Page 31 of Primal Vow

Would Taryn one day succumb to those urges as well?

Rhys stole a glance at the Borraq leader as they trekked through the forest. Taryn's face was impassive, but Rhys could see the taut lines of muscle rippling beneath his golden skin with every purposeful stride. He suddenly felt very small, and very vulnerable.

Very human.

A trickle of sweat rolled down Rhys's neck. His gaze drifted back to Taryn's powerful form.

Taryn was a predator — and Rhys was all too aware that he was prey.

"Here." Taryn pointed.

Rhys looked up, roused out of the thoughts that had been filling his mind and clouding his senses. They'd reached a deep chasm. On their side, woods. On the other side, even more woods. Below them, a river, fast and churning.

And above the river…

"Oh, no way." Rhys planted his feet. "I'm not walking over that."

The bridge was little more than three thick lines of rope, strung together to span the chasm. One to walk on, two to hold. Taryn looked at Rhys, one eyebrow cocked. "It will be fine, as long as you don't fall."

"Yeah, that's the part I'm worried about!" Just the sight alone made Rhys's stomach churn. "Can't we just… find a way around? Or not go at all?"

"No." Taryn pointed. On the other side of the rope bridge, visible in the fresh mud, right where someone would step after crossing the bridge… was a distinct bootprint.

And in the distance beyond that, a city loomed on the horizon. Rhys could just see the metallic blur of it in the distance, catching the sun in bright rays.

"That's where they're going."

Taryn nodded, his expression grim. "Most of us live in our own territories. Low density populations make for poor targets. But in a city like that…"

Rhys groaned. "So that's where we're going, too."

"Yes."

Damn.

The bridge that spanned the chasm was like something out of a nightmare. It was just rope! Below them, the gap yawned deep, a dizzying drop down to the rushing water far, far below.

Rhys swallowed hard. "Are you sure there's no other way around?" he asked.

Taryn's gaze was as inscrutable as ever. "We're the hunters. We follow the prey."

Of course. He had a point, but that didn't make the sight of the bridge any less terrifying.

Rhys's life had been full of risks, but none like this. He could wriggle out of most threats, making false promises, buttering up thugs with more greed than common sense, slipping from station to station, eluding loan sharks.

But there was no arguing with the deep, untamed wilderness that surrounded them.

The chasm was deep, and the bridge was the only way across.

Rhys stepped closer to Taryn, seeking reassurance.

The knowledge that that was what he was doing… it sat uneasily in his stomach. He was getting too used to following along on this hunt, too used to being far from home, too used to navigating this alien world.

And worse — much, much worse — he was getting too used to Taryn.

The alien leader was like no man that Rhys had ever met. He was fierce and deadly, yes, but there was something more to him. A sense of honor that burned like a quiet flame, deep in his chest.

In his life in the stations and ships, surrounded by cramped corridors and metal, Rhys had never met anyone like him. Everyone had always been out for themselves — and Rhys himself was no different. If you wanted to survive, you had to take care of number one. Trusting anyone else was a recipe for disaster.

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