Although, looking at the Dark One’s body, it was clear that he knew torture and pain. The many scars Sin could see where his skin was exposed proved it.
Still.
Sin wanted him to suffer. The only rational reason to keep his enemy alive was to make it a living hell.
It was the middle of the night by now, a time when predators came out to play. And a time when feline Beasts like Sin felt most powerful. For both these reasons, he needed to move. He had to put as much distance as possible between his potential Dark pursuers and himself.
He padded over to his prisoner, stood over him, almost immediately on top of him, and growled low, baring his sharp teeth in a clear demonstration of danger and dominance.
The Hunter stared up at him in the inky darkness, the color of his eyes indiscernible.
There was no fear in them, however. Only blankness and stoicism.
It frustrated and maddened Sin that his enemy wasn’t even the slightest bit afraid. Most others, humans and Immortals alike, would be shitting themselves by now.
Glaring meaningfully at the Hunter for a while longer, Sin finally relented and grabbed hold of the end of the chain attached to the noose around his prisoner’s neck between his teeth. He backed up and yanked on it viciously, making the Dark One stagger to his feet or risk having his jugular crushed.
Using the chain like a leash, Sin began to walk deeper into the forest, knowing that his prisoner had no choice but to follow.
As he walked, his mind worked in ways it hadn’t in decades.
Humanways.
As if taking the form had reawakened dormant parts of his brain. Making him more man, less beast.
There must be a reason his instincts told him to keep the Hunter alive. Perhaps he would be useful to the Beasts as a whole.
Even if he was a traitor, he used to be the previous Queen’s Master Hunter. He must possess knowledge of the Hunters’ training, since he led them himself; how the inner court of the Dark Queen worked, the strengths and vulnerabilities of the citadel.
Perhaps Sin’s people could use this knowledge to their benefit. To better protect their tribes or to launch a concerted attack and bring down the Dark rule once and for all.
Before he turned human, when he’d maintained his Beast form all these years and let the animal inside take over, he had no thought of his brethren, focused only on his own revenge. Now, even though he tried to ignore it, he couldn’t help but feel the pull of the pride. He could hear the faint call of the Tiger King in his head, as all Beasts of earth could if they listened for it:
Come to me, Sin.
Come home.
And so, despite himself, that was the direction Sin headed in. Toward the Tiger King’s enclave, wherever it was hidden now. Following the tenuous thread that still bound him to his fellow feline Beasts.
“I need to piss.”
The chain snapped taut when the Dark Hunter stopped walking.
Sin gurgled a growl with his mouth full of the leash, jerking it with a twist of his head, conveying without words,I don’t give a fuck. You can piss your clothes for all I care. Keep walking.
The big Hunter held his ground, despite the rope gouging into his neck, the raw skin there rubbed red and bleeding.
“I’m not pissing myself. You don’t want my clothes soaked with urine. Cats hate foul scents, and as long as you take me along, you’ll be smelling it the entire way. Besides, it will attract pursuers as if you’re purposely leaving them a trail to follow. If that’s your plan, I can oblige.”
The blasted Dark vermin had a point, Sin acknowledged begrudgingly, chewing absently on the rope as he mulled over his options.
Even if he cut the soiled clothes off the male, it would serve as a blatant marker of their passing, whether he took the time to burn it, bury it or leave it in a heap. A waste of time and energy.
Then piss already, he glared the thought at the Hunter, who seemed to have to uncanny ability to read his mind.
“You have to untie my braes and hold my cock,” his prey said matter-of-factly. “Or untie me so I can do it myself.”
Sin growled with frustration.