Chapter 292 : The Struggle

*Shelby*

My own body went rigid in that instant, the primal instinct to take flight from potential danger warring with the urge to hold my ground and demand answers to the many questions whirling around in my mind. Before I could decide on a course of action, Mr. Cavalier's petrified stare moved directly to my frozen form half concealed by the brush.

An ugly expression twisted his features as he seemed to put it all together in the span of a heartbeat. With the unsettling calm of someone wholly convinced of their justified actions, he pivoted to face me fully.

"Seems we have an… unwanted observer," he stated blandly.

Then, without any warning, Mr. Cavalier barreled directly toward me in a ground-devouring charge with startling swiftness and agility. My breath escaped in a choked shriek as fight or flight response finally kicked in, propelling me to wheel around and sprint headlong back down the beach.