Chapter Twenty-Six

Mira stretched and moaned. Her hips and ass sore for their activities earlier. She didn't know how long she had been asleep, but clearly long enough for Cyro to leave. She got up and searched for her dress. She signed in defeat as she saw it now, the ends shredded from Cyro's claws. She tossed it aside and went to get the green dress out of her backpack. She had been saving this one for incase there was a formal event. Just because she was struggling with managing this world did not mean she couldn't dress nice. She slipped the long olive-green dress on, making sure not to step on it. It hugged her hips but was flowy on the legs. Its fabric soft and thin, meaning you could easily tell she wasn't wearing a bra. It had a V-shaped necked line and dipped low in the back. The sleeves were also long and snug on her arms. It was a nice dress overall, just a little dressy for everyday use. The color looked nice against her pale skin and black hair. She looked around and found a small mirror. Her hair was a mess, and she didn't have a hairbrush. She did her best to comb through the curls with her fingers, hoping to make it more presentable. She finally gave up after it stated to frizz everywhere.

She decided to go looking for Cyro to see if he knew where she could get a comb or something. However, when she pulled on the door it didn't budge. She felt her heart skip a beat as a flash back hit her. She yanked on the door again, still nothing. So many times, she had been put in a panicked state, and yet it was happening again. She began violently yanking on the door with all her might. Tears streaming down her face. Flashes of her mother dragging her by the hair down the hall. Her stuck in a dark room with no food and no one to talk to for days. She began banging on the door and yelling for someone to let her out. Her hands hurt and her voice began growing hoarse. She looked around trying to find an away out. She wasn't going to be trapped, left hungry and alone. She ran to the window and looked down. It was too far to jump, and she didn't have anything to climb down. Feeling helpless and scare she slowly sank to the floor. How could Cyro do this too her? She wrapped her arms around herself and began to rock. She was so stupid to trust him, was no one here trustworthy? She jumped when she felt smooth scaled hands touch her. She looked up to see Cyro kneeled in front of her, a look of pity on his face. She quickly stood and moved away from him.

"How could you?" Her voice shaky, and her throat hurting, he didn't say anything just kept that look on his face.

"How could you?" She yelled at him this time. "I told you not to ever lock the door!"

He began moving toward her. She didn't want him to touch her and backed away till her hit the wall. When he tried to touch her, she raised a hand and swung. He grabbed her wrist and she yelled at him again.

"You bastard! You bastard!" She tried to hit him again, but he just grabbed that wrist too. "Let go of me!"

"It's ok, shhhh." He pinned her arms against her chest and hugged her tightly. "I'm so sorry"

She couldn't stop the tears from coming again. She hated how safe she felt in his arms, when all she wanted to do was run from him. She wanted to go home more than ever now, see her sister again. Have an uncomplicated, uneventful life. Too much has happened already, she didn't know how much more she could take. She let him hold her for what seemed like an eternity. The sound of her stomach growling breaking the silence. Cyro lifted her chin with his hand, forcing her to look at him.

"Are you hungry?"

She just nodded and wiped her eyes free of tears. How did he always know exactly what to do? He took her hand in his, and for the first time they actually held hands properly. She looped her left hand around his arm and walked with him. She couldn't deny that she had grown attached to him. Which meant going home was going to either be heart breaking or impossible. That is if she could go home. She could smell the scent of fish coming from the dining hall as they walked. Her mouth watered and she started trying to walk faster. The only thing she could do now was handle each moment the best she could and survive. So why not enjoy some food, even though it is pretty bland. She had hoped that the tangerine tribe would have better tasting food, too bad that was not the case.

Just as they were entering the dining hall, Cyro's hand squeezed hers and he came to a dead stop. She nearly fell backward at the sudden halt. She looked up at his and followed his gaze. Standing in the middle of the dining hall was Heili. She was with Sklai and a handful of other lizards. She was also draping herself all over Alzie. Mira started pulling Cyro over to the opposite side of the dining hall, hoping to avoid drama. However, she didn't account for the fox chief. Their eyes met briefly before she made a beeline for the doorway on the far side. She has about enough of these beasts already. If she could, she would leave right now and she would take Cyro with her. She watched as the fox began moving in the same direction. This seemed to gather everyone's attention, and Heili began moving their way as well. She very much felt like a small animal being hunted by carnivore beasts. Just as she reached the doorway, a big furry black paw slammed in front of her face.

She followed it up to a red arm, up the red furry neck, landing on his face. She glared at him as he smiled down at her. She could feel Cyro pull at her from behind. Pressing her tiny body against his. When he met Cyro's gaze, neither one was smiling nor glaring. She didn't like tense atmosphere.

"Seems you forgot to ask her about our deal." He coolly said.

"No, we hadn't had time." There was no growling or anything his tone matched the chiefs.

"But you had time to hurt her."

This time she did hear a growl, but not from Cyro. The chief's growl was loud and a bit frightening compared to Cyro's low growl. Shivers danced down her spine, she could feel Cyro tense as they did. She really hoped Cyro wouldn't read too much into that.

"Boys, there's no need to quarrel over an insignificant bug." Heili's condensing voice broke through the tension. She glared at the female lizard, who hissed back.

"Who are you?" The chief straightened up and looked at her. It wasn't disgust, but you could also tell he didn't like her.

"I am Heili, Alziemar's mate. Pleased to meet you chief Vilen." She gave a weird curtsy, before putting on a seductive look.