Captive of The Beast Alpha: Drugging the CEO Was a Mistake.-Chapter 43: Naya: The beast and the blood II

My eyes flew open, and I saw that the beast had freed me from the bushes using its claws to tear the thicket apart, practically.

It set me on the ground and then just stood there, watching me.

Instinctively, I began to scramble backwards, dragging myself away on my elbows and heels, using my hands as a guide and trying to put as much distance between us as possible. My palms scraped against rocks and roots, but I didn’t care.

The beast followed, matching my pace slowly.

Panic flooded through me, causing me to scramble faster, breathing hard, even though my injured body was protesting with every movement. I didn’t want to stand up cause it would be easier to grab me at that position. This was my best bet.

Suddenly, it stopped moving.

It sat on its hind leg, its ears twitching as it watched me, and was it my eyes? It was no longer as large as it was earlier.

I was almost to a large tree, so I didn’t have time to question why it had stopped moving. I just grabbed the lowest branch and hauled myself up. Pain shot through my bruised ribs, and the scratches on my arms burned like fire, but I didn’t care. I climbed up the tree until I was sitting on a thick branch, high enough to feel safe.

When I looked down, the beast was still standing exactly where it had stopped. It just tilted its head watching me. It didn’t try to climb after me or reach up or even roar.

It was like it knew I was afraid of it and had stopped on purpose.

My breathing slowly returned to normal. I straightened my torn clothes as best I could, trying to gather some dignity.

"Thank you," I said. My voice came out shaky and small. "Thank you for saving my life. I won’t forget this."

I bowed from my perch on the branch, feeling ridiculous but needing to say it anyway. I must’ve looked stupid, bowing to a monster like it was a royal beast from a fairytale. But I meant it. This creature had saved me twice now. Whatever it was, it deserved gratitude.

Then I turned to climb down the other side of the tree, ready to run deeper into the forest and find a way home.

That’s when I noticed the blood.

A dark pool was forming beneath the monster, dripping from its chest and shoulders where the bullets had hit.

It was from the multiple gunshot wounds.

I paused, one foot on a lower branch as my mind raced. The creature was bleeding badly. Those wounds needed attention.

Then I caught myself. No. No way. It was an animal. Animals get hurt all the time. They healed on their own, or they didn’t.

It shouldn’t be my problem, right?

I turned away and climbed down, then started running deeper into the trees, away from the ravine.

But I kept looking back.

Every few steps, I’d glance over my shoulder, expecting to see the beast chasing me, but it wasn’t.

After about five minutes of running, I slowed down. My chest heaving as I caught my breath, I turned to look in the direction I’d just come. The beast didn’t follow me at all.

Why wasn’t it following me?

A strange feeling crept over me. It wasn’t fear, nor was it curiosity. I would say it was something in between.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I crept back toward the ravine, staying hidden behind trees and bushes.

I stopped in shock when I saw the beast was still there, sitting back on its haunches like a dog and staring in the direction I’d just gone. Blood was still dripping from its wounds, but it didn’t seem to care.

When it saw me peeking out from behind a tree, it wagged its tail.

My mouth fell open as I stared at it.

Did that just—did it just wag its tail at me?

I ducked back behind the tree, my heart pounding for an entirely different reason now.

My curiosity at this point had overridden all the fear in my body.

I stepped out from behind the tree, showing myself again, and the beast wagged its tail.

Then, just to be sure I wasn’t hallucinating, I took a few steps back into the trees, disappearing from its view completely. When I stepped back out, it wagged its tail faster.

And like a fool, I did it again and again, and each time I appeared, it would wag its tail like an excited puppy who’d spotted its owner.

On the fourth time, I couldn’t help it. A laugh bubbled up from me. I was in disbelief at this point and maybe a bit hysterical.

All this time, I’d thought it wanted to kill me, but it liked me. Whatever this big dog was, it actually liked me.

"Did I just tame this beast?" I said out loud, shaking my head in wonder.

The monster tilted its head at the sound of my voice, amber eyes fixed on me and wagged its tail harder.

I went back to the root of the tree I’d climbed a few moments ago and sat at the base, contemplating whether what I was about to do was foolish.

The bleeding wasn’t stopping, and isn’t it wicked to turn away from helpless animals in total?

It didn’t matter if they were murderous creatures, but at least it had saved me from those men who wanted to kill me, so I wouldn’t exactly say it was wrong.

Taking a deep breath, I rose to my feet and started inching towards it.

"At the first sign of trouble, I’ll bolt," I told myself as I crept closer, with my hands raised, trying to show that I was coming for peace.

When I neared it, it lowered itself further to the ground, whimpering softly, and something in my heart melted. I came closer and knelt beside it, trying to do some talking like I’d seen animal owners do to their pets.

"I’m not going to hurt you," I said quietly. "I’ll just check your wounds and see if I can stop the bleeding. Please don’t hurt me?"

I inhaled and exhaled again, inching closer to it. I rubbed my hands together and swallowed hard.

"Okay! I’m going to touch you now."

The instant my hands touched its fur, and I felt the softness beneath my fingers, everything went dark.