Page 364 of Bride of Choice

“How long do you think we’ve been traveling? Cause, I mean, if I’d been counting steps, I feel like I’d be clocking them for next week by now,” I mumbled as I trudged along. Daylight was waning, that’s how long we’d been at this. Small foraging foray, my ass. Mama needed a nap!

Rummaging through the small knapsack he’d handed me, I pulled out a piece of fruit and started to peel it. I was about to ask Buu if he’d like half when he paused with one of the water sack looking things he’d brought with him to his lips.

Buu froze, lowered the water bag for lack of a proper name for that bulbous ball of treated hide, and his ears began to perk up. All four of them swiveled independently. The fluffy tufts of purple atop them flopped this way and that as he lifted his nose to the air and inhaled deeply. A distressed noise left him and his ears shot flat but it was his lips thinning, a strange gleam in his eyes, that really got me.

“What is it?” I whispered. My gaze darted every which way. I moved in closer to him. “Should we head back?” Shit. Should I ditch the fruit? Doing just that, chucking the fruit off into the forest, I dipped to hastily wipe my hands on the snow.

“Joalee Buu’s.” His throat began to work as more distressed noises left him.

“Of course,” I whispered, eyeing him worriedly. “And you’re mine.” What the hell was going on?

Ducking down, dragging me along with him, he shoved his arm into my face. “Bite.”

My eyes widened as I glanced from the furry appendage he was waving in my face, to him. “I’m sorry, did you just tell me to bite you? Isn’t that, I don’t know, the opposite of what we should do when faced with a predator? Won’t the smell of blood draw them closer?” Expression souring, I leaned in, moving his arm out of my face, to softly whisper, “Are we in that much trouble you’re going to try something crazy like bleeding to lead the beast headed for us away? Can’t we just, I don’t know, climb a tree to get away or something?”

Buu made an impatient noise in his throat. “No. Bite.”

Again, he pushed his arm into my face.

Again, I gently lowered it. “Hey, McCray-cray Pants. You’re going to have to give me a bit more than no and bite me if you want me to follow along, okay?”

Popping up to glance around, he grumbled, “Waits here. Buu has the loves. Be back. No move.” Leaping over the log he had me set up behind before I could get a word in edgewise, he took off.

My mouth dropped open in horror as he got far enough out and started to make noise.

A few minutes passed as I sat there, trying to hold perfectly still. I felt like my heart had stopped to kick back on double time.

Long moments passed. Every passing minute felt like an hour. I was starting to feel like a freezer pop sitting here huddled by a log and a fugly looking tree.

I had no idea how much time passed. It felt like it stood still as I sat here and waited, terrified for my mate.

Buu’s weird noises were no longer echoing off into the distance. I couldn’t figure out if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Just when panic was starting to set in, I heard it.

“Jo!”

“Jojo!”

Ohmyfuckinggodwhat?!

“Celuk?! Tor?!” I called out softly, though I refrained from popping up and running to them screaming my head off for them just yet.

There could be something out there.

Shit. Should I warn them? Was it really them? I mean, I’ve seen those mimicking movies. If Buu could look Lo denaii, could anything else? Were there, like, body copycatting aliens out there, too?

“Be careful!” I called out. “There’s something out there!”

“Jo!” Celuk’s shouts drew closer.

“Jojo!” Tor’s hearty bellow sent winged creatures scattering from the trees.

When I could make out something breathing nearby, I cautiously lifted up to have a peek.

“Jojo!” Tor bellowed louder.

Spying his retreating back, I popped up and ran after him.

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