A crush.

The slightest touch made Yilas unconsciously moved in her sleep, she leaned her whole face onto Mohsen's palm, laying on it comfortably like a pillow.

Mohsen couldn't react in time, he could only stay still and let Yilas leaned on his hand. And before he knew it, Mohsen was stuck in the weird position. If he moved Yilas would definitely be woken up and he would get caught. But if he didn't move, his arms would eventually give out and ended up in the same result. Mohsen got giddy, he didn't even understand why he was anxious in the first place. He looked around the whole tent, trying to find something to laid the female on.

*Ba-dum* *Ba-dum*

Mohsen's heart was beating more uncontrollably by the minutes, his whole head was filled with tension.

"Deep breath in, then out..." Mohsen murmured to himself, calming his nerve.

Soon realized there wasn't any object nearby, Mohsen took a deep breath in before skootching closer to Yilas, letting her leaned on his shoulders instead. Nobody could see but in the dark, Mohsen's face was blushed red.

The scent of Yilas's hair filled Mohsen's mind, it wasn't like any of the beasts he had ever known before. Her cheek pressed against his arm, though he had touched the soft, bouncy cheeks of hers with his fingers, it still made his heart went wild with just a simple touch. Mohsen's body was unconsciously gotten stiff, his breathing became uneven.

Though his body reacted strangely, Mohsen didn't dislike the sensation. He was filled with warmth and excitement inside that he wondered why it was feeling like that.

*rustle*

Mohsen's rabbit ears quickly turned to the curtained doorway and picked up the slightest sound.

Somebody was coming.

Mohsen wasn't sure if it was Mame or it was another beast. He held his breath and waited for them to approached closer.

"Doesn't look like anybody is in here, shall we check?" A strange voice from a beast-man asked someone that was with him.

"Nah... too much work, just look around the next one finish it here *Yawn* I'm sleepy already." Another male beast answered this time Mohsen recognized that voice.

It sounded like Zassar, an older beast who was the first generation of generals who served Bryok. Zassar was a horse beast-man who like to party and flirted with females, even though he had long passed the mating age, he still hadn't been accepted by any female due to his brute and provocative nature. But knowing Zassar, all he cared about was playing around and be free so the family life never suited him anyway.

Mohsen kept his ears peeled for their conversation, from what he could hear, he guessed that Bryok had found out Yilas and Mame had been missing and were searching for them. However, he left the job to the worst beast possible, Zassar who was always too lazy and never took anything serious.

From behind the thin walls, Mohsen heard their footsteps moving further and further away. He sighed and slouched his shoulder, leaving Yilas's head for the fall.

*Eekk*

Yilas was woken up by the sensation of falling and she immediately shrieked. Without a second of hesitation, Mohsen grabbed Yilas's face by his big, bony hand and covered her mouth tightly, not letting another breath escaped. He immediately shushed her and listened attentively to the beast's reaction, his every nerve was on edge.

"Did you hear that?"

"No...? What is it now?"

One of the beasts sounded like he had heard something but it was quick to disappear so he wasn't sure of it.

"It sounded like a female's scream."

"You're paranoid!" Zassar yawned again and told off the other beast. "I can't smell anything so it mustn't be."

Mohsen let out the tiniest sigh, luckily Zassar didn't pick up Yilas's scent since it was mostly covered by Mohsen's natural scent.

"Let's get out of here already." Zassar nagged the cautious beast and Mohsen sensed their footsteps going further and further away.

Mohsen could finally relaxed, the cold sweat running on his back finally stopped. He now looked at Yilas, who was quietly being held by him. She had instantly understood the situation so she cooperated with her best capability. Mohsen suddenly got red in the face, he pushed Yilas's away from him with a little too much excessive force, making her landing on the ground.

But Yilas didn't cry out the pain, she could sympathize with how startled Mohsen must felt looking at her face so close, after all, it was a nasty scar she carried on her face.

"G-Get up and get to bed, I will take my leave now." Mohsen looked away even though he was the only one who could see in this dark tent. His voice trembled but he whispered lightly to Yilas.

"Who were those people? Should I be careful of them?"

"First of all, you should be careful with any beast! But especially now since Bryok knows that you had escaped."

"He knew? But how?"

"He has eyes and ears everywhere, nowhere within the Goat's city limit is safe for you." Mohsen stood up and was about to take his leave when he hesitantly watched Yilas slowly making her way around on the ground. She looked like a lost child who couldn't even tell direction.

Mohsen pinched his eyebrows with his fingers, wondering why he took a double-take. He already knew how silly she was, now if he didn't help his conscience would bother him all night.

With that thought, Mohsen turned around and swooped Yilas on her feet, carrying her like a princess to the hay bedding sort of hidden in the tent.

"Ahhh..." Yilas was surprised to be picked up without any warning. The only thing she could do was wrapping her arms tightly onto Mohsen, not letting herself fall. "You didn't have to..."

The last part Yilas murmured in her throat. Being gently placed on the comfortable bed, Yilas knew Mohsen wasn't too bad after all.

"Thank you for staying with me..." Yilas spoke out before Mohsen turned around and leave. He stood still like a frozen statue in his pose for a minute before answering. A part of him thought this female was a stupid brat like every other female he had met but the words came out of her mouth just now surprised him.

"Next time don't do stupid things again!" Mohsen wanted to say no problem but the stern words came out of his mouth was different from what he intended. "And no need to thank me, I'm just doing my job."

"Still, you could have just left me alone after you brought me back, but you stayed." Yilas voiced trembled, everytime Mohsen scolded her she felt like a little kid again. It was like Yilas was talking to a much older adult.

"It was nothing, don't be so impressed."

"It might be nothing to you but to me, it meant more than that..." Yilas slowed down and barely made her last few words audible. "It was kinda lonely with just me and Mame, you were the first person I've talked to for a while."

Mohsen's body stiffened, even more, his heart skipped a beat. He couldn't stand how honest Yilas was, he simply didn't know how to responded to that. And of course, Yilas didn't expect him to answer or anything. She laid down comfortably on the bed and readied for the night. Mohsen made himself ran as quickly as he could out of the tent, his whole body was feeling giddy, if he had stayed for another minute, he wouldn't know what crazy things might happen to him.