Arjun's POV:

The jungle stretched endlessly around us, the trees looming like dark sentinels in the night. Every step I took, I could feel her presence behind me—tense, wary, but unwilling to speak.

I glanced back at her, the girl who had found herself caught in the storm. Her eyes were still wide with fear, her body stiff with anxiety. But there was something else beneath that fear. A fierceness. A determination. She wasn’t just scared; she was ready to fight for her survival. I could see it in the way she moved, in the way she held herself.

“So, what’s your name?” I finally asked, trying to break the silence that had settled between us. Her voice, when it came, was quieter than I expected.

“Amrita,” she answered, her gaze still darting around, scanning the surroundings.

“Amrita,” I repeated, testing the name on my tongue. It didn’t seem to fit the girl standing before me—too soft, too small, too innocent for someone so strong-willed. "I am major Arjun Singh Rathore. Where are you from?" I asked, but before she could answer, I felt it—a movement behind us.

“They’re back,” I muttered, just as a figure lunged from the underbrush.

I didn’t hesitate. My body reacted on instinct. I grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side, then turned, launching myself into action. I’d fought countless battles in my life—this was nothing new. But the way these men fought... they were desperate. They were cornered animals.

The first man came at me with a knife. I grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm, bone grinding against bone, and sent him crashing headfirst into the grimy dirt. The second tried to tackle me, but I was faster, my reflexes honed by years of practice. I ducked beneath his flailing arms, the air whistling past my ear, and with a sharp, explosive motion, I drove my elbow into his ribcage. The sickening crack of bone was muffled by his grunt of pain as he crumpled to the ground, clutching his side.

They were outnumbered, but I wasn’t about to let them get away. The remaining men saw what had happened to their comrades and hesitated. That’s when the real fight started. I moved with the fluidity of a predator, each step calculated, each strike precise. My fists became blurs, knuckles colliding with flesh and bone with a sickening thud. The sounds of grunts, gasps, and the thud of bodies hitting the ground echoed in the narrow alley. I wasn’t going to leave anyone standing.

The sound of their retreating footsteps told me they knew when to quit. They ran, but I knew it wouldn’t be the last we’d see of them.

“Stay close,” I ordered, turning to face Amrita. She hadn’t moved, her expression unreadable as she stood behind me. I could see the confusion and perhaps even fear in her eyes, but there was no time to talk about that now. I turned back toward the forest. The night was falling fast, and we couldn’t keep moving without risking running into more of them.

“We need to find shelter,” I muttered, more to myself than to her.

We pushed forward, the weight of the jungle’s darkness pressing on us. The path became increasingly difficult to navigate, and the air was thick with humidity. I kept my senses sharp, scanning the horizon, every crack of a branch or snap of a twig making my heart race.

Then, I saw it—a small cave, tucked away against the hillside. It wasn’t much, but it would keep us hidden from whatever might be lurking in the darkness.

“Over there,” I said, pointing to the cave. “It’ll do for the night.”

As we reached the entrance, I stepped inside, and that’s when I heard her gasp.

Before I could even react, I saw her slip, her foot losing its grip on the wet ground. Reflexively, I reached out to catch her. My arm snaked around her waist, pulling her tightly against me.

Her body stiffened instantly.

“What the hell are you doing?” she snapped, pushing me away with surprising force.

I didn’t let her go. I could feel her heart racing in her chest against mine, the heat of her anger burning through the tension that had built between us.

“Let go of me!” she spat, her voice sharp. “If you touch me again, I swear I’ll hit you.”

I was taken aback by the fury in her words. Her eyes were wild, her body trembling from the adrenaline, but the sheer audacity of her attitude irritated me. She wasn’t afraid—she was furious. Furious at me.

For a moment, I didn’t know how to respond. Every instinct told me to get a grip, to control the situation. But instead, I just stood there, staring at her.

“What’s your problem?” I muttered, more to myself than to her.

“I said stay away!” she yelled, her voice echoing in the small cave. “You think you can just touch me, take me, use me however you want? I’m not some damsel in distress, and I won’t be treated like one!”

I couldn’t believe it. The girl had guts—no, more than that. She was downright reckless.

I shook my head in disbelief. “You have a hell of a lot of attitude for someone in a situation like this,” I said, my voice dark and cold.

She glared at me, the fire in her eyes burning brighter. “Maybe because I’m not like the women you’re used to, huh? Maybe I don’t bend to the will of assholes like you!”

I blinked at her, taken aback by her words. It was clear she wasn’t going to back down, not now, not ever.

It wasn’t fear I was seeing in her eyes. It was defiance. It was that fire that made her different from every other girl I’d known. And despite myself, I couldn’t help but respect it, even if it was driving me crazy.

I let go of her, stepping back, my jaw tightening. “Fine,” I muttered, “But don’t think for a second that these changes anything. You’re still under my protection until we get out of here. And I don’t take kindly to people who think they can fight me.”

Her eyes narrowed, but I could see the confusion mixed with something else—a tiny flicker of uncertainty.

We didn’t speak again after that. She moved further into the cave, settling down on a small patch of dry ground, her back turned to me. I sat across from her, watching her carefully. She didn’t want my help, didn’t want anything from me.

But as the night stretched on, and the sounds of the jungle echoed around us, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t over. And deep down, despite her attitude, I knew I wasn’t going to let her face this alone.