I reached to them with my thoughts, only to find they were utterly unconcerned with the tiny human female. As long as humans didn’t pose a direct threat, the trees barely acknowledged them. Even when they were threatened, regular trees couldn’t do much about it, so they resigned themselves to living in their own world and ignoring the humans altogether.

Thea had a few failed attempts at getting up. It seemed that no matter how insistently she encouraged herself, she had no courage to speak of. Confused, I checked our surroundings once more, sending my senses deeper into the forest, trying to ascertain if there were any threats Thea might’ve felt and I hadn’t. Maybe there were things in the woods that were dangerous to her and not to me.

No. Nope. The coast was clear. No wild animals nearby. I turned my attention to Thea, who was wiping her wet eyes with the back of her sleeve.

“Okay,” she whispered to herself. “Mhm, okay...”

Then she said something else, but her voice was so feeble that I couldn’t hear it. Despite myself, I leaned in even more.

I shouldn’t have cared. She was having a freakout that made zero sense to me. Knowing who her father was, I wasn’t even sure I was going to honor my contract and protect her. Maybe it was time for Bill Everhart to lose something – someone – dear to him. Maybe this job had landed in my lap because I was supposed to deliver the karma he’d made for himself by cutting down the forests. Forests of regular trees, but not only.

It hurt too much to think about it.

Still, I leaned in until my branches reached for Thea. I wanted to hear what she was mumbling to herself. She wasn’t paying attention, so when one of my branches brushed the top of her head, it took her by surprise.

Her reaction was visceral. She let out a scream and scrambled to get away from me. That was weird. As far as she knew, I was just a tree. As she crawled backwards, her hands dug into the dirt. Then she screamed again as she held her hands before her eyes, palms up, and stared at the bits of dirt and grass on her fingers.

“No-no-no-no-no...”

I straightened back up, my branches cracking with indignation. I’d barely touched her!

There was something seriously wrong with Thea Everhart.

And here I was, starting to care, when I really shouldn’t have. She was the enemy. If there was something wrong with her – good! She and her father deserved it.

Except... She seemed so small, and fragile, and lost... Damn my intense leshy feelings! I was going to protect her, after all, wasn’t I?

Chapter Two

Thea

There was nothing wrong... There was nothing wrong...

Except there was. I was wrong. I was broken, and I couldn’t do this.

As I stared at my dirty hands, eyes blurring with tears, I knew that I’d been stupid to say yes. Yes to marrying Soren Sinclair, yes to proving myself to him, yes to being left here, at the edge of the woods, by my parents’ chauffeur before he drove away. Yes to crossing what was, to me, the most dangerous landscape, to get to the man who was going to, technically, end my life. End the future I had envisioned for myself.

I didn’t know what to do with my hands. There were bits of grass under my fingernails. I needed to wash my hands, brush under my nails... I was frozen, instead, waiting for my thundering heart to settle, trying to keep my erratic breathing under control. I looked up at the trees before me. There was one leaning forward, slightly bent over me. One of its branches had brushed my head, and even remembering how that had felt, a shudder rattled me to my core. It must’ve been the wind.

I couldn’t do this. I should’ve told my parents. My father was a tough man, however. He wouldn’t have understood. Still, I should’ve told my mother, and maybe she would’ve put a stop to this.

It wasn’t even that I was supposed to marry Soren Sinclair, who was friends with my father and twenty-years older than me. It wasn’t that my life was going to end once I became his wife. It was this challenge. This game he wanted to play, where I was supposed to walk to him, all alone through the woods, to convince him and his family that I was worthy. He’d called it a ritual, because he was a spiritual leader, and the people who’d gathered around him over the years needed a show of faith from me. I wondered if it wasn’t, in fact, a form of revenge or humiliation towards my father.

No, it couldn’t have been. Because no one knew what I was suffering from, so how would Soren know that making me walk into the wilderness was the most efficient way to torture me?

I hadn’t told anyone. Not even my brother. And I told Matthew everything. At least I used to, when we were children. Well, I hadn’t told him this. That I suffered from a rather severe case of biophobia. Fear of nature.

My therapist had diagnosed me a few years ago, but I asked her to keep it between us. I didn’t want my parents to think that I was... defective. They had high expectations from both me and my brother, and as the little sister, I’d always felt like I was at a disadvantage. Okay, so I suffered from biophobia. It wasn’t the end of the world. I could handle it if I just stayed inside.

As a kid, I’d never liked to play in the garden. To say that my family’s estate was generous would’ve been an understatement. We had acres upon acres of land, perfectly manicured lawns, beautiful flower gardens, an apple orchard, a vineyard – because my father liked to produce his own wine – and even a forest. To them, all this translated to status and power. To me, so much nature was a source of anxiety. I preferred to stay inside with my books and my perfectly clean hobbies, that had nothing to do with dirt, leaves, and insects. If I as much as saw a spider, I ran screaming. Literally. Our maids were used to me, and if they heard me scream, they knew a spider, a fly, or an ant had made its way inside my chambers. They got rid of the creature and said nothing to my parents. After all, I was a girl, and girls were sensitive.

I kept it to myself. I never told anyone how it felt like my heart stopped every time I came in contact with something – anything – nature related. I got chills, my skin felt like something was crawling underneath it hours after, I sweat profusely, and if my contact with nature was direct enough, I could even throw up.

I was about to throw up now, and I was doing my best to keep down the light breakfast I’d had. It had been so stupid of me to agree to this without telling my parents that I just... couldn’t.

But how could I have told them? What would’ve happened to Matthew then? I was doing this for him. I’d agreed to marry Soren, because it was the only way to save my brother’s reputation. Though from what, I wasn’t sure.

As I pulled a pack of paper tissues from my backpack and started cleaning my hands thoroughly, I distracted myself by remembering, step by step, how I’d been roped into this horrible situation.

Three days ago, my parents, Bill and Emilia Everhart, the power couple of the furniture industry, had asked me, their daughter, into my father’s home office. Their faces were dour when I joined them, and at first, I thought I’d done something, and they were mad at me. No. It turned out that my brother had gotten himself in trouble, and all they could tell me was that he was going to be away for a while. I’d nodded, getting the gist. It wasn’t the first time my brother had needed to take a break. He’d been to rehab twice before. Even if my parents didn’t want to utter the word “rehab”, I knew that was what they were implying.

Yes, my brother had a drug problem, but he was my brother, and I loved him to the moon and back. I would’ve done anything for him. Anything to know that he was going to be okay.

My parents knew that. And they took advantage of it. Which, again, I didn’t mind. If there was anything I could do to help Matthew, I would do it. Without hesitation. Apparently, this time it hadn’t been just the drugs. It had been what he’d done while high. My parents didn’t want to say exactly what it was, but Soren Sinclair was the only one who could keep it out of the press, and Soren Sinclair wanted me.

Among other businesses, Soren had a newspaper. My brother’s misdoings had gotten onto the desk of one of his editors, and Soren was willing to bury the story because he and my father were friends, and because he’d had his eye on me since I’d turned twenty. I was twenty-three now, which was a good age for marriage, so my father hadn’t hesitated to promise him my hand, knowing I would comply if my brother’s future was at stake.

That was what my parents had asked of me three days ago. Of course, I said yes. But then my father told me about Soren’s little quirk – which he called a pre-marriage ritual – and my whole being froze. I wanted to tell them I couldn’t do it. I would marry Soren if they asked me to. I would do anything, in fact, just to know that my brother was okay, but I couldn’t spend three days in the woods.

My mouth opened, but nothing came out. It was too late. I’d chosen to keep my phobia a secret, and now it was too late to tell them. They wouldn’t have believed me. And if they had, then what? That didn’t change the fact that we were all indebted to Soren Sinclair, and had to do as he wished, or Matthew’s reputation would be destroyed by a simple article in his newspaper. Matthew was to inherit Everhart Furniture. He was our golden boy. So, he’d slipped a few times. It could happen to anyone.

No, I couldn’t think about myself. This was about Matthew, who was in rehab, getting himself clean. He needed me. I couldn’t turn my back on him.

So, here I was, shaking so hard that my teeth clattered, cleaning dirt from under my fingernails, trying to convince myself that I could overcome my fear and do what was expected of me. The trees looked ominous. The forest was deep and dark. I could feel the chill of it seep into my bones. The sun was almost all the way up in the sky, and I’d wasted too much time already.

I used a bit of water to wash my hands, then pulled out a set of gloves I’d brought with me and slipped them on. There. Now I was as covered as I could be. It was too hot for long sleeves and gloves, but I needed protection. I was going to enter the woods in just a minute, as soon as my heart settled, and I needed the layers of fabric between my skin and everything nature was made of. Branches were going to snag at me, leaves and vines were going to brush my cheeks, ants couldn’t wait to crawl up my legs, and I’d read about some advanced species of ticks that could sense humans and follow them for miles, until they got their chance to attack.

Okay, I had to stop thinking about what was out there, between the trees and bushes. I had to stop thinking altogether. I felt a panic attack coming on, and I closed my eyes and focused on breathing evenly. My fight-or-flight activated, and for a second, I was convinced that I was going to bolt. Where would I go? I’d run to the nearest town, where hopefully, I’d get a phone signal, call my parents and ask them to send the chauffeur to pick me up. And then what? They were never going to forgive me for not even trying to help my brother.

Damn it, why did Soren Sinclair need me to do this so he would marry me? He wanted me. Wasn’t that enough? Why this ridiculous ritual, where I had to cross the woods to get to him, to prove how invested I was, to show the people who followed him that I was worthy to be the wife of their spiritual leader?

I didn’t understand any of it. Like I didn’t understand why I was suffering from biophobia. I just had it, and that was that. I would have to deal with it.

“Okay, here goes.” I pushed myself to my feet and started walking towards the tree line. This time, I was going to make it, because I was breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth, and focusing, focusing, focusing. “I’m doing it. I am strong, and I am doing it. For Matthew.” If I had to, I would talk to myself for the entirety of this crazy journey. “This isn’t for me, this is for Matthew.”

I stepped through the trees. I was in the woods.

Chapter Three

Taran

I followed her from a safe distance. She had an awkward way of walking. She stepped lightly, like a cat, and instead of using her hands to push away the vegetation, she kept her arms wrapped around her body and avoided touching anything. If there was an obstacle, she walked around it. At this pace, she was going to reach her destination... never.

I didn’t know what to make of her. The more I watched her, the more she seemed like she wasn’t even related to her awful family. She wasn’t what I’d expected, that was for sure. The daughter of Bill Everhart – who I considered to be one of the most despicable people in the country – was a delicate, anxious little thing that was terrified of her own shadow. Was Bill even certain she was his? Maybe she was adopted...

I’d thought she’d be as rough, and selfish, and disrespectful towards nature as her father. Now that I was so close to her, even if she didn’t know I was here, it seemed silly that I’d almost expected her to stomp through the forest, snap branches off the trees just because she could, and chase away any living creature she came across. I’d imagined, even, that she’d come equipped with a rifle, because her family surely hunted for sport. There was no rifle in sight.

I was intrigued by her. I was curious to find out what frightened her so much. But I couldn’t let her know I was here. The next three days were going to be long. The contract I’d signed said Thea wasn’t supposed to know she had a bodyguard. She was to believe that she was alone in the woods, hiking all by herself. From the shadows, my duty was to make her journey safe and easy, deliver her to the resort where her future husband – along with his and Thea’s family, and all the wedding guests – awaited, then retreat into the forest and report back to Monster Security Agency.

That was all. That was my job. Boring, yet easy enough. In these parts, the forest wasn’t even dangerous. All I’d have to fight was my curiosity about this young woman. Why had she cried before starting her journey? Why had she panicked? Was it because she didn’t want to get married? Had she been threatened? Forced into it? She looked and behaved like she was walking to her death. She kept murmuring to herself, too. Words of encouragement, and sometimes words of defeat.

“I can’t do this. Who do I think I am? I can’t help him; I can’t even help myself...”

Help who? Who was she talking about?

I had so many questions. That I couldn’t just let her know I was here was starting to grate on me. First of all, she was torturing herself, and I was supposed to shut up and watch, when I could’ve told her that I was watching her back and she was safe. Second of all, if I could talk to her, I could’ve found out what she was thinking and why she was acting this way. I wanted to ask her why she’d agreed to this madness if she wasn’t up for it.

But what was the madness, exactly? The fact that she was getting married to a man twenty years her senior? Or the fact that said man had made her walk through the woods for three days to reach him? If that wasn’t a red flag...

After following Thea for an hour, moving in such a way that she couldn’t tell I was there, I had to admit that, despite my dislike for her family, I wanted to hear her side of the story. Because something wasn’t right here. I didn’t have the whole picture, which made me believe that even though this job was easy on first glance, there might’ve been more to it. And when I found out what it was, I wouldn’t like it.

I focused on her for now. It was painful to watch her wince and try to make herself small when a branch snagged at her sleeve, or a leaf brushed her shoulder as it fell. She was tense, and every few minutes, her chin would wobble, like she was about to burst into tears. After another half hour, I couldn’t take it anymore. She might’ve been Bill Everhart’s daughter, but she was nothing like him. I decided to help her.

My thoughts reached to the trees of the forest. They weren’t leshy, like me, so they couldn’t move like I did, but they could gently retract their branches and vines out of Thea’s way as she passed. With a bit of insistence on my part, I even made a bush subtly scuttle away. Thea stared at it when it moved, blinked in confusion, then kept walking.

I knew she’d been isolated inside a bubble where monsters were an afterthought. Families like hers, old and rich, only wanted to deal with humans. They rarely did business with monsters, and when they did, it was because they needed us for our physical strength or supernatural abilities. Even then, they treated us like we were second-class citizens. Not all wealthy families were that way, but the world where Thea came from certainly was. When her father hired me, he didn’t want to deal with me in person. Everything happened through my handler, Harrison, who was human.

So, given her background, I doubted that Thea expected to see monsters on her way to the resort. If a bush moved a bit to the right, and a branch bent away from her face, it was doubtful she’d think there was something supernatural involved. Critters in the underbrush and the wind playing tricks – those were good enough explanations she could be comfortable with. If I respected my contract and did my job right, she would make this journey without ever learning of my existence. She would never know my name, let alone that I’d spent three days and two nights watching over her.

Now that the obstacles were moving out of her way on their own, Thea picked up the pace. The next half hour was uneventful. Then we emerged into a clearing, and Thea stopped dead in her tracks. She froze so hard and so fast that my roots, which crawled over the ground before me as I moved, almost tripped her. I moved back a few inches to give her space, then I saw it...

A bear cub. It was playing and rolling in the grass, but when it noticed Thea, it got up to its short, plump feet and stared at her. They stared at each other for a full minute, then the bear cub took a few steps towards her. I was standing right behind Thea, silent and unmoving, waiting to see what she would do. She took one step back, then another. Good. Nice and slow. She walked around me, not even looking, and I thought this was going to be fine. The bear cub was curious but wasn’t going to do anything to her. All Thea had to do was keep her cool and keep walking backwards.

But then there was a rustle at the other end of the clearing, and a deep, angry growl. I knew Momma Bear had to be nearby, and I’d just hoped she wouldn’t show. No such luck. I bent my branches towards Thea, feeling her panic grow. And I thought, thought hard... “Don’t. Please don’t. Do. Not. Run.”

She ran.

She turned on her heel and bolted, and there was nothing I could do to stop her. Clearly, she knew nothing about being out in the wilderness. Nothing about the behavior of bears, and that when you came face to face with one, running was the worst thing you could do.

Bears posed no danger to me. In the woods, I was probably the most dangerous monster there was. My ability to camouflage and change shape from a tree to whatever else was needed was one of my biggest advantages. And that was what I did now. I placed myself between Thea and Momma Bear. Thea kept running and panting, and the bear was bent on catching her, so I stopped the beast by spreading myself and turning into a wall of bark, branches, vines, and leaves. The bear halted and looked at me in complete bafflement. It tried to get around me, but I spread even further, moving with the bear to the left, then to the right, until it huffed and gave up. Momma Bear went back to her cub, and together, they disappeared between the trees.

I shrunk back to my original shape and looked around me. Great. Thea was nowhere in sight. How far had she run? I couldn’t wait; I had to find her. Seeing how clueless she was, there was a good chance she would get herself in trouble again, especially if she kept running through the woods like a headless chicken.

Roots crawling over fallen branches and leaves, I moved fast, trying to find her. I extended my branches in all directions, searching for her, for her scent, for a sound that might indicate where she was. After a few minutes, my roots found her backpack. In her panic, she must’ve dropped it. I bent down and inspected the ground with my vines and saw a splatter of blood on the grass. The backpack was stuck between a tree root and a rock, which led me to believe that Thea had fallen, hurt herself, and when she tried to retrieve her backpack, she hadn’t had the strength to get it unstuck. Thinking the bear was in pursuit, she left it behind.

All her provisions. She’d given up on them. How did she think she was going to survive without whatever was in her backpack? I let out a sigh, grabbed the thing by the straps, and pulled hard. It got unstuck on the second attempt.

I found her a few minutes later. She was hiding behind a massive tree, curled up in a ball, rocking back and forth, but not making a sound. I was glad she wasn’t crying, at least. When she cried, I didn’t know how to feel. I didn’t know what to do. I just knew that her tears made me feel uncomfortable, like it was my fault she was sad, and that made it so much harder to remain hidden.

Gently, I placed the backpack next to her hip. She didn’t sense my presence. She didn’t hear me or see me, so I found a good spot a few feet away and stopped, once again unmoving. There was a soft breeze that ruffled my leaves and Thea’s hair, and for a few minutes, we stayed like that, she and I. She didn’t know I was here. She didn’t know that I’d just saved her life, and that she was safe.

Nothing was going to happen to her. Ever. I wouldn’t let it.

I waited patiently, watching, observing. Within my body, something stirred. I was made of wood and bark, but when I was so close to her, and felt like she needed my protection, it almost felt like I was made of flesh too.

Chapter Four

Thea

My heart was hammering in my chest. Thump. Thump. Thump. I could barely breathe. I squeezed my knees to my body, the muscles in my back and arms so tense that I was getting cramps. I knew I had to get up and shake off the panic and terror, but I couldn’t convince myself to move. My brain was sending signals to my limbs, but everything in me refused to comply.

I was sitting on the ground, surrounded by trees and bushes. I could hear the whispers of the forest, raw and organic, and that caused me to let out a sob. If I let my mind obsess over what was around me – trees and dead leaves, dirt and all the critters that lived in the dirt – it was over. I had to distract myself, but how?

This had been a bad idea. I couldn’t be here. I wasn’t made for the outdoors. It was more than the fact that I just didn’t like being outside; I was terrified of nature. Biophobia was a real thing. My therapist had told me so. Sudden and violent exposure to the thing that terrified me the most wasn’t going to cure me.

“Okay, but I’m here now,” I whispered to myself. “I can’t go back. Can’t back down. I have to do this. I said I would, and I have to. Matthew is counting on me. Mom and Dad are counting on me.”

I wondered... Had I told them about my phobia, would they have understood? Would they have protected me?

There was no point in thinking about that now. What was done was done. I’d said yes to Soren Sinclair and his challenge, and now I had to deliver. I had to prove myself. Prove that my word meant something, and that I was an Everhart, after all. Maybe when we got married, he would respect me for what I was doing now. If there was no love between us, at least there would be respect, and we could make it work.

I uncurled my body, stretching slowly, giving my muscles a chance to relax. I looked up at the sky. It was barely visible through the canopy. It must’ve been afternoon, so I had to start moving again if I wanted to make any significant progress. I should’ve eaten something, but I wasn’t hungry. Anyway, I’d lost my backpack. For a minute, I considered going back to look for it, but what if I ran into the bear cub and its momma again? I couldn’t risk it. But if I didn’t risk it, that meant I would starve.

Unwilling to let these dark thoughts overwhelm me, I looked at the ground. My boots were muddy. My pant leg was dirty too, and I brushed it off with my gloved hand. That was when I saw it.

An ant. A big, black, fat ant crawling up my pant leg. My blood froze, and for a second, I didn’t know what to do. I simply watched the creature move up, up, up towards my knee.

“No. No-no-no... I can’t...”

I brushed the ant off, letting out a sob. I didn’t see where it fell. I jumped to my feet and inspected my pants thoroughly. I was certain the ant was still on me. It was as if I could feel it. My skin started crawling, as if I was covered in ants, as if they’d found their way underneath my clothes, even though I knew it was impossible. My pants were tucked into my boots, and every inch of my skin was covered, up to my chin. As hot as it was, I’d opted for a turtleneck. Better safe than sorry. Only my face was exposed, and my hair. I would’ve worn a hood, but I didn’t think I’d be able to breathe if I were completely covered. It was the middle of summer, after all.

“Okay, I have to keep moving. It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

I turned around, wondering if I should’ve gone looking for my backpack. There was no way I could make this journey without my provisions. Or without the sleeping bag I had packed. This was only the first day, and I was already losing my head, doing everything wrong. I shouldn’t have run when I saw the big bear. That was stupid. Any idiot knew you weren’t supposed to run when you saw a bear. But my flight instinct had taken over, and the moment I panicked, all reason was lost. It was as if I wasn’t human anymore. I was a small, pathetic animal running from a predator.

I took a few steps and tripped over something. I looked down and couldn’t believe my eyes. There it was. My backpack. Waiting right at my feet. I blinked, confused, then reached down and inspected it.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” I told the backpack, as if it could understand me.

It was a bit dirty, but undamaged. I brushed it off, then opened it and inspected its contents. It was all there. Shaking my head in astonishment, I took out my water bottle and drank a bit. I could’ve sworn I’d lost it while running from the bear. It had snagged on a branch, the straps had slipped down my arms, and then it had somehow gotten stuck. So stuck that pulling at it hadn’t helped.

Now, here it was. Back with me, like it had followed me or something.

But that wasn’t possible, which meant I’d hallucinated the whole thing. Sheer panic had made me bolt when I saw the bear, run, then imagine losing my backpack. I tried to retrace my steps in my head, remember what I did between seeing the bear emerge from the bushes and ending up here, curled up into a ball. Nope. I was still convinced I’d lost it. Except I hadn’t... I was looking at it, holding it by one strap.

Dwelling on it was pointless. My skin was crawling with invisible ants, and I had to get moving. If I exerted myself walking, maybe that would distract me from feeling like I was covered in the black, scary insects. So, that was what I did.

The forest floor was tricky to navigate. Fortunately, I didn’t have to use my hands to push away branches and brambles. It was weird, because from afar, it seemed like the path was dense with vegetation and hard to negotiate. But as I walked, it turned out to be not that bad.

I crossed another clearing, and I was just glad I didn’t come across another bear cub. The trees were tall all around me, and birds were chirping happily, jumping from one branch to another. Anyone else would’ve been enchanted by the whole experience. Not me. I still didn’t know how I was going to survive in the wilderness for three days, all on my own.

I heard running water in the distance. I followed the sound and came by a stream. It was babbling as it tumbled over shiny rocks. It wasn’t too deep, which meant that I could cross it easily. I knelt, removed my gloves, and dipped my fingers into the cold water. It felt refreshing. I splashed some water onto my face and let out a satisfied sigh. Finally, my body relaxed a little.

I felt something crawl up my calf, underneath my pants, and I gritted my teeth. It was so hard to convince my brain that no, it wasn’t an ant. There were no ants. The more I tried to reason with my own mind, the more I felt like my skin was crawling with tiny insects.

The water was going to soothe me. All of me. I was completely alone, so I didn’t hesitate to slip out of my turtleneck sweater, my pants, and my boots. I made sure to fold my clothes and place them neatly on a shiny rock that showed no trace of dirt, then slowly stepped into the stream. It wasn’t easy to do, but I kept telling myself this was water, and water was clean. It was going to clean me and get rid of the crawly feeling on my skin.

I had to do something to reset my frayed nerves.

The water was freezing cold, and so refreshing that it brought clarity to my phobia-riddled brain. It was exactly what I needed.

Chapter Five

Taran

Her skin was like alabaster. Droplets ran down her arms and back as she splashed herself with water, and I found that I couldn’t look away. I should’ve. This was an intimate moment, and I hadn’t been invited to participate. I felt like a voyeur. Thea didn’t know I was here. She thought she was completely alone, and it was wrong of me to watch.

Low in my trunk, something stirred. One could say the stir happened in the part of my body that was equivalent to the loins of a human male. There was hardness, excitement... And then there was pain. A sort of pain that I’d never felt before.

I blamed it on the fact that I hadn’t been with a female in well over five years. Loneliness was tough. That was why I decided to join Monster Security Agency. After the loss I’d suffered, after I realized I was going to be alone for the rest of my long leshy life, it was either work for me, a career dedicated to protecting others, or slumber. The leshy had extensive lifespans. So extensive, that we sometimes got tired of living. When that happened, we had a choice to make: find something to live for, or find a place to plant our roots and fall into a deep sleep that almost resembled death.

It would’ve been so easy for me to check out. I refused to give up, though, realizing that if I chose slumber, when I woke up, the world wouldn’t have been better. On the contrary, there was a good chance for me to wake up to something worse than what I was living. The MSA saved me. The jobs I did for the agency gave me a reason to push on. However, I’d never expected to get a job like this, where I’d end up watching a beautiful human woman bathe in a stream.

She wasn’t naked, and I thanked the leshy gods for this small mercy. She was in a black bra and black panties, both pieces of clothing so small that they barely covered her. The cold water peppered her skin with goosebumps, and her nipples were as hard as pebbles, poking through the thin lace. Once again, I tried to look away. My branches trembled and rustled, but my eyes stayed glued to Thea. The stir in my loins was back, along with the pain. I had to be strong and ignore it.

The vines that hung from my canopy reached towards her. I couldn’t help myself. Her presence, not just her body, enticed me. I was intrigued by her, curious to know her. Who was this beautiful creature whose name was Thea Everhart, but who was nothing like her family? Why was she so scared? So anxious... How could she be so frail, yet strong enough to sacrifice herself like this?

Because I knew she didn’t want this. She didn’t want to be here, alone in the woods, hiking towards a life that would certainly imprison her. Otherwise, she would’ve behaved differently. She’d cried, she’d sobbed, she’d talked herself into pushing forward. When I saw how lost she was and how much she needed my protection, I couldn’t hold it against her that she was the daughter of the most despicable man on the continent. She hadn’t chosen her parents, I had to remind myself.

I shouldn’t have been attracted to her, which was what baffled me. She was human, and I was leshy. I was attracted to my kind. We were made of wood and leaves, we were tall and strong, while humans were made of flesh and bones that broke easily. If you poked them too hard, blood gushed out.

As Thea sat on a rock and waited for the sun to dry her skin, that was what I told myself. That I had no reason to feel attracted to her. Her body was silly. It didn’t make sense. Where I had roots that helped me move quickly and stealthily, barely making a sound, she had two long, lanky legs, and when she walked, her feet thudded heavily, crunching twigs and leaves. I had countless branches and vines, and I could do a dozen things at once with them. She had two arms, and even those were useless, as she didn’t use them to push away the vegetation to advance through the forest.

Her body was nothing like mine, and the last thing I wanted was to feel her smooth skin against my bark.

I caught myself thinking about that. The image invaded my thoughts, and I chased it away.

Thea was rummaging through her backpack. She pulled out a square package, unwrapped it, and started eating. I’d been around the humans who worked for the MSA enough to know it was a sandwich.

That was another thing that differentiated us. All I needed was the nourishment of the air, water, and earth, and the warmth of the sun to fill me with energy. The humans’ diet was so complicated. The worst part was that they killed living beings to feed themselves. And to build the houses they lived in, the beds they slept in, and the tables they ate at, they cut down trees. Even though trees weren’t the same species as the leshy, we could say they were our distant cousins.

There were so many reasons why I shouldn’t have been attracted to Thea.

So, I thought about it. I thought hard. Maybe this wasn’t attraction. Maybe it was simple curiosity, because she was such a strange creature. Freaking out because of some dirt on her fingers... Hyperventilating because an ant had climbed her leg... I was too curious for my own good, that was all. It didn’t mean I liked her.

Thea finished her sandwich and started putting her clothes back on. I watched her as she pulled the pants up her thin, long legs, then covered her upper body with the sweater. Her boots were next, and she was ready to go. She studied the map again. She seemed more relaxed and collected. Maybe she’d needed to eat. My handler, Harrison, could become quite annoying when he was hungry. Once, he was forced to take a late lunch break because of a meeting, and he yelled at me. That had left me stunned. Humans didn’t usually have the guts to yell at me, or at any other monster, for that matter.

Thea crossed the stream, and I followed her silently. She didn’t look back once, so she missed the moment when there was no tree in the middle of the stream, then there was a tree, then no tree again. The cold water ran over my roots. It felt invigorating, but the thought that Thea had bathed in it just minutes before sent heat through my core.

Gods, it was getting difficult to focus. Even now, my eyes – which were hidden under ridges of bark – were glued to her round hips, swaying delicately as she walked.

I groaned to myself and slowed down my pace, letting her put some distance between us. If she was too close, my branches had the tendency to reach for her. Earlier, at the edge of the woods, I’d brushed her hair briefly. I decided that was the first and last time. I didn’t need to touch her to protect her.

Thea Everhart was off limits.

Chapter Six

Thea

I made a second stop later and ate another sandwich and an apple. I wasn’t feeling hungry, what with the nerves constantly roiling in my gut, but I forced myself to eat. I drank water and was back on the hike in no time. The terrain was getting steep. I’d begun to climb.

I realized it was late evening when I could barely see a few feet ahead. It had gotten dark, and I hadn’t even noticed. I’d been too focused on putting one foot in front of the other and breathing calmly, evenly, so I wouldn’t freak out every time I saw a critter scurrying in the underbrush. I checked myself for ants and any other insects often, brushing my fingers through my hair countless times to make sure no spider had fallen from some tree and decided to stay.

I had a sleeping bag, but the idea of sleeping outside was terrifying to me. My father had prepared me for this. When Matthew and I were little, our dad tried to bond with us by taking us camping. It worked with Matthew. It didn’t work with me because I always preferred to stay home. We had a fight once because Dad couldn’t understand why I always refused him. He was trying so hard. He was busy with his job, he rarely had time for us, and when he wanted to take us camping, I refused to go. I couldn’t tell him then. Because I didn’t understand it myself. I just knew that the thought of being out in nature made me feel ill.

The day before, my father had pulled me aside and hurriedly explained everything I needed to know. He went through all the things in my backpack with me, and I paid attention to the best of my ability. But it was one thing to learn about camping in theory, and another to do it. Did I regret not going with him and Matthew when I was little? Yes. Dearly. But I seemed to be the kind of person who would always regret doing or not doing something. Here I was now, regretting having said yes to Soren Sinclair and his stupid ritual that wasn’t a ritual at all. It was more like something that would get me killed.

Could I sleep under the open sky tonight? I would have to.

I kept walking, postponing the moment when I’d have to stop, choose a spot, and take out my sleeping bag. Dad had also taught me how to make a fire, and as nervous as I was about that, I’d have to give it a shot, because it was starting to get chilly. Plus, I had three cans of soup, one for each day, and I needed a warm meal in my belly. The sandwiches, as delicious as they’d been, had me appreciating our personal chef and her exquisite meals like never before.

I just wanted to be home, in my bed, reading a book. Was that too much to ask? Yes, it was. Matthew had screwed up, and I was doing this to save him. I had no idea what he’d done, as Dad had said it was better if I didn’t know, but I was ready to help him in any way I could. If this was the way – marrying Sinclair – then I wasn’t going to complain about it. Too much.

By not telling me what Matthew had done, Dad was protecting me. Anyway, I doubted what my brother had done was so preposterous. He was a good guy. Before he got into drugs, he was the best guy I’d ever met. He could still be that person, once he got clean.

It was proper dark now, and I had yet to find a place to sleep. To soothe myself, I began to sing. In a small, quiet voice, I sang my favorite songs from the Disney cartoons I grew up with. It helped a little. As I walked, squinting to see in the dark, I got the feeling that I wasn’t the one choosing my path anymore, and the path was choosing me, because the vegetation was moving and whispering in such a way that it was guiding me in a specific direction.

It must’ve been my imagination. The forest wasn’t alive. It was only a little bit louder than during the day. It was a miracle I wasn’t freaking out. My absolute luck was that I wasn’t afraid of the dark. Afraid of nature? Yes. Afraid of the dark? Not really. I saw light and darkness as a change of perspective. The world was the same.

It was as if a path was clearing before me. I followed it, unsure whether I was still going in the right direction. I had a flashlight, so I took it out and inspected the map for a minute. Yep, just as I’d thought, I’d veered a little bit to the east, and I’d have to turn back. Well, it wasn’t my fault it was easier to walk this way. I looked up, and just as I was getting ready to turn around, I noticed something in the short distance. It looked like... a cabin?

A shack, maybe. It was made of wood, and it was close enough that it was worth checking out. If it was empty – which I hoped it was – then it was better than sleeping under the stars.

I reached the wooden construction, and indeed, it was a small cabin. The door was unlocked, and I stepped in. There was one room. No bathroom, and the couch had seen better days. It was so worn out that I had no intention of sleeping on it. There were two inches of dust on every surface. The furniture was sparse, and half ruined, but there was a small fireplace that I could use.

I dropped my backpack on the floor and chose a spot in front of the fireplace. The cabin was dirty beyond belief, but I was going to suck it up. I took out my sleeping bag and laid it out, then made the fire like my father had taught me. I opened the can of soup and heated it up. After the day I’d had, this soup was the best meal of my life. I couldn’t remember anything tasting so amazing.

I was exhausted. Which was a good thing, since that meant I would fall asleep fast and stay asleep until dawn. This cabin was a blessing. I couldn’t believe my luck. I took off my boots and slipped inside the sleeping bag, keeping my backpack and my flashlight close. The fire was slowly turning to embers in the fireplace. I wasn’t feeling cold anymore, nor hungry. As I drifted off, I actually thought to myself that I wasn’t doing too badly. I’d survived the first day in a place that terrified me like none other. After this whole thing was over, I was going to emerge stronger than ever. Maybe my phobia would be cured! Trial by fire, but hey! Worth it.

“Good night,” I whispered. To whom? To myself, or my backpack, or to the forest itself, which hadn’t eaten me alive. Who cared? These were extraordinary circumstances. I was allowed to talk to myself.

I must’ve been sleeping for an hour or more. It was impossible to tell. I was woken up by noises outside the door, and I lay still in my sleeping bag, listening and trying to figure out what it was. Wild animals? There was no lock on the door, but I’d secured it well enough by placing a rotten chair under the doorknob. I hoped it wasn’t too rotten, and if whatever animal was outside tried to get in, the chair would stop it.

I wasn’t a complete idiot. I knew how to take the most basic security measures.

The noises stopped for a moment, then started back up. They sounded like... footsteps. Like someone was walking towards the cabin, slowly and intentionally, and twigs were snapping underneath their soles.

I sat up and gently slid out of the sleeping bag. I had no weapons with me. As I pushed myself to my feet, flashlight in hand, I cursed my own stubbornness. Dad had tried to give me a gun. I didn’t like guns. They frightened me, and I was convinced that if I touched one, I would just shoot myself in the foot. Dad had laughed when I told him, but it was no joke. I was that terrified of guns. He’d mumbled something under his breath in the vein of he didn’t know how I was even his daughter, then dropped the subject.

Now, here I was, in a terribly dangerous situation, with nothing to defend myself. The footsteps sounded louder and louder, until whoever was out there stopped in front of the door. The doorknob rattled. My heart skipped a beat, and I took a step back, looking around me for anything that I could use as a weapon.

Why did I think whoever was out there wanted to hurt me? Well, it was the middle of the night, and I was in someone else’s cabin. Even if the place looked like it hadn’t been inhabited in at least ten years.

The doorknob rattled again. I heard a muffled curse, then the person started slamming their body into the door. I covered my mouth with my hand. There was a window to my right. If I broke the glass, I could go through it. The door was not an option for me anymore. The chair that was holding it closed gave in, breaking into a hundred splinters, letting the intruder inside.

I screamed.

“Oh, you’re loud.” A woman’s voice. “There, there... I’m here to talk, nothing else.” I saw the glint of a knife in her hand.

She was tall, athletic, dressed in black from head to toe. She had her head and face covered, so I didn’t recognize her. I didn’t recognize her voice, either.

“Who are you? What do you want?”

“I just told you,” she said. “We’re going to have a quick chat.” She took a few steps towards me, waving the knife.

It didn’t look like a chat was what she wanted. I moved closer to the window, bracing myself for when I’d have to break it with my elbow.

“Thea, is it?” she said.

“Who are you?”

“I’m not here to answer your questions. I’m here to give you a message. Go back. You’re unworthy of the Master, so just go back to where you came from. We don’t want you.”

“What are you talking about?”

Who was this Master? Was she insane? I would’ve thought she’d confused me with someone else, but she’d said my name.

“Are you listening, Thea? Pack your stuff and fuck off.”

Maybe because I wasn’t reacting the way she wanted me to, she closed the space between us, knife first. I didn’t wait to see what she’d do next. I bolted towards the window, broke it, and climbed out, tearing my clothes in the process. I felt the glass pierce my skin, but there was so much adrenaline coursing through my veins that I didn’t feel the blood.

I landed on the ground with a thump and didn’t stop to think about how I was getting myself all dirty. I jumped to my feet and started running.

It was dark. I couldn’t see a thing. I slammed into a tree and fell. When I tried to get up, the strangest thing happened. There were branches and vines all around me. It was as if the tree had caught me in a cage.

Chapter Seven

Taran

I was at the window when the intruder showed up, watching Thea sleep. I’d watched her make her little fire, heat up her soup, eat, then pass out after a long day of braving the woods. She was cute when she slept. Relaxed. She looked a few years younger, almost like a child. My insides stirred again with the overwhelming need to protect her.

The intruder was a tall female, dressed in black, and she was carrying a knife. My first instinct was to stop her before she got into the cabin, but then I remembered why I’d taken this job. I never took human clients. The reason I agreed to act as a bodyguard for Thea was because she was the daughter of Bill Everhart. And that man… That man had taken so much from me. He was the reason my soul broke five years ago, the reason I took a job with Monster Security Agency, just so I’d forget how fucked up my life was, how I would never be the same.

There was a storm of contradictory feelings inside me. On the one hand, I wanted to protect Thea. I felt connected to her in a way that I didn’t understand. I was attracted to her, even though I shouldn’t have been. Leshy and humans didn’t get along. Ever. My species had stayed away from the selfish, entitled, pompous humans for as long as I could remember. They treated nature like it was nothing to them, just a means to an end. And the leshy couldn’t stand that.

On the other hand, this was my chance to take revenge on Bill Everhart. He’d taken something from me, and I was going to let this strange female with a dagger take his daughter from him. She was human, too. It was easy to tell by her scent and the way she looked and moved. What a dreadful species! They killed their own all the time. Seeing how awful they were, did they even deserve to live?

The woman broke down the door and barged in, pointing the knife at Thea, who was wide awake and shaking with fear. She told Thea something about how she wasn’t worthy of her Master, and I wondered who this Master was. The woman wasn’t making much sense. She seemed to be an assassin, sent by others to get rid of Thea, but so far, she was only resorting to threats. Then she attacked Thea, and Thea was forced to break the window and crawl out of the cabin.

My protective instincts kicked in. This was my principal. I’d been tasked with guarding her, and I’d failed. I should’ve been ashamed of myself. Now she was bleeding, running in only her socks, terrified and thinking she was going to die. She was in this situation because I’d hesitated. Because I’d let my dark thoughts take over. As much as I hated Thea’s father, I couldn’t punish him this way. I would be punishing her first, and what did I know about her? Maybe she was nothing like him. Maybe she was good and noble.

I went after her, slowly and deliberately. I made myself grow as I approached her from behind, then I threw myself over her, my roots tripping her in the process. I hoped she wasn’t too hurt. She fell with an “oomph!”, and I slipped my vines and branches underneath her in such a way that when she fell, she fell on soft, rustling leaves.

I was, basically, embracing her. Thea was in my branches. Had I been human, I could’ve said she was in my arms.

She turned on her back, rubbing her face with her hands, pushing her hair out of her eyes. She wasn’t wearing her gloves.

“No… No-no-no-no,” she whispered.

She dug her fingers into the top of her turtleneck and pulled at the stretchy fabric. She was acting as if she couldn’t breathe, or like she had something on her, crawling on her skin, and she was trying to get rid of it.

There was nothing. She was perfectly fine, aside from some tears in her clothes and a little blood here and there, where the glass from the broken window had cut her. Before I could stop myself, my branches reached towards her, and I brushed the side of her face gently. Her reaction was to squeeze her eyes shut and repeat again,

“No-no-no-no… Please, please, please… Don’t touch me… Don’t…”

I retreated instantly. I kept holding her in my embrace, but I moved my branches away from her face and expanded my body, so she’d have more space in the little cave I’d made for her. She was breathing heavily, almost hyperventilating, and I didn’t know what to do to make it better. I cursed myself mentally for not stepping in and stopping the intruder at the door. This was all because of me and my own selfish reasons. Yes, I’d lost a lot because of Thea’s father, but that wasn’t Thea’s fault, and she shouldn’t have had to suffer because of it.

I was such an idiot.

There were footsteps approaching. The assassin was back. I wasn’t going to let her get to Thea this time. But she stopped a few feet away from where I was holding Thea in my protective embrace, and at first, I thought she didn’t know where her victim was. But then she spoke.

“That’s right, little worm. You should be hiding from me. Smart move. This time, I went easy on you. Next time, my knife and your throat will have a proper introduction. Take our encounter tonight as a warning. A friendly one, at that. Turn back, and you’ll never see me again.”

Thea was staring in the darkness, eyes wide. She was staring right at me, in fact, but she didn’t know that. I found that I could lose myself in her green eyes. They were as green as the fresh grass that sprouted in spring, after a nurturing winter.

She didn’t say a word. She lay completely still and silent, until we both heard the woman walk away. Thea didn’t move for a long time. Maybe half an hour. Then she started stirring slowly, and I realized she wanted out. She was studying my branches, looking around for an opening, but she didn’t dare touch me. She didn’t dare reach out her hands and try to push my vines away.

I had to move gently, so she wouldn’t figure out I was not just a random tree, and I was alive. An inch here, a few more there, until Thea could see the starlit sky above. She sat up and inhaled the fresh night air.

“Okay,” she whispered. She flexed her fingers a few times, then placed her hands on two of my branches and pushed. “I can do this. It’s not so bad… Not too bad… Clean. This is a clean tree. No insects in it.”

Well, that was offensive! Of course I was a clean tree. I wasn’t a tree at all, I was a leshy. And I didn’t have insects crawling all over me, because the insects and critters of the forest knew what I was and knew to stay away.

I let Thea out. Now that she’d offended me, I didn’t think as highly of her as before. And even if I didn’t have insects and other trees had them, what was wrong with insects? Most of them were perfectly harmless and a blessing to the environment. I was starting to think I was once again wrong about Thea, and even if she wasn’t evil like her father, she was at least as entitled as he was.

What was wrong with a little dirt and a few ants?

She checked her surroundings, making sure the assassin wasn’t waiting in the dark, then made her way back to the cabin. I followed her and watched her through the broken window as she gathered her things and stuffed them in her backpack. She put on her boots and walked outside, using the flashlight to inspect the trees.

I wondered what she was going to do next. Had the threat worked? Was Thea going to turn back and forget all about this weird quest? I had a feeling this could be a good excuse for her. It was obvious she didn’t want to do it, anyway.

If her journey ended here, then my job would end, too. It would be for the best.

Chapter Eight

Thea

I was tired, it was dark outside, but staying at the cabin after what had happened was out of the question. I had to move and hope the woman who’d attacked me had left and wasn’t lurking in the woods, ready to follow me. I stepped outside and took a few minutes to study my surroundings. I pointed the flashlight in all directions, and squinted my eyes, trying to catch the slightest movement. It was quiet.

That didn’t make me feel any better. I felt like I wasn’t alone anymore. Maybe I’d never been alone, and that woman had followed me all day. Maybe all this time, I’d been watched. I’d talked to myself, sung to myself, and I had bathed in the stream, almost naked. The thought that someone might’ve heard and seen all that made my skin crawl. Like I was covered in ants.

I couldn’t think about that. I couldn’t think about anything. I started walking, my sole goal for the moment being to put distance between myself and the cabin. I saw the tree under which I’d found shelter when the woman came after me. I stopped and looked up at it.

“Hey,” I said.

Okay, so I was going insane, because the tree looked different. Like it had straightened up. Some of its branches were still bent, but they weren’t forming the cage they’d formed before. My eyes were playing tricks on me. It was the only decent explanation. I was exhausted, I couldn’t see well in the dark, and I was on edge. But this was the tree. I was certain of it. There was something about it that made it different from all the other trees.

“Hey,” I said again, as if it hadn’t felt weird the first time. I was talking to a tree!

Its leaves rustled, but there was no wind. Strange. Everything about tonight was strange.

“Thank you for protecting me. I’m sorry I...” I let out a sigh and raised my gloved hand before me. I’d put my gloves on after lacing up my boots. “I’m sorry I freaked out.” I flexed my fingers and considered taking my glove off but thought better of it. I reached out and rested my hand against the trunk of the tree. I wasn’t ready to feel the rough bark directly on my skin. “Thank you.”

As I leaned my weight slightly on the tree, I glanced at the path ahead. I thought about what the woman had said. That I wasn’t worthy. What was I doing out here? What was I trying to prove? To myself and others... I should’ve gone back. She wanted me to go back, or next time, she was going to plunge her knife right into my throat. She’d promised as much.

In the dark, I wasn’t sure in which direction to go. All I knew was that I couldn’t spend the night anywhere near the cabin where it had all happened.

“What do you think?” I addressed the tree, knowing full well it couldn’t understand me and wasn’t going to respond. “Do you think I should go back? Home sweet home... How I miss it! I just want to be in my bed right now and forget all about today. But I can’t. So much depends on me. I have to do what I said I’d do. I’d said ‘yes’, and I can’t back down now.” The branches swayed and the leaves murmured. I looked up at the tree’s canopy. “I don’t want to do this,” I said, feeling like I’d just gone into confession mode. “I don’t want to marry Soren Sinclair, and I don’t want to hike through the woods for three days. But I made a promise.” An image of Matthew from when we were kids flashed through my mind, and I bit my lip hard. “I’m scared,” I added in a lower voice. It was barely a whisper. It felt like the leaves and vines were whispering back. “I’m scared, but I have no choice. I made a promise.”

I tapped on the trunk three times, for good luck, then started walking.

I was slower at night, but I tried to be patient with myself. I had to be careful where I put my foot. I had to wait for dawn to come to inspect my wounds. I had a small first aid kit in my backpack. There was pain in my left side, and I could feel blood crusting over my forearm. I tried to keep my mind off it. I didn’t like blood. It made me queasy. The thought that I’d have to clean my wounds and patch them up made me feel a little sick to my stomach. But I knew I’d have to do it, or there was a risk of infection. And I was terrified of infection more than I was terrified of blood.

To pass the time, I started singing again, but in a very low voice. I didn’t want to attract any wild animals. Surely, they were more active at night. It helped me stay awake and alert, because I felt like I was swaying a bit, and every time I saw a bigger rock, or a protruding root, I wanted to sit down just for a minute. I fought the urge to stop. I knew if I did, I was in serious danger of falling asleep, and I didn’t want that. I didn’t have the energy to take my sleeping bag out again and find a decent spot, and I couldn’t allow myself to doze off leaning against some tree, or I’d be perfect prey for insects and other stuff. Ants, ticks, flies, mosquitoes – they frightened me.

I kept walking, kept pushing, until light started filtering through the thick canopy. I walked for ten more minutes, then I had to give up and allow myself to rest. I emerged into a small clearing and saw a log that was right in the middle of it and looked comfortable enough. I plopped down on it, dropped my backpack, and hung my head in my hands. I closed my eyes just for a second.

The second turned into a minute, and the minute turned to...

I didn’t notice when I dozed off.

Chapter Nine

Taran

How did the human saying go? Follow someone like a puppy?

That was definitely not what was happening here.

I was following Thea because I’d been hired to guard her. It was my job. My duty.

Ugh! Who was I kidding? She’d touched me back there, at the cabin. Touched me. With her gloved hand, but it had been enough. Now I wanted to feel her skin on my bark. She’d made me... hard. Now I was walking with a stump protruding from my lower region, and as much as I willed it to retreat into my body, it refused to do so. It felt swollen and throbbing, and if she touched me again, it would only grow bigger and thicker.

To be fair, I hadn’t thought my body was capable of doing that anymore. Getting hard for a female. And she was human, too. Her frail body should’ve left me indifferent. Maybe it was because I hadn’t experienced any sort of intimacy in too many years. I’d forgotten how much I needed it. How much I craved someone else’s touch.

The leshy were a cool and rational species. We weren’t known for our lust and desire. We weren’t made of flesh, so we weren’t carnal. We mated once in our lives, and once the male found his female, a seed started growing within him, at the base of his cock, so to speak, and he would plant that seed inside her, and from her body, a leshy sprout would grow. Usually, the male produced a single seed in his life. It was rare that a male could produce two seeds and impregnate his mate twice. The leshy lived impossibly long lives. If we multiplied too much, we would’ve taken over the world, and that was something we weren’t interested in. We liked our small, tight communities.

It could’ve never worked with a human. Our anatomies were too different. I had to stop thinking about Thea in that way. It wasn’t healthy. Now that she’d made me hard and I was thinking about how the leshy mated, I had this sensation that something was growing at the base of my cock. It was only my imagination. Only a true mate could make a seed grow within a leshy male’s reproductive organs, and even then, it wasn’t instant. Two leshy mates could be together for years before being blessed with a seed.

I followed Thea’s swaying hips, making sure to send telepathic signals to the vegetation around to gently move out of her way. My leaves rustled to the rhythm of her singing. When she found the clearing and decided to stop, her song stopped too, and I missed her voice within seconds. More than anything, I wanted to talk to her. I wanted to know whom she was sacrificing herself for. She was so young, so beautiful and kind, and I needed to know who this person was, this person who dared to ask so much of her. I hoped to all the leshy gods it wasn’t her father. Or her mother. That woman wasn’t any better than her husband.

Thea dropped her head in her hands and sighed a few times. She was exhausted, struggling so hard to stay awake. She was supposed to take care of her wounds, but I could tell she didn’t have the energy. If only I could reveal myself to her, I could’ve helped.

I moved closer to her. My branches and vines reached towards her, wanting to touch her hair. I held them back, but after another minute, I couldn’t help myself, and moved even closer, until I was standing right behind her. I was rustling and shivering at this point, and I expected her to look up and see what was happening, but she didn’t. Then I saw her tip over, and I realized she was falling asleep. My branches shot out to support her body. She was so light, like a leaf blowing in the wind.

I decided the log she was sitting on was uncomfortable and inadequate, so I wrapped her gently in my branches and carried her over to me. She didn’t wake up. I was moving so slowly, only a few inches at a time, not wanting to startle her awake. I cradled her in my branches for a few long minutes that I knew I’d remember for the rest of my life, then carefully placed her on my roots.

I shaped my roots in such a way that she was leaning against them and against my trunk comfortably. I basically made an armchair for her, reclining just right to support her back, her neck, and her pretty head. I knew she would freak out when she woke up. First, because she’d fallen asleep sitting on a log, and now she was resting in a nest of roots. And second, because she seemed to have a problem being close to... trees. Or anything else nature related. I would’ve loved to ask her a few questions about that.

I didn’t like thinking about her reaction, so I focused on her and her alone, trying to commit to memory every detail of her beautiful face, every breath she took, the way her hair smelled, and how her chest rose and fell evenly. Underneath her smooth eyelids, her eyes moved fast, and I didn’t know what that meant. At first, I thought she was going to wake up, but her body was relaxed against my roots.

The sun was getting up high in the sky, and we were exposed in the clearing. It was going to be a hot day. I inclined my canopy in such a way that it made shade for her, and I rustled my leaves to create a breeze to keep her cool.

We stayed like that for a while. She slept for well over an hour, and I just couldn’t get enough of her. I wanted her to sleep like that for hours, for half a day, just so I could watch her silently and marvel at the smoothness of her skin and the perfection of her full lips. When she woke up, it would be over. I couldn’t let her know I was here, so close to her, watching her every move, listening to her sing, protecting her on her journey. It was in the contract. Besides her father, who had hired me, no one was to know. So, I was going to take advantage of this moment and fill myself with her beauty. Then, I would deliver her to her husband-to-be and move on with my life, even as I knew she would be part of my soul forever.

She stirred, and sadness washed over me. She was waking up. I started retreating my roots from under her, not wanting her to see there were so many, touching her in so many places. Her fear of trees was incomprehensible to me, but I respected it and didn’t want to frighten her too much.

She let out a moan but didn’t open her eyes. She stretched and changed position, and one of my roots ended up between her legs. I froze.

Then the strangest thing happened. She started rubbing herself against me.

Chapter Ten

Thea

My nipples hardened, and my core throbbed with need. I could feel my pussy grow wet as my body warmed up, little by little, until I was burning hot. I was half asleep. I knew this was a wet dream. I had them sometimes. It felt so sweet and delicious that I didn’t want to wake up. Not before I got release.

I rubbed myself against the hardness that was resting between my legs. I didn’t know what it was, and my sleep-addled brain didn’t care. It was something hard, and it was exactly what I needed to bring myself to orgasm. The desire coursing through my body was so raw that it was all I could focus on. It didn’t matter where I was, it didn’t matter what the circumstances were. A quick release was what my body craved after the stress it had been exposed to. My mind needed it, too. A way to get rid of the painful tension that was gripping my entire being. A way to relax for a minute.

I ground my hips faster and faster, letting out little moans. My hands grabbed onto what was available – more hard things. What were they? I didn’t care. I was wearing my gloves, and that made me feel safe. Ideally, I would’ve removed my clothes and touched myself, run my hands over my heated skin, but somewhere at the back of my mind, there was something that told me it was better to remain clothed. My imagination could wander, though.

I imagined I was in a king size bed, naked underneath cool, soft sheets. The sheets started moving, brushing my skin delicately, making my nipples stand to attention. They weren’t moving on their own. Someone or something was pulling them off me, and then there were hands. Many hands, exploring every inch of my body. The hands were rough, with long, spindly fingers. I longed for their touch. As they moved over my round breasts, down my stomach, towards my pelvis, I arched my back and moaned. Then the impossibly long fingers dipped between my wet folds, and one of them circled my entrance until I was so frustrated that I could cry.

“Please,” I murmured, and I wasn’t sure whether I said it in the dream or out loud.

I held onto the sheets and let the hands explore me, biting my lip and whimpering, arching my back and flexing my toes. I wanted to be explored. I wanted to be exposed and worshipped. I was so close.

“Please... mmm...”

So close, yet so far. I felt a breeze on my face. It was pleasant at first, then it picked up, and the dream started to dissipate.

“No, not yet.” I furrowed my brows, trying to hold on to it.

A cold, wet drop fell on my cheek, and that ended the dream. My body stilled. I opened my eyes. I was in the forest, in the clearing I’d found after leaving the cabin, and I was resting with my back against the trunk of a massive tree. My body was nestled between its roots.

I looked down at my legs and saw that the roots were supporting me perfectly. It should’ve been uncomfortable to lie like this, but it wasn’t. When I looked up, I saw the tree’s canopy blowing in the wind. A few more drops landed on my face, and I realized it was raining lightly.

I sat up quickly, looking for my backpack. I couldn’t believe I’d fallen asleep. How long had I been out? I pulled up my sleeve to check my watch. It said 9 AM. I’d slept for a few hours, but I was far from having wasted the day. My backpack was close by, resting in another nest of roots. I got up and grabbed it, checking to see if all my things were there. Of course they were. Who would’ve robbed me in the woods? And the woman who’d threatened me the night before didn’t want my cans of soup. She wanted my life. If I didn’t do as she said.

I took out my water bottle and drank greedily, closing my eyes. Flashes of soft sheets and spindly hands flashed through my mind, and I squeezed my thighs together. I was still aroused, but there was nothing I could do about it. I opened my eyes and looked at the roots that had held me so comfortably. No way. I wasn’t going to do that. I was going to survive today without an orgasm. Besides, my husband-to-be was waiting for me, and that was his job – to give me orgasms. I’d met Soren Sinclair a few times, and for some reason, he hadn’t stricken me as the type of man who cared about a woman’s pleasure.

I let out a sigh. What did it matter? I was going to marry him anyway.

It started raining harder even as the sun shined brightly. A beautiful summer rain. I moved closer to the tree. I didn’t remember it being here when I sat down to rest. And I hadn’t sat on its roots, either. I clearly remembered having sat on a log that was...

Right there. The log was in the middle of the clearing, and somehow, I’d moved to the side and ended up leaning against this tree.

I studied its thick trunk and looked up at its canopy. Vines were hanging from its branches, and it struck me that the tree looked familiar. But it couldn’t be the same tree that had covered and protected me at the cabin. Maybe it was the same species.

I didn’t know a lot about trees, to be fair. To me, they were all the same. Seeing whose daughter I was, this shouldn’t have been the case. But I’d never been interested in the family’s business. Everhart Furniture was going to be passed on to my brother, and that was why it was so important for Matthew to get clean and stay out of the papers. I didn’t know what he’d done, but my father was worried enough that it would ruin his reputation that he’d asked me to marry Sinclair. For my father, it wasn’t just that Matthew’s future was at stake. It was the future of the company. Matthew was the only one who could take over, as I was less than interested, and the other family members – uncles and cousins – weren’t in my father’s good graces. He’d worked all his life to build Everhart Furniture, and he wanted it to stay in the family and keep growing until it became the best furniture company in the world, not just in the US.

Now it was all on my shoulders. No pressure.

I had to wait for the rain to pass. Noticing that I was protected under the canopy of the tree, I pressed myself closer to it, until my side rested against its rough bark. It was strange, but I didn’t feel frightened anymore. My phobia wasn’t as bad today. Maybe by getting myself exposed so suddenly and brutally, I was actually curing it. Besides, this tree was perfectly clean. I inspected it for ants and the like, and it had none. Not even the birds seemed to be interested in populating its branches. I’d never seen something like it before. Usually, trees were entire ecosystems for insects, birds, and other critters. This one was... different.

Now I was sorry I hadn’t paid attention in Biology. I was so terrified of nature that I couldn’t even stand to learn about it. I’d barely passed that class. But maybe I would’ve learned about this type of tree. It was frustrating to not know why it was so different from the others. I made a mental note to start studying trees when I returned to civilization. After I got married, I was going to grab my laptop, lock myself in a room, and read about trees. Surely, it was going to help distract me from the name change – Everhart to Sinclair.

I slid down the tree and sat on its roots again. My core throbbed, my pussy remembering how I’d rubbed myself against them. I blushed to the tips of my ears. This was ridiculous. Only entertaining the idea of grounding my hips on a tree to get some friction was outrageous. It was like... It was like having sex with an object. Well, technically, a tree was not an object, it was a living thing, and having sex with an object was perfectly acceptable, if I considered dildos and vibrators.

Why was I thinking about sex?! I had two more grueling days of hiking through the woods, a legit assassin had threatened me, and my focus was on the fact that I was aroused? That woman was going to come after me when she realized I hadn’t turned back. That was a big problem. Except if she was bluffing. I hoped she was, and she wasn’t going to actually kill me for not doing as she said.

I couldn’t do as she said, not even if I wanted to. And I did. I wanted nothing more than to turn around and head back to where I came from. But then who was going to save Matthew?

I rested the back of my head against the trunk of the tree.

“What would you do if you were me?” I asked.

Great. I was talking to a tree again. Everything was just fine, and I wasn’t going insane. I was also going to completely ignore that I still wanted to rub myself against its roots and get the release I was craving.

Chapter Eleven

Taran

My whole being vibrated for her. My leaves rustled, my vines swayed in the wind, reaching for her, and my branches wanted to wrap themselves around her and hold her close. I fought all these urges. She didn’t know who I was, that I was sentient, and that I was here for her. She was leaning against me now, and I could feel her soft hair on my bark, the strands catching in my ridges. I wanted to caress her. I wanted to feel her hands on me, without the gloves.

After a while, she pulled out a first aid kit and clumsily cleaned and patched up her wounds. There was one on her ribs, and she could barely reach it. She groaned in frustration, and I was this close to revealing my identity and helping her. I hated seeing her struggle. Luckily, her cuts were shallow, and they’d stopped bleeding. She changed her turtleneck sweater for one that was identical, and it felt like a privilege to once again see her in her tiny lace bra.

We waited for the rain to stop. When it did, she pushed away from me, grabbed her backpack, and started walking. I missed her closeness, and the thought that we only had two more days together, and one night in between, saddened me. What saddened me more was that she was promised to a man who I knew for sure wasn’t going to love her like she deserved. So, I followed Thea into the woods, moving gently, so she wouldn’t notice me, feeling more and more broken over something that hadn’t happened yet. If I wanted to stop it from happening... Could I?

I didn’t think so. Thea was my principal. I was supposed to do my job and keep her safe, then I’d get the second half of my payment and forget about her. It was a job like any other. Except Thea was human, and I didn’t work with humans. I’d made an exception because I’d thought I’d get something out of it – something akin to revenge – but now I was starting to realize the exception had been a bad idea for entirely different reasons.

Earlier, she’d...

It was dangerous to think back to what she’d done, even though the memory was etched into my mind forever. The stump she’d made grow out of me when she’d touched me in the morning was twice as big now, and twice as thick and hard. Her little moans and whimpers, the way she’d rubbed her pussy against my roots, how she’d grabbed onto them with her gloved hands...

No, I couldn’t think about it. My attraction towards her was beginning to turn into raw desire, and that just wasn’t something I was used to. What I was feeling for her now was... foreign. I’d been attracted to someone before. I’d had sexual encounters. I’d been... in a relationship, and she’d been...

No. I couldn’t think about her now. Not when Thea was walking a few feet in front of me, her hips enticing me to follow her. Even if I hadn’t been hired to follow and protect her, I would have. I barely knew her for twenty-four hours, and all I could think about was her. It didn’t even matter to me whose daughter she was, and it should have mattered. A lot.

By allowing myself to feel these things for Thea, I was betraying myself. I was betraying my own values. It was like I was denying the past and rendering it meaningless, when in fact it was full of meaning. What had happened five years ago because of Thea’s father had turned me into who I was today.

We walked for two hours without stopping, Thea only drinking a bit of water and not eating anything. She’d eaten a sandwich while we waited for the rain to pass, and it seemed to have been enough for her. It didn’t look like she was eating a lot. No wonder she was so frail.

I heard the footsteps before she did – twigs snapping under someone’s heavy boots. They were coming from the right, and I turned to look that way just as the footsteps picked up the pace. I thought it must’ve been the woman from the night before, here to show Thea that she hadn’t been kidding. But when the figure emerged from the trees, I saw that it was a man.

He was fast. I’d allowed some distance between me and Thea, so she wouldn’t realize I was a walking tree, and before I got close enough to shield her with my body, it was too late.

The man grabbed her from behind, pulling her backpack free and throwing it on the ground. That made Thea lose her balance. She fell on her butt, cringing from the impact. She didn’t have time to wrap her head around what was happening, because the man was on top of her.

He was dressed in black, just like the woman. His head and face were covered. Only his eyes were visible. He grabbed Thea by her sweater and shook her hard.

“You didn’t listen. Why didn’t you listen?” His voice was low and angry. “I told Kyla she should’ve been more convincing, but she’s a woman, and women are weak. She couldn’t do what needs to be done, so here I am, finishing what she started.”

“What are you talking about?” Thea tried to get away from him, but he was holding her tightly. “Who are you? What do you want?”

I was close enough now that I could cause whatever damage I wanted to her attacker. I hesitated. If I acted now, Thea would know who I was.

“You don’t deserve him,” the man said. “The Master is good, and pure, and you’re dirty. You come from a dirty, corrupted family that only cares about money.”

“I don’t understand,” Thea whispered. “We can talk about this, okay?”

“There’s nothing to talk about. You’re the daughter of a tree killer. That makes you a tree killer. And the Master is exactly the opposite. He is good, he cares about nature, he protects the trees, he loves the trees...”

What now?! The man’s words took me aback. Who was this Master that was against what Everhart Furniture was doing? And why did his people want Thea dead? Because surely, the two assassins were his people, and he didn’t know what they were up to. The man and the woman had taken justice into their own hands. They’d decided Thea needed to pay for her father’s sins, and the man especially didn’t look like he could be deterred.

He was right, though... Wasn’t he? The things he was saying... I’d been thinking them even before meeting Thea. Her beauty, her resilience... The mystery of her had changed my mind, but did that mean what this man was saying wasn’t true? She was who she was, and nothing could change that.

But no, I didn’t agree that she deserved to die. I didn’t agree that she had to suffer in any way, shape, or form.

“You must pay,” he said. His face was so close to hers that it enraged me. He had no right to be so close to her, to touch her and hold her like that. “You should’ve never left your ivory tower.”

He took out a knife and placed the blade under her chin.

I lost it. I saw red. I lunged at him so fast that my movement was a blur. With one long, thick branch, I pushed him off her, and when he was on his back, I placed myself between him and Thea and unleashed my vines upon him. I lifted him off the ground and wrapped him tightly in my vines. He screamed and dropped the knife.

There was another scream, and it didn’t come from him.

Holding the man off the ground, his feet kicking the air uselessly, I turned to look at Thea.

Our eyes met, and for the first time, she saw me. She looked right at me and saw me. She screamed again, so loud that the sound pierced through my vines and leaves. It hurt to know that she was frightened, and I was the one frightening her.

“It’s all right,” I said. “It’s okay, I’m here for you. I’m here to protect you.”

She looked like she was going to scream again, but she covered her mouth with her hand. She started shaking her head, as if she didn’t understand what was happening and was refusing to even believe it was real.

“Thea,” I said. “I will let nothing, and no one hurt you.”

Her green eyes shined with tears. If she hadn’t been paralyzed with fear, she would’ve run. And that would’ve broken my soul.

In that moment, I realized that I’d fucked up. I’d broken the contract and revealed myself to Thea. Yes, I’d done it to save her life, but I was going to regret it.

Because now that she saw me, and I saw the fear in her eyes, I knew there could be nothing between us.

Chapter Twelve

Thea

The tree. It moved. It could speak.

Was I hallucinating? This couldn’t be real.

“Thea?” he asked, gently.

He. The tree was a he, because his voice was male. He knew my name.

“Talk to me,” he said.

“I... I...” I couldn’t form a single coherent sentence.

He flung the man who’d attacked me against another tree, and fully turned towards me. He towered over me, and I had to crane my neck to look into his eyes, which were positioned right underneath his crown of branches and leaves, half obscured by ridges that could’ve probably been considered eyebrows.

“Here, let me help you,” he said, extending a branch towards me.

That snapped me out of my trance. I looked at his branch, which he was using as an arm, and shook my head. He retreated a few inches and inclined his crown to the right, and I took that opportunity to jump to my feet and launch myself at the knife the assassin had dropped. I held the knife before me with both hands, even though I knew that if the tree wanted to grab me, I didn’t stand a chance. I’d just seen what he’d done to my attacker.

And speaking of the wolf, the man let out a deep groan, then pushed himself to his feet. I turned to him, pointing the knife in his direction. He was leaning against a tree, looking at me through the open slit in his mask, which was slightly askew. He didn’t look like he wanted to attack me again. He studied me for a moment, then his eyes turned to the talking, moving tree. I kept glancing between the two of them, trying to determine who was more dangerous.

“Who are you?” I asked. “The both of you. What do you want from me?” Now that I had a knife, I felt a little bit better.

“I am the justice maker,” the man said. His voice was muffled by the mask. “Kyla couldn’t do it, and the others are just as weak as her, even though they all want you gone. I can do it. I’m strong enough. I’ll make you pay for your father’s sins.”

“My father is not a tree killer,” I said.

“Then what do you call someone who cuts down entire forests to make furniture?”

A chill ran down my spine. I was sweaty and overheated from wearing too many layers in full summer, but the chill was so cold that it froze half of my back. I felt a pain in my lumbar area. I must’ve hurt myself when I fell.

“You,” the man’s chin jutted towards the talking tree. “Why are you protecting her? Her family must’ve chopped down hundreds of trees like you.”

I looked at the tree, eyes wide. He seemed tense. Wait. Could I even say about a tree that it was tense?

“I am not a tree,” he said. “I am a leshy. My name is Taran Sylvan, and I was hired to protect her. I am Thea’s bodyguard.”

“What?” My voice sounded ridiculously high and squeaky. “That’s not true.”

“It is.” He fixed me with his intense gaze. I realized his eyes were completely black. I’d never seen such black eyes in my life. They were unreal. “I work for Monster Security Agency, and your father hired me. I am to deliver you safely to the Celestial Pines Sanctuary.”

“But I’m supposed to make this journey on my own,” I said. “It’s one of the conditions.”

“I know. In my contract, it is specified that you shouldn’t know of my presence. I was to be an invisible guardian. But things changed when assassins started coming after you. Your father and I both thought I would protect you from the dangers of the forest, not from people with daggers.”

“You broke the Master’s trust,” the man said. He chuckled darkly, then spat on the ground – a show of disgust. “I cannot let this union be built on a lie.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked exasperated.

“Who is your Master?” Taran, the leshy, asked.

The man ignored us. I saw him reach behind him, and Taran yelled at him, but it was too late. He pulled out another knife and lunged at the leshy. I thought he’d lunge at me, but the leshy monster was a bigger problem.

He didn’t stand a chance. Within seconds, Taran had him wrapped in vines and branches. With one branch, he snatched the knife away, and with all the others, he built what looked like a coffin around him. He dropped him on the ground, and the man twisted inside the contraption, struggling to get out. It was no use. He screamed in frustration.

Taran snapped his branches free of the coffin, then pushed it away with his roots. I watched in utter astonishment. I’d never seen a monster like him, capable of building things with his body and then detaching himself from them. I wondered if he was in pain. It must’ve hurt him to snap his own branches like that. They were, technically, his limbs.

“So, my father hired you,” I said. I lowered the knife. “I’ve heard of Monster Security Agency. It’s the biggest private security agency in the country, isn’t it?”

“Top of the line bodyguards,” he said. “I’m one of them, and my specialization is the wilderness, as you can see. If there’s a job that needs to be done in the woods, I’m the guy.”

I nodded. “You blend in.” I was trying to understand how it was possible that he’d followed me for a day and a half, and I hadn’t noticed.

“I move with the sway of the trees when the wind blows through their branches,” he said. “I stop when you stop. I keep my distance, so you won’t notice me. If you catch me moving from the corner of your eye, you’ll think it’s the wind, or birds playing in my branches.”

“But there are no birds.”

He smiled at that. His mouth was wide, placed underneath a small stump that I guessed was his nose. Though he hadn’t had that stump a few minutes ago. He’d just grown it, possibly to make it seem like he had a human face.

“No. Nothing lives in my branches,” he said. “As I said, I am not a tree.”

“You’re a leshy,” I whispered.

I didn’t know a lot about monsters. I’d never met one, and considering this was my first encounter, I would’ve argued that I was doing okay. Monsters weren’t welcome in my world. And when I said, “my world”, what I meant was an elite of old-money families that did business amongst themselves, and kept their social interactions to their small, tight-knit group. It was the way I was raised, and I’d never questioned it. Why would I? You never know what you don’t know.

There were many things I didn’t know, it seemed.

“My father shouldn’t have hired you,” I said. “But if he hadn’t, I would’ve been dead now.”

“You deserve to be dead,” the man yelled from inside his coffin of branches. “Tree, leshy, whatever you are,” he addressed Taran. “You know I’m right. You know who her father is. I can’t believe you’re working for him. You accepted his money, when you should’ve chopped his head off like he’d done with the trees for years.”

I bit the inside of my lip. The man wasn’t lying. Now that I’d calmed down a little, I could think more clearly, and I had to admit that the main material needed for building furniture was wood. And one could only get wood from trees. My family’s company had been cutting down trees, but it had all been legal. Did that excuse anything? I didn’t like where this train of thought was taking me.

Taran seemed to be hesitating. I looked at him, waiting for a reaction.

“Why aren’t you saying something? Say something,” the man challenged him.

“Well,” I asked. “What do you think?” I crossed my arms over my chest and braced myself for Taran’s answer.

“He’s not wrong,” he said to me, gently. “The damage Everhart Furniture has done is extensive. And they’re not stopping anytime soon. If ever.”

I swallowed heavily. “And do you also think that I should pay for my father’s sins? That I deserve to die?”

His branches shuffled and his leaves rustled. “It doesn’t matter what I think. I was hired to do a job, and I’m doing it. I’m not a justice maker, like he claims to be.”

That should’ve made me feel better, but it didn’t. To hide my disappointment, I went to retrieve my backpack.

“We’re losing daylight,” I said, though I wasn’t sure if continuing my journey was the right thing to do. The circumstances had changed. I took a few steps, then stopped, unsure of the direction. I took out my map.

“What do we do with him?” Taran asked.

Right.

I looked at the man trapped in the branch box and shrugged.

“How am I supposed to know? You put him in there.”

Taran’s leaves rustled in a way that it sounded like he’d let out a deep sigh. Our eyes met. We were both at a loss.

Chapter Thirteen

Taran

As much as I wanted, I couldn’t kill this man. The MSA policy was to resort to extreme violence only in cases where it couldn’t be avoided.

I lifted him up as he was, in his enclosure, and propped him against a tree. I shrunk so I’d be at his level, and when our eyes met, he regarded me with defiance.

“What are you doing?” Thea asked.

“Interrogating him. Don’t you want to know who his Master is?”

She stepped closer. “I have a feeling I won’t like the answer.”

I addressed the man, “Well?”

“You know who the Master is,” the man said. “Soren Sinclair.”

“Why do you call him that?” Thea asked.

“Because that’s what he is.”

Thea moved to stand by my side. I was glad to notice that she wasn’t scared of me anymore. Maybe it helped that I’d adjusted my height.

“Soren Sinclair is a spiritual leader,” she said. “But he is no Master. He’s involved in the community, acts as a counselor. I’m not sure exactly what he does, but I’ve never heard anyone refer to him as Master.” She turned to me then, and I found myself mesmerized by her beautiful green eyes. “He’s friends with my father. Actually, it’s an inherited social relationship, as my father was friends with Soren’s father before he died, and Soren took over all the businesses. No one in my family has ever called him anything but Soren.”

The man started laughing.

That seemed to irritate Thea. “What’s your name?” she asked.

“My name is not important.”

“It is to me. What’s wrong, justice maker? You cover your face, you don’t want to tell me your name... These are the actions of a coward.”

“Fine.” With some difficulty because of the tight space he was in, he removed his mask. “My name is Markus.”

“Okay, Markus,” said Thea. “And your friend from last night is Kyla.”

“That’s right. We care about our Master. We won’t let him make the mistake of marrying you. You represent everything that’s wrong with the world.”

When he talked like that, I had to admit that I couldn’t completely disagree with him. Still, Thea hadn’t personally cut down any trees, and she didn’t work at her father’s company. For the most part, she’d been kept in the dark.

I liked her attitude, though. From a scared little thing, she’d turned into a true interrogator. She asked her questions with confidence, and when Markus refused to cooperate, she knew just how to push his buttons.

Every minute I spent with Thea, I learned something new about her. Instead of becoming bored, as it usually happened when I had to deal with humans, I was becoming more and more intrigued.

“You know,” she said, “This is starting to sound more and more like a cult. What do you think, Taran?”

“I... don’t know anything about cults.”

As far as I was concerned, all human rituals were strange. Over the top was another good way to describe them. What made a ritual like dyeing eggs red for a holiday named Easter be perfectly normal and acceptable, and a ritual like asking your bride-to-be to prove herself by walking on foot for three days a cult thing?

“It doesn’t matter,” said Thea. But her tone indicated that it clearly mattered to her. “Soren wants me. Who are you to decide I’m not right for him? All this pretext that I’m everything that’s wrong with the world, that my father is a tree killer, and that Soren loves nature and trees... My father has been friends with Soren for years. Not once did your ‘Master’ show he was against my family’s business.” She mimicked air quotes around the word “Master”. “This tells me he’s not against it. If he were, then he wouldn’t have wanted me so badly that he basically blackmailed my family to make me accept his proposal.”

I was impressed that Thea could be so straightforward about what was happening to her without her voice even wavering. She was aware of what she was walking into, of what her family had asked of her, and she was persisting on this path knowing she had nothing to gain personally. I was finally getting answers to many of my questions, but she still remained a mystery to me.

Markus pursed his lips. For a minute, he didn’t know how to respond. He didn’t seem to be the type who did well when faced with facts.

“I cannot know the mind of the Master,” he said. “Maybe he has a plan I cannot see. Maybe my quest for justice is misguided, but he will forgive me, because my intentions were pure.”

“I think Soren Sinclair just wants access to your part of the family fortune,” I said to Thea.

She rolled her eyes. “And what? Use it to save the forests? He’s never been interested in philanthropy, trust me. He has his own money, he doesn’t need mine.” She turned to Markus. “I think you don’t know your Master at all. He’s a businessman. And now that you practically told me he’s a cult leader, I bet he’s using devoted people like you to increase his businesses.”

“He would never,” Markus said.

“There’s no reasoning with you,” Thea said.

We were at a stalemate.

“What now?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I really don’t know.”

“Do you want me to kill him?”

That took her aback. “No! Why would you say that? Why would you suggest something like that? No!”

Had I had arms, I would’ve waved them in defense. She walked away from me, and I mentally cursed myself for upsetting her. I followed her, wanting to have a more private conversation.

“After all you found out, are you still going to marry Sinclair?” I asked.

Her shoulders dropped. “What else can I do? I made a promise.”

“To whom? No one is worth the sacrifice you’re making.”

“You don’t know anything about me or my family,” she said.

But she didn’t sound combative. Her words would’ve angered me if she hadn’t spoken them with such resignation. As if her family wasn’t something she could escape. The name Everhart was a prison.

“Nothing has changed,” she said.

She sounded convinced enough. At least for now, the message was that she was done with this argument. And who was I to question her decision? Her bodyguard. Once I delivered her to her husband-to-be, my job was done. I would never see her again, and her life and future were none of my business.

“Then we have a problem,” I said. “Because you were supposed to cross the woods on your own, and instead, you have me to protect you. Markus knows.”

Her eyes filled with worry. “What are you saying?”

“He knows, and he will tell Sinclair if we let him free. Do you think your cult leader will appreciate the fact that you cheated?”

She covered her face with her hands and groaned. She was still wearing gloves. I could see that she was hot, but for some reason, she insisted on wearing long sleeves and a turtleneck.

“Okay,” she said. “Yeah, okay, that makes sense. But we can’t kill him.”

“I would do it for you.”

“Taran!”

“He tried to kill you.”

“And failed. Epically.”

I wasn’t lying. I would’ve done it for her. I would’ve killed anyone who dared to look at her wrong, let alone a guy who was twice as big as her and had tried to slit her throat. Even if it was against the MSA policy, I would’ve found an excuse and gladly done all the paperwork.

“We’re not killing him,” she said. “Just... set him free...”

“I can’t do that.”

“Yes, you can. We’ll make him promise he won’t come after me again.”

I sighed. In my case, that sounded like a particular rustle of leaves.

I returned to Markus, who’d been straining to hear what we’d been talking about.

“If I let you go,” I said, “Will you mind your own business and leave Thea alone? As long as I’m her bodyguard, you can’t get to her. So, you might as well go do something productive. Maybe get a new hobby.”

He laughed. “I will not betray my beliefs.”

“So, that’s a no.”

I looked at Thea, and she shrugged. Great. We weren’t getting anywhere with this guy. I considered my options. Killing him was out of the question. The guy deserved it, but fine. Or maybe he didn’t deserve it. If he was in a cult, then he was brainwashed. I could just leave him like this. The box I’d built around him was made from my branches and vines, and they were strong. Not like branches from regular trees. He wouldn’t be able to escape on his own, not without help or a sharp knife, which meant that if Thea and I left him, he would die a slow, painful death. Maybe that Kyla woman would find him and help him out, but I couldn’t bet on it.

I looked around me, trying to come up with a solution. My gaze fell on the knife he’d tried to attack me with. I used one of my roots to push it closer to the box.

“Here’s what I’m going to do,” I said. “I will leave you here, and here’s your knife. It’s close enough that I’m sure you’ll find a way to get it and use it to cut your way out. It will take you a while, and by the time you manage to free yourself, we’ll be long gone.”

He chuckled darkly. “Such benevolence. I’m impressed.” The sarcasm wasn’t lost on me.

I turned to Thea. “What do you think?”

She nodded. “I think that’s reasonable. Thank you.”

Had I been covered in flesh and not bark, I would’ve blushed right now. It wasn’t the first time Thea thanked me, but it was the first time she was looking in my eyes while doing it.

“Just doing my job,” I mumbled.

She smiled, and I could swear I’d never seen something so pretty in my life.

“Shall we go now?” she asked.

“Lead the way.”

She started walking, and I would’ve followed her anywhere. Even to her doom.

Chapter Fourteen

Thea

In my hurry, I tripped over a rock and almost lost my balance. Cursing under my breath, I turned to kick the rock and discovered it was a phone. I picked it up. It wasn’t mine. Mine was safely tucked in my backpack. Since there was no signal here, there was no reason for me to keep it handy.

“What’s that?” Taran asked.

Honestly, I didn’t think I’d ever get used to hearing a legit tree talk. Okay, he wasn’t a tree. A leshy. But he looked like a tree, except for when he morphed his face in such a way that it vaguely resembled a human. I’d have to ask him about that.

“I think it’s his phone.”

I walked over to where Markus had already knocked his box over. He was on the ground, on his back, trying to reach for the knife. His other knife was in my backpack. I felt better knowing that I had a weapon, and I couldn’t believe how silly I’d been to refuse to take one of my dad’s. I leaned over him and waited for him to look at me, then placed the phone in front of his face.

“Thanks,” I said, and walked away.

“Wait, no! Give me back my phone. You have no right.”

I ignored him and went into the phone’s settings to turn off face recognition. I didn’t know what I would find, but it was worth checking.

I knew Taran was behind me, and I stopped to wait for him. He must’ve not been paying attention, because his roots knocked against my boots.

“Sorry,” he said.

“You can walk beside me, you know. No need to keep up the invisible act.”

After a moment’s hesitation, he said, “I will do that.”

We resumed walking, side by side, and I went into Markus’s messages first. The most recent messages were from two days ago. He’d exchanged a few with Kyla, but they didn’t reveal anything I didn’t know already. Most of the names in his message app were female, which made me think Markus was a busy guy. The name Soren Sinclair was nowhere to be found. Neither the name “Master”.

It was so ridiculous that I could barely wrap my mind around it. Maybe that was why I was so calm upon finding out that Soren was a cult leader. I was about to get married into a cult, and I wasn’t reacting like I should have. I was numb. Too much was happening, too fast, and I wasn’t ready to deal with it all. The first stage was denial.

“Anything interesting?” Taran asked.

I noticed he hadn’t gone back to his usual height. He was still a few heads taller than me, but looking at him was manageable. And when I said a few heads taller, I meant the part of his body that was his face. Above his eyes and what could be considered his forehead, his crown expanded into a tangle of branches and vines.

“Not yet,” I said.

I went into the photo gallery, and what I found made my stomach twist in a knot.

Pictures of me. Dozens of them, at various times during these past two days. Markus had been stalking me. As had Kyla. While I could live with the thought that Kyla had been watching me, it was worse knowing that Markus – a man – had done the same. All this time, I’d thought I was alone, and in fact...

This opened another can of worms. I closed the gallery app and slipped the phone into my pants pocket. I couldn’t look at it anymore. It reminded me that Markus and Kyla hadn’t been the only ones. The master stalker – the master watcher – had been Taran Sylvan, my bodyguard.

I felt myself blush to the tips of my ears, and on autopilot, I started walking faster. Taran matched my pace easily, and in frustration, I walked even faster.

“I’ve changed my mind,” I said. “Don’t walk beside me.”

I knew my tone took him aback. He stopped and let me get ahead of him, but it still wasn’t enough for me. I picked up the pace even more, to the point where I was almost jogging. I knew I couldn’t keep it up, but right now, I needed to move. I needed to occupy my mind with something, exhaust my body in hope that it would exhaust my embarrassment.

Taran had seen me freak out. He’d seen me cry. He’d heard me talk to myself, sing to myself, behave like a total idiot, like people usually behaved when they thought they were alone. Taran had seen me in my bra and panties!

And I couldn’t forget the wet dream I’d had in the morning.

Wait!

I could’ve sworn I’d fallen asleep sitting on a log, and when I woke up, I was lying in a nest of roots. Had that been Taran? Had I slept... on him?

I couldn’t think about that. I didn’t want to. But the more I tried to shift my attention, the more my mind went back to that specific moment when I was horny as hell, so horny that I imagined rubbing myself against something hard. Or maybe I hadn’t imagined it at all.

No, it wasn’t possible. It was just a wet dream, and science said that when one dreamed, one’s body was in sleep paralysis. I couldn’t have acted out on my dream because I couldn’t move. If not for sleep paralysis, people would sleepwalk and do all kinds of crazy things all the time. I had to trust science.

“Thea, you’re going too fast.”

“Leave me alone.”

“I’m sorry, did I do something? Did I offend you in some way?”

“Just leave me alone, Taran.”

My face was burning. I felt so embarrassed that I could die. Maybe it would’ve been better if the assassin had done his job. Now I had to live with the question of whether I’d actually rubbed myself on Taran’s roots, while not wanting to know the answer.

“Okay but be careful. You’re going to hurt yourself.”

The terrain was rough and slippery after the rain. The forest was too dense for the sun to dry the wet leaves and mud, and Taran was right, I should’ve been careful, but I couldn’t focus on that. I wanted to run and hide. An impossible task when my bodyguard was a monster, but I still wanted to put some serious distance between us, at least, so he wouldn’t see my beet red face and ask me what was going on.

I was hot. I felt like peeling off all my clothes and throwing them on the ground, stomping them with my boots. I hated that I had to be so covered up because of my stupid phobia of all things nature. My hands felt clammy in my gloves. This nightmare was never-ending.

I pushed myself harder, walked faster, and then the ground just slipped from under my feet. I barely had time to make a sound before the wind got knocked out of me. I fell hard, then started rolling down a slope that had come out of nowhere. The soil was soft and crumbly, and I couldn’t grab on to anything.

I hit the bottom of the ravine, face-down in the mud. When I tried to get up, sharp pain shot through my left ankle.

Chapter Fifteen

Taran

I’d seen Thea cry because she didn’t want to go into the woods on her first day, and now she was lying in the mud, dirty, breathing so fast that she was almost hyperventilating, but she wasn’t crying. She refused to shed a single tear, and I wondered if it was because of me.

The ravine she’d fallen into was deep. I jumped in and landed with a thud next to her. She let out a whimper and looked up at me. Her green eyes were wide, and she seemed terrified.

“Are you okay?” I asked, leaning over her.

“No. My ankle hurts.”

She’d turned onto her back, but she wasn’t trying to sit up. She was frozen, not moving a finger. Her backpack had tumbled out of her reach.

“Let me see.”

She watched me as I studied her ankle, but seeing how she was wearing boots, it wasn’t like I could see anything.

“May I?”

“What? What do you want to do?”

My branches were already reaching for her foot, and she stared at them warily.

“I need to check and see if it’s broken.”

“It’s only sprained,” she said. “It will be fine. I’ll be fine. Just give me a second.”

“So, you don’t want me to check?”

“No.”

She was firm, even though her voice was shaking a little. I shrunk, so I was closer to the ground. Looking at her from so high up felt weird. Lying on the ground, she seemed even smaller, frailer. Helpless. I hated that I couldn’t do anything for her, because she wouldn’t let me.

“How can I help?” I asked. “Tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.”

“You can’t. Just give me...” She swallowed heavily. “Give me a second.”

“You’re in pain.”

“It’s not so bad.”

“It looks like you’re in a lot of pain. Don’t lie to me, Thea.”

She gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, then opened them again. She was breathing a little more calmly, but I wasn’t convinced. Something was up with her, and she wasn’t telling me.

“How am I supposed to help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong?” I said.

“You can’t... You can’t help me.”

I frowned. “I can carry you. You can’t walk with a sprained ankle, so I will carry you from now on. It’s nothing to me.”

“No.”

My branches reached for her, and she batted them away with her hands. On the bright side, she wasn’t frozen anymore.

“Don’t, Taran.”

“I’m only trying to help.”

“You’re not! Don’t touch me! I’m not... I’m not ready. Give me a second to... catch my breath.”

I pulled back and gave her space.

She removed her gloves slowly. Her hands were shaking. She looked at them, then gingerly pushed her hair from her face. The dark strands were stuck to her cheeks and forehead, along with a generous amount of mud. She let out a whimper, and it seemed to me like every move she made was causing her pain.

“Talk to me,” I insisted. “Tell me what’s going on. Did you hurt your back?”

I didn’t know a lot about human anatomy, but back injuries were a problem in most species of monsters too.

“No.”

“Then what’s wrong?” It was like pulling teeth with her. Which, granted, I didn’t have. But I’d learned the expression from Harrison, who used it a lot with me.

“I’m covered in mud. Dirt. I’m so dirty. Who knows what’s in all this dirt... Dead insects, rotten leaves, worms... So many bacteria.” Her breathing rate increased again. “I can’t... I feel like I’m suffocating. It itches. Everywhere. There are things... crawling all over my skin.”

My branches reached out for her again. “There’s nothing. Nothing’s crawling over you.”

“No, there is. I can feel it.”

“Thea, there’s nothing. Trust me.”

“I have to get out of here. Out of this hole.”

“Okay, then let me carry you.”

“No.”

She sat up then, and it took all her strength. She pushed herself to her feet, but when she tried to put weight on her injured foot, she screamed in pain. I shot back to my original size, so she could use my trunk for support. Her trembling hand touched my bark, and it felt incredible. For the first time, she was touching me without gloves. Her hand was delicate, with long fingers and short, natural nails. It was obvious she’d never done any kind of hard work in her life.

“Thea, you can’t walk. What’s wrong? Why won’t you let me help you?”

“Because!”

It was beyond me why she was being so stubborn. We were wasting time, when we could’ve been out of the ravine by now, and on our way to the nearest stream, where she could wash her face if the mud bothered her so much.

I held back and refused to react to her little outburst. After a moment of silence, she mellowed down and looked into my eyes. Her hand was still resting on my trunk. Without my support, she would’ve crumbled to the ground, and that was something she wanted to avoid at all costs.

“Because you look like a tree, and... I know you’re not one, but you look like one. You’re part of nature. And I’m afraid of nature.”

“What?!”

She took a deep breath and steeled herself.

“I suffer from biophobia. I was diagnosed when I was young, but I never told anyone. I didn’t want my parents to know. They had such high expectations of me, and I didn’t want them to think that I was sick. I let them believe I’m just not the outdoorsy type, and I prefer reading or painting in my room.”

I waited a beat. Two beats. She didn’t expand on it, so I had to ask...

“What even is biophobia?!”

“It’s fear of nature, aren’t you listening? Fear of natural environments, from, say, a garden to a pond or a forest. Anything that has to do with nature gives me anxiety. Animals, plants, insects, birds. All of it. I can’t explain it any better. I know it doesn’t make sense. Phobias rarely do. They usually come from trauma, but after years of therapy, I have yet to discover what traumatic event in my childhood could’ve possibly triggered it. I just know that I’d rather be inside. At all times. And I’d rather not touch anything that’s... how should I put it? Organic.”

“That’s why you’re wearing gloves,” I said. “And so many layers in full summer.”

“Yes. And I’m constantly hot and uncomfortable, but there’s no way I can be in nature if I’m not covered from top to bottom. Even so, it’s hard.”

“I understand.”

Her eyes widened. “You do?”

“Yes.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “No, you don’t. You couldn’t possibly.”

“What I mean is that I believe you. It is a serious problem, you’re dealing with immense discomfort right now, and all I want to do is help. And you will tell me again that I look like a tree, which is true, but I’m not one. Birds know to avoid me. So do insects and all other living beings that usually make their homes in trees. See? There is no dirt on me. No mud.” I lifted one of my roots. “Even as I crawl over the ground, it doesn’t stick to me. All the leaves and vines you see are my own. They’re part of my body.”

“Still, you’re a part of nature,” she said.

“Just like you are. We look different, but we’re both sentient beings. We have awareness.”

She regarded me with reluctance. At least she wasn’t pulling away, which was a good sign.

“Come on, let me carry you. Let’s get out of here. I know a stream nearby where you can wash up. And you need food and water, too. You’ve had a long day.”

“And it isn’t over yet.”

“That’s why you should let me help you. I broke an important clause in my contract with your father by revealing myself to you, but I think it was the right thing. This journey is hard, especially considering your affliction. Let me make it easier for you. I promise, you’re safer if a carry you than if you walk on your own.”

She looked at her injured ankle. She tried to put some weight on it and winced.

“Nope, it’s not fixed yet,” she said.

I laughed. “It won’t get fixed on its own. I’ll make a splint for you, but first, let’s get you clean.”

“Okay.” She nodded, more to herself than to me. “Okay, you can carry me.”

I lifted her gently, using only two branches, as if I had arms of my own. I didn’t want to touch her more than was necessary. She’d trusted me with her secret. She hadn’t told her family about her fear of nature, but she had told me. It felt special in a way. Now I knew how to protect her better.

“My backpack,” she said, alarmed.

“Got it,” I said, swinging one of my back branches to the front to show her I had it by the straps. “Nothing to worry about.”

She chuckled. “Sorry. I’m not used to this.”

“And by this you mean...”

“Being carried by a tree.”

“Not a tree.”

“I know, I know. Just teasing you.” She patted my trunk lightly, then shifted a little to make herself more comfortable.

The effect she had on me was undeniable. I was already hard for her. My cock grew even bigger, and I could only hope that if she ever lay eyes on it, she would think it was just another branch, albeit shorter and stumpier.

This was going to be... interesting.

Chapter Sixteen

Thea

Taran kept his word and took me to a stream. He set me down gently. I hurried to wash my hands and my face, rolling my sleeves up my arms. It wasn’t enough. I needed to wash all of myself. No matter how many times I told my brain that there was nothing on me, nothing crawling on my skin, it didn’t want to get the message.

“Can you give me some privacy?” I asked.

“Oh, of course. Sorry. So sorry.” He turned and looked around. “I will go over there and start working on your splint.”

“Okay. Keep your back turned.”

He promised, then left me alone. Not that I knew how he worked – if he had a back and a front. He seemed to have only one set of eyes, and his face stayed in one place as he changed his size. Which he seemed to do a lot. I’d noticed that when he walked, he would adapt to the terrain and the vegetation. He never bumped into anything, never tripped. He had a smooth way of moving through the forest. He was much more efficient at traveling than I was, that was for sure.

I removed my boots and pants with some difficulty, then sat down on a rock and removed my sweater. Because of my ankle, it was hard to wash, so I considered my options for a moment. In the end, I decided that I would just lower myself into the shallow stream. The water was cold and refreshing. Maybe a little too cold – close to freezing – but I got used to it quick. It was doing wonders for my ankle, which was starting to swell. I had another set of undergarments, so I wasn’t worried about getting my panties and bra wet.

I’d brought a second set of clothes with me, thinking that when I reached the resort after hiking for three days and sleeping in questionable conditions for two nights, I’d want to change, so no one would see me in a vulnerable state. Now, the problem was I’d already used my spare turtleneck sweater and gotten it ruined. It was crusty with mud, and I didn’t think giving it a wash in the stream would be enough. That meant I’d have to slip back into the first sweater, which had a few tears and blood stains from when Kyla had forced me to go through a broken window. At least it was black, so the stains weren’t visible.

I closed my eyes and relaxed, letting the cold water soothe me. My hair was dirty too, but I didn’t have the energy to wash it. I didn’t have any soap or shampoo. I hadn’t thought I’d stop to take a bath in the woods – a literal place of nightmare for me. I did have toothpaste and a toothbrush, and I hadn’t used them this morning. I reached for my backpack now and took them out. There was no excuse for ignoring my dental hygiene. Not even my biophobia, or the fact that I’d been attacked by two assassins in the span of twenty-four hours.

I washed my face next and used a bit of hydrating cream. Now I had energy for my hair. It felt so good to be clean. I scrubbed myself the best I could, getting all the mud and dirt out. When I was done, I dragged myself out of the stream and quickly changed my panties and bra, all the while covering myself and looking back at Taran to make sure he was keeping his promise. I slipped into the fresh pair of pants and the torn sweater, then put on a fresh pair of socks. The boots needed cleaning, though.

“You can look now,” I told Taran.

I heard him rustle and shuffle towards me. When I looked up, he was standing on the pebbled shore, holding a weird contraption in his branches.

“That’s the splint?”

“I made it from my own branches and vines,” he said. “Let’s see if it fits.”

He reached for my left ankle, and I let him cradle it in his spindly twigs. Interacting with him like this was so odd. Because he was doing all these things that people did, except he had no hands. It was a miracle, but he wasn’t clumsy at all.

The splint looked like a boot, but when he slipped my foot in it, I felt it tighten around my ankle. It held it fixed and straight, and after a minute, I had to admit it wasn’t too bad.

“How will I walk in it?”

“You won’t. I’ll carry you.”

“All the way to the resort?”

“Yes.”

“But that’s... a day and a half.”

“I don’t mind.”

He said it so simply, like I weighed nothing, and it wasn’t even worth the discussion. He grabbed my backpack, dug in it for a second, then pulled out my water bottle and a sandwich. I accepted them, dumbfounded. Of course he knew what I had in my backpack. He’d watched me all this time.

I blushed once more, remembering why I’d tried to run from him in the first place. My recklessness had landed me at the bottom of a ravine, with a sprained ankle, which in turn had landed me in his arms. Erm... branches. The good part was that I didn’t flinch anymore when he touched me, or when I touched him. My brain had registered that he was more human than tree.

I ate my sandwich as he made himself busy with my boots. He washed them in the stream, then left them to dry. He picked up my clothes next, and I was glad I’d hidden my wet undergarments in a baggie that I’d stuffed in a pocket of my backpack.

“Do you want me to wash these for you?”

“God, no!”

He folded them neatly and placed them next to my backpack. I finished my sandwich, but I didn’t feel like I was ready to get back on the road. I was tired. And confused. What the hell was I doing? Why?

I knew why. For Matthew. This was all so my brother wouldn’t have his reputation ruined. But when I’d agreed to marry Soren, I hadn’t known he’d built a legit cult around him. The people he’d brainwashed with God knew what ideas were so obsessed with him that they were willing to commit murder. I wondered what his cult was about. Markus had said Soren loved nature. He loved the trees. That was bullshit. Soren only loved himself and saw his own interests.

I pulled out Markus’s phone and opened the photo gallery app. First things first, I selected and deleted all the pictures he’d taken of me. Taran watched me do it. He didn’t say anything. He was looking over my shoulder, and I didn’t tell him to stop. Then I went through the rest of the gallery.

There were pictures of the forest, a few selfies, and pictures of the resort where I was going to get married tomorrow evening. If I got there in one piece. Markus seemed so young without the mask, wearing light colored clothes and a big smile on his face. He didn’t look like the man who’d tried to slit my throat a few hours ago.

“Do you think he got out?” I asked Taran.

“Even if he got the knife, it’s not easy to cut through my branches. They’re not like a regular tree’s.”

That made sense. Taran was a monster. It was important not to forget that.

I scrolled through more pictures, until I came across some that looked rather disturbing. They were pictures of naked people in the forest.

“What the...”

I felt Taran lean in closer.

Men and women, completely naked, were hugging trees and doing... a little more than that... Women were rubbing themselves against tree roots, and men were using branches to caress them and themselves. The more I scrolled through the photos, the more disturbing they got. One turned out to be a video. It took me by surprise, and my thumb hovered over the pause button, but I was too shocked to press it.

Sensual music played, and people were dancing and moaning. It was all happening in a clearing. They were rubbing themselves against trees, having sex with each other, men and women, rolling in the grass and dirt, riding dildos that were clearly made of wood. When the one who was filming – Markus, I supposed – moved to take a closeup of a woman impaled on a smooth branch, I freaked out and threw away the phone.

The video was still playing. Luckily, the phone had landed on the shore and not in the water. Taran grabbed it quickly and stopped the video.

We looked at each other in utter shock.

“What the hell did I just watch?” I asked.

“It looked like... tree lovers,” Taran said. “Maybe what they have is the opposite of your biophobia.”

“No. No-no-no. The opposite of biophobia is called biophilia, but it’s not that, trust me. That was an orgy, and it had nothing to do with tree loving. Cults do orgies. It’s their thing. I’ve read about it.”

Taran gave me back the phone.

“So, you think your future husband is involved?” he asked.

I covered my face with my hands. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore. It’s like I’ve lived a lie.”

“Do you think your father knows?”

I wanted to answer him, but I couldn’t. I wanted to say no. Of course my dad didn’t know about Soren’s fucked up cult, with their fucked up orgies, or he wouldn’t have asked me to marry him. Hell, he would’ve ended the friendship years ago and cut all ties, business and money be damned. By dad wasn’t perfect, but he wasn’t a pervert. He would’ve never pushed his daughter into something like this.

I rubbed my eyes, then looked up at Taran. God, he was tall! And God, he was inhuman! After what I’d just seen on Markus’s phone, the last thing I wanted to stare at was a tree. And I knew it was selfish of me, but I needed a break.

“I’ve noticed you change your shape sometimes,” I said. “Or your size.”

“Yes, it’s something that leshy can do easily.”

“Can you change shape completely?”

“What do you mean?”

I shrugged, not knowing how to express what I wanted.

“Like, can I become something else?”

“I guess.”

He averted his gaze for a second, then looked back at me and gave me a smile.

“Not completely, no. But I can usually do a good job of looking similar to whatever I want.”

“That is fascinating.”

“Do you want me to show you?”

I sat up, filled with curiosity. “Yes, please.”

“Well, what do you want me to turn into, Thea?”

“Not turn into. Just... maybe become a little more... human?”

Chapter Seventeen

Taran

If taking the shape of a human male was going to make her feel more comfortable around me, then I was willing to give it a shot. I’d never tried to achieve a human shape before, aside from morphing my face to look a little more human so my handler, Harrison, wouldn’t freak out every time we had a meeting. It had helped in my interaction with Thea, too. But now she wanted more.

Given her biophobia, I could understand her request. It didn’t come from a place of entitlement. She was doing her best, and given the circumstances, she’d progressed a lot from the frail, anxious woman who couldn’t make herself go into the woods. I wanted to make this easier for her. I wanted her to stop flinching when I reached out to touch her, and I wanted her to hold my gaze with trust and confidence.

It was a small price to pay.

It wasn’t like I was betraying my own nature or species.

I began morphing my body, not entirely sure what I was doing. I shrunk my trunk, glued my roots together to form two legs, and narrowed the region between what was supposed to be my chest and what was my head, forming a long, elegant neck. I turned two of my thickest branches into arms, and grew long hands with spindly fingers at the ends of them. My head was a bit more difficult. I simply had too many vines and branches, and their purpose was to protect me from the heat of the sun, from rain, storms, and other weather-related things. I couldn’t give up on all of it, so I settled for turning my leaves and vines into long, dark hair, and leaving a few of my branches standing atop my head in the form of what could be considered horns.

This was the best I could do. From my leaves, I created clothes, so Thea wouldn’t feel embarrassed. A pair of leaf pants was all I needed to cover my ever-growing erection. Now that I looked more like a man than a leshy, it was even more obvious, and no amount of reasoning with my cock would make it retreat into my body.

I extended my arms before me and looked at them. They were strong and sinewy. I brushed them over my leaf shirt, then looked at Thea, eager and equally afraid to see her reaction.

Was this what she wanted? Would she consider me... handsome?

“Wow, that is...”

She was speechless, her mouth agape. I didn’t know whether that was a good thing or not.

“What?” I encouraged her.

“That is simply amazing!”

I beamed at her. Now that my face was decidedly human, my smile was different – bigger, brighter.

“What do you think? Do you like it?”

“Come here.” She reached out her hand. “Come closer.”

I bent my knees and knelt in front of her. I’d never done such a thing before. Leshy didn’t sit, kneel, or lie down. We just stood, and we lived our entire lives standing.

Her fingers brushed my cheek. I didn’t take my eyes off her. She seemed to be mesmerized with my new face. Her gaze traveled from my eyes to my straight nose, down to my full lips, then back up to take in my long, tangled hair, and my branches that had become horns.

“You look half man and half stag,” she said.

“Is that a compliment?”

“I suppose so,” she chuckled.

“I’m happy it makes you feel more comfortable.”

She nodded. “It does. Thank you for doing this for me.”

I would’ve done anything for her. Anything. No questions asked, no regrets after. Her soft hand on my face, her fingers in my hair as she tried to detangle it – it was everything. I lived for her touch.

And I knew... I knew, and I couldn’t forget she was still Thea Everhart, and her father was still Bill Everhart – the tree killer, as Markus had fairly named him – but in this moment, when I was so close to her that I could feel her breath tickling my newly acquired nose, none of that mattered. It wasn’t enough to deter me.

Though it should have been. It should’ve been more than enough to make me want to destroy her whole family.

“Can I touch your face?” I asked.

She was taken aback for a moment, and almost pulled away, but then whispered, “I guess that’s only fair.”

I gently pushed her long, dark hair off her right shoulder. It was wet and heavy, and a few strands remained stuck to her jaw. I brushed them off and felt her soft skin under my fingertips. I dragged a deep breath in. My chest didn’t expand like a human’s, because that wasn’t how I breathed. I breathed through my entire body, and it didn’t show in a physical way. I was filled with her scent, mixed with the freshness of the stream she’d just bathed in, and the scent of pine and earth. It was delicious. I only wanted to breathe her.

I felt the familiar stir in my cock. There was pain at the base – that was how much I wanted her.

She was the first to end the moment. She leaned away and squeezed her hand into a fist, placing it on her lap. She averted her gaze and looked in the distance, at the forest.

“We should get going,” she said.

I’d barely touched her hair and chin. I wanted more. I wanted to prolong this moment somehow. And then I remembered – she was wounded. The cuts from the broken glass couldn’t have healed so fast.

“This morning, you patched up your wounds. Do you want me to check them?”

She winced and touched her ribs. “I removed the bandages so I could wash. They’re fine. They’re just scratches.”

“One of them was deep.”

She hesitated, then lifted her sweater. There was a long cut on her ribs that was bleeding a little. It was nothing to worry about, but if she was giving me this chance to touch her again, I wasn’t going to squander it.

“I’ll bandage it for you,” I said.

“Okay. Make it quick. We really have to go. I think we only have a few more hours of light, and then we’ll have to stop for the night.”

I took the first aid kit from her backpack and started patting the wound gently to clean the blood. I took my time, marveling at her tiny waist, the gentle curve of her hip, and the round mound of her breast right above her ribs. I wanted nothing more than to place my hand flat on her bare skin and feel how she breathed, how her heart beat in her ribcage.

I’d never thought human anatomy could be so fascinating, but maybe it was just female anatomy. Or maybe it was just Thea. I didn’t want to see any other woman naked. Only her.

I bandaged the wound and packed up the first aid kit. Thea tucked her sweater into her pants and stood up. She swayed a little and grabbed onto my arm. I was more than happy to support her.

“I’ll carry you, remember?”

“But you look human now. Well, sort of.”

“So what?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know.”

I shouldered her backpack, then lifted her in my arms bridal style.

“There’s absolutely no difference. I’m just as strong.”

“Okay.” She placed one arm around my neck and her other hand on my chest. “If you say so. I can try to walk, though.”

“And you’ll be too slow.”

Come to think of it, I would’ve been too slow if I used my feet as they were now – human. It would’ve been a waste of time, and very unnatural to me, so from the knees down, I changed my legs into roots. That was more like it.

Thea didn’t even notice. As I put the stream behind us, she dropped her head on my shoulder and asked,

“Is it okay if I doze off? I’m so tired.”

I smiled. “Sleep. I’ll take care of you.”

Chapter Eighteen

Thea

I couldn’t sleep, but I just wanted to keep my eyes closed and enjoy being carried, held, protected. Who would’ve thought I needed closeness so badly? I was a solitary creature. I had friends, but every time I saw them, I felt drained after two hours and wanted to go home and hide under the covers with a book. The last time I’d dated someone was a few years ago, and the relationship had been lackluster. We came from the same world, our parents were friends, and we should’ve had a lot in common. We didn’t. Then I found out he was seeing other girls, and I made him my ex over text.

It was different with Taran. We’d just spent an hour at the stream, talking and getting to know each other, and I didn’t feel drained at all. I felt energized. I’d lied earlier when I said I was exhausted. Well, not really. I was. My ankle hurt, the cuts on my body throbbed, and my muscles were sore. Physically, I was a mess. I would need at least a week to recover after this ordeal. But mentally, I was alert. He’d made me curious. About him, about his world...

I had so many questions, but I needed to take a moment to think first. Reassess my situation. Taran was right. Now that I knew who Soren was, was I still going to marry him? My brother’s future was at stake, but was it worth this sacrifice? I loved Matthew with all my being. The things I’d seen on Markus’s phone were scary, though. Scarier than him trying to kill me.

Now that I knew Taran was here and had been here all along, I was at ease. The bodyguards that worked for Monster Security Agency were professionals, and my father had chosen him well, given the terrain and his skills. He knew the woods better than anyone. Now I was certain he’d helped me with the bear, too. He must’ve stopped the animal, otherwise it would’ve run after me. There was no way a human could outrun a bear, so it must’ve been Taran. He’d brought me my backpack, too. So, I hadn’t hallucinated. I’d lost my backpack in my madness to get away from the bear, and he’d silently retrieved it and left it where I would find it.

It was overwhelming to think he’d watched over me since the moment I entered the woods and this nightmare began. I was still embarrassed that he’d seen me in my most vulnerable moments, but he hadn’t said anything so far. He didn’t seem to think that I was a weakling, or that I was a stupid girl doing a stupid thing.

Maybe he wasn’t judging me because he was my bodyguard, and his job was to protect me, not regal me with his personal opinions. I hoped it wasn’t just that. Not that I should’ve cared what he thought... He was working for my dad. I didn’t care about the chauffeur’s opinion, so why would I care about Taran’s?

Except he’d changed his appearance for me. No one had ever changed something for me. It felt special. Until I saw the man that he was emerge from under all those branches and vines, I hadn’t realized how handsome he was. In his leshy form, I’d noticed his personality – kind and caring. I’d noticed his strength. Knives or no knives, Markus hadn’t stood a chance. Already, all those were qualities that would make a girl melt. And then he’d become this tall, strong, lean man with long black hair, eyes as dark as the night, a sharp chin, a perfect jaw, and beautiful cheekbones. He’d sculpted the straightest, most noble nose I’d ever seen on his young face, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d done it specifically for me.

“You’re not sleeping,” he said.

We’d been walking for an hour.

“I’m resting.”

He didn’t say anything. I opened my eyes, feeling embarrassed that he’d found me out. What was he doing? Listening to the way I was breathing? I noticed how the vegetation moved out of his way as he passed, and I remembered it had done the same for me. At that time, I didn’t understand what was happening. I’d thought it was the wind or my imagination. Again, it had been Taran.

“I can try to walk if you’re tired,” I said.

“I never get tired.”

“Never?”

“Never.”

Oh, to be a monster. Compared to them, humans were a joke.

After a while, he was the one to break the silence. “I want to ask you something, and you don’t have to answer.”

“Okay.”

“Why are you doing this?”

I was afraid that was going to be the question. Of course. Anyone would’ve asked me why. I was starting to ask myself why.

“I’m doing it for my brother. He got into a bit of trouble, and Soren can make it public. He owns a newspaper. And before you ask me, I don’t know what my brother did, but the story landed on one of his editors’ desks, and he promised to kill it if my dad asked me to marry him.”

“And that’s not fucked up at all.”

I chuckled. “I know it’s fucked up. But what was I supposed to do? Say no?”

“That’s exactly what you should’ve done.”

I sighed. “Matthew is my brother. I want to help him if I can.”

“Not like this.”

“You don’t understand.”

“It’s a marriage of convenience,” he said. “What don’t I understand?”

“They’re the norm in my world. No one gets married for love. Even my parents got married to join their fortunes. They fell in love later, after they had Matthew and me.”

“That is... sad.”

“They’re happy. Even if it was hard at first, they love and respect each other. They’re best friends.”

“Is your father much older than your mother?”

I laughed. “He’s a bit older, yes.”

“Soren Sinclair is a lot older than you, I hear.”

“Yeah.” He wasn’t telling me anything new. At this point, it was more like Taran was the voice of my conscience. He was reflecting my thoughts back at me, forcing me to dig deeper. “I’m not going to pretend I like this.”

“You’re going to have to pretend if you marry him. You’ll have to pretend for the rest of your life.”

I fell silent. I thought he was going to push the matter, but he respected my silence. The sun was starting to set. Another day had gone by, and I was getting closer and closer to the resolution.

“We’ll have to stop soon,” Taran said, as if reading my thoughts.

“Whenever you want to stop, it’s fine by me. It’s not like I’m doing the walking.”

He laughed. His chest didn’t rumble like I expected it to. I couldn’t hear a heartbeat either, nor feel it rise and fall as he breathed. He was so different, so mysterious... I had no idea how a leshy worked. Did he ever eat? Did he need to eat?

I had a feeling I wasn’t going to sleep tonight. Too many things to think about, too many questions to explore.

Chapter Nineteen

Taran

There was no abandoned cabin in this part of the woods. We stopped in a clearing after the sun set and it was too dark for Thea to see. Not that she needed to see where we were going, but I was also thinking about her comfort. She’d been shifting and shuffling in my arms for the past hour. She needed a break, and I needed it too. All her moving around was making my cock strain in my pants.

I brought her a clean, shiny rock to sit on, and she set about making a fire. While she heated up a can of soup, I looked for a good place to build a nest for her.

“I’ve never slept outside before,” she said. There was a hint of anxiety in her voice.

“I can gather leaves and make you a decent bed.”

She shivered. “Leaves from the ground?”

“Well, yes.”

“Won’t they be damp after the rain? Rotten? Or full of insects?”

Right. I had to remember she was suffering from a crippling fear of all organic things that lived in the woods.

“I may have another solution,” I said. “But it would mean going back to how I looked before.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Explain.”

“I can make you a nest from my branches, vines, and leaves. I’m clean of any insects, dampness, or rot. I promise.”

She laughed. “I believe you.” She was silent for a moment as she stirred her soup. “I’m sorry I’m being so difficult. Markus said I should’ve never left my ivory tower. He wasn’t wrong.”

“It’s not your fault,” I said.

“Maybe, but it’s stupid to expect nature to be the way I want it to be, just so I can feel comfortable.”

“You have me, and I can help. Nothing wrong with that.”

She looked at me, biting her lower lip nervously. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

I let my body grow and morph back into my original shape. It felt good. The human shape I’d taken for Thea was too constrictive. I wasn’t used to being so short and thin. I liked to occupy space, and be tall enough to see in the distance, survey the landscape with ease. As a leshy, I could grow bigger than all the trees in this forest. I didn’t do it because it would’ve been impossible to interact with Thea.

To make it as pristine for her as possible, I started building in the middle of the clearing, away from any trees and bushes. I cleaned the spot from twigs and leaves, then used my branches to cover the ground. Over my branches, I placed leaves, which I shook out of my crown and let fall in a thick blanket.

“Incredible,” Thea remarked. She was eating her soup, and she’d stopped with the spoon between the can and her mouth. “I don’t understand how you do that. Doesn’t it hurt to snap off your own branches and pluck your own leaves?”

“It’s how my body works.”

“And you don’t feel anything?”

“I feel some pinching and itching, but that’s it. And I regenerate immediately, see?”

I demonstrated by growing a branch. She watched with wide eyes, nodding.

“That’s amazing,” she said. “If I lose a limb, it will not regenerate, let me tell you. And it will hurt like hell.”

I laughed. “I know. You don’t have to look while I do this, if it makes you feel uncomfortable.”

“It fascinates me.”

The fact that Thea found me fascinating made me feel good about myself. To her, I was truly useful. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been useful to someone, aside from the jobs I did for Monster Security Agency. Since I worked with monsters only, I’d been useful to them, but only to a certain extent. Thea was my first client who needed me fully and completely. Almost as if she couldn’t exist without me, at least not in the woods. Had it not been for me, she would’ve been dead the first day.

I kept building her nest, big enough for her to sit and lie in. I created an arch over it, then used it to build a roof. The end result was better than an old, dusty cabin, if I said so myself. It looked like an oversized egg with a leaf-covered floor that doubled as a comfy mattress, three rounded walls, and a round roof. The opening was big enough for Thea to sneak into the nest, and for plenty of air to circulate. I was proud of my work.

“What do you think?” I turned to her, and at the same time reshaped my body into its more human form.

“I have no words. Thank you!” She stood up and came to inspect it. She poked her head in and patted the bed of leaves. “Wow. This is soft.”

I beamed. “I’m glad you like it.”

She threw her arms around my neck. It took me by surprise. I almost pulled away, not knowing how to react, but she pulled me in and hugged me.

“No one has ever done something like this for me. You built me something, literally from your own self.”

I might’ve looked human, but I still couldn’t blush. Which was a good thing. A not so good thing was that the upper part of Thea’s body was pressed to mine, and I could feel the roundness of her breasts through her sweater. If she hugged me any harder, she would certainly feel my cock press against her belly. I patted her lightly on the arm, which I realized was a ridiculous gesture. I wanted to pull her in, hide my face in her beautiful hair and breathe in her unique scent, but something like that was unacceptable. She was my principal, and I was her bodyguard.

“Oh, sorry.” She pulled away and chuckled awkwardly. “I got carried away for a second. I’m just so happy I don’t have to sleep under the open sky.”

“Just doing my job,” I murmured.

She rolled her eyes. “Please. This is more than doing your job. Or wait. Do you build shelters for all your clients?”

I laughed. “No, this is my first time. I hope I did a decent job.”

“You did more than a decent job. I feel like this is going to be more comfortable than my bed back home.”

The bed she was probably never going to sleep in again. Because she’d be sleeping in Sinclair’s bed from tomorrow on.

I had to stop thinking about that. My job had always been to deliver her safely to her husband-to-be. It didn’t matter if he was a jerk, twenty years older than her, and led a crazy cult that had orgies in the woods. Thea had agreed to marry him, and if she didn’t change her mind, there was nothing I could do about it.

Gods, I still hoped she was going to change her mind. Maybe a good night’s sleep was all she needed.

She kicked off her boots and slipped inside, lying on her back, testing the softness of the makeshift mattress. Maybe I should’ve made her a pillow too. It wasn’t too late.

“Come here.”

“What?” I peered inside the nest.

She got up and moved towards me on all fours. “I said come here.”

“Inside?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” I wanted to follow her request, but I knew it would only get me in trouble.

She rolled her eyes again. “I want to ask you something.”

“Okay.” I fell to my knees and crawled into the tight space with her.

For Thea, the space was just perfect. But for the both of us, it was a little small. I shortened my legs. I’d left them a little long when I’d changed them from my usual roots. There was no need for me to have such long legs.

Thea didn’t even notice. She sat with her legs crossed and looked at me. I was feeling slightly uncomfortable. I was on my side, using my elbow for support. I’d never been in this position before. Leshy didn’t lie down or lie on their side. It was unnatural to us. We had no need to put our bodies in so many sitting and lying positions.

“What did you want to ask me?”

“You’ve watched me all this time,” she said.

“Yes.”

“You were at the stream when I washed myself?”

“You know I was there. You told me to keep my back turned.”

“No. The first time. Yesterday, after the bear chased me.”

I averted my gaze. I was starting to see where this was going. “Yes, I was there.” It wasn’t like I could lie to her. She already knew. She just wanted confirmation.

“And you were at the cabin. This nest looks awfully familiar. You covered and protected me from Kyla.”

“Yes.”

She covered her face with one hand and chuckled. “I even thanked you. I put my hand on your trunk, like this, and thanked you.” She touched my shoulder.

I would’ve said that made me hold my breath, but it wasn’t something a leshy could do. We breathed through our entire body, all the time.

“And later that morning,” she continued, “When I fell asleep... Um... did you move me from the log I clearly remember sitting on and place me on your roots?”

“You were about to fall over. I caught you, and... You needed rest.”

“So, you held me.”

It was hard to look into her eyes when she was being so direct, but at the same time, her eyes were so mesmerizing that it was impossible to look away. Every time I averted my gaze, it wasn’t for more than a few seconds.

“Are you mad at me?” I asked.

She shook her head and scooted closer. Her hand traveled from my shoulder to my neck. I leaned into her touch, which was not lost on her.

“Have you changed your mind about Sinclair?”

“I don’t know, Taran. I don’t want to think about that now.”

“What do you want to think about?”

“Anything else but that. Will you help distract me?” Her hand caressed my temple.

I smiled. “I’m at your service.”

“So, it’s part of your job?” She said it in a banter-y way.

“Consider it a bonus. This is me going the extra mile.”

I reached out and brushed her cheek with my spindly fingers.

“I’ll give you a good review.” She turned her head and bit my thumb playfully.

“Thea... Are you sure about this?”

“I think you like me,” she said. “Tell me if I interpreted the signs wrong.”

“You didn’t. But the question is, do you like me?”

She looked down, then back up at me through her thick lashes. Her finger traveled the length of my nose, from in between my eyebrows to the tip, and I swore it was as if she’d done it to my cock.

“I do.” She shifted even closer, until our lips were only inches away. “And I don’t know if I’ll get married tomorrow, but what I do know is that I’m a virgin, and I want you to be my first.”

How I didn’t die right there and then... would forever be a mystery to me.

Chapter Twenty

Thea

He smelled like the forest. It should’ve given me pause, but it didn’t. He leaned in, and our lips brushed together for a moment, then he pulled away to look into my eyes and see my reaction. I answered the question in his dark eyes with a nod.

He grabbed the back of my head gently, his spindly fingers digging into my hair, and pulled me towards him. I inclined my head and closed my eyes. When he kissed me, the pressure of his lips was eager and insistent. It was strange to kiss... not flesh. His lips were smooth, like polished wood. I placed my hands on his chest, and he was warm to the touch, sinewy under my exploring fingertips. He parted his lips, and something poked out of his mouth, seeking my tongue. I let out a small moan. I was hesitant for a second, but whether he felt it or not, he held me in place, and my tongue felt the silky texture of a long appendage with a rather pointy tip. I pulled away, and he let me.

“I’m sorry, I...” I covered my mouth with my hand, eyes wide at the sight of the appendage slipping back inside his mouth.

“I frighten you,” he said. There was sadness in his voice.

“No. This is just... new to me.”

“I’m not human, Thea. I can change my body to resemble that of a human, but I’m not. I’ll never be. I don’t have a tongue because I don’t need to taste and chew food.”

“I understand.”

He moved away, and I clung to him. I couldn’t let him go. I wanted him. But I realized it wasn’t fair to him that I’d asked him to be something he was not.

“Turn back,” I said. “Be a leshy. Be yourself.”

He shook his head. “I would frighten you even more. Your fear of nature... I am nature itself.”

I thought about that for a moment. What he was saying was true, so I looked within and tried to decide if I was afraid of Taran. He’d explained how his body worked, to some extent. He wasn’t a regular tree. He had sentience, he was a creature with thoughts and feelings, able to communicate his own desires. That made me different from the people I’d seen in Markus’s video, who were practically harassing trees, rubbing themselves against them and doing other unspeakable things. Taran could say what he wanted and what he didn’t want. Yes, he was nature itself, but nature in... another sense. Sentient nature. Nature I could talk to and negotiate with.

I realized that my biophobia was more about the fact that I couldn’t control the nature I came in contact with. I couldn’t talk to an ant and tell it, “Hey, please don’t climb my leg. I don’t like it.” And I didn’t know what mud and dirt contained... Thousands of microorganisms, for sure. I didn’t want them on me, that was all. So, I’d developed a fear of nature, which was, at its core, most likely, a fear of the unknown.

I’d been born and raised in a controlled environment. I’d been protected all my life. Shielded. As a child, my world had been devoid of stressors, so when I grew older, I couldn’t deal with things that threatened my pristine status quo. And that had translated to biophobia.

“Taran...” I crawled towards him, until I was almost sitting on his lap. “You could never frighten me. You protect me. I am safe with you, and I want you to feel safe with me as yourself. I want you as you are.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“If you change your mind at any point, let me know.”

“I will.”

I thought there wouldn’t be enough space for him to take his full leshy form, but he made do somehow. He filled the nest with his branches, leaves, and vines. His roots shot out through the opening, and it was as if I was in bed with a tree that had been uprooted by a storm.

“I’d never been horizontal before,” he said.

I laughed. “What?”

“Why would I be?”

“So, you just stand? For your entire life?”

His eyes were still human, and he rolled them. “Doesn’t a tree stand for its entire life?”

“Unless there’s a storm.”

“Unless there’s a storm,” he repeated, amused. “You are my storm, Thea.”

He reached his branches towards me, and I blushed when he wrapped me in his many arms. He was careful, but I wasn’t afraid of getting scratched. I knew he would do nothing to hurt me. Aside from his trunk, which was covered in bark, his branches were fairly smooth. And his vines... those were the silkiest. When one curled around my ear and reached over my cheek to probe the corner of my lips with its tip, I realized that was what I’d felt when he’d kissed me. He’d mimicked having a tongue with one of his many vines. I wanted to taste it again.

I wanted to taste him.

I opened my mouth, and the vine slipped into my mouth. I looked into his eyes as my tongue tangled with the flexible appendage. A shiver ran through me, hot and liquid. It coursed through my pussy, causing juices to release into my already wet panties. I was wearing too many clothes. As if reading my mind, Taran slipped two vines underneath my sweater, pushing it up, until it rolled underneath my breasts, and my stomach was exposed. He explored my bare skin with his vines, and it felt like he was everywhere. I sucked at the vine that was in my mouth, and that made him lean over me and push me onto the bed of branches and leaves. They creaked softly under our weight.

“Tell me what you want,” he said.

“I want...” I gasped as his vine pushed deeper into my mouth, grazing the back of my throat. “I want you to touch me all over. I want you inside me.”

“Do you want my vines inside you?”

“Yes.”

Two of his branches immobilized my arms above my head. He pushed lightly onto my wrists while his vines undressed me, one item at a time. First, he pushed my sweater over my head. It got tangled in my hair, but he gently and carefully untangled it. He took his time, wanting to savor me. And I savored his every movement and gesture. My pants were next. He rolled them down my legs, carefully removing them in such a way that the splint he’d made for me remained intact. I needed it to keep my ankle tight.

He was just as slow and deliberate with my bra and panties. The panties were easy, but he struggled with the bra to get it undone. When I tried to sit up to help, he pushed me back down.

“Don’t move,” he said. “I’ll take care of everything. I’ll take care of you.”

“Promise?” It came out as a gasp. I didn’t know what had come over me, but those words – “I’ll take care of you” – made something stir inside me. My pussy was soaked, and my heart was beating just for him. In this moment, there was only Taran Sylvan. I couldn’t imagine belonging to any other man.

He pressed himself against me, his trunk aligned with my naked body. “I promise,” he whispered.

The bra was off, and I let out a small whimper. My body was covered in goosebumps. Taran was warm, but not warm enough. I was made of flesh, and he was made of wood. Now that the many layers of clothes were off, I felt exposed and vulnerable. I wasn’t scared, though. I looked into his eyes, and all I saw was patience. He was fully focused on me, taking his cues from my reactions.

I didn’t know what to expect. His anatomy was different from a human’s. I wasn’t even sure if he had a cock, and I couldn’t ask such a rude question. His vines took hold of my ankles, then wrapped around my calves, over my knees, up to my thighs. Another vine wrapped around my waist, and two more made their way up my chest, slithering between my breasts, then encircling them and squeezing them lightly. I arched my back into his foreign touch.

But as foreign as it was, it reminded me of something. My dream. I thought I’d dreamed of hands grabbing and rubbing me, hands belonging to men, but it turned out my brain had somehow seen into the future. The hands were vines, and they all belonged to one man – Taran. This was better than the dream, because it was real. This time, I was going to get the release I so craved.

“You’re beautiful,” he said. “I will fill you in all ways imaginable.”

“Yes...”

“You will take my vines. In your mouth...” He pushed a second vine in, and my tongue struggled to suck on them both. “In your pussy...” I felt a vine circle my entrance teasingly. “In your ass...” I yelped when the tip of a vine pushed my cheeks apart. To soothe me, he caressed my forehead with his leaves. “I will go slowly,” he said. “I want to possess you completely.”

I nodded, unable to speak with my mouth full. I felt the vine between my legs make its way to my clit. It slipped between my folds, rubbing me gently, spreading my juices, and when it reached my clit, it was nice and wet. The tip of the vine flicked my tiny bundle of nerves, and I let out a whimper. My eyes widened. I stared into Taran’s eyes, and he looked at me with infinite care and understanding, as if he knew how important this was to me. Losing my virginity to him was all I wanted. I wasn’t going to give it to Soren. He didn’t deserve it, and I didn’t want him anyway. Come to think of it, I didn’t believe I could let him touch me, let alone put his cock inside me. Who was I kidding? The chances of me marrying him were slowly decreasing to zero.

Taran flicked my clit over and over, until the tension built in my belly, and I felt ready to explode. I begged him with my eyes to never stop, but as I neared my climax, he pulled away. I bit down on his vines in frustration, and that made him chuckle.

“Oh, you’re impatient.” He pulled his vines out of my naughty mouth.

“Sorry. Did I hurt you?”

“You can’t hurt me.”

“Does that mean I can chew your vines?” I laughed.

“You can try.”

I tried to sit up, but he didn’t let me. I was pinned under him so thoroughly that I could only move a few inches.

“Let me have control,” he said. “Give in, Thea.”

He pushed his vines back into my mouth, and I groaned and choked on them. It felt incredible – to be held down and explored. He had so many vines that he could stimulate all my erogenous zones at once. Vines flicked and pulled at my nipples, battled with my tongue, brushed through my hair and massaged my scalp to soothe me, caressed the inside of my wrists, rubbed my clit and circled my entrance, and more vines pulled my butt cheeks apart and gently probed my hole.

It was too much, everything happening at the same time, and it was perfect. I was starting to get overwhelmed by it all, and he hadn’t even penetrated me. My mind was slowly letting go and shutting off to the rational world. All I could feel was him, and it was all I needed. I had no worries. No past, no future, I was firmly anchored in the present, and not even my own name and identity mattered. I was Taran’s woman, and beyond that, nothing else was relevant.

“Please,” I whispered.

“Will you let me have control?”

“Yes.”

It was hard to speak around the two vines in my mouth. I could only manage one word at a time.

Finally, I felt one of his vines make its way inside me. Slowly, patiently, gently... He was a little too careful for my taste.

“I want to tease you,” he said. “Don’t be frustrated, my flower. I just want to open you slowly, see you bloom before my eyes.”

“Flower?” With my tongue so busy, it came out more like “fo-wa?”

“Yes, my flower.”

I didn’t mind it. Compared to the more common pet names, like “baby”, or “honey”, or “beautiful”, flower seemed fitting in the context, and it made me feel special.

The tip of his vine slid inside my pussy. It was thin and flexible, and I doubted it had broken my hymen. There was no pain. It curled inside me, rubbing against my walls, exploring until it found a certain spot that made me shout out. I curled my toes and pulled at the vines holding my legs straight, wanting to bend my knees and... and... I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I tried to squeeze my thighs, but Taran held me firmly.

“You like that?”

I nodded.

“Then why are you trying to get away from me?”

That, I couldn’t answer him. He rubbed that spot again, and I arched my back into him. His vines squeezed my nipples so hard that it was as though he was trying to milk me. Another vine returned to my clit, flicking it fast. I was so wet that I felt like I was swimming in my own juices. There was a damp spot underneath my butt – I could feel it.

“Do you want more?”

I nodded again, even though I couldn’t imagine what “more” meant. Then he pushed a second vine inside my tight pussy, and I felt the burn this time. It was sharp, yet delicious, because it signaled I wasn’t a virgin anymore. I moved my hips as best as I could, encouraging him to stop being so gentle and fuck me properly already.

“Precious little flower,” he whispered. “Look at you. So needy, so desperate...”

He thrust in and out of me, in and out, over and over, while he steadily rubbed my clit, pinched my nipples, and let me suck and chew on his vines as much as I wanted. At some point, I could swear there was a taste in my mouth. Some sort of liquid dripped from the tips of his vines, and I looked up at him, confused.

“It’s just sap,” he said. “Leshy sap. Drink up, okay? Drink it all up, it’s full of vitamins.”

I blushed to the tips of my ears. Now I was glad Taran’s body wasn’t too warm, because I was hot and sweaty for the both of us. My whole body was flushed. I felt like I was burning up with a fever, but it was only lust. Lust like I’d never felt before. My brain was drowning in it. I could think of nothing else but the orgasm that was building inside me.

I swallowed the sap Taran oozed into my mouth. It was sweet, like honey, with a hint of green. Like a green smoothie with a generous spoon of honey. It was runny and slightly sticky, and when I drank it all, I sucked on his vines harder, wanting more.

“That’s it. You’re such a good little flower,” he praised me. “You’re going to bloom beautifully.”

He pounded my pussy, picking up the pace, and the vine that was positioned at my back entrance started pushing in gently. Only the tip slipped in, and I gasped in surprise. I hadn’t thought it would feel so good to be filled in all my holes. One vine was enough for my ass. There were two in my pussy already, and it was getting a little crowded.

“Gently now,” he cooed. “No need to rush.”

“Please...”

“Shh, little flower. Drink.” He poured more sap into my mouth.

At the same time, I felt sap filling my pussy. I clenched my walls around Taran’s vines, throbbing around him, milking him. The tension in my core grew and grew, until I exploded. I closed my eyes and let out an inhuman sound, between a moan and a scream, as my body went rigid, then started shaking with the power of an orgasm.

“Look at you bloom,” he said.

He didn’t stop. As I came, he only thrust inside me harder, one of his vines hitting my cervix again and again, until I felt it slip through my cervix and ooze its sap right into my womb. I opened my mouth to scream, and Taran’s vines moved to my neck. My saliva, mixed with his sap, ran down my chin. The vines wrapped around my neck lightly, gently pressing on the sides. I felt lightheaded. High. My eyes rolled in my head as I came again, so hard that my mind almost shattered.

My body shook, then relaxed. I was like a puppet in his embrace. He felt me give up completely and started pulling his vines out of me. I felt them crawl over my body, caressing my heated skin gently. His leaves started swaying, as if blown by the wind, but there was no wind. He was doing it for me, to create a breeze. I needed to cool down, so I closed my eyes and let it dry the sweat on my forehead, neck, and chest.

He held me with infinite care, brushing my hair off my face.

“Are you okay?” he asked after a while.

“More than okay.” I was mumbling, too spent to enunciate properly.

“Do you want to sleep, my flower?”

“Yes. Don’t go.”

“Never.”

I was sticky with his sap and my juices, but too exhausted to care. It would have to be tomorrow’s problem.

I turned on my side, found a branch that was the right thickness, and wrapped my arms around it. Just for tonight, I wanted to cling to Taran. I knew that tomorrow I’d have to let him go.

Chapter Twenty-One

Taran

Tonight was about Thea. I gave her all she craved, made her come until she was out of breath, and when she curled up in my branches, I held her gently and watched as her chest rose and fell. I was going to watch her until morning. Leshy didn’t need to sleep. We slept when we didn’t have anything better to do, which was not the case tonight.

She looked satiated for now. I wondered if she’d want more when she woke up.

Her skin smelled divine – like sweat and my sap. She was human, covered in leshy juices. She’d drank my sap and milked it out of me with no restraint. How I wished I could’ve given her my seed.

As I’d fucked her wet pussy, I’d felt the seed grow at the base of my cock, until it was full and ready to be planted. As much as I’d wanted to pull my vines out of her and thrust my cock in their place, I’d had to hold back. It was hard. It was a miracle I even managed. But giving her my seed was out of the question when she was still talking about marrying that despicable man.

She’d wanted to give me her virginity, and I’d reverently accepted. She deserved this one night of pleasure before the nightmare that was going to be her life with that man.

The seed of a leshy was sacred. I could only give it to my fated mate, or it would be wasted and not even grow into a sprout. Besides, Thea was human. I doubted it would’ve worked with her.

It was a good thing she wasn’t my mate. How could she be when she was going to marry someone else tomorrow? The seed shouldn’t even have grown. Not for her. It was strange that it had happened now of all times. When I wanted it to happen, five years ago, it hadn’t. Though my metaphorical heart had been in the right place back then, my seed had been nowhere to be found.

And now here it was, causing the most excruciating pain in my loins, when I couldn’t give it to Thea.

I had to hold back. For the sake of my own values, of what it meant to be a leshy. Thea wasn’t my mate, no matter how strongly I felt for her. No matter how much I wanted her, I couldn’t bury my cock in her pussy. My vines were enough to get her off. She didn’t even know I had a cock.

She hadn’t asked, and I hadn’t told her. It was better this way. We were too different. We came from different worlds, our anatomies didn’t even fit together. Tomorrow, I would destroy this nest, and what had happened here would only live in our memories.

No, it wouldn’t have worked anyway. I kept telling myself as I watched her sleep, her eyes moving rapidly underneath her closed lids. I wondered if she was dreaming of me.

Thea was soft everywhere. Every time I touched her, I had to be careful. Given my natural strength, I could’ve easily crushed her if I wasn’t. While she was covered in smooth skin all over, I had my sharp edges, so to speak. I’d used my vines because they were the safest, but my trunk was dressed in bark, and some of my branches were positively dangerous to her. If I were to dig my cock inside her pussy...

It was impossible. My cock was covered in bark. It was made to go inside a leshy female, not a tiny human woman. Had I tried to penetrate her, I would literally shred her. Biologically, we just weren’t compatible. Some species of monsters were close enough to humans that they could mate with them. It wasn’t the case for the leshy.

Knowing all this, it didn’t make sense to me how I’d fallen so hard for Thea, and in such a short period of time. I blamed it entirely on the fact that I’d been all alone for the past five years. When this job was done, I would go back to the community I’d left behind. It was time to put myself out there again and find the one who was meant for me.

Plus, for the seed to grow into a sprout, the female I gave it to would have to first agree to receive it.

There were too many things that worked against us. Insurmountable obstacles. Nature itself was against us.

I should’ve never accepted this job. I knew that working with humans was a bad idea. After all this time, why had I ignored my own rules? So what if Thea was Bill Everhart’s daughter? What had I been thinking? That I would do something to her, or let a bear maul her to get back at the man who cut down forests left and right? As if that would’ve stopped him.

If something happened to Thea, Bill Everhart wouldn’t know why. He wouldn’t understand. He and his wife would grieve for her, then they’d go back to growing their company and making furniture not only for the US, but for the rest of the world. It was stupid to make Thea suffer for their sins. They were already suffering because of their other child, who’d apparently screwed up in some major way. Instead of taking a breath and asking themselves why they were being hit by bad karma, they’d decided to sacrifice their daughter. Anything for money, their company, and their old name they couldn’t stand seeing tarnished.

Thea stirred in her sleep. Her fingers dug into the branch she was holding onto, and I hugged her closer, covering her with my leaves. She was naked. I didn’t want her to be cold.

I hoped to all the leshy gods she would change her mind in the morning. I knew there could be nothing between us, but I wanted her to be happy. I wanted to deliver her safely to her father, get the rest of my money, and move on with my life knowing that Thea was safe in her parents’ home. That she was free to choose the future she wanted for herself. That one day, she would find someone who was good for her, and good to her. I wanted her to be loved and cared for. I wanted her to fall in love with someone and have the life she deserved.

She deserved the best, even if her name was Everhart and her father was a tree killer.

What had I been thinking? I should’ve never accepted this job.

But now that I was here and she was pressed against me, all tangled up in my vines and branches, I was going to enjoy every minute of having her to myself.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Thea

The chirping of birds woke me up, and I smiled to myself and stretched lazily, knowing I was protected by Taran’s body. I felt his leaves and vines on my skin, and a jolt of desire ignited a spark in my core. The things we’d done the night before... I wanted to do them again. I wanted us to stay here for the rest of the day, embraced, with his vines exploring me as he pleased. I knew it wasn’t possible, and that knowledge made my chest ache.

The longer I laid here, in his branches, the more I delayed the inevitable, the harder it would be to detach myself from him. So, I pushed myself to a standing position.

“My flower,” he murmured, pushing my hair out of my eyes with the tip of a branch.

I bit my lip to stop myself from clinging to him. He was half leshy, half human. He had branches instead of arms, and his head was covered in vines instead of hair, but he had the human face I’d gotten used to, and his chest was sculpted and taut.

“We should go,” I said. “We have a long day ahead.”

I started looking for my clothes so I wouldn’t have to see the disappointment in his eyes. I found them neatly folded at my feet. The secretions I’d been left with from last night had dried on my skin. It was a little uncomfortable, but at least I smelled good thanks to Taran’s sap being nothing like human sperm. I put on my bra and panties, then struggled a bit with my pants and sweater, given the tight space and the splint on my ankle.

“Thea, can we talk for a minute?”

“Sure.” I reached for my backpack. There were no more sandwiches, but I had a few energy bars left.

“Don’t do this.”

I stilled. “Do what?” I knew what he was referring to, of course, but I didn’t want to have this conversation. I kept avoiding his gaze.

“Don’t marry that man. After all you’ve learned about him and his weird cult, I can’t imagine you wouldn’t change your mind.”

“This isn’t about me, Taran. You know that.”

“It’s about saving your brother from whatever shame might fall upon him if his misdeeds get into the papers.”

“Yes.”

“Okay, but you see...” He hesitated, then reached out a branch to touch my chin. “Look at me.”

I sighed and lifted my gaze to look into his eyes.

“Your brother’s mistakes have nothing to do with you. I know you love him, and it sucks for him and your family, but it’s not on you to fix his problems. Sinclair is blackmailing your parents. That alone should be the biggest red flag.”

It wasn’t like I didn’t know all this! And I appreciated that Taran cared about me enough to try to stop me before I ruined my life, but right now, I was still in the woods, with a long hike ahead of me, and everything that had happened these past two days was too overwhelming for me to be able to think clearly.

I didn’t want to dismiss him, though. Because he was right.

“Thank you,” I said.

“For what?”

“For worrying about me. For making sure that I know what I’m getting into.”

He frowned. “Thea, please don’t be condescending.”

“I’m not. I’m not trying to be.” I reached out and cupped his face with my hands. “I just don’t have a solution right now. No, I don’t want to marry Soren. But do I feel guilty about it? Kind of. I made a promise, and now I can’t keep it. Matthew may have fucked up, but he’s my brother. And I love my parents. For all their sins, and all their entitlement... they’re not bad parents. They’re just... corrupted by the world they live in. Hell, I’m corrupted too!”

“No, you’re not.”

“Taran...”

“You’re my flower.” His voice was low and deliberate. “You’re my perfect little flower, and you are not corrupted. Your heart is pure.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “You’re sweet. Too sweet for your own good. I might want to eat you one day.”

He laughed. “I wouldn’t mind that at all.”

I leaned in and placed a kiss on his lips. I loved our banter. But he looked like a tree, he didn’t eat, didn’t sleep, and didn’t breathe, and I was Thea Everhart and I had somewhere to be. He was also my bodyguard. Not that there was anything illegal about what we were doing, but it wasn’t exactly kosher, either. My dad had hired him to protect me, not fuck me until I passed out.

“Will you think about it?” he asked.

“Trust me, it’s all I’m thinking about. I just don’t see a solution right now. No matter what happens, I have to get to the resort by nightfall, so we better get going. Now, Taran. Right now.”

I crawled out of the nest. Taran followed me. When I put weight on my injured ankle, pain shot through it, and I winced. It wasn’t as bad as yesterday, though. If I found a stick and I managed it, it was going to be fine. I wouldn’t even need to see a doctor, hopefully.

The sound of breaking twigs and branches startled me. It was so intense, it was as if all the trees in the forest were bending and breaking at the same time. I turned to see Taran destroying our nest.

“What are you doing?”

“We don’t need it anymore.”

“No, but... it was nice.”

He looked at me with immense sadness in his eyes, and I understood. It was ours, but it had done its job. There was no point in leaving it standing, so animals would find it and use it. They would’ve spoiled it then, and it wouldn’t have been ours anymore. The nest had only been intended for one night. We were never going to come back here. It couldn’t be our secret place.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“Me too.”

I watched him tear it to pieces, until there was nothing left. He threw the branches and leaves in all directions, then used his roots to walk over them and make them one with the earth. Our nest became part of the forest floor, and when Taran was done, the clearing looked just like before we’d decided to stop here for the night – empty and wild. Impersonal.

Something broke inside my chest. With the nest erased, it felt like Taran had erased what we’d experienced together. He must’ve felt I was hurting, because he came over to me and wrapped me in his vines, pressing me to his human chest. I rested my head where his heart should’ve been, and he placed his chin on top of my head.

“It’s okay, my flower.”

“I know.”

“Don’t be sad.”

“I know I shouldn’t be, but I am. It feels like... I’ve lost something. Like I’m losing something right now, and instead of snapping out of it and saving the only good thing I’ve ever had in my life, I’m throwing it all away.”

“You can stop. Right here, right now. You can decide to put a stop to this madness.”

I sighed, then pulled free of him. “And do what, Taran? Run away with you?”

He regarded me with curiosity, maybe trying to determine if I was being sarcastic. Maybe I was, maybe I wasn’t. He shook his head and chose not to say anything.

Which I took to mean that... no, we couldn’t run away together. He was just as aware as I was that whatever we had was doomed to fail. Maybe we shouldn’t have let it come this far. Did I regret it? Yes and no.

“How about you find me a stick?” I said. “Or make me one.”

“Why? You’re not thinking of walking, are you?”

“Taran, you can’t carry me the whole day.”

“Sure I can.”

I laughed. “Well, I won’t let you. I’m not entirely helpless. My ankle is better, and I can walk. If I’m too slow, you can carry me later.”

“At least let me take your backpack.”

With that, I didn’t argue. Taran made a show of snapping one of his branches and offering it to me like it was a gift. I chuckled and accepted it. And off we went, me leaning on the walking stick and on his arm when I needed it. It felt good to move again. We walked in silence for a while. Instead of thinking of what was to come, I emptied my mind and focused on the beauty surrounding me. I couldn’t say for certain that my phobia was cured, but I felt at ease, and I wasn’t as worried about getting dirt on myself. I wasn’t even wearing my gloves.

“Let me know when you get tired,” Taran said.

“I will.”

After another minute, he added, “You know, we didn’t have to spend the night in the woods. I can, in fact, move very fast. I could’ve gotten you to the resort last night.”

I stared at him with wide eyes and a smile on my lips. “What? How fast can you move?”

“Fast. Do you want me to show you? We can be at the resort in three hours tops.”

“No.” I didn’t know whether I wanted to laugh or cry. “No, it would look suspicious if I arrived too early. Remember, the fact that I have a bodyguard must remain a secret.”

“Right. Yes, okay.”

I elbowed him playfully. “So, if that wasn’t the reason you made us spend the night in the woods, what was it?”

He grinned. “I wanted you to myself.”

“You knew what was going to happen? That I’d want to jump your bones? Well... your branches.”

“No! No, of course not. I mean, I hoped... But that doesn’t matter.” He shook his head, a gesture he’d surely learned from me or from other humans he’d interacted with. “I just wanted to be with you for a while longer. Even if you asked me to stand at a distance, I would’ve, and I would’ve been happy.”

“Aww... Don’t.” I leaned into his side.

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t be all sweet and mushy.”

He laughed. “I don’t think anyone has ever referred to a leshy as mushy.”

I looked up and found him staring at me. It was as if all he did was look at me all the time, watch my every move, pay attention to everything I did. I stopped, and he did too. I put my arm around his neck, and he pulled me into him.

“Carry me?” I asked.

“Always.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Taran

We stopped a few times during the day, lingering more than we had to. We found a stream, and Thea washed her face, brushed her hair and pinned it in a bun atop her head. She finished the food she had in her backpack and told me it was weird for her to eat alone and not share her food with me. Humans did that. They shared food and drinks – it was a social thing. They bonded through the pleasure of consuming things.

“Do you eat?” she asked innocently.

“Eat like humans eat? No.”

“Then how...?”

“I feed off the light of the sun and absorb the rain for hydration.”

“Oh, so you don’t feed through your roots?”

“I can, but it’s not my preferred option. I use my roots to travel or ground myself.”

“What does that mean?”

“The leshy live long lives. Too long sometimes. Once or twice in our lives, we will get tired. So tired, that a shallow sleep of a few hours or days won’t do, so then we find an isolated place, away from our communities, where we bury our roots deep in the ground and fall into a slumber. When we do that, it’s easy to confuse us with regular trees. One would have to look closely and know the signs that differentiate a leshy from a tree.”

“That is fascinating. And for how long do you sleep like that?”

“Months. Years. However long it takes for our will to live and experience the world to return.”

“Incredible.” She thought for a moment while picking at her last energy bar. “It sounds amazing to be able to escape like that. I wish I could do that.”

I smiled. “If you could, you would wake up old and achy. Time doesn’t stop for anyone, not even for the leshy. We just take longer to become decrepit.”

She laughed. “What an elegant way to put it.”

She packed up her things but didn’t get up. This was our last stop before the resort. With one hour left on our journey, neither of us wanted to rush. A soft breeze was blowing, and she closed her eyes and tilted her head. The wind ruffled the leaves on my head and the hair around her loose bun. As I sat beside her in my close-to-human form and stared at her perfect profile, I felt a deep sense of sadness grip me. The peace I felt with Thea now... I would never feel it again. This was the end.

“Thea...”

“Don’t Taran.”

She didn’t want to talk about it anymore. Her choice – what she would do once she reached the resort. There were people waiting – her family, Sinclair and his family, plus his brainwashed followers. Would Kyla be there? Would Markus? He must’ve managed to get out of the branch box at some point. He hadn’t come after Thea again, so he probably went back to his Master.

“Don’t ruin this moment,” she added in a whisper.

“I wouldn’t think of it.”

She reached for my hand, and her fingers wrapped around mine.

“Thank you,” she said. “Not just for doing your job and protecting me. For everything.”

I reached over and caught her chin between my spindly fingers. She opened her eyes, and I lost myself once more in her green depths. Her eyes were going to haunt my dreams for the rest of my sad, pathetic life. Because I couldn’t imagine being happy without her. I couldn’t imagine ever feeling not empty and alone.

But then again... It wouldn’t be the first time.

It was as if I was meant to find love and then lose it. When would I ever learn? Was there really a lesson to be learned?

“Just kiss me,” she said.

I nodded and did just that. If she wanted me to kiss her, I would. If she wanted me to fuck her, I would. And if she wanted me to deliver her to a literal villain...

Thea slipped her tongue between my lips and coaxed me to use one of my vines. My cock was hard, the seed throbbing at the base of it, sending jolts of pain through my mid-section. I wondered what was going to happen to the seed once Thea was gone. Would it get reabsorbed by my body? Would I be able to produce another seed later if I didn’t use this one? Sometimes, the anatomy of my own species was a mystery to me. We didn’t talk enough about mating. And we never talked about mating with partners that were not leshy.

We kissed for a long minute. It felt like Thea didn’t want to let go. When she finally did, she couldn’t look into my eyes. She shouldered her backpack and used her stick to get to her feet.

“Ready?” she asked.

“Let me carry you.”

“No. I can walk this last stretch on my own.”

We had plenty of time before sunset. Maybe she was trying to prolong it without being too obvious. I insisted she gave me the backpack, and after that, I offered her my arm for support. She could walk well enough if she didn’t push herself. She had a bit of a limp, but I guessed the people who were waiting for her expected something like that. That was the nature of the challenge, right? Three days spent crossing the woods, surviving, basically, dealing with all manner of danger to prove that she was worthy to become the bride of a narcissistic cult leader.

Thea was strong. No one deserved her. Not Soren Sinclair, and not her own family.

We reached the resort as the shadows started to lengthen. The Celestial Pines Sanctuary. It was a mountain resort surrounded by forest, hidden so well that one couldn’t find it unless one knew where it was. It was owned by Soren Sinclair, and he used it for more than relaxation. The wedding was to take place at the resort. A wedding dress was probably waiting for Thea.

We stopped at the tree line. I could hear people in the distance, talking and laughing. There was soft music in the background, and from what I could see, the place was decorated in white and light green, with flowerpots and flower arches everywhere. This was where Thea and I had to part ways. She would enter the resort on her own and never breathe a word about how she’d had a bodyguard these past three days. She’d cheated. So what? Everyone here was a liar, in one way or another.

“You should go,” she said.

“I can’t. I won’t.”

“Taran, you don’t have to see this. Your job here is done.”

“I know, but I can’t leave, Thea. Not yet.”

She chewed on her bottom lip. She didn’t want me to see her in a wedding dress, walking down the aisle, where another man was waiting for her.

“It will be hard for you to–”

“I know.”

“And you’ll make it hard for me to–”

“I’m sorry, but I’m staying. I’ll be right here, in case you need me.”

She shook her head. I caught her face between my hands and forced her gaze up.

“Before you say your vows, look at me one last time. I won’t move from this spot.”

“Why do you want to torture yourself like this?”

“It doesn’t matter. I will watch over you until the very end.”

She smiled. I wanted to kiss her, but it was too painful. I let her go. She took her backpack from me, placed it on her shoulders, then turned on her heel and walked away.

I watched her until she disappeared from view, swallowed by a small crowd of people who started screaming and squeaking when they saw her. They dragged her into one of the buildings, and she didn’t look back once. Maybe she didn’t want to give my position away. Maybe she didn’t care.

This was it. I would never again hold her in my branches. I should’ve left, but I’d promised to stay. I wanted to see what happened next, even if it was going to break me.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Thea

I was surrounded by too many people, too fast. After three days of mostly being with my thoughts, to hear so much chatter was overwhelming. My ankle hurt, and I was feeling ill, with a headache and a stomachache. I tried to smile and answer questions, but all I wanted was to be left alone.

“I’m fine, it’s just a scratch,” I answered one of my friends who was a bridesmaid.

“It hurts a little,” I answered another one who noticed I was limping.

“I’m exhausted. Yes, I need a bath, please,” I answered my mother, who got hold of my shoulders and was studying me from arm’s length.

“You look terrible,” she said, then pulled me aside, shielding me from the throng of bridesmaids and wedding guests. “Thea needs to get ready,” she told them. “Please give us some space.” She took my hand and pulled me after her.

“Let me help,” one of my friends, Fiona, said. I’d known Fiona since we were little. We were close enough that my mother nodded and motioned for her to follow us.

“Where is Soren?” I asked.

“Darling, he can’t see you before you get married,” Mom said. “He’s around somewhere, entertaining the guests. Don’t worry about him.”

“I can’t believe you’re alive and well,” Fiona said. “I almost died with worry.”

I smiled and squeezed her hand. “Thank you.” She sounded genuinely concerned.

“I would’ve never done it,” she said, leaning in. “You’re a saint, Thea.”

“Come,” my mother said. “I’ll run you a bath. You have to get out of those clothes.”

We were in a spacious room with a bathroom attached. Everything was white and grass green – the colors of the Celestial Pines Sanctuary. There was a four-poster bed, and on it, a big, white box was waiting. Atop it, there were two more boxes. My heart sank. That was my wedding dress, my wedding shoes, my veil and jewelry.

“Give me this,” Fiona said, taking the walking stick from me. She saw my ripped sweater and gasped. “That’s not just a scratch. You need a doctor.”

“I’m fine. It’s almost healed.”

“What happened?”

I opened my mouth and closed it. It wasn’t like I could tell her how I’d had to break a window and run for my life.

“Mrs. Everhart, Thea needs a doctor.”

My mother rushed into the bedroom, eyes wide. “What? What happened?”

“It’s nothing, Mom. Really. I just need to clean up.”

“Show me.”

I rolled my eyes, but there was no getting around it. I pulled my sweater over my head, and both my mom and Fiona gasped and covered their mouths with their hands. Such drama. It was weird to think, though, that if I were in their position, I’d have reacted the same. The three days I’d spent in the woods with Taran, chased by a bear and attacked by two assassins, had changed me.

“See? They’re healing. They’re just scratches.”

“Those look like cuts,” Fiona said. “How did you cut yourself so badly?”

I shook my head. “Can I just get into the tub?”

Seeing how they weren’t getting anything out of me, they helped me into the bathroom and out of the rest of my clothes. My ankle was tender. I’d taken off the splint Taran had made for me and left it with him. There would’ve been no way to explain it. I sank into the hot water and let out a moan that was almost lustful. For the past three days, I’d washed with freezing cold water. To have access to a real bathroom and a hot bath was a blessing. I was never going to take anything for granted again.

“Do you want me to wash your hair for you?” Fiona said.

“No, it’s okay. Thank you.” I smiled at her, so she knew that I appreciated her. “Can you bring me something to eat, though? Today, it’s been only energy bars and I’m starving.”

“On it!”

She hurried out of the room, leaving me and my mom alone.

“What can I do?” she asked. “How can I help you?”

“Can you sit down so we can talk?”

She looked surprised for a moment, but then brought a chair from the bedroom and sat next to the tub. There was something in her eyes... on her face... I couldn’t quite read it. She looked older than the last time I saw her, which was literally three days ago. But she looked at least a year older, her wrinkles deep and her eyes cloudy.

“Mom, I need you to tell me what Matthew did.”

She pursed her lips and waited a few seconds, but of course she wasn’t going to give the information away so easily. She looked away from me, and I knew I’d have to push.

“Is he here?”

“No.”

“He’s in rehab. Okay. I’m glad he’s getting help, but sad he won’t be at my wedding. It doesn’t feel right, does it? For my own brother to miss my wedding.”

“It is what it is, Thea. Matthew has had a rough year.”

Sure. What else was new?

“Please tell me what he did. What’s so horrible that I need to sacrifice my life to save his reputation?”

That got her attention. She looked at me as if she were seeing me for the first time.

“Sacrifice your life? Thea, you’re not... That’s not what you’re doing.”

“No? Because I don’t want to marry Soren.”

“But you said... You agreed.”

“You and Dad were desperate. You called me into his office, sat me down, and told me that Matthew’s future would be ruined if I didn’t marry Soren. What was I supposed to say? No? I could never say no to you or Matthew. You know that.”

“Thea... Darling...” She took a deep breath, released it, and steeled herself. “Soren is a good man. He comes from a good family, he has money, influence, everything a bride could wish for. Yes, he’s a little old, but not terribly old. And he’s handsome.”

I shook my head. “I’ve just told you that my life would end if I married him, and I don’t want to do it, and you’re trying to sell him to me?”

She stood up and started pacing the floor. “I don’t understand. You... you never said anything. You’ve met Soren once or twice, right? He’s always had a thing for you, and you didn’t seem to not like him.”

“I was always perfectly indifferent to him.”

“I...” She made a wide gesture with her arms. “I’m at a loss.”

“I’m sorry, but the truth is I don’t want to do this. I know I made a promise, but I’ve had a lot of time to think, alone in the woods, fighting for my life. And I realized that I love my life, and I don’t want to spend it with someone I don’t care for.”

“Thea, it’s too late. I know you’re exhausted. I’m so sorry. You will feel better after your bath, and once you eat something.”

“Really, Mother?”

She sat down and sighed. She was rubbing her hands as if she was an actress in a cheap movie.

“Everyone is here,” she said. “The pastor is here. We’re all getting ready for the wedding. Your father will walk you down the aisle. Soren can’t wait to see you. He talked about you all day long, saying how he knew you would make it. That you’re strong, and you’re the perfect woman for him.”

I rubbed my tired eyes, then turned to her and fixed her with the most serious gaze I could muster.

“Tell me what Matthew did. I need to know.”

“Thea...”

“You owe me this, Mom.”

“It’s not pretty.”

“I don’t care. I need to know what he did.”

After another pause, she steeled herself again, as if being honest with me in this moment was the hardest thing she’d ever done.

“Your brother perused the services of a brothel.”

For a good few seconds, I didn’t react. It was like I had a brain glitch.

“Excuse me, what?!”

Mom nodded. “You should’ve never heard it from me. Or anyone, for that matter.”

I sat up in the tub to grab onto the edge. Water splashed onto the tiled floor.

“Mom, what?! A brothel? So, Matthew went to see sex workers. In a perfectly safe, legal, and regulated environment. How is that the end of the world?!”

She looked pained. Crushed. “It wasn’t just a brothel, Thea. It was... the sex workers were monsters. It was a monster brothel.”

My eyes went so wide that I was surprised they didn’t pop out of my sockets and rolled at her feet.

“Somehow, one of Soren’s editors got wind of the story. We’re lucky he didn’t just go with it and went to check with his boss. Soren called your father, and that’s how we found out.”

“And then he blackmailed you.”

“No, it wasn’t like that! He truly wanted to help. He promised he would kill the story, and then your father asked what he could do, because Soren was doing us such a big favor, and Soren asked for your hand in marriage. Your father couldn’t say no. It’s a good marriage for you, Thea.”

“Oh my God, I can’t believe this!” I covered my face with my hands. “This is the most ridiculous story I’ve ever heard!”

“Thea!”

“So what if Matthew had sex with monster prostitutes? It’s his business! He did nothing illegal. Amoral? Yes. Questionable? Maybe. But to go to such lengths to kill a scandal?!” I grabbed the edge of the tub again and looked her in the eye. “To sacrifice my freedom for this?”

“Thea, this is the first time I hear you call it a sacrifice.”

“Because I was stupid! And too loyal for my own good!”

“Darling, please...”

“Don’t ‘darling’ me.” I got up abruptly and grabbed a towel. “Don’t.”

She got up and followed me to the bedroom. “The story can’t get out, Thea. No one can know that Matthew is into... monsters.”

“And what’s wrong with monsters, Mom?”

“They’re different from us. We don’t mingle.”

“Seriously? Because they’re not second-class citizens, you know. They have the same rights as we do.”

“I know, it’s not about that.”

“Then what’s it about?”

“Our family... We don’t mingle with monsters. Other people... they can do what they please. It’s just not for us. It’s... shameful.”

My mouth opened and closed. Today, my mom seemed to have a talent at leaving me speechless. Fortunately – or unfortunately, because this discussion wasn’t over – there was a knock on the door. Fiona walked in, carrying a food tray.

“I come straight from the kitchen,” she said. “Everything is fresh.”

I had half a mind to ask her to come back later, or leave the tray and go, but then realized it wouldn’t have made a difference. I wasn’t going to change my mom’s mind in five minutes, with all the guests waiting.

As I sat down to eat, Fiona went to take the wedding dress out of the box.

“It’s gorgeous, isn’t it? Mrs. Everhart chose it.”

Mom shot me a look that was clearly charged with one question and one question alone. Was I going to go through with it?

“I’ll help you put it on,” Fiona said, oblivious to the tension in the room. “And I’ll do your hair and makeup. Nothing complicated, I promise. You’re a natural beauty.”

“Yes, thank you,” I said. “I need all the help I can get.”

“Oh, you don’t need that much help,” Fiona waved me off. “You’re perfect, as always.”

Later, after I was done eating, my mother offered to take the tray back to the kitchen, saying she needed to find my dad and let him know we were on schedule.

The moment she was gone, I pulled Fiona closer. “I need your help with something.”

“Sure. Anything.”

“But no one can know. It’s a surprise, you see... For Soren and the guests.”

She bounced on her feet in excitement. “I love surprises!”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Taran

The cult people were easy to identify because they were dressed in green from head to toe. The other wedding guests wore all sorts of colors, from red to pink, blue, grey, and black. They didn’t mingle much. When they found out the bride had arrived, the guests poured into the courtyard and took their places, waiting for the event to begin. They were chatting and drinking too much wine. A few of them got close enough to the tree line that I could hear them talk about Thea and Soren.

I hated that my beautiful flower was the target of gossip.

Then I spotted the most despicable man of all – Soren Sinclair. He was dressed in a deep green suit, which I found odd for a groom. But that only confirmed that he was the leader of the people in green. His hair had more salt in it than pepper, and his eyes were like amber. They reminded me of a wolf. He was talking to another man – short, stout, middle-aged. I recognized him as Bill Everhart, Thea’s father. I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to hear what they were saying, so I moved away from the tree line and a little further into the courtyard. I was still quite far away, but luckily, a group of guests emerged from the house and stopped to chat behind Soren and Bill, and the two men noticed and moved away from them, thus coming closer to me.

“My daughter did well, don’t you agree?” Bill said. “She did as she was asked, proving her loyalty and endurance.”

“Indeed, Thea is impressive.”

Bill chuckled awkwardly. “But we already knew that.”

“Of course.”

“Her mother told me she will be ready any minute now.”

“I’ve been looking forward to this moment,” Soren said.

“As we have all. I just wanted to ask you something, my son-in-law. Can I call you that? You are my son-in-law now.”

“Absolutely. We’re family.”

“Will you give me the file from your editor? Everything he’s found on Matthew?”

Soren hesitated. He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his suit pants, cleared his throat, averted his gaze. He looked right at me, and I hoped that wouldn’t make Bill look too. Not that Bill would recognize me. He’d hired me through Harrison. If he looked at me, he would only see a tree. I knew for sure he couldn’t tell the difference between a tree and a leshy. He was notorious for being that ignorant, even though he knew about my species. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have asked Monster Security Agency to find him a leshy.

“The file is safe,” Soren said.

“I would love to have it in my hands,” Bill insisted. “In fact, I would love to have it so I can burn it right now, before Thea comes out.”

“I understand,” Soren said. “You are a loving father. But Thea will never find out, you have my word.”

Bill smacked his lips in annoyance. He tried not to let on how unhappy he was.

“Is the file here?”

“At the resort?” Soren cocked an eyebrow. “No, of course not. Too many people. I wouldn’t take such risks. It’s in the safe, in my office.”

“Oh.”

“See? I took all safety measures. We will go to my office tomorrow, and we will burn it together. You have my word.”

It appeared that Soren Sinclair used that phrase a lot.

Bill had no choice but to nod and smile.

This was ridiculous! What had Matthew Everhart done that warranted this whole circus? The drama, the lies, Thea’s sacrifice... It didn’t look like Bill was happy with the deal he’d made, but Soren was giving him no way out. If he wanted the incriminating file, then the wedding had to happen. And even when Soren had Thea, could Bill be sure he would keep his end of the bargain? It was a risk. In my opinion, not a risk that was worth taking.

In fact, I strongly believed it should’ve never come to this, and whatever Thea’s brother had done, he should’ve been left to deal with the consequences. He wasn’t even at her wedding. I hadn’t spotted him.

Something shifted in the air. The guests quieted down, only murmurs traveling through the small crowd that had gathered in the courtyard. I stood still. The soft summer breeze coursed through my branches, unable to move my leaves. I was a part of nature, but I was nature controlled. I was nature sentient. And right now, I had to stand strong, because Thea emerged from the house, her white wedding dress expansive, the skirt bouncing around her legs as she walked, her long dark hair covered by a white, transparent veil that fell over her face, too.

She looked like a goddess. I’d never seen such beauty in my life, and to know that I’d had her just the night before hurt like an open wound. I’d held her in my branches, caressed her with my leaves, pleasured her with my vines. I had to stand still and strong, because if I didn’t, I would’ve rushed to her and stolen her from these people who didn’t deserve her, taken her away, to a place where no one could reach her and burden her with their selfishness, their entitlement and demands.

The guests took their places, and Soren rushed to stand where the pastor was waiting. Bill went to his daughter, kissed her on both cheeks, then offered her his arm. A song started playing, and I realized what was happening. Bill was walking his daughter down the aisle.

I watched, paralyzed. I wanted to look away, yet I couldn’t. I hoped Thea would gaze my way, offer me one last glance, like I’d asked her to. One last smile. She didn’t. Before I could snap out of my trance, she was standing in front of Soren, and Bill was kissing her cheeks again and patting the groom on the back. The song ended and silence fell. Only the chirping of the birds signaled that no one but the humans cared about what was happening here. The forest didn’t care. Thea was getting married to a man she despised, and nature moved on, and I would soon move on with it.

The pastor started speaking. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, and even if I were within earshot, I didn’t think I’d have been able to register the meaning of his words. Human rituals that made no sense to me. He spoke for a few minutes, then made a gesture towards the groom. Soren stepped closer to Thea and gently pulled her veil back. She looked up at him, into his eyes, and I couldn’t stand to watch anymore.

I had to get out of here before I dug my roots into the ground out of pure desperation, before I gave up and succumbed to the only thing that could make me forget, could make me not feel this pain and rage inside me – slumber.

I turned to leave, and that was when Thea’s voice rang out, high and clear. She spoke loudly, so she would be heard by everyone present, by the forest and the trees.

She spoke so I would hear her. She didn’t look at me, but she knew I was watching. Like I’d promised.

“Before we say our vows, there’s something I would like to share with everyone.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Thea

What was I thinking when I stopped the wedding?

This was what I was thinking: had it been a normal brothel with human women, Matthew’s problem wouldn’t have been a problem at all. He would’ve just been doing what all the men in his circles were doing. Our circles. I was part of the same world as him, and I could finally see how rotten it was.

I didn’t belong here with these people. I hadn’t known any better until now, what with being trapped in an ivory tower, but that had all changed within the span of three days. I was grateful that Soren had given me this challenge. Thanks to his inflated ego and ridiculous conditions and rituals, I could see clearly for the first time in my life. Unknowingly, he’d saved me.

Taran was right. This wasn’t about me. What Matthew had done was on him. I had nothing to do with it, and the best thing was to extract myself while I still could.

I stole a glance at Fiona, who was standing with the other bridesmaids. She beamed at me and gave me an exaggerated wink. She’d done what I’d asked her. “Let the show begin,” I thought. This circus was about to get its greatest number, the main attraction. No good show was complete without it.

“I found that I have no words to express how I feel, so I prepared a short video that I would like to share with everyone.” I motioned at the white wall of the building. A young man was ready to get the projector going. I raised my hand to stop him. “One moment. Thank you.” I turned back to Soren. “I couldn’t help but notice the beautiful dagger you’re wearing.”

Honestly, it had been a shock to me when I saw the knife on Soren’s belt. In what world did a groom attend his wedding with a knife attached to his belt? The intricate carvings on the hilt were the same ones as on the knife I’d taken from Markus. Which told me that everyone in Soren’s cult had the same knives, and they were some sort of ritualistic objects. Maybe they used them to cut the branches they used to... well... do things with.

I had Markus’s knife with me, and I’d intended to show it to everyone, to prove that I’d been attacked in the woods. This was even better. It wasn’t just my word against the ether – because Markus wasn’t here, I hadn’t seen him, at least. With Soren’s knife, I had proof.

Soren regarded me with utter confusion.

I gave him a bright, reassuring smile. “May I look at it?”

“Sorry?”

“Your dagger. I would like to see it.”

He couldn’t say no. Not in front of so many people. He smiled awkwardly and took it from his belt. Gently, he passed it on to me.

“Careful,” he said. “It’s sharp.”

I nodded. “It’s beautiful,” I said. “Such interesting carvings. Do they mean anything?” They were carvings of branches and leaves, with runes peppered here and there.

Soren kept his frozen smile but didn’t say anything. The ceremony wasn’t going according to his plan, and I could tell he was on edge.

“I have a similar one.” I took out Markus’s knife, which I’d painstakingly managed to hide in my enormous skirt. I held them side by side and turned to show them to our guests.

“Where did you get that?”

Was it me, or was Soren becoming a bit red in the face?

“I got it from Markus. Do you know him? He came after me in the woods, tried to kill me with it. He jumped me from behind. Quite cowardly of him, don’t you think? He pinned me to the ground and held the knife to my throat.”

Gasps rose from the audience. I hazarded a glance at my parents, who were standing side by side. My mother clung to my father’s arm. They stared at me like I was an alien, dropped from the mothership in the middle of their daughter’s wedding, and they were wondering where their real daughter was.

“He said he wanted to kill me because I wasn’t good enough for his Master. At first, I was confused. I didn’t know who he was talking about. But after I got the upper hand... Which wasn’t easy, mind you. Please don’t ask how I managed to outsmart an assassin. After I got the upper hand, Markus told me that his Master was...” I pointed at Soren. “You.”

More gasps. A few cries. Indignant whispers from both the people in green, who were Soren’s followers, and the normal people who’d come from my family’s side.

“Markus wasn’t the first. Kyla had come the night before, but she’d just wanted to threaten me. The same story. She didn’t think I was good for you. Your followers wanted me gone.”

“Followers?” Soren sputtered. “What are you talking about?”

“Isn’t this a cult you’re running here?”

He opened and closed his mouth. Nothing came out. He was beet red by this point and sweating profusely. He looked over the crowd – wedding guests sitting in their frilly, flowery chairs – shook his head and waved his hands, as if what was happening was beyond him, and what was he even doing here, with this crazy woman who was accusing him of unspeakable things?

“I want to show everyone what I found on Markus’s phone.” I signaled for the projector guy to start the video.

Earlier, I’d sent it to myself, then sent it to Fiona, who was supposed to find a projector and someone to operate it. I’d made her promise not to watch the video, telling her it would be so much more fun if she saw it with everyone else. Honestly, it had been a gamble. I hadn’t known for sure if I could trust her, but she’d come through beautifully.

The video started, and the audience was so deeply silent that all the sounds in the video rolled sharp and clear over the courtyard. Two seconds in, Soren lost it. He ran to the projector guy, yelling at him to stop the video. The guy held his hands up and backed away slowly. Soren fumbled with the projector, but his hands were shaking so hard that it took him another half minute to turn it off. By then, the damage had been done.

I took this time to look at the people in green, and I was satisfied to see they seemed to be embarrassed. A few tried to slip away unnoticed, but I saw them. I saw their faces and recognized them from the video.

“This is not what it looks like,” Soren said as he made his way back to me. He shot me an angry look, then smiled his fake smile at the guests. “I don’t know what that is.”

“How can you say that?” A woman in a green satin dress stood up. Her hands were fists at her sides. She was so angry that she was shaking. “Are you renouncing us? Renouncing what you built?”

“Yes, she’s right.” A man in a green shirt joined her. “We trusted you. We gave you all we had, gave up on our families and loved ones because we believed in your word.”

“No,” Soren said, waving his hands around. “No, no, no. This is a misunderstanding. Please, sit down.”

“I will not sit down,” the woman said.

“Did you send assassins after my daughter?” My father stepped up while my mother tried to pull him back, scared for him.

“No, I would never...”

“He didn’t,” I said. “His followers hate me so much that they decided to enact justice on their own, as Markus said. I’m paraphrasing.”

“Everyone, we should calm down...” Nothing that Soren said had an impact anymore.

The guests jumped from their seats and started yelling at each other. The ones who were not dressed in green were cursing and attacking Soren’s people, calling them names. Soren’s people were cursing him and screaming about how he was a fake and he’d betrayed them. It was chaos.

And in that chaos, I saw my chance at freedom.

I lifted the heavy skirt of my dress and ran to my parents.

“I can’t do this. I won’t.”

“Darling,” my mother cooed. She was crying. She reached for me, but I pushed her hand away.

“Are you okay?” Dad asked me.

“No. I’m not okay. I am done with this. I am done with you. You tried to marry me into a cult!”

“We didn’t know,” Mom said.

“I don’t care. I’m leaving.”

“Where are you going?” Dad asked. He grabbed my arm, but I shook him off.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be safe. Safer than here.”

“Thea, please... We’re your parents, we want what’s best for you.” Mom said.

“I will protect you,” Dad said. “I failed you, I know, but I will do better.”

“It’s okay, Dad. You protected me already. By giving me Taran.”

“Who?”

I rolled my eyes, and it dawned on him. I couldn’t believe he’d forgotten about the bodyguard he’d hired for me.

“Taran Sylvan,” he said. “The leshy. Is he here?”

“Yes, he’s waiting for me. And I’m going. Don’t try to stop me.”

“You weren’t supposed to know,” he yelled after me.

“Oh, I know. I know everything!”

With that, I tore my veil and ran across the courtyard. Wedding guests crashed into me, and I pushed them away. It was madness. Someone grabbed at my dress, and when I pulled, half of the skirt got torn. Pain shot through my ankle. I couldn’t ignore it, but I couldn’t stop either.

I saw him move towards me, and I ran to him. Taran had waited for me. He’d stayed and watched over me until the last moment, even if he thought I was lost.

I’d been lost. For a while. He’d helped me find myself, and all I wanted was to be with him. I didn’t care how.

He caught me in his branches and lifted me bridal style. So fitting.

“My flower,” he whispered in my ear.

“Take me away.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Taran

My first thought was that I couldn’t believe what Thea had just done. She was in my branches, and we were running away, and it was real, not my imagination.

My second thought was... of course she’d stood up for herself! She was strong, loyal, and pure, and there was no way she could’ve functioned in that world. Not when she’d gone through so much and seen how little she mattered to those people. They were using her. She loved her family, but they didn’t love her the same, and if she’d accepted it until now, not knowing there was true love that was available to her, love that wasn’t conditioned, now she knew, and she would accept nothing less.

I’d shown her that. I was proud of myself, and I was proud of her. How could she not be my mate? True mates saved each other.

“What now?” I asked when we were deep in the woods. “What do you want to do?”

“Whatever you want,” she said, clinging to me, pressing her body against the upper part of my trunk.

I kept my face human, but the rest of me was leshy. Thea didn’t even flinch. She was used to my natural form by now, and it didn’t bother her anymore. If I hadn’t known she’d struggled so hard with being in nature, I would’ve been tempted to say she felt better in the middle of it than surrounded by people.

I stopped and looked down at her. She cupped my cheek with her hand and kissed my other one gently.

From the moment she’d run to me, adrenaline had shot through my roots, and branches, and vines – pure fuel, pushing me forward. Now it was like poison. It made me feel slightly unhinged. I had to calm down, so I could think.

Here I was, in the wilderness, with Thea Everhart in a wedding dress. She was a runaway bride, and I was her secret lover. I was taking her away from her very wealthy, very powerful family. It was naïve to think they wouldn’t do anything about it. Maybe not today, but they would be coming once the commotion at the resort was over. And then there was Soren Sinclair. She’d humiliated him. Exposed him in the most horrible way. Logic said he’d be looking for revenge soon.

“Thea, we have to think,” I said.

“Think about what?”

“First of all, are you sure about this?”

“Yes. I’m not going back there. Ever. I want to be with you.”

That filled me with hope and so much love for her that it hurt.

“If you leave your world behind,” I said, “And you come with me... Then you have to come to my world.”

“Yes.”

I didn’t think she actually understood. Then again, she didn’t know my world. I’d told her very little about the leshy communities. I didn’t even live in one. She didn’t know what she was getting herself into, and I didn’t know either. This was new, and exciting, and a little bit scary. Could a human and a leshy be together? It was unheard of. We were either going to make history, or crash and burn in the next twenty-four hours.

“Thea, do you know what you’re asking me...” It was half a question, half a warning. But in reality, I was pleading with her.

“Yes. Yes, I do. Take me to your place, Taran, wherever that is. I’m done with my world, with the bubble I lived in. With my ivory tower. I’m done with my past. I have no home anymore. You are my home.”

It hurt so good to hear those words coming from her full, delicious mouth. This was insanity, but we’d come so far. I couldn’t tell her... How unusual this whole thing was. How it barely had the tiniest chance of success. If we failed, the damage would be irreversible.

“Okay, I will take you to my oasis.”

“Your what?” Her green eyes widened.

“That’s where I live. You’ll see.”

“But when you say oasis... It makes me think it’s in the middle of a desert.”

“In the middle of a deserted land, yes. There once stood a forest there. The forest is no more, all the trees cut down and nothing new planted. I built my oasis there, my home, so I would revive the land, little by little.”

She chewed on her lower lip, which let me know she understood what I meant. The forest had been cut by a furniture company. Her father’s furniture company.

“Is this what leshy do?” she asked. “Rebuild what humans destroyed?”

“Sometimes.”

“Show me, then. I want to see your oasis.”

I readjusted her weight in my branches, and she wrapped her arms around my trunk, right below where my human face was. My roots moved quickly over the forest floor, and I sent my thoughts to the trees and bushes, so all the vegetation leaned out of my way. As we neared the edge of the woods, we stayed silent. I wondered what Thea was thinking but didn’t want to pressure her into telling me. She would talk when she was ready. It was probably hard for her to understand how I could like her so much – love her – when she was the daughter of a man who’d only done damage to my world. Truth be told, it was hard for me, too. Love made no sense.

We emerged from the forest, and there was a highway before us. A car passed, then another. When there were no more cars, I crossed the highway quickly. We entered the forest again and continued on our journey. I moved fast, but my oasis was pretty far from here. We would have to travel for the better part of the night.

The sky was peppered with stars, but the canopy was too dense to let in the silvery light. The moon was a sharp sickle that spent most of the night hidden in a cloud or another. In my branches, Thea was exhausted. Her eyelids fluttered closed every few minutes, and she struggled to stay awake.

“You can sleep, my flower.”

“No, I want to see...”

“It’s a long way home. We’ll be there in the morning. No need to stay awake all night.”

“But I want to...” She yawned.

“There’s nothing to see. Only trees.”

“I like... trees...”

I smiled. Three days ago, Thea had stood before a tree line and almost run for her life.

“Sleep, flower. You’ll bloom again at dawn.”

She chuckled. “That’s nice. You say nice things, Taran. You’re a poet.”

“It’s a good thing you’re too tired to remember in the morning.”

“I’ll remember,” she whispered, leaning her head against my trunk, eyes closed. She wasn’t fighting it anymore.

“Let’s test that. Let’s test if you’ll remember that I told you...”

“Mm... what?”

“You’re my mate.”

“Your what?”

“My fated mate. My soulmate.”

She opened her eyes and looked at me from underneath her heavy lashes. She grinned. “I’ll remember.”

But then she was out, and I highly doubted she would.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Thea

The sun woke me – bright and brutal, right in my face. I groaned and shielded my eyes with my arm.

“Sorry,” Taran said. He readjusted his branches, and I was in the shade again.

“Where are we?” I sat up. His branches creaked underneath me. It felt like the long, heavy skirt of my wedding dress was pulling me down. “What is this place?”

He was silent. Because I didn’t need him to tell me again; I knew what it was.

I knew what my father’s business was. A company that made furniture. To make furniture, you needed wood, and to get wood, you needed to cut down trees and process them. The biggest furniture company in the US could’ve only been built through making a lot of furniture. And to make a lot of furniture, you needed to cut down a lot of trees.

That was Everhart Furniture, owned by Bill and Emilia Everhart. One day to be inherited by Matthew Everhart, my brother. It was my legacy, too.

The land around me was deserted. Where there had once been trees, there were now only stumps. Without shade, the grass was dried in patches. There were brambles and a few wildflowers here and there, but the little vegetation that remained didn’t make the place look less desolate. An entire ecosystem had been destroyed. Birds, and squirrels, and deer, and bears had had to find a new home.

It was devastating to witness. It was painful to finally understand the magnitude of what had happened here, all in the name of money. In theory, I knew all this. Even if I never stopped to dwell on it – what with being busy reading, and painting, and learning how to play the piano in my ivory tower – I knew what it meant to build furniture. How it was done and what the steps were. But it had never occurred to me that I should think more deeply about it, try to imagine it, or... hell!... maybe go see it with my own eyes. My father would’ve taken me to one of these places if I’d asked. Sometimes, he would visit the logging sites and connect with the people who worked for him. But I’d never cared. I’d never asked questions. Of course I wouldn’t ask questions about something that terrified me so much – nature. I was too busy avoiding the subject.

“What about replanting?” I asked. “It’s required by law.”

Taran laughed bitterly. “That requires money your father doesn’t want to waste. Thanks to the powerful friends he has, he’s managed to skirt most sustainability laws. Even if he replanted, what good would it do? It takes years for a forest to regenerate and become the ecosystem it once was. Humans don’t see the logging industry for what it is, don’t see the direct consequences – harming entire species, ruining biodiversity, contributing to global warming. They think if they cut down a few trees and then replant, it’s all good. Fixed like it was never broken.”

I opened my mouth to say I was sorry but thought better of it. It would’ve sounded trite. Inappropriate. One couldn’t simply be sorry and move on, apology accepted. Especially when that person was... me.

The landscape was hard to look at. It made me feel uncomfortable, so I forced myself to take it in and not look away. It was the least I could do. Show respect by not making myself blind to it.

“It’s not much further now,” Taran said. His voice was warm and kind. He wasn’t mad at me, but he was sad.

“I can walk the rest of the way,” I said.

“In this dress?” He laughed. “I’m not so sure.”

I frowned. He was right. The dress might not have been such a big problem, but the shoes were for sure. My ankle was deeply unhappy that I’d forced my left foot into the dainty white shoe with a heel that was too high for me on a good day.

I readjusted my position, trying to make myself more comfortable. It had been a long night, and sleeping in a tree wasn’t the most ideal. I was thirsty too, and that was when it dawned on me how crazy I’d been to leave like that. During my three-day hike through the woods, I’d at least had my backpack. Now the only thing I had with me was my phone, which was useless, since there was no signal. No water, no food, no spare clothes... What was I going to wear? My wedding dress for the rest of my life?

I was exposed in it. So terribly exposed. The skirt was big and round, but the top was just a corset, with two thin straps that went over my shoulders. Pearls around my neck and in my ears, a thin bracelet around my left wrist, and that was all.

“Are you okay?” Taran had sensed my distress.

I tried to give him a smile, but it was probably more of a grimace. “Yes. Just... eager to get there.”

“A few more minutes, and you’ll see it.”

Good God, what had I been thinking?! I couldn’t freak out now. We were almost there. I was sure Taran’s oasis had everything I needed.

It appeared on the horizon – a patch of pure green. In the middle of the wasteland, there was a grove of trees growing beautifully, grass and flowers that I could tell was expanding month after month, and a stream that crossed through the middle. I was relieved to hear the chirping of birds and see butterflies chasing each other.

“This is home,” Taran said, setting me down on my feet.

“Wow! It truly looks like an oasis.” The quick stream shimmered in the sun, the water babbling invitingly. I was so thirsty. “May I?” I knelt beside it and sank my hands in the cold water before he could give me permission.

Taran laughed. “What is mine is yours.”

I drank greedily, then splashed water onto my face. I remembered I was wearing makeup, so I rubbed it off as best as I could.

“Oh, this is so much better.” Then my stomach decided to growl. “Sorry.” I blushed.

“You’re hungry!”

“A little. Don’t worry, I can eat later.” I looked around me, wondering if there was anything to eat. “Your home is beautiful.” And I wasn’t lying. It was. Except... it didn’t seem to be a place where a human could live.

There were just trees, bushes, grass, and flowers. There was a wide-open space on the other side of the stream. It was as if the trees had grown around it, leaving it intentionally empty. It intrigued me. But my problem was there was no shelter for a human. I didn’t have my backpack with me, which meant I didn’t have my sleeping bag. Though a tent would’ve been more adequate. I studied every inch of the oasis and came up... empty. It was a nice place for a leshy, but for a human... At least it wasn’t scary. My biophobia seemed to have solved itself. Brutal exposure to the thing I’d feared most had cured me when I realized there was, in fact, nothing to fear.

“I will find you something to eat,” Taran said. “Berries. Do you like berries?”

“I love berries!”

His branches groaned and cracked as he took his more human shape. He knelt beside me and cupped my face with his hand.

“Don’t worry, my flower. I will turn this place into a home for you. It needs a few adjustments, that’s all. Rune won’t mind.”

“Rune?”

He smiled. “It’s the name of my oasis.”

“Really?”

“I called her Rune, yes. You have names for your towns and cities. This is the same.”

“Oh, yes. That makes sense. Why Rune?”

He averted his gaze, stood up and brushed his hands on his leaf pants.

“I’ll tell you another time.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Taran

What had I been thinking? A human couldn’t live here! For me, it was perfect. The oasis was home, the place I’d built for myself five years ago, when I was too broken to live with the community. But for Thea... It was an oversized garden!

“I’ll go gather berries for you,” I said.

“No, wait. I’m not that hungry.”

She tried to cling to me, but it didn’t feel right. It felt like a mistake. Now that my emotions had settled down, the adrenaline and lust had left my system, and I could see our situation for what it was. Difficult. Impossible.

“You are,” I insisted. “I won’t be gone long. Then I’ll build you a nest while you eat.”

She beamed at me. “I’d love that.”

I kissed her forehead, then went to look for berries at the edge of the oasis, where I knew they grew. I needed a moment to myself. I needed to think when she wasn’t so close to me, pressed against me so hard that it felt like she was a part of me. When I held her, I couldn’t think. She was all I wanted, and nothing else mattered. My reality was her. But now that we were here, I had to admit that reality looked a little different than what I’d imagined.

And to top it all, I’d just told her the oasis was called Rune. The words tumbled out of my stupid mouth, and when I realized what I’d said, it was too late to take them back. Why Rune? She wanted to know. Of course she did. It was a simple question. Harmless curiosity.

Why did I have to tell her the name of the oasis? Why did I have to utter the name Rune, today of all days? I’d just brought Thea here, and this was supposed to be the beginning of the rest of our life together. But nothing looked promising. Not the fact that she was hungry, and I had no human food to give her. Not the fact that she couldn’t simply sit on the ground and look at the sky all day long; she needed shelter. Not the fact that all she had was the wedding dress on her back and those ridiculous shoes she couldn’t walk in.

This was a disaster, and I felt so powerless. I felt stupid. Delusional.

I made a basket out of my own branches and vines and started gathering berries for her. Who was I kidding? This was just a snack. She needed proper food. What did humans eat? They ate all kinds of things. The sandwiches Thea had eaten during the hike had been made of bread, and they’d contained cheese, ham, and salad. Where was I going to get cheese and ham? There was a town nearby, maybe I could go there. I’d never shopped for anything in my life. All leshy needed was the sun, the rain, and a patch of land to rest on.

I felt a vibration in my side, and for a second, I didn’t know what it was. It stopped, and I carried on. Then it started again, and I mentally slapped myself. My phone. Yes, I had a work phone, and I kept it in one of my hollows. It hadn’t rung in a while, and I’d forgotten about it.

“Yes.”

“Taran!” It was Harrison, my handler. “I just wanted to check in. Is everything okay?”

I hesitated. Had Thea’s father already contacted Monster Security Agency? I’d heard her tell him she was leaving with me.

“Define okay,” I said.

He cleared his throat. He sounded uncomfortable, but then again, Harrison was always uncomfortable.

“Mr. Everhart called early this morning. He said something about his daughter being with you, and that he wanted her returned home safely.”

I had to tread lightly. My job was on the line, but at the same time, Thea had chosen me over her selfish family. I had no intention of making her go home if she didn’t want to. As for safety, she was safer with me than with her parents.

“Harrison, who would you say my client is?”

“Mr. Everhart is paying the agency fee. The contract you signed is with him.”

“But who is my client, Harrison? Who am I guarding? Who am I protecting?”

“His daughter...” There was a pause. “Listen, Taran, what’s happening? You can tell me. Be perfectly honest, and we’ll figure it out together.”

“My client is not safe with her family. She doesn’t want to have anything to do with them at the moment, so she asked me to take her away. Keep her safe.”

“What? No, that can’t be... Ugh! No-no-no... Her father called this morning and asked for her to be returned. He didn’t say the word, but I know he wanted to...”

“What word?”

“Kidnapped. He thinks you kidnapped his daughter.”

My leaves rustled with anger. “There were witnesses, Harrison. A hundred or more. You can investigate, if you want. It won’t be hard to get the facts. Thea told her parents she was done with them and that she was leaving. They tried to make her marry a cult leader. Against her will, Harrison. They manipulated her, she found out, and decided to cut ties with them. I am her bodyguard. When she came to me, asking me to protect her, what was I supposed to do? It’s my job.”

“Taran, your job was to deliver her safely to the Celestial Pines Sanctuary. You did that, so your job is done. As of yesterday evening.”

“My job is not done, Harrison. And don’t tell me about the contract. My client asked for my help. It will be done when she doesn’t need my protection anymore.”

“Look, I understand where you’re coming from, but it’s a stretch.”

“So, the MSA wants me to take her back to her parents, of whom she is afraid?” Well, now it was a stretch. Thea had never expressed fear. Only disappointment.

“You’re putting me in a tough spot.”

“It’s the truth.”

“I’ve known you for five years, and I know your intentions are good. You’re protecting your client, okay. But she’s not the one paying you.”

“I don’t care about money.”

“You don’t, the MSA does.”

“Is money more important than my client’s safety? I thought our motto is we always go above and beyond.”

“No, you’re right.” He made a pause, then groaned in frustration. “But Bill Everhart is right, too.”

“You’re my handler, Harrison. Handle it.”

“Okay. Here’s what I will do. I’ll talk to the boss and see what he says. It’s better that he hears it from me, and not from Bill Everhart. But you have to promise me you’ll work on your part of the problem.”

“My part of the problem?”

“Thea Everhart. She can’t just run away like this and think there’d be no consequences.”

“She’s an adult, Harrison.”

“She’s the daughter of a furniture mogul, Taran. Just make sure she’s safe. If anything happens to her–”

“She almost died a few times, and it wasn’t because of me. It’s thanks to me she’s alive.”

“Okay, that’s good to hear. I know you’re good at your job. I’ll... I’ll talk to the boss.”

He hung up. It felt like the world had slipped from underneath my roots. I felt untethered. I filled the basket for Thea and hurried back, wanting to make sure she was fine. I shouldn’t have left her alone in a place she didn’t know. And what if her phobia wasn’t completely cured? She could’ve been freaking out right now.

I found her where I’d left her. She’d taken her shoes off, hiked her enormous skirt up her legs, and was sunbathing by the stream. When she saw me, she jumped to her feet, wincing when she put weight on her injured one. I rushed to catch her before she lost her balance.

“Look at me,” she said, laughing. “I’m barefoot! In the grass!”

“That’s amazing.”

“It is, right? I’m shocked. But I don’t feel like I’m going to cry or faint. No panic attack, no nothing.”

“I’m so proud of you.”

She beamed at me. “What did you bring me?”

I gave her the basket only after I’d washed the berries in the stream.

“I’ll get you something more substantial to eat later,” I said.

She kissed my cheek, then took her berries and went to eat them sitting on a round, shiny rock. I watched her for a few minutes and wondered if I should’ve told her about my conversation with Harrison. She seemed happy, though. At peace. It didn’t feel right to upset her with the news that her father thought I’d kidnapped her.

I decided to do something more useful instead. Build her a nest.

Chapter Thirty

Thea

I ate my berries and watched Taran build me a nest like the one he’d destroyed the morning after he’d taken my virginity. This was bigger, and he built it on the other side of the stream, in the open space. It took longer, but I was content to sit in the sun and think about nothing.

Which only worked for a few minutes. Because then I started thinking about everything.

The oasis was beautiful, but what was I supposed to do here? Okay, I was going to have shelter soon. And he’d said he would figure out food for me. But what about clothes? What about... activities? At home, I liked to read, paint, and play the piano. I liked to meet with my friends and have coffee, hear the latest harmless gossip. I liked to go to the movies, the theatre, and the opera. I liked to dress nicely, wear my gold jewelry, and go shopping. They were all frivolous things, I realized now, but they were mine. I’d said I was done with my past, but I couldn’t be done with everything I used to do, everything I was. These things... defined me to a certain extent.

There was no one here, just me and Taran. I hadn’t realized how solitary he was, even though he’d told me. Maybe I didn’t want to believe him, or I couldn’t imagine someone living all by himself, without friends or family. He had this place, and he had his job. That was it. And now he had me.

Watching him work hard to build the nest from his own branches and vines, snapping and weaving, snapping and weaving, I wondered whether I was a burden to him. I doubted he liked doing this. He didn’t need shelter; I did. And he didn’t need food; I did. Was he going to spend the rest of his life providing for me? Running errands for me? Because I couldn’t see how I could get from the oasis to the nearest town on my own in case I needed groceries. And what would happen when he had to work?

I got up and started pacing, feeling like I couldn’t sit still. My ankle protested, but I ignored it. This was too much. I hadn’t thought this through. But when I’d asked Taran to take me to his place, an oasis in the middle of a deserted landscape – courtesy of my father’s business – was not what I’d expected.

What had I expected? What did I know about monsters? Some of them lived in the cities, like everyone else. Some did not. I couldn’t hold it against Taran that he was in the second category.

An hour later, he was done, and the only reason I wasn’t still hungry was that I was stressed, on the verge of an anxiety attack. I couldn’t eat real food if I wanted to.

“Come,” Taran said. “Let me take you inside.”

He looked human again, except for his feet, which were roots. He’d told me feet didn’t make sense to him, and he moved faster this way. He offered me his hand, and I skipped from one stone to another, carefully crossing the stream with him. Until I lost my balance and he had to catch me. He lifted me up, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. It was ridiculous how much he had to carry me.

Inside, the nest was wide and comfortable. The floor was covered in leaves, and there was even a pillow. He’d made the ceiling high enough that we could both stand.

“It’s incredible,” I said. “As always. I don’t know how you can make something so amazing in so little time.”

“I realize this is not what you’re used to.” He sat down and pulled me in his lap. “I can do better.”

“What do you mean?”

“I will build you a house. A proper house, with a kitchen, a bathroom, a living room, a bedroom... And what else? A reading room? I will buy you books in town.”

I ran my hands over his handsome face, over his hair that was made of vines, and over his stag horns that were made of branches. I wanted to say, “Yes, I want all of that. I want to be with you, no matter what.” But I couldn’t.

He looked into my eyes. “I sound stupid, don’t I?”

“No...”

“Yes. Because none of it is possible. You’ve lived in a city all your life. In a mansion. Surrounded by high society. You would never choose to isolate here with me.”

“Let’s not think about that now.” I silenced him with a kiss.

He tried to pull away, but I held on tightly, pressing myself against him, wrapping my legs around his waist. And for the first time... I felt it. It poked my belly, and I broke the kiss and stared at him in shock.

“That is... Is that...?”

He laughed, but it was bitter. I didn’t understand why.

“I didn’t think...” I looked down between us and covered my mouth with my hand. It was massive, and his leaf pants could barely contain it. “I didn’t know... Now I feel stupid!”

“It’s okay,” he laughed. He wrapped his spindly fingers around my wrists and pulled my hands down to my sides. “It’s okay, my flower. Of course you wouldn’t think trees have cocks.”

“Leshy.”

He smiled and captured my lips in another kiss. But I had questions, and I wasn’t going to let him distract me.

“No, wait, but how? I mean, not how. Why? Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you... When we did... you know what. Why didn’t you... um... use it?”

He shook his head. “Because even now, I don’t know how to tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

“Do you remember what I said before you fell asleep last night?”

I thought for a moment. After the circus I’d had to endure at the Celestial Pines Sanctuary, I was exhausted. I remembered us talking while he carried me through the dark woods, but it was all pretty vague. I hadn’t been able to pay much attention.

Then it was as if a light bulb switched on in my head.

“That I’m your soulmate.”

I thought he’d be excited that I’d remembered, but he looked even sadder than before.

“What would you say if I took it back?” he asked.

“What?! Take it back? You can’t take something like that back. It’s as if... It’s as if you told me you loved me and took it back.”

I scrambled away from him, crawling to the other side of the nest. I crossed my arms over my chest and waited for him to explain himself. If he could.

“Thea, this is so complicated. You and me...”

“Are you kidding me?”

“No...”

“Taran, do you love me?”

My heart stood still for a moment. Normally, I would never have asked a man if he loved me. It sounded desperate and unhinged. Like I couldn’t live without him. Like I would’ve done anything to convince him to take me back. Because what Taran was doing now felt a lot like... rejection.

I knew better than that. Even with my heart broken in a million bloody pieces, I would never chase a man.

But this was different. He’d brought me here, he’d spent the better part of the day building me a nest out of his own body. His actions said one thing, and his words said another.

“I love you,” he said.

My eyes widened, and my arms fell at my sides. “I love you, too.” I crawled back to him, until our knees were touching. “What’s wrong, then? Why would you say I’m your soul mate and take it back?”

He started playing with the hem of my dress. It was dirty, and I didn’t care. My feet were dirty too.

“You wanted to know why I called my oasis Rune.”

That took me aback. “I mean, yeah. What does that have to do with anything?”

“It has everything to do,” he looked deep into my eyes, “With everything.”

Chapter Thirty-One

Taran

I’d never talked about it. With anyone. After it happened, I’d left my community, isolated here, and built this oasis in her honor.

Rune.

“We were together,” I told Thea. “We were supposed to be mated.”

“Rune is your ex?!”

I nodded. It was hard to talk about her. What had happened to her was horrible, and I still believed it was half my fault. I should’ve protected her. I should’ve never left her side.

“We had an argument. It happened sometimes. We argued over small things but made up within minutes. Rune was feisty. Stubborn. She always wanted things to go her way, and most of the time, I complied. I would’ve done anything to see her happy. But there was one thing I couldn’t do, because it wasn’t within my power. It wasn’t something I could control. We fought about it, and she left.”

“What was the fight about?”

“The seed.”

“The... what?”

“It’s complicated. Leshy anatomy is so different from human anatomy. The way we mate and procreate is different, too.”

“Explain it to me.”

“Okay. When a leshy male finds his mate, he produces a seed that starts growing at the base of his reproductive organ. When the seed is ready, he plants it inside the female leshy, and within weeks, the female leshy starts growing a sprout.”

Thea’s eyes widened. “Where?”

“What do you mean?”

“Where does she grow this sprout? I mean, where on her body?”

“Oh.” I reached out and touched her perfect, flat stomach. “Around here.”

Thea nodded. Given how shocked she was, she was dealing well, keeping her emotions in check.

“And it just grows out of her,” she said. “On the outside.”

“Yes.”

“I see. Go on.”

“The problem was that Rune and I had been together for a year, and I had yet to produce a seed for her. We decided that maybe it wasn’t happening because we weren’t officially mated. Like humans, leshy can be together without saying any vows, but we can also mate officially, if we want to. There’s no pressure from our families, though. An official ceremony is optional. So, Rune and I were supposed to be mated before our friends and family, but we had this huge fight a week before the ceremony was scheduled. She felt like she wasn’t enough because I couldn’t grow a seed for her. She started questioning our bond. She said that maybe we weren’t true mates, and we were making a mistake by insisting on being together. She wanted a sprout, and I couldn’t blame her. She was afraid that if we got mated officially and I still couldn’t give her a seed, she would never have a chance at being a mother.”

“That is rough,” Thea whispered.

“Yes. What happened after was my fault.”

“How so?”

“She left, as I said. She said she needed a break.”

“And you didn’t go after her?”

“Of course I did! I found her here.” I made a wide gesture with my human arm.

“Here?”

“Yes. Five years ago, this wasteland was a forest. She retreated here, and when I came to bring her back, she said she needed to think about it, and asked me to give her some time. She buried her roots in the ground and asked me to come back in three months, when she would wake up from her slumber. She hoped that if she slumbered for a while, it would be revealed to her if we were mates indeed, or if we were making a mistake. What could I do? I had to respect her wish. So, I waited until she grounded herself and became completely still, no different than the trees surrounding her. And I left. Three months weren’t the end of the world. Leshy perceive the passage of time differently.”

I paused, unsure of how to continue. What followed was the hardest part. It was painful to think about it, let alone relive it by talking about it out loud.

Thea sensed my distress and moved closer. She took my hands into hers – a very human gesture that I found comforting.

“It’s okay,” she said. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“I want to. You’re important to me, and I think it’s only fair for you to know about my past.”

“Okay. But just so you know, I’m here for you. This will change nothing.”

I gave her a bitter smile. On the contrary, it was going to change everything.

“When I returned, after three months, there was nothing left of the forest. All the trees had been cut down.”

“Oh my God...”

“I looked for her. All I found was a stump.”

Thea’s mouth opened, but no words came out. She was stunned, and I felt exhausted. The pain of having lost Rune five years ago felt once again fresh, raw, and crippling. I didn’t know if we’d been mates. Maybe she’d been right, and we were about to make a mistake. Maybe if Everhart Furniture hadn’t sent its logging branch to cut down the forest, Rune would’ve woken up after three months, and we would’ve parted ways amicably. Deep in slumber, rooted into the ground, she hadn’t stood a chance. I wondered if she’d felt it when they’d cut her down.

“Where is she?” Thea finally asked, her voice barely a whisper.

“Upstream,” I said. “I made an altar for her. Do you want to see it?”

She shook her head gently, averting her gaze. Of course she didn’t want to see it. We were talking about my ex. I’d built more than an altar around what was left of her; I’d built an entire oasis in her honor, named it after her, and now I’d brought Thea here and built her a nest. What had I been thinking? How delusional could I be? It was as if I’d brought my new girlfriend into the house I’d built for my ex, granted Rune and I had never lived here together.

“I’m so sorry,” Thea said, still avoiding my gaze. “My father did this. I can’t believe it. You say it was your fault, but it wasn’t. I’ve never known the extent of the family company’s destruction. It’s like I’ve lived all my life in a curated bubble, and to know the reality of the world is... crushing. You’ve lived here, on the outside, dealing with so much destruction all these years, so much pain, and here I am... entitled and useless.”

“Don’t talk about yourself like that. You never had anything to do with your father’s company.”

“I’ve lived an easy life thanks to the money it’s made us.”

I cupped her cheek with my hand and forced her to look at me.

“My flower, you did nothing wrong.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, either,” she said. “Yet you suffered so much. I’m sorry about Rune. I have no words.”

“It’s okay. It was a long time ago.”

We stared into each other’s eyes for a long, charged moment. One of us leaned in, I wasn’t sure who. Maybe we leaned in at the same time. Our lips met, and I closed my eyes, enjoying the taste of her.

The seed grew a little more in my loins. My cock thickened, craving to be inside my beautiful flower. It wasn’t possible, I kept telling myself. The fact that I was able to produce a seed for the first time indicated that Thea was my mate. But our union was impossible. Too much stood in our way. Things we couldn’t control, aspects of our bodies that we couldn’t change. Because how would Thea grow a sprout when she was human?

The kiss grew deep and intense. She climbed on top of me and ground her hips on my cock, and my thoughts turned to butterflies that just flew away. In this moment in time, it was just the two of us, and nothing mattered. I could allow myself this moment of luxury, even if it made what was to come more painful.

I was used to pain. I could take it, if I was given the chance to explore her body one last time.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Thea

I knew there was nothing I could say to make it all better, so I kissed him instead. With all I had. My arms and legs wrapped around him, I pressed my body as close to his as I could, feeling the harness of his chest, his abs, his thighs, his cock... I wanted him inside me. His vines had been nice, especially for a beginner like me, but not enough. My pussy needed something bigger and rougher.

I traced a hand down his chest, lower and lower, until I reached the hem of his pants. He groaned and caught my wrist, but didn’t stop me, so I slipped my hand inside to touch his cock for the first time.

Talk about rough... His cock was covered in bark!

“Thea, we can’t.”

“Why not?” Though I was starting to get an idea...

“Because I can’t give you my seed. And besides, you’re soft, I’m not.” He squeezed my wrist, and I squeezed his cock in my fist. It was pure wood. “If we attempted it, you’d only get hurt.”

I pouted. “But I want you. I want all of you.”

“Even after what I told you? We both know we can’t be together.”

I shook my head. “Don’t say that. We’ll find a way.”

He kissed my neck, starting from behind my ear, down to my shoulder. I bit my lip and let out a whimper.

“My flower...”

His hands ran up my sides, then cupped my breasts. He pushed them up, but the corset was in the way, too tight and too rigid to allow him access. I reached behind me and started undoing it.

“Tell me we’ll find a way,” I said as I removed my corset, and he dove for my breasts. He took one nipple in his mouth and teased the other with his long fingers. “Tell me...” My hands went to his horns, wrapping around the branches that made them.

“I can’t tell you that,” he whispered.

My eyes filled with tears. He kissed me, nibbled at my skin, turned me on so much that I could barely stand it, and yet broke my heart at the same time.

“My flower, don’t cry.” He took my face in his hands.

“I can’t stop,” I sniffed.

“Please don’t cry.” The vine that was his tongue darted out and brushed my tears away. “You’re hurting.”

“You’re hurting too.”

I should’ve put an end to it right now. I should’ve disentangled myself from him and crawled out of the nest for a breath of fresh air. My brain was swimming in lust, while my heart was bleeding. Because even if we did this now, even if I gave myself to him again, once it was over, nothing would be different. Our bodies were still incompatible, he couldn’t give me his seed – becausee God knew what it would do inside my body – and we couldn’t live here.

I couldn’t live here. For so many reasons. An oasis that was named after Taran’s ex-lover who’d been, essentially, murdered by my father couldn’t be my home. It would’ve been disrespectful to her memory, and also to me. Taran and I couldn’t be together in a place that reminded him of her at every step. Her remains were upstream, turned into an altar. How could I make a happy life here knowing that? No, there was no happiness to be had here. The oasis was not a home, it was a place for mourning. It was a gravesite.

I wasn’t mad at him for bringing me here. It was where he lived when he wasn’t on a job. My guess was he took a lot of jobs to keep himself busy. I’d asked him to show me his world, and this was a big part of it. It had revealed to me so many things about him. Like, how broken he was, how much he’d suffered, and yet how strong he was. His power of forgiveness was infinite if he could be with me, the daughter of the man who’d ruined his life. I’d never met a man like Taran before, and I never would again. After him, I doubted I could be with a human man.

“What do we do?” I asked between sobs.

He soothed me with his vines and leaves, drying my tears and brushing my skin so softly that I was soon covered in delicious goosebumps.

“I don’t know.”

“I want you.”

“I want you more than anything,” he said.

“Then take me.” In response, his vines snuck underneath my skirt and wrapped around my thighs. “I want your cock inside me.”

“That’s one thing that we can’t do.”

“Please...”

“You can’t take it, my flower. It’s too rough for you. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Is there no way?”

“Not that I know of.” One vine pushed my panties to the side and slipped inside me. “But I can make you come. As many times as you want.”

I gasped as his vine fucked me slowly. “I want to make you come, too.” I reached for his cock again, pulling it out of his pants. “How about if I use my hand?”

He shook his head as he gently pushed my hand away. “No, don’t do that. It hurts.”

“Did I do it wrong?” I blushed. This was the first time I was touching a man down there. I’d had boyfriends before, but we’d only kissed. I hadn’t let them slip their hands underneath my clothes, and I hadn’t felt the need to do it to them either. “Show me how you like it.”

“No, you don’t understand. It hurts. The seed. I can’t come without expelling it. And the more you touch me and tease me, the more painful it is for me.”

“Oh.” I unwrapped my legs from around his waist and slipped off his lap.

He grinned and followed me, pinning me under him. His vines made quick work of my skirt, and within seconds, I was naked under him.

“One last time?” he asked as he stared into my eyes, his vine still thrusting in and out of my pussy. Slowly. Deliberately.

I nodded eagerly. “One last time.”

I was still crying, silent tears rolling down my cheeks. I couldn’t stop them. Taran kissed them away as he wrapped his vines around every part of my body – my arms and wrists, my calves, my thighs, my waist, my breasts... I was all this. I couldn’t move, and I didn’t want to. I loved how he made me feel safe, held and supported. One of his vines traced up my neck, over my chin, and poked at my lower lip. I opened my mouth and instantly felt the sweet taste of his sap.

This could as well be the last time I had sex. In my life. If I couldn’t be with him, I didn’t want to be with anyone. I didn’t think I could let anyone else touch me. I wanted Taran’s vines and branches to remain imprinted on my skin and in my system, and I didn’t want any other experience to try and erase them. Nothing could come close to how Taran made me feel, so why even bother?

Another vine rubbed my clit as a second vine joined the one inside my pussy. I still wanted his cock more than anything, and it frustrated me that I couldn’t have it. I closed my eyes and imagined it was his cock pounding me. I was his mate, and he was going to give me his seed. He was going to plant it deep inside me, in my womb, and he was going to whisper my name in my ear when he came.

My imagination did the trick, and I came hard, soaking his vines with my juices. He poured sap into me, and my pussy throbbed around his vines, milking them. More sap shot into my mouth. I swallowed greedily, and when he pulled his vine out, I licked my lips and opened my eyes. I was flushed with lust, shaking and sweaty. I was far from being done.

“More,” I begged him.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Taran

My pain mounted with her pleasure. She came once, and the seed throbbed inside me, eager to shoot out, sensing her fertile womb. I held back, even if it felt like it would kill me. Thea squirmed and arched, trembled and whimpered, and I fucked her without stopping, not giving her a chance to breathe. She came a second time, and her body squeezed around my vines. I teased her back entrance with the tip of another, and she opened up for me, her puckered hole practically swallowing me. Within minutes, she was coming again.

“What about you?” she breathed, barely coherent. Her eyes couldn’t focus on mine. It was as if she were high.

“Don’t worry about me.”

“I want you to feel good, too.”

“Your pleasure gives me pleasure.” And a lot of pain. I didn’t say that out loud.

She tried to reach for my cock again. It was hard and exposed, a long, bark-covered stump that was pointing at her.

“Just let me–”

“No.” I stopped her, wrapping a vine around her wrists and returning her hand where it belonged, above her head. It had been my fault I’d let go at some point and given her space to move. “Stay there and take what I’m giving you.”

I pushed a vine deep into her mouth, making her choke on it. Instead of complaining, she moaned, and I poured sap down her throat, knowing that was what she wanted.

Her pussy was full of my sap. Compared to human sperm, it didn’t contain anything that could make her pregnant. I could fill her with it, give her orgasm after orgasm, mark her until she smelled like me, all with zero consequences. She produced her own juices, like leshy females produced their own sap. I tasted her with all my being. I didn’t need a mouth and a tongue to lick her and drink her, because I could consume her through every inch of my body that came in contact with her wetness. Her pussy tasted sweet and tangy, her tears were salty, and her saliva was starting to taste like my sap.

“My flower, do you want me to fill your ass?”

She nodded. It wasn’t enough for me. I wanted her to fully understand what I meant and tell me she needed it.

“Do you want me to pour sap into your ass, pretty flower?”

“Mmph... yes,” she moaned around the vine in her mouth. Sap spilled out, coating her chin.

“You look amazing right now,” I said. “If only you could see yourself.” She blushed, and that made me chuckle. “Are you ready?”

She nodded. At this point, my vines were fucking her three holes, keeping a steady rhythm. I didn’t stop for a second. Her body arched and her hips moved, though I made sure to limit her freedom. I liked to see her sprawled out, at my mercy, unable to escape me – not that she wanted to.

“Do you want me to pour sap into all your tight holes?”

“Mmph... mmm... yes...”

“My flower,” I said, moving my vines faster and faster. “Bloom for me.”

I shot sap out of all the vines that were inside her, and she let out a muffled scream as her body convulsed with a powerful orgasm. It was so intense that her eyes rolled in her head, and she couldn’t swallow all the liquid in her mouth. Her pussy was full, and sap started gushing out of her as I moved my vines in and out, in and out. She was a soaked mess, shaking and moaning, and for a moment I thought she was going to pass out. I stopped, fearing it was too much.

She trembled and whimpered for another minute, then her body slowly calmed down. One by one, I pulled my vines out of her. No matter what she said, this was her limit. We’d just found it, and I wasn’t going to give her more than she could take.

I released her, and she lay motionless, staring at the ceiling. All this time, I hadn’t changed my form completely, knowing that she liked my human face, and my human neck, chest, and hands. She liked my horns, too. Whenever her hands were free, she liked to hold on to them. Now she was too exhausted to move.

“Thea,” I whispered, brushing her hair out of her face. “Are you okay?”

“Mmm...” She tried to sit up but failed. She chuckled and cleared her throat. “I think so. I’m thirsty... So thirsty.”

“Wait here.”

She tried to reach for me when I slipped out of the nest, but she was so weak that her arm flopped across her stomach.

I rushed to the stream and promptly realized I had nothing to carry the water with. No glass, no bottle, no cup. Frustration washed over me all over again. The fact that my mate was human made me feel so helpless. I couldn’t even bring her a glass of water when she was thirsty. I first had to improvise a glass or a cup. I did so by extending a branch in front of me and focusing on one particular leaf. I made the leaf grow until it was large and round enough that I could fill it with water. I held it carefully and fortunately didn’t spill much as I took the leaf to Thea.

“Oh, wow!” She laughed. “This is new.” She accepted the water, drinking greedily. “Thank you.”

“I’m sorry. It was the best I could come up with.”

She set the leaf aside. “I love it.”

I snuggled close to her, pulling her in my arms and branches. She let me hold her, relaxing in my embrace, closing her eyes with a sigh.

“Are you hungry?” I asked.

“Not really. I could use a bath, though.”

“I can take you to the stream.”

She shivered. “The water is cold.”

“I can make a fire.”

She laughed. “And heat it in... what?”

Frustration again. Helplessness.

“I’ll run to the nearest town,” I said, “Buy everything you need. Just make me a list.” I hated that I had to ask her for a list, as if she wasn’t tired enough. Instead of taking care of everything, I was making her think. “A set of glasses.”

“I don’t need a whole set.” She laughed again.

“Okay, one glass. A plate for your food. Food! What do you like to eat? I’ll buy you bread, cheese, ham.”

“So specific,” she murmured. She sounded like she was about to fall asleep.

“You need a new dress; this one is ruined. And shoes you can walk in. What size are you?”

“Taran...”

I waited for her to finish her sentence.

“Taran,” she said again.

Okay, that was the whole sentence.

“Hm?”

“Let’s stay like this for a while. Hold me and don’t think about anything. Empty your mind. I’ll empty mine.”

“If that’s what you want...” I tried to relax, but it was hard.

“It’s what I want.”

I covered her with my body and listened to her breathe and sigh softly, as if with every sigh she released the burdens weighing on her soul. Her breathing changed, becoming deeper and slower, and I knew she was asleep. I didn’t move, didn’t make a sound. I cursed the birds chirping outside, worried they would wake her. Because I knew what had to happen when she woke up.

This was the last hour of our shared dream, our shared delusion. It was coming apart at the seams, and I was trying to hold on, hold on... Until I’d have to let go.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Thea

It was a strange feeling to be offered so much pleasure when I couldn’t return the favor. I tried not to think about it, but it was hard. I felt... useless. I woke up at some point, feeling hungry and not at all rested, but I didn’t move, wanting to enjoy the feel of Taran’s body pressed against mine a bit longer.

I understood what he’d told me about the seed and how it worked, but I still wanted it. Despite the fact that I couldn’t take his cock. I’d seen it and explored it with my hands. It was rough and unyielding. Not flexible at all. There was no part of it that was smooth, not even the tip. Another obstacle added to the long list of things that were stacked against us.

We were soulmates, he loved me, and despite saying he wanted to take it back, he hadn’t, and he couldn’t. It wasn’t something he could take back once it was clear for the both of us. I loved him like I’d never thought I could love someone, and I’d only known him for a few days. Giving up on us tore me apart, but there was no other way. I’d have to pick up the pieces once I was back to my world, and stitch them together, reinvent myself from my own ashes, like a phoenix, and hopefully be a better person.

His leaves shuffled as he leaned over me and kissed my ear.

“You’re awake,” he said.

“Yes.”

“You’ve been awake for a while.”

I smiled. “Why didn’t you call me out sooner?”

“You know why.”

I shifted in his branches, pressing my back closer to his chest.

“So, let’s pretend for five more minutes.”

“It’s getting dark soon, and you haven’t had a proper meal.”

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not. I can hear your stomach rumbling.”

I sighed. “Taran...”

“Thea...”

I turned around and looked him in the eye. “Okay.”

He kissed the tip of my nose. “Okay.”

“What’s the plan?”

“I will take you to the nearest town, where you will have a phone signal. You can call your father, and I’ll wait until he comes to get you.”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t feel like talking to my dad. I’ll call the chauffeur.”

He nodded, and I finally peeled myself off him and sat up, looking for my dress. It was crumpled and dirty, but it was the only thing I had. I still needed a bath, but I hadn’t been joking about not wanting to wash myself with cold water ever again. My luck was that Taran’s sap smelled fresh, like grass, and it wasn’t too bad in combination with the saltiness of my sweat. I’d live. There were a few dry patches on my skin, and I definitely needed to wash my hands and face, but it was doable.

I got dressed, and Taran helped me to my feet. My ankle was infinitely better. We walked out of the nest hand in hand, and I had to shield my eyes from the sun. It would set soon. For now, it was bright and orange. I went to the stream and made myself look as presentable as I could, then saw my shoes on the other side.

“Do you think you can get those for me?”

Taran stretched his branches and easily recovered them. I put them on, even though I knew he wasn’t going to let me do any walking.

“I’m ready,” I said, smoothing down my skirt and looking up at him.

Before my eyes, he turned into his leshy form, and with his help, I climbed onto his branches. I pressed my cheek to his trunk, underneath where his face was still slightly human, and closed my eyes. As we crossed the oasis into the deserted land that surrounded it, I focused on him and him alone. On the way he moved, his branches swaying lightly along with the long skirt of my wedding dress, on how his leaves rustled and his vines hung elegantly from his crown. I found all these sounds soothing. I committed them to memory, so they would help me sleep at night, when I was alone and sad.

It took an hour for us to get to the edge of the town. Taran set me on my feet and took his human shape, this time trading his roots for feet. I checked my phone, and sure enough, I had a signal.

“Before you make the call,” he said, “I want to confess something.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Okay?”

He pulled a phone out of his leaf pants, and I laughed. He looked sheepish, like he’d done something bad.

“You had a phone all along?”

“It’s not just any kind of phone. It’s my work phone, and it always has a signal.”

I shook my head. “I’m not mad at you, if that’s what you thought would happen.”

“I just wanted you to know. I could’ve let you make a phone call, but I didn’t want anyone to find the oasis. You’re the only one I showed it to.”

“I understand.”

“Plus, I wanted to spend more time with you. If I could steal one more minute...”

I lifted myself on my tiptoes and kissed him briefly. I wanted to spend another minute with him, too. Five more minutes, ten, twenty. But prolonging this wasn’t doing us any favors. I took a step back and called my dad’s chauffeur, then sent him my location. I asked him to come alone, but I knew he had no choice but to tell my father as soon as I hung up. My parents were probably coming, whether I liked it or not.

“They’ll be here in an hour,” I told Taran. “Will you stay with me?”

“Of course. There’s a diner close by.” He looked around. “There.” He pointed at a building that looked decidedly rundown.

I scrunched up my nose. “It’s okay, I can wait.”

He noticed my reaction and laughed. “Sorry. The food is probably bad.” He pulled me in his arms, and I pressed my cheek to his chest. “I’m sorry I can’t give you the life you’re used to. I would do anything to provide for you, but I know it’s not enough. You deserve so much more. You deserve someone who understands your needs. I barely know how humans work.”

“I don’t think that’s our biggest obstacle.”

He buried his face in my hair, and we stayed like that for a long while. The minutes ticked by, and when I checked the time, I realized we had to say goodbye. I didn’t want my parents to see Taran. Knowing them, they would make a scene, and that was the last thing I needed today. Or ever. They were going to unleash the drama even without seeing him. The reaction they’d had to finding out that my brother was into monsters told me everything I needed to know.

“Will you be okay?” Taran asked.

I nodded. “Will you?”

He hung his head, not really giving me a definitive answer. What was there to say? I felt tears stinging my eyes, and I blinked fast to keep them at bay. I didn’t want to break down, because I didn’t want my parents to see me with red, puffy eyes. And I didn’t want to make Taran feel guilty. It wasn’t his fault our relationship never stood a chance.

“Okay, here’s what you’re going to do,” I said gently. “You’ll kiss me one last time, and then you’ll walk away.”

“I’ll watch you from the other side of the highway,” he said.

“Don’t let my parents see you.”

“They won’t.”

“It’s just that we don’t need–”

“I know.”

“–more drama.”

He silenced me with a long finger pressed to my lips. After a moment of looking into my eyes, he leaned in and kissed me. I couldn’t stop one tear from rolling down my cheek.

Then it was over, and he was turning his back to me, walking in the direction of the highway. I watched him become a tree, unrecognizable among the others. A few minutes later, one of my father’s many cars stopped in front of me.

I wanted to wave at Taran, but I couldn’t. My hand turned into a fist that I slowly pressed to my mouth. I bit down on my knuckles.

Goodbye.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Taran

The car drove away, and I stood there for minutes on end, unmoving, looking at the spot across the highway where I’d kissed my mate for the last time. My roots dug into the earth, I became still, my leaves unbothered by the wind. Before I realized what I was doing, a quarter of my roots had disappeared into the ground. I snapped out of it and pulled them out. This was not the time, nor the place to ground myself and fall into slumber. As much as I was hurting, I had to force myself to stay aware, stay sharp.

I couldn’t go home. Not when the nest I’d built for Thea was waiting for me, empty. I knew I wasn’t going to destroy it this time, but right now, I couldn’t see it. Her smell lingered there, her presence... It would kill me just to be near it.

I decided to go to the MSA branch instead. I called Harrison to tell him to meet me there, and he sounded much more relaxed than a few hours ago. Bill Everhart had let him know his daughter was back with him, and everything was fine. The branch was nearby, so I got there in less than an hour. When I went to work for Monster Security Agency, I’d asked them to attach me to a branch – no pun intended – that was near the forest Everhart Furniture had just cut down. During my first year with the MSA, I built the oasis in between jobs. The two activities were exhausting enough that they hadn’t allowed me to stop and think about my own misery. They’d saved me.

What would save me now?

I could’ve taken Thea to the city myself, since that was where I was headed, but I hadn’t wanted us to be surrounded by people when we said goodbye. It had been better that way. Less stressful, less obvious. We’d been able to share one last moment of intimacy.

I was tired. It wasn’t something I could say often about myself – that I got physically tired. As I entered the city, I turned as human as I could, with legs and all, pulled out my phone, and ordered a taxi. I’d only done it a few times before, when the job required it. Otherwise, I was fine traveling on my own roots, even long distances. I was a creature of the woods. I didn’t like being confined in a tight metal box that rolled around on four wheels. The buildings humans and a lot of monsters lived in didn’t interest me, either. Made of steel, glass, bricks, and sometimes wood... Filled with furniture that reminded me of how much I’d lost, and how much I’d lose still, just because I was a leshy. Most monsters fit into this world that was dominated by cars and technology. I didn’t.

The MSA branch was in the business district. Because ninety percent of its employees were monsters, the building was huge. Large rooms, tall ceilings, a combination of stairs, elevators, ramps, and ropes hanging in between floors – all to accommodate all possible species. Harrison’s office was on the first floor, thankfully.

“Taran! Sit down.” He welcomed me with a wide gesture and a smile on his thin lips. He was a man in his thirties, tall and thin, with big glasses on his nose that made his eyes look rounder than normal. “Coffee? Oh, right. You don’t drink. Sorry, I keep forgetting, what with you looking so...” He waved at me. “Normal.”

It would’ve been polite to smile, but I didn’t have it in me. Now that I was here, I wanted to leave. Harrison’s office felt stifling. I couldn’t breathe properly. The sun was setting, and it was getting dark. Harrison had the lights turned on, and they made me feel uncomfortable. Artificial light. It had zero properties compared to the sun. I couldn’t believe Harrison’s office plants were still alive.

“Okay, or you can stand,” Harrison said when he noticed I had no intention of sitting down. He leaned against his desk, crossing his arms over his chest. “It’s late, and I have to get home to my wife. She has a stake in the oven,” he said. “So, let’s make this quick.”

“Works for me.”

“I’m glad you came in, and I’m sorry about the call this morning. I freaked out a little, and I shouldn’t have. After five years of working together, I should’ve trusted you.”

I nodded. “We’re good.”

He pointed a finger at me, grinning. “So good that you got a bonus.”

“Really.”

“Yes. Mr. Everhart was so impressed with your services that he insisted on adding a bonus to our usual fee. I heard you saved his daughter from... two assassins?” His eyes widened behind his glasses. “When he came to the MSA, saying the job consisted of escorting his daughter to the Celestial Pines Sanctuary, assassins were the last thing on my mind. I would’ve beefed up the fee, but I thought you’d just have to make sure she didn’t get eaten by a bear or something.”

“There was a bear too.”

“Well, that was expected. But assassins?!” He shook his head. “And what happened when you got to the resort? I know Thea Everhart was supposed to get married. Did she just leave her fiancé at the altar?”

“It’s complicated.” I didn’t want to talk to Harrison about it. He didn’t need to know the details. Bill Everhart had paid, the job was done, and that was all that mattered.

Harrison cocked an eyebrow. He waited another beat to see if I might give him something after all, the tiniest piece of gossip, but I remained impassive, and he eventually gave up with a sigh. He rounded his desk and sat down, pulling a file in front of him.

“You’re officially off the hook,” he said, “Until I have something new for you. Should be a week, at least, so make sure you rest.”

I felt a jolt inside me. Did I want to rest and then get another job? I stepped closer to the desk and touched its shiny wooden surface with my spindly fingers. The wood throbbed, or that was what I thought. It was impossible. It was just a piece of furniture, and I was hallucinating.

Harrison looked up at me. “Are you okay? You seem tired. Which is...” He couldn’t find the right word.

“I am tired. I was thinking of taking some time off.”

“How much time?”

“I don’t know.”

“If a week is not enough, then two weeks? It’s true you’ve never had a vacation since you started working for Monster Security Agency. If you want, you can take a month off. I’ll arrange it. It’s a lot, and unusual, but after five years, you deserve it.”

“A month sounds good. Thank you.”

What if I didn’t return after a month? What if Harrison called me, and I wasn’t there? What if he tried to look for me and never found me, even if I was standing right in front of his eyes, looking like any other tree?

“Don’t mention it,” he said. “The money was already transferred to your bank account, by the way.”

“I haven’t checked.”

He gave me a conspiratorial smile. “So, where are you going on vacation? What plans do you have?”

“No plans.”

“Really? You’ve built quite a nest these past five years, working yourself to the bone. Well, wood.”

Nest. That was a word I never wanted to hear again. I had to get out. This room was making me feel claustrophobic.

“I don’t want to keep you, Harrison. A steak is waiting for you at home, you said?”

“Yes, that’s right.” He started packing his things. “My wife will kill me if I’m late again. It isn’t healthy, Taran, to work too much, too late. Especially when you have someone. Do you have someone?”

I froze. What was with the personal questions? My relationship with my handler had always been cold and professional. Maybe he was in an exaggeratedly good mood thanks to that bonus. Especially when it came after Bill Everhart had accused me of kidnapping his daughter.

When I didn’t answer, Harrison gave an awkward chuckle. “Sorry. I thought, maybe, you had plans with her. Or him.” He smacked himself on the forehead. “You know what? Don’t mind me. It was a long day, and I’m talking out of my ass. You have a nice evening, and a lovely vacation, and we’ll keep in touch.” He grabbed his briefcase. “I’m hungry. I always say stupid things when I’m hungry. Shall we? Do you need a ride?”

“No, thanks. I’m good.”

We walked out of his office, and Harrison locked the door. We shook hands. He went to get his car, and I walked outside, into the stifling city air. Nothing could breathe here. The trees along the sidewalk looked depleted. I ordered a taxi just so I’d get out of this place as fast as I could, and not have to stare at buildings anymore. It dropped me close enough to the oasis.

The stream where Thea had washed her face. There were imprints of her feet, and seeing them broke me. The nest... I couldn’t even look at it. I turned my back to it and went to visit Rune’s altar.

Flowers were growing in a circle around her remains. A crown I’d made of twigs and flowers lay upon the old, dried stump. I settled before it, and my roots started digging their way into the ground. Five years ago, I’d refused to succumb to slumber, but now, there was nothing stopping me. I had no will to stay awake and aware.

In a few more years, my oasis would be a beautiful, young forest. Who was to say Everhart Furniture wouldn’t come back to finish the job? If they found me here, where Rune had stood, and if they cut me down too... Wouldn’t that be poetic?

Chapter Thirty-Six

Thea

Within a week of my return, I was out of my parents’ house. I couldn’t live with them anymore. No, it was more than that. I couldn’t look at them, talk to them, exist in the same room as them. I didn’t tell them about me and Taran because, frankly, they didn’t deserve to know. What they deserved was zero access to me, to what I thought and what I did. So, I cut them off.

And my father threatened to cut me off, but here I was, in my new apartment, living on my own for the first time in my life, and my debit cards still worked. He and my mother probably thought it was a phase. That I’d go back home when I’d had some time to think and forgive them. As if I could ever forgive them.

It wasn’t even about them trying to marry me off to Soren Sinclair. They hadn’t known he was a cult leader. Fine. Whatever. As pissed off as I was about it, I was willing to move past it. What I couldn’t move past was what I found out from my father when I told him about what had happened to Taran. More specifically, to Taran’s then girlfriend, Rune.

His reaction had shocked me.

“This again?”

“What do you mean?” I’d asked.

“Taran Sylvan, you said.” We were in his office, and he was smoking a pipe.

“Yes. He’s the bodyguard you hired for me.”

“I thought I’d heard his name before.”

“What do you mean, Dad?” I was losing my patience. All I’d asked was how could someone die – Rune, in this case – without anyone doing anything about it?

“Look, it was a bit of a mess. Five years ago, I got a visit from the police. Someone had filed a report, accusing Everhart Furniture of murder. Now I remember. That was the first time I heard the name Taran Sylvan. He was accusing me of killing his friend.”

“Oh my God! What happened?” Taran hadn’t told me any of this, and I found it odd. After all, a crime had been committed. A living, sentient creature had been murdered in her sleep. Granted a leshy’s slumber wasn’t the same as a human’s obligatory eight-hour sleep.

My father shrugged. “Nothing. It was ruled an accident. This creature looked like a tree. And I mean, exactly like a tree. How were my men supposed to know? It didn’t move, it didn’t say a word. Hell, if it was alive, it should’ve let the loggers know, right? Scream, or something.”

“Not it. She. Her name was Rune.”

“Okay, she.” He looked at me strangely. “And the bodyguard told you this story? Why would he? What happened was no one’s fault. Actually, I’d say it was her fault. Rune, you said? Instead of living with her kind – apparently, these leshy monsters live in some sort of communities – she hid among regular trees, camouflaged herself, and then, tell me, whose fault was it that she was cut down with the forest? I had a permit, of course. I’d done nothing illegal.”

This conversation took place the next day after I said goodbye to Taran, and the second I realized there was no reasoning with my father, no convincing him that what he’d done was wrong, I stormed out of his office, got on my laptop, and found a place to rent.

The apartment was in a good part of the city, it was a two-bedroom with a nice balcony, and it was stylish. It felt good to be on my own for once. At first, I was so mad that I’d called Fiona and told her I didn’t want anything to do with my family anymore, including their money. Fiona, the good, patient friend that she was, let me vent for an hour, then gently told me I would’ve been stupid to not take their money. Yes, it was blood money, but I’d suffered for it, too. Plus, I could do good things with it. I could help.

“How?” I’d asked her.

“Let’s start an NGO together. I’ve been thinking about doing something, you know? Contributing somehow? Let’s work together and start an NGO with the main goal of replanting the forests your father’s company has cut down.”

It was a genius idea. I was grateful to have her as a friend. When I was too stressed and too angry to even think, she’d come up with the perfect solution. And she was right. My father wasn’t going to change anything. Everhart Furniture was still going to expand and make the family wealthier and wealthier. It would’ve been stupid to not take the money that was rightfully mine and use it to enact change. Fiona then told me that through the NGO, we might even be able to put pressure on Everhart Furniture to respect the sustainability laws and do less damage to the environment.

I was drinking my second coffee of the day at the small table on the balcony, poring over the plan Fiona had sent me and trying not to think about how cruel my father had been to Taran when he’d tried to seek justice for the death of his girlfriend. Not to mention that he forgot his name, and five years later hired him to protect his daughter. How self-absorbed could a man be? How could my father sleep at night knowing that his loggers had killed someone? I knew one thing for certain: I was never going to talk to him again. Ever. For the rest of my life. I would keep in touch with my mother, because she was my mother, but to me, my father didn’t exist.

My phone was sitting next to my elbow. For days, I’d been fighting the urge to pick it up, call Monster Security Agency, and ask to speak to Taran. But what would I tell him? It would’ve been offensive to even try to apologize for what my father had done. This whole terrible story proved to me once more why we couldn’t be together. Certainly, Taran had known who my father was when he was hired by him. Did I want to know why he’d accepted the job? My father had forgotten Taran’s name, but for sure Taran hadn’t forgotten his.

It was better to leave the past in the past. What I’d had with Taran had been incredible, and I knew I’d never find a love like that again. But there was no way we could build something from the chaos around us. Then there was the simple fact that our bodies didn’t fit together. He couldn’t give me his seed, and I would never be able to have his children. No matter the angle, a relationship between us wasn’t possible. It defied the very laws of nature.

I just hoped he was okay. I was not okay, but I was doing my best, focusing on the project I’d started with Fiona. I felt like we could do some good, and that fueled me. My father had caused so much damage, and I wasn’t going to bury my head in the sand and use the excuse that I was heartbroken.

The sound of the buzzer made me jump out of my skin. It was going to take me a while to get used to it. Back home, I didn’t have to concern myself with who came in and out. That was the maids’ job. I got up and pressed the button, asking who it was. I wasn’t expecting visitors.

“Hey, Sis! It’s me.”

My heart skipped a beat. Matthew. I buzzed him up and opened the door, bouncing on the balls of my feet, waiting for the elevator doors to open, so I could see his handsome face that I’d missed so much. He was carrying a flowerpot and a big smile on his face, and I squeaked and threw myself in his arms.

“I can’t believe you’re here! Why didn’t you call?”

I led him inside, then hugged him again.

“I wanted to surprise you.” He offered me the flowerpot, and I looked at it confused.

“I’m not sure I know how to keep this thing alive. Also, why a flowerpot? You know I’m not into plants.”

“Oh, shoot, I didn’t realize. You’re right. Why did I think this was a good gift?”

He looked at me with a sheepish smile, and even if my enthusiasm waned a little, I couldn’t be mad at him. To be fair, my biophobia was completely cured. Even though I didn’t know how to keep a plant alive, I wasn’t scared of it. I could touch it, care for it, water it. But it still stung a little that Matthew had forgotten that plants made me feel uncomfortable. He of all people should’ve paid attention to me. I guessed he was my father’s son, after all.

“Thank you. It’s lovely.”

That made him relax, and I was happy that he was happy. Today, I wasn’t going to split hairs.

I made him a cup of coffee, and we went to the balcony together. I showed him what I was working on. He looked over the plan for a minute, then nodded.

“This looks solid.”

“I’m glad you think so. Because it’s happening.”

He took a sip of his coffee, and I felt it when his mood changed. From happy and relaxed, he became tense and... embarrassed?

“Thea, I want you to know how sorry I am. I fucked up, and you almost paid for it. The worst part is that I had no idea. Dad’s immediate reaction was to send me to rehab, cut me off from the world, from you, and he didn’t say a word about how he was going to fix the problem. I had no idea he went to you and asked you to marry Sinclair, so the bastard wouldn’t run the story in his paper. I would’ve never let that happen.”

My back was straight and so tense that it hurt. “I had a feeling you didn’t know.”

He shook his head. “It’s insane. A cult leader? He sent assassins after you?”

“He didn’t. They acted on their own.”

“Dad said they were arrested.”

“Kyla and Markus?”

Matthew shrugged. “If that’s their names, yeah.”

I nodded. “Good. What about Sinclair?”

“Do you live under a rock?” He nudged my shoulder gently. “The scandal is all over the news. Orgies in the woods. Cult leader makes his followers have sex with trees. And, wait for it... Everyone is asking if the trees consented.”

He laughed, but it didn’t seem funny to me, so I drank my coffee in silence. He noticed my discomfort and cleared his throat.

“Sorry, it’s stupid. I mean, it’s not stupid, it’s horrible.”

“What about your story? The one Dad wanted killed so badly?” I didn’t tell him that I knew what he’d done.

He shrugged. “That came out, too.” He gave me a look that said he knew that I knew, but we weren’t going to talk about it.

“And?”

“It doesn’t matter what Sinclair says or publishes now. He’s done. No one believes him. He thought he could hurt our family by publishing that trash, but all he did was dig a deeper hole for himself.”

I nodded. “Good. So, this means it’s over?”

“Yes. And all thanks to you. Showing everyone that video was a genius move. There were more than a hundred people at the resort, and many of them filmed the screen. They filmed the commotion, too, Sinclair’s reaction... it was epic! The authorities are involved now, a few of his people were arrested, not only those two who tried to kill you, and he’s under investigation.” He paused, looked into my eyes, and took my hands into his. “You saved the day, Thea.”

I smiled. “I don’t know...”

“For real. Thank you. Without you, I don’t know what would’ve happened.”

“I mean, I was just trying to survive.”

My words wiped the smile off his face. He pulled me into a hug. I was the first to pull away, feeling like I wanted to be alone all of a sudden. I was glad he’d come to see my new place and talk to me, I was happy he was well, but he’d brought all that nasty stuff into my space again. He was my brother, and I loved him, but I could see his shortcomings now, and it hurt.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yes.” I looked at my empty cup. “I need more coffee.” I got up, and he got up, too. He followed me into the kitchen.

“You’re not okay,” he said.

I shrugged. On the way from the balcony to the kitchen, it struck me why I was hurting, and they weren’t. I’d changed. They hadn’t. Matthew was still Matthew, and my dad and my mom were the same people, but I wasn’t. I wasn’t the Thea they’d known all their lives, and it hadn’t occurred to them yet, but I knew it deep in my soul. I was never going to be that Thea again, and I would never go back to them so we could be a happy, entitled family. It hurt now, but I was going to heal and come out of it stronger.

I poured myself more coffee and gave Matthew a smile. It was big, this time. Genuine. Because I knew I was doing the right thing. And it didn’t matter what they did, what they thought... All that mattered was that I was on my way to becoming a person that I actually liked.

“I’m okay,” I said. “And I’m happy you’re okay, too.”

We talked for a few more minutes, then I walked him to the door. We hugged, and I knew we weren’t going to see each other every day, or talk every day, and that was fine.

“Take care of that plant, Sis.”

“I will.”

I closed the door after him, then took the pot to the balcony. My very first plant. Failure was unacceptable. I was willing to do anything to keep it alive.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Taran

As I closed my eyes, Thea’s face flashed before me. It was as if I caught a glimpse of her from the corner of my eye, and that made me open my eyes again and look. Of course she wasn’t there. My leaves rustled with pain. I missed her. It was more than that. Knowing I would never see her again was as if I’d lost a part of my being.

My roots were almost completely buried. Slumber awaited, and I could taste it – the peace and quiet of unawareness. When leshy slumbered, they didn’t dream. That was what I wanted – the blessing of an empty mind. But every time I closed my eyes, I either got a flash of Thea’s face, with her deep green eyes and smiling mouth, or I smelled her in the air. It made it impossible to let go.

My vines swayed in the wind. It had been days, and I couldn’t fall asleep. I lingered here, in my oasis, doing everything I could to fall into oblivion, and I kept failing. How could I fail at something that was in my nature?

Frustrated, I pulled my roots out of the ground and started moving around – pacing, as humans would say. I shook my crown and stretched with a groan. I suddenly felt the need to talk to someone. To ask for advice. I looked at Rune’s altar before me. It felt weird to stand here, in the presence of her remains, and think about Thea. I turned around and went to the stream. The nest I’d built for Thea stood on the other side, and as I knew it would happen, the sight of it brought the memory of her to the surface.

Thea’s glistening skin, her disheveled hair spread onto the bed of leaves, her long, beautiful legs inviting my vines to wrap tightly around them. The way she breathed when she was close to release, how her eyes widened, and how her mouth formed a cute “o” when I rubbed that perfect spot inside her.

I couldn’t get her out of my head. I couldn’t sleep because of her. I couldn’t find peace without her. She’d turned my life upside down, and now there was no way I could exist in a world where she existed too but couldn’t be mine.

“What do I do?”

I had half a mind to call Harrison and tell him everything. He was married, maybe he could tell me what to do. But he was human, and his wife was human. He wouldn’t understand my situation.

“Damn it, what do I do?”

I was desperate and in pain. Pain like I’d never felt before. After Rune, I hadn’t thought it was possible to reach a higher level of pain, yet here I was. The only one who could soothe it was Thea.

I wanted to go to her. The urge to just get over myself, forget about our incompatibilities, and go find her, beg her to have me, was strong. Too strong to fight.

All I could see were obstacles, but were there any solutions? What was I willing to do? What was I willing to sacrifice so I could be with her?

It was clear to me that she couldn’t live in my world. Then the question was... could I live in hers?

I found the city suffocating, and I knew I could never live in an apartment building. But maybe a nice house with a generous garden? That didn’t sound too bad. And as much as I loathed cars, it didn’t mean I couldn’t learn to drive one. I would have to take on my human shape in most settings, but at home, in my garden, I could be myself. At work, I’d go back to taking jobs for monster clients.

It would be a compromise. Could I make it? Harrison was right. These past five years, I’d worked hard and built a solid savings account. With nothing to spend money on, I just let it accumulate. Maybe it was time to use it.

The difference between Thea and me was that she had a lot to live for in her world. Family, friends, hobbies and activities that she loved. I had nothing in my world, only painful memories. She couldn’t become a tree, but I could shape myself into a decent-looking human for her.

What did I have to lose? Nothing that I hadn’t lost already. I had to try.

And if she said no, surely slumber would take me then.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Thea

The buzzer went off again, and I rolled my eyes. What had Matthew forgotten? Maybe he’d decided he couldn’t trust me with the plant and wanted it back. Tough luck, it was a gift, and it was mine. I rushed to buzz him up, then unlocked the front door and left it ajar.

I heard the elevator ding, then footsteps in the hall. I was busy bringing my files in from the balcony because it had started to rain. I heard the door creak open.

“What did you forget? Or did you miss me already?”

No reply came. I turned around, and I felt like my heart stopped for a second, then picked back up, faster. I dropped the papers I was holding and pressed my hand to my chest.

Taran stood before me, in his humanlike shape. All sinewy wood and vines, long dark hair, and those branch horns atop his head. His black eyes stared into mine, and for a moment, I wasn’t sure if he was real or a vision.

“You,” I whispered.

“My flower.”

“How?”

“I couldn’t stay away.”

The next thing I knew, I was running to him, jumping into his long arms. He caught me and lifted me, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. I wrapped myself around him as well as I could, holding on tightly.

“I’m glad,” I said.

“Will you have me, Thea? As I am?”

I cupped his face with my hands and looked into his eyes. “Of course I will. But will you have me as I am?”

“You’re perfect. I wouldn’t have you any other way.”

I kissed him. Hard. He tasted fresh and sweet, and I couldn’t get enough of him. The vine he used as a tongue sought my tongue, and we battled for a minute before I gave in, and he bit me lightly. I let out a needy moan. I was already wet, and I could feel his impossibly hard cock pressed against my pelvis.

Taran grabbed my butt and squeezed. He walked into the apartment, slamming the door shut behind him. I was too busy kissing him to bother with showing him around. Besides, I was certain he would find his way. He crossed the living room with me attached to him, and easily found the bedroom. He took me to the bed and dropped me onto it.

“I want to look at you,” he said. “Will you undress for me?”

I wasn’t wearing anything sexy – a simple T-shirt and an old pair of jeans. I was barefoot and wasn’t wearing a bra.

“I want to look at you too,” I said. “Can you be less human, more leshy?”

“In this cramped space?” He looked around my bedroom – a king size bed with two nightstands, a wardrobe on the opposite wall, and a boudoir table. “I’ll try, but I don’t think I can change completely.”

I pouted. “Cramped? I’ll admit it’s not the largest apartment, but I thought I was going to live alone.”

He turned his arms into branches and his feet into roots, keeping his lower and upper torso human. From the horns on his head, vines swayed gently, reaching for me. I got out of my clothes as fast as I could, wanting to feel those vines wrapped around me.

“Look at you, my flower.” He climbed on top of me. One vine slipped between my legs. “Already wet.” He teased my clit, and I whimpered. “Tell me what you want.”

I grabbed onto two of his branches and pulled him down, so our lips crashed in another kiss.

“So many things,” I whispered as I nibbled at his lips. “I want you to stop saying we can’t be together. That our bodies don’t fit, and that it will all crash and burn. I want you to never leave me again. Never say goodbye to me again.”

“You were the one who left,” he said. “You couldn’t live in the oasis.”

“You were the one who let me go. You could’ve convinced me to stay.”

“But I couldn’t.” As he kept rubbing my clit, he pushed another vine inside me. My pussy swallowed it greedily. “You can’t live there, and you know it.”

“Is this why you came? To tell me again that we won’t work?”

“No.” He kissed a trail from my jaw to my left breast. When he reached my nipple, he sucked it into his mouth. “I came to tell you that I will do anything to be with you.”

I held onto his horns as he moved from one nipple to the other, turning them into hard pebbles.

“What does anything mean?” I asked. He made me whimper, and moan, and it was becoming hard for me to speak. What he was doing to my clit and my pussy was pushing me closer and closer to the edge. “There are things you can’t do. Like...”

“Give you my seed.”

He pushed a third vine into my ass, and I cried out and came fast and hard. The orgasm was unexpected. My back arched, my toes curled, and I pulled at his horns.

“Oh, fuck!”

“My beautiful flower... blooming,” he whispered in my ear.

I placed my hands on his chest and made him look me in the eye.

“So, what does anything mean, when you can’t give me your seed? When you can’t fuck me properly with your cock?”

I felt his vines retreat. They slipped out of my pussy and my ass, leaving a trail of sap behind. He sat up, and I was afraid he was going to leave. I shouldn’t have started this conversation. He’d explained to me clearly why we couldn’t have sex in that way, and I had to get it through my head that it was impossible and stop insisting. He had plenty of vines to fuck me with, so I would never need his cock. Why was I so obsessed with something that wasn’t necessary?

Because I wanted to give him pleasure, too... Every time we had sex, I was the only one who came...

“No, come back,” I pleaded, reaching out to him.

“Look...” He extended one branch towards me. “I was thinking... You know how I can snap my branches, and it doesn’t hurt? I can also do this.”

The bark on what was, essentially, his limb, started peeling off before my eyes. He grabbed the edge of it with two long fingers and pulled a bit more to show me the smooth surface underneath.

“Wow! And it doesn’t hurt?” I asked.

“Not really. It’s like peeling off skin, I guess? When the new skin underneath is not quite ready.”

My gaze traveled between his branch and the literal wood in his pants. As always, his pants were made of leaves. His leaves. He didn’t need clothes; he could rearrange the elements of his body to resemble what was needed for him to look human enough.

“So, you’re saying...”

“I’ve never tried it before. You can imagine that part of my body is much more sensitive than any other. I’ve never... altered it.”

I nodded. “So, it might hurt?”

“Maybe. I won’t know until I try.”

“Okay, stop.” I moved up the bed to put some distance between us. This was getting intense. “I have to make sure I understand first. You’re going to... peel off your cock so you can fuck me?”

“In very crude words, yes.” He laughed, but I could tell he was nervous.

“That is... I don’t know what to say...”

“It can be done, obviously.” He finished peeling off some good few inches off his branch. “Here, feel how smooth it is.”

I ran my fingers over the exposed wood. It was shiny and silky. I looked into his eyes, and I was sure he could see how hopeful I was.

“Does this mean you can give me your seed?” I asked.

“Yes, but... I have no idea what will happen after. What it will do inside you.”

I grinned and bit my lip. I was curious, and turned on, and just the thought of him planting a seed inside my pussy made me crave him so much more.

“Let’s find out together,” I said.

“Are you sure, Thea?”

“Yes.” I reached for the hem of his pants. At my touch, the leaves fell apart, revealing his hard cock. “I want you so badly. If you’re willing to do this for me, then I want your seed.”

His cock looked like a stump, long and thick, attached to his pelvic area. Instead of a sack, he had a knot at the base, underneath, and I guessed that was where his seed grew.

“May I?”

“Yes, touch me.”

I took his cock between my hands and rubbed it lightly, up and down, exploring the rough texture of the bark. He let out a moan, and that made my pussy throb for him. His vines could give me pleasure, and I was sure he enjoyed using them on me, but this was his reproductive organ, the one that if touched in the right way, could take him over the edge. I wanted so badly to do for him what he’d done for me many times already.

“I can try to...” I moved onto my knees and closer to him, leaning in so I could lick the tip of his cock.

“Careful. Don’t hurt yourself.”

“I won’t.” I couldn’t take him in my mouth, but I could lick him.

I traced a line from his knot to the tip, using as much saliva as I could. The bark was rough on my tongue. I wouldn’t be able to do this more than a few times, or my tongue would turn red and start to hurt.

Taran let out a low, needy moan. His hand came to rest on my head, but he didn’t push me. He let me decide the pace, and enjoyed the little pleasure that I could give him. It wasn’t enough. Not for him, and not for me. It was so frustrating that I loved him so much, and I couldn’t have him fully.

“Such a tease,” he murmured.

The last thing I wanted to do was tease him. “I’m sorry,” I said. I looked up at him and smiled. My tongue wasn’t feeling great.

“Come on, let’s try it.”

I watched with wide eyes as he pinched the head of his cock and started pulling the bark off. One inch at a time, slowly, carefully. The wood underneath was a light shade of pink. He grunted, and I looked up at him. When I saw the pain on his face, I wanted to stop him.

“Maybe we shouldn’t,” I said.

“It’s not so bad...”

“Your face says otherwise.” I placed my hand on his, but he wrapped a vine around my wrist and pulled my hand away.

“I want to be inside you,” he said. “I told you I’ll do anything.”

“Yes, but this is hurting you.” I tried to stop him with my other hand, but he did the vine thing again. “It’s not worth it.”

“It is.” He pushed my hands behind my back, smiling at me. “I want to be one with you. I want to feel you, not with just my vines and branches. This is a small price to pay.”

He continued to peel the bark off, strip by strip, and each time, I could tell it hurt him more. He kept his composure and barely made a sound. I couldn’t believe a man would go through something so painful to be with me. Usually, it was the woman who suffered during sex. I’d heard stories about painful penetration from my friends, and that was one reason why I’d held onto my virginity. It hadn’t seemed worth it to me to let someone inside me if I wasn’t sure he was the right man.

When Taran had penetrated me the first time, there was barely any pain. His vines were thin compared to his cock, even if he used two. As he revealed his cock to me now, inch my inch, I realized it wasn’t becoming smaller just because the bark was removed. It was smooth, though. Like polished wood. I had no doubt I could take him.

“Will you let me soothe you?” I asked, leaning forward, my hands still tied behind my back.

“Yes, please.”

With a hand on my head, he guided my mouth to his cock. This time, when my tongue traced the underside, I felt no pain. It was lush and velvety, and I eagerly took him in my mouth completely when I saw there was no danger. The sound he let out was almost a scream.

“Sorry,” he said. “This is the first time...”

I stopped and looked up at him. I pulled away, until his cock slipped out of my mouth.

“The first time you’re getting a blow job?”

“The first time I’m doing... anything like this.”

“Oh my God, you’ve never had sex before?”

“Like this? No.”

“Wait.” I wiggled my hands until he let me go. “You’re saying that you and Rune never...”

“There was no seed. I couldn’t grow it for her, so there was no point in doing it like this.”

I covered my mouth with my hands. I didn’t know how to react. I’d been a virgin before that night in the woods, but I’d never thought he was a virgin, too. He’d never been inside a woman. I was his first, and that was just... unexpected, and slightly overwhelming.

“Okay, but even without a seed...” I had questions, and no matter how weird they were, I felt this was a good time to ask them. “Because, you know, humans have sex even when procreation is not the goal.”

“Leshy do, too. But we use our vines and branches.”

“I mean, we use our hands, but we don’t stop there. So, wait. The male leshy gets the female leshy off, but she doesn’t return the favor?”

He hesitated, averting his gaze. “If the male cannot produce a seed for her, he’s not worthy.”

Had my eyes been able to get any wider, they would’ve popped out of my head.

“And you can only produce a seed for your soulmate,” I said, but didn’t wait for his answer. “Well, you’re worthy now.” I grabbed his hips and pulled him towards me. Closing my eyes, I took his cock in my mouth, as deep as I could, and started bobbing my head up and down.

His branches turned to fingers and dug into my hair. Now that the bark was out of the way, he knew he couldn’t hurt me, and he gently pushed me down on him. The head of his cock grazed the back of my throat. I breathed through my nose and focused. I’d never given a blow job before, so it wasn’t like I had more experience than he did. From the sounds he made, and the way his hips started thrusting lightly, I got the message I was doing something right.

“If you go on like this...” He could barely speak. “You have to stop...”

I ignored him. Using my hands, I took hold of the base and started rubbing hard while I focused my mouth on the head, sucking and rolling my tongue around the tip. Soon enough, the sap I knew so well poured into my mouth. I moaned and sucked harder.

“No, you really need to stop...”

I felt something shift underneath his cock, where the knot was. The seed was starting to travel upwards.

“Thea...” His hands dropped to my shoulders, and he pushed me firmly. “Please.”

I followed his lead and let him lay me on my back. He crawled over me, his cock pink and dripping with sap. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he positioned himself at my entrance.

“I’m sorry, I need to...” He plunged into me hard and fast.

I let out a moan. There was no pain, only pleasure. I was soaked with my own juices and the sap his vine had left behind. His cock was slick and smooth, and it entered me in such a swift, perfect motion, and filled me so fully that I was convinced, finally, that we were made for each other. Taran had told me so many times that our bodies would never work together, but here he was now, proving his own theory wrong.

“My flower,” he repeated over and over, his lips close to my ear. “I can’t hold back. My flower...”

“Don’t. I need this.”

He rammed into me so hard that the bed creaked under us. Two of his vines wrapped around my breasts, squeezing them as the tips teased my nipples. Another vine slipped seamlessly into my back entrance, and I was done. It was too much. I came with a scream, my pussy throbbing and pulling him in, trying to milk him.

He let out a groan and stilled, his cock deep inside me, the head pushing into my cervix. The sensation was overwhelming. I felt the seed when it shot out of the tip and right into my womb. My eyes went wide, I opened my mouth, but was unable to articulate what I felt. It wasn’t something I’d expected. I’d thought he would plant the seed in my pussy, similar to how human men shot their sperm.

“I’m sorry, did I hurt you?”

“N-no...” I was panting hard, almost hyperventilating. I had to find a way to calm myself. “I didn’t think...”

“Did I do something wrong?”

“N-no. I don’t think so, at least.” I chuckled awkwardly. There was a tingling sensation in my cervix. “I’m okay. It was just... unexpected.”

He gently slipped out of me, and I was impressed to see his cock was still hard.

“Was it different than how humans do it?”

“Not really. It was... very similar.”

He rolled off me and pulled me into his arms. I was so tired that my limbs felt like lead. I nudged the duvet with my toe, and Taran got the hint. He covered us both, and after a minute of snuggling peacefully, it struck me this must’ve been his first time in a bed, covered with a duvet. I smiled to myself.

“So, are you moving in with me?” I asked.

“Not a chance.” He kissed my shoulder. “You’re moving in with me.”

“Oh, really? Where?”

“I had a bit of money, so I bought a house. With a garden. Now that you’re not terrified of nature anymore, maybe you’ll help me plant it. What’s your favorite flower?”

“Lilac.”

“That’s not a flower, that’s a tree. Good choice. Our garden will smell heavenly.”

“I can’t wait.”

“So, is this a yes?” he asked, his lips pressed to my ear.

“Yes to... what?”

“Will you marry me, Thea Everhart?”

I turned in his arms and pressed my forehead to his. “Yes, I will marry you. On one condition.”

“Oh?”

“You’ll let me take your name.”

He laughed and kissed me softly. “You got it.”

I fell asleep in his arms, branches, and vines, feeling at peace. Fulfilled. I was in love, and it didn’t hurt anymore. He had plenty of limbs to hold me tight and reassure me this was forever. His seed was inside my womb, and whatever happened from here on out, we had each other, and we were willing to do anything to figure it out.

No more obstacles. Only solutions.

Thea Sylvan. Finally, a woman I could be proud of.

Epilogue

Taran

I knew I was speeding, and I shouldn’t have, but all I could think about what my wife, and how much I wanted to hold her after I’d been away on a job for a week. We texted every day, and I called her once in the morning, and again before she went to sleep, but it was far from enough. The longing I felt was deep. Painful. The past two nights had been hard, especially. During the day, I was busy with my client, but at night, all I had to do was stand guard at his door and think about Thea.

The house came into view. The trepidation I felt was making me feel high. I activated the gate with the remote, pulled the car into the driveway and jumped out, turning my feet into roots so I could walk faster.

Since Thea and I had moved in together a month ago, after eloping, with Fiona and Thea’s brother as our witnesses, I’d gotten used to living in the city, driving a car, and looking more or less human the majority of the time. It was so I could fit in her world, and even if it was hard sometimes, it was worth it. At home, with her, I could be myself. The house I’d bought was spacious, with a tall ceiling, and a beautiful garden in the back, all surrounded by a tall fence. The centerpiece of the garden was, of course, a nest.

I rushed up the steps that led to the front door. It was unlocked, and I was going to lecture Thea about it. Again. Even though this was a quiet neighborhood and there was a gate with an intercom, she was too trusting. She also refused to hire a maid – someone to help her around the house and spend time with her when I was gone. She’d said she wanted to do everything herself for a change. Live a normal life. I just wanted her to be happy and safe.

“My flower, I’m home!”

We’d texted an hour ago, and she’d said she was going to cook herself dinner and wait for me, so she wouldn’t eat alone. So, I wasn’t surprised the house smelled of food, but it was a little strange, because I could also detect smoke. Thea wasn’t the greatest cook, as she’d said herself, but she usually didn’t burn things. I rushed into the kitchen, not expecting to find her there. She was probably somewhere else in the house, and she’d left something in the oven.

“This doesn’t smell right.” The leaves covering my body tried to shrink away from the smoke, but it was impossible. Whatever was in the air, I always absorbed.

I hurried to turn off the oven and take out whatever was inside. The pot burned the tips of my branches. I winced and dropped it on the stove.

“Taran?”

I turned and looked around, but she wasn’t there.

“Thea?”

“Over here. Ugh...”

Her voice was coming from the other side of the kitchen island. I went around it and froze when I saw my wife on the floor, curled into a tight ball. She’d been here all along, and I hadn’t seen her!

“What happened?” I was at her side in an instant, trying to see where she was hurt. “Did you slip and fall?”

“No. I... ugh... Oh my God, Taran, it hurts so bad.”

“What? What hurts?”

She was holding her stomach.

“I don’t know. Inside. I feel sick. Nauseated. I think I fainted.”

“How long have you been lying here?”

“I don’t know. Not long.”

“Did you hear me come inside?”

“N-no. I don’t think so. I think came back to it when you banged the pot on the stove.”

“I didn’t...” It was irrelevant. Even better if I banged the pot, if that was the sound that had brought her back to consciousness, so she could call for me. “Okay, we need to go to the hospital.”

“Okay, yes. I don’t like hospitals, but something is seriously wrong.”

“Here, let me help you up.”

I lifted her gently, and she held on to me with one arm while her other hand was busy applying pressure to her stomach. I didn’t know if that was a good idea, as I didn’t know what was wrong with her, but if her instinct said to apply pressure, I wasn’t going to stop her. Even in my arms, she curled into a tight ball.

“Hurry up,” she said. “It’s like something is trying to tear me apart from the inside.”

“Did you eat something bad?” I carried her out of the house and helped her into the car, then jumped in the driver’s seat.

“No.”

“Okay. We’ll figure it out. You know we always do.”

She groaned in response. She was in too much pain to talk.

The next hour was a blur. We got to the ER, had to wait for twenty minutes, which drove me absolutely insane, then finally a doctor was ready to see her.

The doctor was a middle-aged human woman. She wore her hair in a tight bun and looked severe at first sight, but when she introduced herself to Thea, she gave her the warmest smile.

“I’m Dr. Sheffield. I’m sorry you had to wait,” she said. “I’m the only human doctor on call this evening, and things are a bit hectic.”

It was a hospital for both humans and monsters. A nurse came in, and I noticed she had hooves instead of feet. She looked at Thea, who was in a wheelchair.

“I’ll bring someone to help you on the examining table,” she said.

“No need,” I hurried to stop her. I’d seen the two golems who were in charge of moving patients as needed. “I can do it.”

“Are you sure? You don’t have to.”

“Absolutely. She’s my wife.”

The nurse raised her hands and smiled. Seeing how she was a monster herself, I expected her to understand why I didn’t want anyone else touching my mate. Compared to humans, monsters were possessive.

“All right,” the doctor said. “Tell me everything, Thea.”

There wasn’t much to tell, though. Thea had had a normal day, then a few minutes before I came in, she felt a stabbing pain in her lower belly and fainted because of the pain. Hearing that, I was truly worried for her, because I knew how strong she was. What could’ve caused her such horrible pain that she’d fainted from it?

The doctor started examining her and asking more questions. After a few minutes, she suggested an ultrasound. For that, Thea needed to be moved into another examining room, and again I refused to let anyone else help her. Carrying her wherever she needed was my duty.

She was nervous. When the doctor squirted gel on her stomach, Thea looked away and reached for my hand. I squeezed her fingers and bent down to kiss her knuckles. I was in the most human shape I could achieve, so I wouldn’t occupy too much space.

“What do we have here?” The doctor sounded surprised. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” She realized that was the wrong thing to say when both Thea and I were worried sick, and added quickly, “Of course, that’s because this is the first time I see a human and a leshy together.”

Thea turned to her. “What do you mean? What is it?”

“My dear, it appears you are pregnant.”

“No! I can’t be.”

“We have the proof right here.” The doctor turned the screen towards us.

We both saw it. Not it. Him or her. Our baby was a tiny little thing, curled up in a membrane inside Thea’s womb. I was in shock. That was my seed. It had grown and evolved into a new life.

“But you don’t understand,” Thea insisted. “I would’ve known. I had my period just last week.”

“Well, I think it’s safe to say this pregnancy is different. You’ll have to give me more details about how... um... well, about how it works between the two of you. I mean...”

“Sex?” I asked. “How the sex works between us? That’s personal.”

“Not when you made this woman pregnant, and we don’t know anything about it.”

She said it in a way that made me feel guilty. Like I shouldn’t have put my seed inside Thea when the consequences were completely unknown. She was right. As much as I hated telling her what happened in our marital bed, she had to know every detail, in case Thea was in danger. A human birthing a leshy seedling was unheard of. Frankly, I hadn’t thought it was possible. I wasn’t sure what I’d thought. Maybe I wasn’t thinking at all, too blinded by my own lust for my wife, by my crushing desire to possess her fully.

Thea’s sharp scream pulled me out of my guilt-induced trance. She curled up again, protecting her still flat belly.

“I know it hurts,” the doctor said, “But we need to see. Come on, be strong. Let’s see what happened just now.”

Thea nodded with tears in her eyes. The nurse shooed me away, since I was useless, and helped her relax and lie back down on the examining table.

The screen showed the seedling moving in its membrane. Apparently, it had just stabbed Thea with a little hand. Or twig.

“Fascinating,” the doctor said.

The nurse was stunned as well.

“The little one is moving, that’s all. Nothing to worry about. This is normal.”

“But it hurts so bad,” Thea said. “How can it be normal?”

“It hurts because I’m assuming your baby is not like a human baby, soft and squishy. If you know what I mean. Your baby’s limbs are hard. Like wood.” She looked up at me, and once again, I felt guilty. But then she gave me the warmest smile, and I dared to think she wasn’t actually mad at me, just concerned about her patient. “Congratulations! You’re going to be parents!”

Thea chuckled bitterly. She bit her lip and looked at me with apologetic eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m happy, but it hurts so bad.”

“Well, the little one will be doing a lot of moving in the next few weeks,” the doctor said as she started wiping Thea’s stomach with a paper napkin. “We’ll have to find a way to make this pregnancy manageable for you. Unfortunately, I don’t have a solution right now. My advice is to spend tonight in the hospital, and I will bring in a few experts in human-monster pregnancies, and together, I’m sure we’ll come up with something.”

“Do you think it’s possible to bring this baby to term?” Thea asked.

“Absolutely. Now the question is, what does ‘to term’ mean? We will have to do some research into leshy pregnancies and see how long gestation usually lasts. One thing’s for sure, we will have to monitor you closely, and when the baby is ready, we’ll have to perform a c-section. If the little one decides to grow little twigs, then I’m afraid there’s no way you can have a natural birth.” She once again shot me a look, and the branches on my head shortened a few inches. That made her laugh. “It’s going to be okay.”

We spent the night in the hospital, and I never left my wife’s side. A bunch of doctors and nurses came to see her, and all of them had questions. Some of them had suggestions. By morning, Thea was exhausted and hadn’t managed to get much sleep. The seedling moved a few more times, causing her extreme pain. At some point, she started singing to herself, like she’d done in the forest, when she’d thought she was alone.

“Hey,” she said after singing softly for the better part of an hour. “I think the singing calms it down.”

“Are you sure?”

“I don’t know. I’ll have to keep singing and see.”

Because of Thea’s delicate condition, we’d been given a private room. She sang all morning, and when Dr. Sheffield came to check on her, Thea insisted that her theory was correct. The seedling was soothed by her singing.

“Well, there you go! I’ve always said it: a mother knows. Now let me tell you what we found out.” She was talking about herself and the other doctors who’d worked all night on our case. “We brought in a leshy consultant, and with her help, we concluded that in about four to five weeks, it is safe to perform the c-section. Aren’t you happy? Two months instead of nine! I’d say that’s quite impressive.”

Thea squeezed my hand. She had tears in her eyes, but they were tears of happiness. We thanked the doctor, and she said it was safe for us to go home. We would keep in touch. She wanted to monitor Thea’s case personally and closely.

“A baby,” Thea whispered when we were back home. She was comfortably settled on the couch with a hot cup of tea I’d just made for her. “This is unbelievable.”

“A seedling,” I said.

She laughed. “Sure, that works too.”

I sat down and pulled her feet into my lap. “I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

“For putting you in this situation. For being irresponsible.”

“Don’t say that. I’m not sorry.”

“I didn’t expect you to get pregnant. I thought... I don’t know, I thought your body would reject the seed. That it would absorb it or push it back out, or something. It was stupid.”

She smiled and nudged me with her foot. “I’m glad that didn’t happen. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to give you babies and look at us now. We’re going to be parents in five weeks!”

Five weeks. That wasn’t a lot of time to build a nursery. I was going to wait for Thea to fall asleep, then start on the project.

The most important project of my life.

Epilogue

Thea

Skin to skin, she lay over my heart, fast asleep, and I watched her in complete wonder. She was perfect, my baby girl. My seedling.

Taran was standing over us, his vines and leaves swaying gently, creating a soothing breeze. The hospital room was all ours. The nurses had left us to enjoy these moments with our daughter after they’d made sure we were both fine.

The c-section went well. Despite my worries, there were no complications. The doctors and nurses were calm and reassuring. Taran had nearly lost his mind for a minute or two, and he’d had to go outside for a breath of fresh air. Now that his daughter was here and we were both healthy and happy, he could stop feeling guilty.

The pregnancy had been tough, I wasn’t going to lie. All my days and nights had been spent singing to our seedling. I tried putting on music, but she didn’t react the same as she did to my voice. Taran had tried singing to her, and it had been quite the disaster. His low, thick voice had made her poke me even harder. With tears in my eyes, I’d quickly ended the experiment.

She was here now, and all was forgotten.

Her skin was like polished wood. There was not a trace of bark on her body – not yet – but she had been born with hair on her head. Her hair was soft, like mine, and only behind her right ear I could see she was growing a thin vine. She was probably going to grow more in the weeks to come. Her body was hard, like Taran’s. The doctor was right. She was not a soft, squishy baby, and I found that I was relieved by that. I was going to be absolutely careful with her, but it was great to know she didn’t break easily. She was made to be strong.

Her limbs looked human, but now and then, as she stirred in her sleep, I’d notice how her fingers elongated and became more branch-like. She had her father’s ability to shape her body as she wished, and it was going to be interesting to see how it developed and how she learned to use it. That was going to be Taran’s department – to teach her how to control her body’s extraordinary abilities.

As for me, I was more concerned with what her choice of food was going to be. I had no milk for her, and that had been expected. The doctor had explained to me that because the fertilization of the egg hadn’t happened, then it was like my body hadn’t even known I was pregnant. I had my period as normal, my belly barely grew at all, and my breasts remained unchanged. When Taran had planted the seed inside me, all my womb had done was to accept it and allow it to attach itself to its walls. Once that happened, the seed first created a membrane, then started evolving into a seedling. The reason my daughter had more human traits than her father was because she’d taken her nourishment from me while in the womb.

It was all fascinating and unbelievable.

“My flowers,” Taran whispered from above our heads.

I smiled. From now on, I had a feeling that was how he was going to spend his free time – hovering over us.

There was a knock on the door, and one of the nurses poked her head in.

“You have visitors.”

Before going into surgery, I’d asked Taran to call Fiona and my brother to let them know. Fiona was my best friend, and when I found out I was pregnant, she’d taken over my work at our NGO. And Matthew was the only one in my family I still talked to. I sometimes called my mother, but she was always busy, so at some point, I gave up. I knew Matthew had given her the news, because she’d texted me to congratulate me. Since then, nothing. As for my relationship with my father... it was non-existent. The last time I’d spoken to him was the day I moved out.

So, when my parents walked in with Fiona and Matthew, I didn’t know how to react. Taran straightened beside me, and I reached out and wrapped my hand around the first branch I found. I felt him relax at my touch.

“Oh my!” Mom rushed to my side, eyes shining with moisture. “My baby girl has a baby! I can’t believe this! Oh, she is gorgeous! Look at her, Bill. Look at our granddaughter!”

Dad took a few steps into the room, hands held behind his back. He looked at Taran first, then at me. When I met his gaze, he averted his eyes, and looked back at Taran. It was awkward, and I was starting to feel annoyed that I had to share these beautiful moments with him and my mom.

Fiona and Matthew behaved normally, at least. They congratulated me and marveled at the perfection of my daughter.

“Dad, Mom... I’m glad you came.” What else could I say? There was no point in being nasty to them when I’d just been blessed with the most beautiful baby in the world, and she was all that mattered.

“I’m so proud of you, darling,” my mom said, brushing my cheek with her bejeweled knuckles. She looked like she’d aged ten years, though I’d seen her just a little over two months ago.

I nodded and waited for Dad to say something. He seemed to be more focused on Taran than on me and his first granddaughter.

“Dad?”

“I have to do something,” he said. “I’ve known it for a while now, I’ve thought about it, and I am ready.”

What on earth was he talking about? I tensed up, and my baby girl probably sensed it, because she let out a whimper. Fortunately, she didn’t wake up.

My father stepped in front of Taran. “I want to apologize to you. What happened to your friend, Rune, was horrible, and it was entirely my fault as the head of Everhart Furniture. I dismissed it when it was brought to my attention, and when the court ruled in my company’s favor, I put it out of my mind. I am sorry, and I am ready to offer you and Rune’s family any compensation you deem appropriate.”

Taran was silent for a moment, which made my dad feel uncomfortable. I held my breath. Then he did the last thing I expected him to do. He extended a branch towards my father. It took the shape of a hand, and after a moment of hesitation, my dad shook it.

“Thank you for your apology,” my husband said.

I couldn’t believe it! The injustice Taran had had to endure because of Everhart Furniture, and just like that, he was accepting my father’s apology. I, for one, had no intention of forgiving or forgetting. My relationship with my father was never going to be the same. In fact, once my parents left today, I would be happy to not see them for a few months, if possible. Unfortunately, they probably wanted to have access to their granddaughter.

Dad nodded, then finally stepped closer to the bed, where he looked at the baby for the first time.

“She’s beautiful, Thea.”

“Thank you.” Could he tell I’d said it through gritted teeth?

“Are you happy?” he asked in a low voice, as if he was asking me in confidence. Which was ridiculous, as the room was full of people.

“Yes.”

“That’s all I need to know.” He patted my hand and stepped back.

My mother gushed over the baby for a few more minutes, then Fiona rescued me by pointing out I’d just come out of surgery, and I needed peace and quiet. She herded my family outside, throwing me a wink over her shoulder.

“Well, that was interesting,” I said to Taran.

“They’ve ruined your day.” He brushed my hair out of my face, his spindly fingers lingering on the shell of my ear.

I smiled. “No. For that to happen, I have to let them. I’m done doing that.”

He bent forward and placed a kiss on my lips. His leaves brushed against my face, and I inhaled his fresh scent. To think I’d been afraid of trees just three months ago, and now I was married to one! Well, not a tree. A leshy.

“I love you,” he said.

“I love you, too.”

We both looked at our daughter, and we knew without saying it out loud – our journey was just beginning.

THE END

Monster Security Agency

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About the Author

Cara Wylde loves to write about strong, feisty women and their hot Alphas who will do anything to make them happy. Her books are filled with romance and just a dash of mystery, suspense, and that eerie atmosphere she fell in love with reading too many gothic novels. With a master’s degree in Comparative Literature, she can’t help but play with tropes and themes from various genres, trying to come up with fresh perspectives on the paranormal characters her readers love so much. Vampires, shapeshifters, demons, witches... Cara will always make sure they get their own twists.

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Table of Contents

Chapter One – Taran

Chapter Two – Thea

Chapter Three – Taran

Chapter Four – Thea

Chapter Five – Taran

Chapter Six – Thea

Chapter Seven – Taran

Chapter Eight – Thea

Chapter Nine – Taran

Chapter Ten – Thea

Chapter Eleven – Taran

Chapter Twelve – Thea

Chapter Thirteen – Taran

Chapter Fourteen – Thea

Chapter Fifteen – Taran

Chapter Sixteen – Thea

Chapter Seventeen – Taran

Chapter Eighteen – Thea

Chapter Nineteen – Taran

Chapter Twenty – Thea

Chapter Twenty-One – Taran

Chapter Twenty-Two – Thea

Chapter Twenty-Three – Taran

Chapter Twenty-Four – Thea

Chapter Twenty-Five – Taran

Chapter Twenty-Six – Thea

Chapter Twenty-Seven – Taran

Chapter Twenty-Eight – Thea

Chapter Twenty-Nine – Taran

Chapter Thirty – Thea

Chapter Thirty-One – Taran

Chapter Thirty-Two – Thea

Chapter Thirty-Three – Taran

Chapter Thirty-Four – Thea

Chapter Thirty-Five – Taran

Chapter Thirty-Six – Thea

Chapter Thirty-Seven – Taran

Chapter Thirty-Eight – Thea

Epilogue – Taran

Epilogue – Thea

Monster Security Agency

About the Author

Chapter One