Her anxiety was like a storm, always hovering on the horizon, carried by winds she could neither predict nor control. Sometimes she could find the little rays of sunshine breaking through and hold herself strong against the tempest, and other times she was little more than a leaf to be tossed about by the gusts. Today, she felt very much like a leaf in the wake of Temblor's request, desperately clinging to the same branch she'd been gripping as her lifeline for the past few months.

I need your help, he insists, and she shakes her head mutely in response. No one needed her help, not since her daughters. And no one had any reason to if she were honest with herself. The most that she could offer was her familiarity with Paradise, and that was nothing that could not be gained with time. Eventually, both Temblor and Shiloh would know this jungle as well as she did, if not better because of their willingness to explore it without fear.

I'm asking you to share your strength with the herd. His tone was final, brokering no further arguments from her despite the fact that they rose to her lips anyway. Couldn't he see that she had no strengths to claim as her own? That his faith in her ability was misplaced and most certainly misguided. She had never intended to give him the impression that she would be useful to him as more than a warm body to keep the trails through Paradise in use, but it was clear that he had made his mind up already.

Rae's pale lips pressed together and she swallowed down the protests that kept rising in her mind. It was clear that he wasn't going to take any more of her excuses, even though she was only trying to help him. Overwhelmed by the weight of his attention, she turned her face away for a moment, but saw none of the jungle her gaze rested on.

"Okay," she finally whispered, the singular word pushed from between tight lips, her gaze still pointed away from this man that believed too much of her. Okay, she echoed mentally, her chest tight with fear and apprehension, I will..