Page 38 of Claimed By Brothers

“We can’t give up,” Jewel says.

We take our seats atop a large boulder, the four of us looking small between the river plateau’s high walls. The guards keep a decent distance, however. Out of earshot, I hope, but never out of sight. Besides, they’re fast enough to catch us if we so much as try to bolt in the opposite direction.

“We’re not giving up,” I reply. “But we do need to acknowledge our situation here. It may take longer to get back home. It won’t happen overnight. And we cannot do it on our own. Yesterday proved that much.”

“Be that as it may, we should still be ready to run off at a moment’s notice,” Alicia says. “I’m not hooking up with anyone, in case I didn’t make myself clear enough.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Alicia. That’s the least of our concern right now,” Cynthia groans, rolling her eyes in frustration.

“Good grief, you’re falling for them, aren’t you?” Alicia shoots back.

Cynthia shakes her head. “It’s not that. Amber is right. We caused a lot of damage yesterday. Desperate as we may be to find our way home, we failed to consider what it would lead to if we failed. Umok knows we’re alive, and he knows the Fire Tribe has us. It’ll get bloody.”

“And I said I would help them,” Jewel says. “It doesn’t mean I’m giving up.”

“I know, Jewel. Neither am I,” Cynthia sighs deeply. “We just need to recalculate our entire plan. Let’s help these people. Let’s do the best we can to keep the Sky Tribe away. We’ll regain their trust, and we’ll figure out another way to get home.”

“I’ll keep pleading with Binzen in the meantime,” I say. “He seems more inclined to truly understand and empathize with us despite our bond. Izzo won’t ever let me leave, but I think I can get Binzen to turn around. Just not now. Not today.”

Alicia rubs her face with visible frustration. “What the three of you fail to understand is the concept of a bloodbath. The Sky Tribe and the Fire Tribe are going to war, and we’re the fucking prize. Do you really think any of us want to be here if the wrong side wins? The Fire Tribe is woefully outnumbered and outgunned, even with Jewel’s ability to put together TNT bombs all around us. The only reason Umok failed to nab us yesterday is because he didn’t think the Fire Tribe would be coming for us. He probably thought we’d been wandering around on our own for weeks, scarcely surviving.”

“Yeah, he was pretty surprised when he saw us wearing these clothes,” Jewel concedes with a low grumble. “Dammit, I don’t know.”

“I don’t think the Fire Tribe stands a chance,” Alicia insists. “We have to really think about this, girls.” She pauses and looks at me. “What will happen if Binzen and Izzo die in battle? Do you think Umok will leave you alone? Oh, hell, no, you’ll be the first to get shared around as a breeder.” She looks at Cynthia next. “Maur is already weakened by his injury. If he and Kai die, do you think Umok will spare you? Nope, you’ll be a free-for-all, too. None of us are safe, not while the Sky Tribe exists. I’ve seen enough to understand that the Fire Tribe will never gain dominance over Sunna. The Sky Tribe has most of the surviving technology and the cities. Resources. Ammunition. Ships. Let’s get real.”

The silence that falls between us feels thicker than ever. Uncomfortable. Heavy upon my shoulders. There is plenty of truth to Alicia’s words, though none of us have truly seen the might of a united Fire Tribe army. I’ve met enough of these people to know they can be exceptionally driven to fight and even prevail. Izzo and Binzen are confident in their odds, too, and I’m inclined to trust their judgment.

“Think about it,” Alicia says to me. “Amber, I know where your heart is. I know where your mind is, too, and you’re not thinking clearly anymore. Cynthia is giving in to the temptation, as well. But we have to be honest with one another and with ourselves. When the battle comes to our doorstep, what are the odds that we’ll actually survive and live long enough among the Fire Tribe people to convince them to let us go?”

“She’s making a decent point,” Jewel adds, lowering her gaze. “I’m still gonna help with the explosives, but we should prepare an exit strategy as well, just in case. We cannot let the Sky Tribe take us under any circumstances.”

As much as I hate to admit it, they are making sense. But my heart is torn. After last night, I have only gotten closer to Binzen and Izzo. The more I think about leaving them again, the deeper this pain runs, cutting through me like a blunt knife. The anxiety is too much to bear, and there are moments when I feel like I can’t even breathe without them anymore. I suppose it’s just like any other addiction.

I have to quit. Cold turkey.

I do have a problem, though. Something I’ve yet to share with the girls. We’ve been here for more than a month now, and my period is late. It’s not a possibility I’m ready to consider, but I cannot ignore it for much longer. My body is going through some changes—subtle ones but still noticeable. We don’t know enough about their biology either, and if I’m pregnant with Binzen’s or Izzo’s child, what will it mean for me? What will it mean for my future?

15

Binzen

Amber doesn’t know I’m watching them as they confer on the riverbank. She doesn’t know I’m listening, either. There is one thing that makes my brother and me dignified and capable enough to lead our clan—our heightened senses. Compared to humans, the Sunnaites have better hearing and sight, and greater strength, and speed. Yet some of us rank even higher on the food chain, thanks to ancient genes passed down along certain bloodlines.

I can hear the sound of a pin dropping from a mile away.

Much like Izzo, I know what the girls have been up to since day one, but I wanted to let them manifest, to let them try things their way. Maybe it was a mistake. We lost two men because we didn’t keep a tighter leash on Amber and her friends. Yet we also agreed we wanted them to willingly come to us, otherwise we’d be no better than the Sky Tribe. Fairness is hard to follow when you’re in the middle of a civil war and also struggling for our species’ survival.

Part of me wants to be as firm as Izzo on the matter. It would be easier to simply renounce my selflessness and keep Amber close even as she doubts this union. Yes, her body and her soul sing to me. But she still wants to go home, and I’m beginning to think she will never truly be happy with us unless she tries everything to get away first. There’s still a chance for her to fly back to Earth. Her suggestion of using a Sky Tribe shuttle isn’t as far-fetched as we made it out to be.

It does mean that I have to sacrifice my love for her. I have to let her go. Isn’t this what true love is? Alana would have agreed. I miss her terribly, but I had to let her go, too. Granted, the plague took her, but if that hadn’t happened, if someday Alana had chosen to leave us, I would’ve had no choice other than to respect her decision. Izzo would’ve been furious and just as broken. Yet he, too, would have let her go. So why aren’t we doing the same with Amber?

Because we’re scared of spending the rest of our lives without a mate, without a woman to love and to raise our family with, we’re scared of leaving Valen without a mother’s touch, of sleeping in a bed deprived of her softness and warmth. My heart breaks as I understand that Amber’s happiness must come first. Izzo will probably hate me for a long time, but I have to give this a try. If it fails, if there is truly no way of sending Amber back to Earth, then I’ll be relieved and with an easy conscience, and Izzo will be none the wiser.

But I have to try.

So, I leave Kai and Maur to their business. Jewel and Cynthia stay with them—the former to assist with the bomb-making and the latter to make sure Maur doesn’t do anything to snap his stitches wide open. With Amber at our house and Valen in her care, I assign a couple of guards to stay close to Alicia while I’m away. Once everything is set and my townspeople are given their own duties to prepare for a defense against the Sky Tribe, I jump on a barge and make my way down the river.

By nightfall, running as fast as my feet can carry me, I reach the Cloud Mountains’ ridge where we fought Umok the day before. It doesn’t take me more than another hour to find the town where he’s holed up and nursing his battle wounds. I’ve picked up chatter around the place, and I’m aware he’s already sent men back to the city to rally more troops. They’re preparing for an incursion along the river plateau before the end of the week, so I must move ahead and nip this in the bud.

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