Chapter 164: The Confrontation And Maren’s Arrival!
Maren frowned, looking at the forest behind Neve where Zyreth’s voice was coming from.
"Come with me, I’ll keep you safe under water," he said urgently, offering Neve an escape route. "You can stay with me. Zyreth cannot reach you there. The shark territory is my domain."
Neve shook his head, even though the offer was tempting.
"I really wish I could come with you, but Popi," he muttered, thinking about his friend. "I can’t abandon her. I’ll return somehow. I really need you to help me complete my mission. We can figure this out together, but you have to stay here."
Maren’s eyes widened with recognition.
"You have a mission too?" Maren asked, understanding what Neve meant immediately.
"We both have missions," Neve said, looking behind him to see if Zyreth was getting closer. "I’ll find a way for us to meet, but you have to act like you desperately hate me. If you don’t, Zyreth will keep me locked up. He’s already jealous. If he thinks you care about me, he’ll never let me leave his sight."
Maren bit his lower lip and nodded, understanding the strategy.
"I know what to do," Maren said. "I’ll pretend to be cold. I’ll push you away publicly. I’ll make Zyreth believe that I have no interest in you whatsoever."
"Thank you!" Neve said and then he ran away, disappearing into the forest.
He was glad his red panda body was small and nimble. He managed to pluck some weeds and medicinal plants along the way, gathering them carefully as if he had been searching for them the entire time. He collected various herbs as proof that he had been out gathering supplies for Maren’s mother’s treatment.
Then he made his way back to the hut where Popi was waiting.
.
When Neve returned, he saw Popi. But his heart sank immediately.
Her hands were tied behind her back with rope. Her expression was defiant but clearly she had been caught.
’Fuck, she was caught,’ Neve muttered under his breath as he turned back to his human form, slipping his clothes back on carefully. He tried to look calm despite the panic rising inside him.
"You’re back!" Popi said, her eyes beaming with relief. She had been worried that Neve would get caught too. "I thought you’d be caught too, how was it? Did you find him? Did you meet with Maren?"
"You worry about yourself first," Neve said and quickly untied the rope binding Popi’s hands.
Just when he was doing that, Zyreth entered the hut.
Zyreth’s eyes fell on Neve standing close to Popi. His entire body went rigid with jealousy and rage.
He used his tail to wrap tightly around Neve, pulling him close to his own body with possessive force.
Neve groaned in pain, struggling to release himself from the grip but he could not. Zyreth’s tail was too strong. The grip was too tight.
"Neve!" Zyreth barked his name and Neve flinched at the tone.
"How dare you disobey me?" Zyreth demanded, his voice filled with fury. "Are you trying to run? Are you thinking of meeting someone else? Like... Maren?"
Neve needed to think fast. He needed to come up with a believable excuse.
"What? I didn’t even go anywhere," Neve said quickly, his voice carrying just the right amount of offense at the accusation. "I went to catch some herbs for Maren’s mother. Her condition was almost critical. I couldn’t just sit around while she was dying."
Zyreth was silent.
Neve knew his lie was working. Zyreth could not argue with the logic of treating the patient. The entire reason Neve was here was to cure Maren’s mother and gain Maren’s support for the revenge plan.
But Neve needed to make it more convincing. He needed to add emotion. He needed to cry.
He moved his hand, struggling more within Zyreth’s tail grip. And then one of Zyreth’s scales cut Neve’s hand, drawing blood.
Neve groaned, using the real pain to cry genuine tears.
"I can’t take it anymore," he lowered his head, his voice breaking. "Did you bring me here as a prisoner or as your helper? If I’m unable to treat Maren’s mother properly, he won’t help you with your revenge plan. And I’m trying my best to treat her, yet you..."
He sniffed in, tears streaming down his face.
"You are hurting me," he said, his voice filled with emotional pain that was partially real and partially performance.
Zyreth slowly released him from the tail grip and pulled Neve close to his chest, wrapping his arms around him in an embrace.
"I’m sorry, I could have trusted you. I thought you would betray me and go to Maren," Zyreth said, his jealousy giving way to regret. "I thought you would run away with him."
Neve kept his eyes low, secretly rolling them at the drama. He looked up to stare at Zyreth, meeting his eyes with carefully controlled emotion.
"Betray you? But I don’t belong to you," Neve said, testing the boundaries of what he could say.
Zyreth’s expression hardened.
"Do I have to mark you for everyone to know you belong to me?" he asked with a dangerous grin. "If I mark you officially as my mate, would you stop running? Would you stop trying to meet Maren?"
Neve furrowed his brows, considering the implications.
"Are you trying to get rid of the bond marks I already have?" Neve asked carefully. "Because if you try to erase their marks, they will come for us. They will fight you. You don’t want that."
"I might do it anyway," Zyreth said, clearly considering the possibility.
"If you do, I’ll hate you," Neve said, his voice becoming serious and filled with absolute conviction. He let Zyreth feel the weight of his words. "I mean it. I will hate you with every fiber of my being."
Zyreth could feel the truth in Neve’s words. His grip around Neve loosened immediately.
"I won’t then," Zyreth said, backing down from the threat. "I don’t want you to hate me. Maybe I just have to work hard to be the only one you look at. Maybe I have to prove myself worthy of your affection."
He smirked, a possessive and dark expression.
Neve almost gagged internally as he heard those words.
’I have to have ten mates, you are definitely not going to be the only one I look at,’ Neve thought to himself, keeping his face neutral and composed.
"And about Maren’s mother," Zyreth said, looking at the patient on the bed. "You have to treat her until she’s completely better. Whatever you want, whatever you need, you may get it. I’ll provide it."
He paused, his expression becoming cold again.
"As long as you never meet with Maren," he added, his voice carrying absolute authority.
Suddenly, a voice echoed from the entrance of the hut.
"What happened to my mother?" the voice asked, calm but carrying an undertone of deadly concern. "Is she getting worse? Is there a problem with the treatment?"
Everyone turned to look at who had arrived.
It was Maren.