Page 19 of Red

As soon as he’d laid Warol on a pile of furs, she’d summoned Kyx to bring her the sack he carried around for her, a bowl of water, and clean strips of leather. Rager had never once seen her remove anything from the bag before, but now she pulled several containers out and set them by her knees. Most appeared to be filled with plant material. One, however, appeared to be filled with a dark dust. She caught him watching and a tired smile pulled up at the corners of her mouth.

“None of this will hurt him but I really don’t know with any certainty what I need,” she said, her brow furrowing. “I have never treated wounds inflicted by a weapon coated with a poisonous compound before, but I am going to try to make a poultice I have used on snake bites. I am hoping that, between the medicine for pain and his immune system, it will give him a chance to recover.”

Rager understood what she did not say. She wouldn’t give up on Warol, but there was a good chance the male would not recover. Sorrow weighed heavily on his chest, but he choked back the keening sound of despair that threatened to rise from him. He would not sing Warol to the ancestors until it was time, and not a second earlier.

Kyx crouched beside Arie, his ears drooped slightly, and his two sets of eyes looked over the injured male with worry. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Arie nodded. “He might thrash in his state of delirium as I attempt to clean his wounds and bind the poultice over them. If you can hold him still, that would be helpful.”

The male nodded and shifted himself until he was crouched over Warol’s head. He braced one set of hands on the male’s chest, and the other pair on his shoulders. Rager snorted. He doubted that would do much good if the male attempted to jerk away. Warol outweighed Kyx by a considerable amount.

Sure enough, the moment she wetted a strip of leather and applied it to a ragged wound on his belly, Warol jerked up and unconsciously raked his claws across her forearm. Arie yelped and flung herself back as Rager leaped forward to restrain his brother’s wrists. He turned his head and met her gaze to ascertain if she was okay. Tears filled her eyes as she let out a hiss of pain, but she blinked them away.

“I’m all right,” she whispered as she fetched the leather again.

Rager sat on Warol’s legs and braced his knees to either side of his thighs, squeezing with just enough pressure to immobilize his legs. He then leaned forward to further restrain his brother’s arms on one side while Kyx took the other, leaving the male’s belly exposed. Looking over at Arie, he nodded. This would have to do. Arie sucked her rosy lips between her teeth and returned his nod as she slipped forward and once again applied the wet leather.

Warol whimpered and roared viciously, but Arie was merciful in her quick, yet thorough, work. Before long, the wounds were bound with charcoal and strong-smelling herbs, and his brother rested despite the occasional writhe of pain over his features, or the way he twisted on the furs. There was little they could do from there but keep him cool, change his bandages, and wait for his fever to break.

In the end, it was mostly due to his despair that Rager left the den to hunt for fresh game. Like all of their claimed caves, it had been stocked well over the summer with dried meat, so they would not have gone hungry any time soon while they hunted up and down the neutral territory for an unmated female. Rager just couldn’t bear to be so helpless. There was nothing he could do for Warol, and there was nothing that he could do for the small female while she was preoccupied with caring for the male. Hunting was a necessary distraction for him while Kyx patrolled the area around the burrow, keeping watch for any sign of danger.

When he returned with three fat rabbits, he found that Arie hadn’t moved from Warol’s side the entire time he’d been gone. She continued to wet the extra strips of leather she kept at her side and apply them to his brow and chest. She looked up at him and greeted him with an exhausted smile that brought an unfamiliar warmth to his chest.

Kyx, who’d apparently arrived before him, happily relieved Rager of his burden and inspected the game with a pleased expression.

“I’ll just take care of these,” Kyx offered.

“Kyx, don’t forget to use that spare skull you found and cleaned out for me. Put some of the meat you cook for me into the water once you get it boiling. It should make a decent broth so Warol will get his necessary nutrients,” Arie said without looking up from her task.

“I will see to it, Arie. I have the shell full of boiling water ready for you, as you asked,” the other male responded as he set a turtle shell beside Arie. The female smiled with gratitude and removed another pouch from her bag.

“Thank you, Kyx. I’m going to make a tea of ginger and meadowsweet with a few other herbs to try to bring down his fever and help with the pain.” She worried her bottom lip. “So far, there hasn’t been any change,” she said as she glanced up at Rager. “He’s not any better, but nor is he any worse.”

Rager felt his chest constrict. “Are you well?” he asked, jerking his head toward the deep scratches on her forearm that she’d bound with a strip of leather.

“I’ll be fine. I’ve certainly cut myself worse.”

He glanced around, unsure of what to do with himself. This little human was becoming a part of their lives—more than just a female that they were temporarily escorting, and he was becoming affected more and more by her presence in their lives than he anticipated. He didn’t understand how he ought to feel about it other than the fact that he hated being separated from her and hated seeing her in pain. He coveted all of her moments of happiness as it fed his own joy and contentment, but he didn’t know what to do with this desire.

Humans were so different from Ragoru; Rager wasn’t sure what it would take to make her feel comfortable with him so near her. Maybe if he looked more human? Knowing that their appearance had unnerved her, he tucked his lower set of arms behind his back and tried not to look at her directly in a desperate bid to put her at ease. He then closed his peripheral eyes as he settled next to her, slightly off-balance with his lower arms still clasped behind him.

Arie glanced over at him with a perplexed expression. “What are you doing?”

“I am trying to make you feel comfortable with me,” he said, humiliation burning through his stomach. He suddenly felt foolish. That embarrassment increased when her throaty laughter surrounded him. He opened his peripheral eyes and glared at her.

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to laugh. But I am not sure I understand how that would make me feel more comfortable when you look so completely uncomfortable,” she said with a giggle as she measured out bits of plant material into the hot water. Even Kyx joined in the laughter from the far side of the den where he spitted a rabbit over the fire.

Rager growled at the smaller male, but Kyx’s brow shifted with unrepentant amusement.

“I know humans are afraid of Ragoru. You are afraid of us,” he stated bluntly.

Arie’s laughter died away and she looked at him with serious consideration. She regarded him thoughtfully with her lips pinched together before speaking.

“You are correct that humans are afraid of Ragoru, and yes, I was afraid of you. You are another species, and one that is not only larger than me, but also an apex predator. I would be stupid to not be a little afraid.”

Bitterness twisted in his gut to the point where he could almost taste bile as he focused his glare on the fire. He startled when she placed a hand on his forearm.

“The keyword there is was. Over the last few days with you, I’m no longer afraid around you. I may be startled, or confused at times, but it isn’t fear. It’s the oddest thing,” she observed with a wry twist of her lips. “I know you are capable of killing me with little trouble, but I am also pretty certain you wouldn’t do that. You’ve had plenty of opportunities, and I realize that, since the moment you offered to escort me, you’ve not only protected me and kept me warm and fed, but came for me when we were separated. That is more kindness than I’ve received from a human.”

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