BONUS CHAPTER [169.2]

HARVEST STARED ahead; eyes unable to leave the figure of the girl whose very image seemed ingrained in his mind.

He could barely understand what it was John was babbling about beside him. Something about the scouts' report of how the site for the camp had been surveyed and certified safe for set up.

He nodded mindlessly at this, eyebrows arching slightly when Talanda passed by a low-hanging branch that barely grazed her shoulder.

She walked a good length ahead of him and seemed engrossed in something the nerdy yellow was saying to her.

He could barely spot her figure between that of the other Leviathans walking toward the Camp in their different groups, but the glimpses he caught of her were more than enough.

He couldn't understand and hated to admit the pang of jealousy he felt watching the two of them converse.

After all, what made him so different?

Wasn't he the yellow who had mentally burned her alive and sent her to the infirmary teetering between life and death after?

He was a villain in his own right.

Yes... Admittedly, he did not keep the dark secrets that Harvest hid, neither was he a monster-

His jaw clenched at the term, his gaze moving off her figure for a moment. He remembered seeing that thought repeatedly dance around in her mind on that godforsaken night.

That's why it was so easy for her to forgive the hypnotist yellow.

He was a convert. But Harvest was much more than that. A monster in her own words.

How would she ever forgive him? He scoffed at the thought.

Forgiveness was too much to ask of right now.

But her shoving him away to just a shade watching in the shadows, a player on the sidelines, unable to come near, to touch her, even if it was just the soft graze of their fingers, felt like torture of the cruelest kind.

The Mark on his wrist did not seem to help his cause either.

It only amplified the anger, frustration, and even the hurt that had formed inside him. 3 emotions that he had never quite experienced this intense until her.

"Alpha?"

His dark irritated gaze snapped to the boy beside him, and John froze at its intensity, gulping.

"I-I was asking if you would like to survey the campsite one more time before everyone arrives?"

He paused at this question, feeling out of it, before gazing ahead.

Nodding, his eyes shifted back to John, "I'll go ahead."

John nodded, watching as the Alpha moved through the lines of Leviathans holding their torches as lamps, they marched through the Fareborn forest.

Harvest moved through the groups of teams seamlessly, eyes set on the figure of the girl up ahead.

His heart was a steady beat within him, increasing with every step he drew closer to her until he could see the expressions on her face.

The hypnotist yellow, the one called Omkara was telling her what seemed to be a story about his experience training as a yellow so far.

"2 sessions in, our prime secondary teacher Miss Giselle, teaches us how to cocoon people in their minds, but for starters—she says we as yellows are supposed to be masters of our own minds before we can, manipulate others," he explained.

Harvest watched Talanda nod at his statement, her gaze following attentively-

"I know I'm not the world's brightest boy and my thoughts are somewhat strange-but the landscape of mind? It's a frickin desert! For miles and miles, there's nothing but sand, so high it's up to my knees. I have to crawl my way out. I mean I was once cocooned in a bloody sandstorm...naked-"

She grinned at this and Harvest couldn't help the small tug that grazed the corner of his lips.

At least she was happy.

"Yeah! Imagine that! You're literally naked in your own mind! You won't believe how hard it is to conjure a pair of pants! It took me like five more sessions for me to least dream out a pair of boxers."

She chuckled more at this, and Harvest paced closer to her in her row.

There was no harm in this, he encouraged himself, his gaze shifting back to her.

He was 3 feet away after all.

It took about a minute more of Omkara's story before one of the girls in the row noticed his silent presence-

"A-Alpha!"

All eyes switched to him, and for the moment he was angry he had been outed, his gaze snapping to the girl.

"Yes?"

"Ah- I didn't see you there," the girl stuttered a response, blushing hard but he was barely listening.

He couldn't help sucking in a breath when he felt Talanda's big brown eyes watching the side of his face.

The mantra, anywhere but her seemed to dwindle with every passing second.

"Is everything okay?" Omkara seemed to squeak, and his eyes flashed to him.

It was as if the hypnotist knew he was here to check that he was taking care of his clumsy little red.

"I hope so," his gaze narrowed on him, and the boy gulped.

He could not fight it anymore, his eyes finally found Talanda's prized ones.

He seemed to lose a breath at this, his voice softer and quieter, "Just making sure everyone's -okay."

He held her gaze and could hear her heart thump. He was unsure if it was because she was scared or still angry with him, or-

He hoped it was for the same reason his was thumping this fast.

Finally finding the courage to look away from her mesmerizing stare, he was able to move forward, still aware of the girl's eyes on him.

Raskei watched all this fall forward in real time from her camouflaged position between groups, snorting at the action.

He was going to get caught with this sort of careless behavior.

That's what scared her most.

The once careful, tactic Harvest was flailing in the water as if he didn't know how to swim.

Drowning for a girl who had not even said a word to him.

How ironic.

--------------------------------------------------

Harvest walked through the camp, John trudging beside him as they examined each setup.

Each cycle had put up tents around the headquarters, lamps glistening in and out of the darkness, and a fire had been lit in the middle of the campgrounds.

Everything was busy in the Leviathan camp, for the Games, every member was either walking around with a sleeping bag rolled under his arm, hoisting up the remainder of the tents, or setting up torches to illuminate campgrounds.

Harvest was busy checking inventory, food, accessories, and most importantly the Middle Tent, one in which to house the selected items once they are retrieved.

Despite his rather busy schedule as Alpha, he could not help but glance at the newest cycles as they were last to set up camp.

Finally catching a glimpse of Talanda, it wasn't long before his vision was consumed with everything she did, glancing more times than required towards her cycle as they set up. Lira was helping her tug the last corner of the large tent, pinning it down.

He glanced down at the book John had presented to him, nodding along to whatever it was that he was saying whilst discretely keeping an eye on the girl.

Once or twice whenever he looked away, he could feel her eyes on him, and this made his heartbeat faster.

He did not dwell too much on the reason, for as long as she kept her own pretty eyes on him, he cared less if it was in anger or distrust.

For what could he do?

He was unable to get closer than three feet near her. She was still actively pushing him away somehow, not allowing him to explain himself.

What he wished to explain, he had no clue. How could he justify what he was, what he knew, what he had been hiding from her without telling her the truth about everything?

And could he risk doing that?

Perhaps if it could redeem himself in her eyes. Perhaps if it could rectify the terrible mistake, he had made with her, perhaps- oh only perhaps if that meant she would let him if only a foot closer-

But the truth was uglier than anything she had ever seen. Telling her what he was, and what he planned to do would NOT redeem him.

He clenched his jaw- he was wickedness itself. It was no wonder he craved her innocence as if it was life itself.

His grip tightened on the pen as he crossed out each thing he had checked up on, so hard he ripped the page so loudly it drew the eyes of a few converts nearby.

John gasped, eyes wide and Harvest rolled his eyes at his folly, slamming the book shut, and walking off.

He needed a breather.

He needed space, he needed to be far away from her—her scent, her eyes, her everything.

It was too diabolical to be fair. To be this whipped over someone, especially for the being he was.

He stomped toward the forest, away from the camp, barely out a few meters when his vision became blurry only for a second.

He froze, ticking his jaw.

"For fucks sake, Raskei, we've already had this conversation. I've stayed 3 feet away," he growled, irritated, turning around to face the girl who tucked away her switchblades.

She patted them carefully, "her necklace," she mumbled.

"What?" Harvest barked back, more frustrated she was mumbling and having him guess what she meant.

Raskei looked up at him slowly, "She's wearing an old necklace. That's what's keeping you away. It has a strong protection spell around it."

Harvest paused, studying her, eyebrows drawing together, "I don't remember seeing her with a neck-"

"She hides it underneath her suit, or clothes whatever she's wearing at that moment. It's ancient," she huffed, her gaze dropping to his neck, "Like your pendent."

He let out a lost breath at this I formation, "Does she know that it-?"

"I don't think so. I don't even know where she got it from. Something as old and powerful as that isn't just found. It's created, designed."

"Gravis..." Harvest grunted, rolling his eyes, "he was there that night, he may have given it to her..." he trailed off, realizing something, "She isn't pushing me away-" he mumbled to himself.

"That's all you got?" Raskei scoffed, exasperated, "Whoever gave her that necklace must have done so for a reason. Aren't you curious why? What if they know about us?"

"They don't," Harvest quipped in return, his voice darkening, "if the prime knew who we are they wouldn't waste time taking us out."

His gaze narrowed on Raskei, studying her for a moment, "You knew," he realized, he paused at the realization. Since when had she gotten so good at hiding a lie from him?

"You knew exactly what was keeping her from me and lied that you didn't."

Raskei shrugged, "You mean the same way you lied to me when you said you couldn't erase her memory because Gravis had interfered?" She scoffed, "The truth is you didn't because you have some sick fantasy that maybe she'll accept you for what you are, and you won't have to hide."

"Raskei-" he began.

"Truth is, you could have done it, but you chose not to. I don't fucking care about what happens to me, but I care about you Harvest-"

His eyes snapped back to her.

"You were a friend to me when everyone else called me a monster. You had my loyalty from that day in a small village in the heart of India. I vowed to protect you as you did for me when they wanted to get me. And I will, even if that means I have to protect you from yourself."

Harvest remained quiet watching her.

"I don't hate her," she suddenly sighed, "I like her for you, she brings out a side of you that even I have never seen. It's different and it's good but it's going to get not only you locked up with your father, but it's going to get her killed."

Harvest's eyes never left her.

"I know all you can think about right now is getting that pendent off of her, and I have no doubt you'll succeed, but the old careful Harvest would have realized she's as good as dead if you do."

His eyebrows arched at this as Raskei moved closer.

"Yes, the necklace keeps her from you, but do you know what else it keeps her from? -"

Harvest froze as everything clicked. He couldn't believe his folly; he couldn't believe how he hadn't played that through. He was much deeper than he thought. He was consumed entirely if he had not been able to see them.

He stared at her for a moment, dreading the next words to come out of his mouth, "Her. It keeps her safe from her."

Raskei nodded. "Her punishment is coming, Harvest. The last warning was already given. The messenger said she would take a form. It's inevitable now, but if that pendent can keep someone like you away from Talanda, it can certainly keep her away. Taking that off would-"

"Put Talanda in mortal danger-" He finished.

Raskei sighed, "You may not care about your own safety, but I know you care about hers. The purebloods can vouch for that," she chuckled.

She touched his arm, "You know what's coming. You know that you will not be able to stop her. You know what to do."

With that, the chamber melted away and she walked back in the direction of the camp.

Harvest remained frozen. He did not understand how to feel at this moment.

The strongest feeling that surfaced was shame.

How he was so selfish he never even thought of what being near her would do. How much direct danger he had put her through.

His gaze lifted back in the direction of the camp. He had to let go. This was where it ended.

He had no choice.