Page 38 of Primal Vow

No wonder Rael was the clan's alpha. He'd thrown off old prejudices and seen his human mate with clear eyes.

Taryn still had some things to learn from his alpha.

And he was happy to do so.

Taryn stood, something warm and bright inside his chest. "Let's go."

Chapter fifteen

The jungle was a riot of noise, the air thick and heavy. Rhys wiped sweat from his brow, leaving a streak of mud behind.

They'd moved as fast as they could, and they were catching up to their quarry.

If only they could find them.

It was a beautiful day. Sunlight streamed down through the thick canopy overhead, dappling the path ahead of them. Birds called, and somewhere far off, Rhys could hear the sound of a waterfall. It was the kind of day that should have been perfect for a hike — not a desperate race against time to stop a bombing.

"Do the Borraq have a word," he said, panting a little, "for when you're happy and sad at the same time?"

Taryn considered. "I think our equivalent would be… 'sarrill.'"

"Yeah? That's a pretty word."

Taryn smiled one of his frustratingly tiny smiles. "We have poets as well as warriors, you know."

The warmth of the moment was nice, but underneath it all, Rhys couldn't shake a feeling of unease. His memory was full of warring moments, a dozen different scenes from the past few days. Tense standoffs, shared meals, the press of Taryn's body against his...

"Alright. What about…" Rhys looked away. "When you want something really badly, but you know it's not good for you?"

Taryn's brow furrowed in thought. "I do not think we have a single word for that. We would simply say, 'to crave the unwise.'"

They walked on in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Taryn spoke up again. "I believe there is a Borraq concept that does not translate well to your tongue," he said slowly. "It means... an inescapable bond, forever forged."

"We have those too. You try wriggling out of a contract payment down on Ilvar Station, and you'll find how bound you can get."

"Not like that." Taryn indulged Rhys's nonsense with a quick shake of his head. "For matters of the heart. Once joined, we do not leave our mates."

There was feeling in Taryn's voice. Rhys felt his heart skip. He swallowed hard. "I… Yeah, I don't think there's really a human equivalent," he admitted. "There's wedding vows and all, but I've seen enough cases where they were just pretty words. We can be a real love-'em-and-leave-'em kind of species."

The very idea of a love like that… It was utterly foreign to Rhys. His life had been a constant struggle, any bonds eventually ground down by poverty and hardship. Lovers came and went — and sometimes they went to come with someone else.

To imagine an unbreakable bond was almost impossible for him.

"So you're telling me," Rhys said, ducking under a low-hanging branch, "that when two Borraq fall in love, they're together forever? No breaking up, no divorces?"

Taryn nodded, his expression serious. "It is more than love. It is a soul-bond, a connection that runs deeper than mere affection."

Rhys let out a low whistle. "That's intense." He shook his head in disbelief. "I can't even imagine. Humans, we're always breaking up and getting back together. Moving on to someone new."

"It is not so simple for us," Taryn said, his voice tinged with something like wistfulness. "The bond is unbreakable, eternal. To lose one's mate..." He trailed off, his jaw tightening.

An uncomfortable silence fell between them as they trudged through the undergrowth. Rhys couldn't help but notice the way Taryn's muscles rippled beneath his golden skin, the strength and grace of his movements. He forced his gaze away, heat rising in his cheeks.

"So, what, you just know?" he asked finally, needing to fill the quiet. "Like, you meet someone and boom, you're stuck with them forever?"

Taryn shook his head. "It is not so simple, nor so immediate. The bond grows over time, nurtured through shared experiences, hardships overcome together." His eyes softened. "It is a profound commitment, not entered into lightly."

Rhys swallowed hard, suddenly very aware of the heat, the closeness of Taryn's body as they moved through the dense foliage. "Well, I guess that makes sense," he managed. "You're all so damn serious, it would be weird to just... break up, or whatever. I can't exactly picture Borraq arguing over who gets the dog and who gets the coffee machine."

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