Page 19 of Primal Call

He quickly tied one end of the rope around the tree and threw the other end down to Kyral. The Borraq caught it with practiced ease, muscles straining as he began to pull himself up. Jasper watched, holding his breath as Kyral's powerful form made its way back up the treacherous slope.

When Kyral finally reached solid ground, he stood up and brushed off the dirt and debris. His eyes flicked to Jasper, still simmering with barely-contained anger.

Jasper flinched as Kyral suddenly reached towards him—

But instead of violence, Kyral simply held out his hand.

Jasper stared at it for a moment, taking in the sheer size difference. Kyral’s hand was massive compared to his own, strong and calloused. Hesitantly, he extended his own hand and grasped Kyral’s.

The warmth surprised him. For all his cold exterior, Kyral’s hand was warm.

“Guess we’re partners now?” Jasper said quietly, trying to mask the nervous tremor in his voice.

Kyral nodded curtly. “Partners by necessity,” he corrected, his grip firm but not painful. “You keep me operational, and I’ll make sure you stay alive.”

Jasper nodded back, feeling, despite everything, a strange sense of hope. “Deal.”

Chapter eight

Kyral grumbled to himself as he trudged through the rocky alpine terrain, his boots crunching on the gravelly path.

How had a mere human managed to outmaneuver him like that? Agreeing to split the treasure felt like a defeat, no matter how dire his circumstances had been on that precarious slope.

He glanced over at Jasper, the small human keeping pace beside him. Despite the cold bite of the mountain air, a light sheen of sweat glistened on Jasper's brow as he labored with the unfamiliar altitude. His breaths came in shallow pants, but he refused to show any outward sign of struggle. Stubborn, Kyral thought with a hint of admiration.

The landscape around them was stark and unforgiving, jagged peaks scraping the cloudless sky while wind whistled through craggy outcroppings. Zee bounded ahead, her paws leaving fleeting imprints in the patches of frost-dusted lichen. She was impatient, Kyral could tell. She was used to covering ground faster, but Jasper's fragile human form slowed their pace.

"You holding up?" Kyral called over his shoulder, unable to keep the gruffness from his tone. He cursed inwardly — since when did he care about a human's well-being?

Jasper lifted his gaze, blue eyes bright despite his weariness. "I'm fine," he insisted, the words slightly breathless. "Just… taking in the scenery."

Kyral snorted at the blatant lie, but said nothing. In truth, he found himself oddly charmed by Jasper's stubbornness, though he'd never admit it aloud. There was a quiet strength to the human, one that resonated.

"So..." Jasper ventured after a moment, breaking the weighted silence between them. "This treasure. What exactly are we looking for?"

The question was a calculated one, Kyral could tell. Now that Jasper had secured his share, he wanted to know the stakes. A smart move, if an annoying one.

Kyral weighed his response, dragging his gaze over the delicate lines of Jasper's face. Those wide eyes regarded him with a mixture of wariness and curiosity, an intriguing contrast to the fear he'd seen in that dingy auction house. There was something about Jasper that drew Kyral in, despite his better judgment.

"Taothium," he finally replied, the word feeling heavy on his tongue. "The rarest jewel in the galaxy. Just a handful would set me — us — up for life."

Jasper's brows lifted, those big eyes wide. "That's… quite a prize."

"Don't get too excited. We still have to find the stash first— Damn!"

Kyral barely had time to register the first twinge before the full force of the gene pain hit him like a sanddragon's tail. White-hot agony lanced through his body, stealing his breath and dropping him to one knee. His vision swam, the craggy landscape blurring into indistinct shapes as sweat beaded on his brow.

"Kyral?" Jasper's voice cut through the haze, laced with concern.

Gritting his teeth, Kyral waved a dismissive hand even as a low growl rumbled from his chest. He didn't need concern. The pain was an old friend by now, one he'd learned to grit his way through over the years.

Except this time, there was a new factor — a pair of eyes watching him.

"You need to stop and sit," Jasper insisted, already shrugging off his pack. "Over there, get into the shade."

Kyral blinked through the waves of torment wracking his body. A chuckle slipped free, though it emerged more like a pained growl. "Pretty bold of you to boss me around."

Those blue eyes narrowed. "This is why you bought me, remember? Now, sit."

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