Page 10 of Rebirth

Soft earth moves underneath my digits as I push it out of the way. Unsure of what I’m searching for. Unsure of why I am searching.

Until…

It’s her scent that reaches me first.

Hyu’man. Female. Not far behind me.

Her presence is there. And so is her fear.

If my ba’clan would react, my hackles would rise. Instead, there is only a slight shiver from them as I freeze. And even though her fear scent might not awaken my aggression, it still unlocks my baser instincts. The ones that remind me I am Vullan.

The urge, no, the need, to hunt.

Glancing over my shoulder, my gaze locks onto hers immediately and there is a sharp intake of air that fills her lungs. She’s too slow, but she ducks behind one of the wiry trees, anyway.

It’s obvious she was trying to be quiet. To remain unseen.

Yet, I can hear every breath she takes. Every beat of her life organ in her chest.

Standing several lengths away from me, she hides. But she is upwind.

This one is no hunter. She would be easy prey.

And…she followed me here?

Hyu’manity may be saved and we Vullan might have sacrificed much for this world, but its inhabitants still fear us. It is just the way.

We have adjusted to it, just like we adjust to everything else.

But this female…she is not like the others. That alone is clear. And she was not here before the War. I would have remembered her.

Filaments the color of Edooria’s blazing moon fall down her sides like a beacon that sets her apart from the green and brown tones around us.

Now I recall.

The thing that’d snagged my attention in the camp. Here it is.

Here she is.

Yes, she followed me here.

Why?

I remain unmoving. I do not wish to scare her. To intensify that sweet scent of her fear that makes me want to chase and devour her. For though I know she is to be protected, that part of me does not seem to care.

In the silence, I wait. All that results is an increase of that sweet scent, anyway. I close my nostrils to the onslaught, forcing myself to remain still. Even as whatever it is below the ground that calls me renews its request for my attention.

I watch the female with filaments like Kah-deh-ya, our moon. A memory of home I didn’t recall until she appeared here in this place.

And then I remember. The hyu’man they want me to meet. A scientist. It is her.

She glances my way once more, pale eyes widening when they land on me and realize my focus is still in her direction, before she hides behind the tree again.

“Fuck.” A whisper.

My head tilts slightly. A mating invitation?

No.

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