Page 3 of Primal Vow

Chapter two

Taryn knelt in the deep, silent wilderness, surrounded by nothing but the rustling of leaves and the distant calls of unseen animals. Before him was a small, carefully balanced tower of three stones, each picked from the earth and placed there by his own hands.

The three stones represented the three worlds: the world of the gods, the world of the dead, and the world that lay between them both. As a Borraq warrior, Taryn stood in that last world, serving as a bridge between the dead and the divine.

He bowed his head.

Rael's clan of Borraq were proud to live in their territory, with customs that stretched back thousands of years. Taryn was proud to be one of them, and he was proud to follow their customs. In a modern galaxy, full of technology and ever-shifting alliances, the Borraq offered something solid and unchanging. The customs were the same as they had always been, just as unyielding as the mountains that stretched through their lands.

Not all Borraq lived like this.

Taryn closed his eyes, and for just a moment, the world around him was replaced by a different sight.

He was on a battlefield, the air thick with the stench of blood and the sounds of men dying. Airen, his older brother, was at his side, just as he had always been in those terrible days. Together, they had fought in the Borraq's war against the humans, cutting down their enemies with their blades.

And then, in a moment that had stretched on for an eternity, his brother was falling. Taryn had turned too late,

He'd screamed in pain. But there had been no one to answer. There was nothing in that moment except for the chaos of battle, the roaring of the humans, and the weight of a dead man in Taryn's arms.

Taryn's jaw tightened. He opened his eyes and shook his head, banishing the memory.

He reached for a flask at his side and poured a libation, offering it to the world of the spirits. The sweet scent of it filled the air, a heady mix of honey and something sharper. It was enough to please any spirit — and he knew that Airen would appreciate it.

Taryn carefully put the flask back at his side and bowed his head again. Despite the solemnity of the moment, his mouth twitched in a suppressed smile. Don't imbibe too deeply, brother. Your singing would make the other spirits rage.

He raised a hand to the world of the dead, and then he bowed his head. The ritual was complete.

Taryn allowed himself a few moments of peace, and then he stood. It was time to head back to his charges.

Today, they were on the far-flung wilds of their territory's eastern side, deep in the jungle. He had been accompanying four potential young warriors through the wilderness for a few weeks, teaching them everything they'd need to know to grow up into full-fledged warriors and make their clan proud. Bushcraft, resilience, foraging, tracking — he was filling their empty little heads with all that he knew.

Training the young ones was a task that made the other warriors groan. Hunting beasts and tracking outlaws: now that was where the glory was, not guiding gangly, not-yet-grown Borraq.

But Taryn had volunteered.

Taryn loved his clan. He loved his people, and he loved his place among them, in the village deep in the heart of their lands.

And that love was exactly why he was out here, as far away from that village as possible — and from one creature in particular.

Taryn rose from the ritual clearing, the scent of honey and spice still hanging in the air. He took a deep breath, steeling himself against the ache that lingered in his chest. The ritual had provided its usual measure of solace, but some wounds never fully healed.

His brother's death at the hands of the humans still burned like an open wound. Each time Taryn closed his eyes, he was transported back to that fateful battlefield, cradling his brother's broken body. If only he'd turned a little faster, been a little more aware…

The memory haunted him.

And that was why the presence of the human cut so deeply.

Rael, his clan leader, had seen fit to take a human as a mate. A human! He'd found the creature after a ship had crashed, leaving Elian the last survivor. Instead of killing Elian, Rael had let the scrawny, pale-skinned creature join the clan.

Taryn's jaw clenched. How could Rael accept a human, knowing what they were doing to their kin on the front lines of the war? Didn't Rael understand the threat the humans posed?

Elian's shock of unruly curls and slight frame seemed almost laughable compared to the imposing physiques of the Borraq warriors. Rael seemed utterly in love, doting on the human and indulging his every whim.

Calling Elian his mate.

It made Taryn's stomach churn.

That was why Taryn had volunteered to lead the patrol of young warriors to the farthest reaches of their lands. He needed to put as much distance as possible between himself and the human, lest his simmering rage boil over into open defiance of Rael's foolish decision.

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