Page 9 of Claimed By the Alien Barbarian

“Where are they?”

“Far from this place.”

“Well, I’m going to find them.”

“I’ll take you to them,” I said.

“Hmm. We’ll see about that.” She didn’t sound excited about traveling with me, but we’d just met. I wasn’t showing her my best.

I had time.

“Maybe once you’ve healed,” she said.

“Yes, then.” I studied my petite, though curvy mate, and I couldn’t find fault in the gift the gods had given me.

“By the way, I’m no one’s mate,” she finally said. “Let’s get that straight right now.”

“I wasn’t among those who went to the central gods to plead,” I marveled. “Yet they still found me worthy. No, they knew I needed you, and they gifted you to me.”

“Are you delirious?” she snarled. “You must be, because you’re not making sense.” Her spine stiffened even further. “I’m no one’s gift.”

“You’ll see.” I tugged her flask from the pack and drank until I couldn’t hold any more. After placing it on the ground beside my thigh, I frowned at the tan strips of cloth affixed to my chest and the white pieces of fabric wrapped around my belly. The small, tan things tugged off easily, and I tossed them aside. Tried to. One stuck until I growled at it and ripped it off my thumb, dropping it on the ground.

“Hey, don’t mess with my bandages,” she cried out. “Leave them alone.”

“I don’t need them.”

“They were keeping the antibiotic ointment in place. That stuff is precious now that I’m trapped on your planet.” She collected the tan strips and tossed them into the fire. “Don’t litter either. No need to mess up your pretty world with trash.”

What did she mean by trash? The gods absorbed whatever wasn’t needed.

I looked up at her, shielding my eyes when the rising sun blinded me. “Do you have time to listen to a story?”

“Storytime?” she said with a snort. “This isn’t kindergarten. But time, I have. First, however, I need to gather roots and leaves and scout the area to make sure whoever stabbed you hasn’t circled back to finish the job. I also need to catch some fish or Molly and I will go hungry, but I can give you ten minutes after I make sure no one’s around.”

“Molly?”

“My new pet.” She swept her arm to the right, and I spied a grundar peering through thick vegetation growing along the edge of the forest. “Every woman needs a friend, someone who’ll listen, and that’s her. She doesn’t argue, and she’s polite.” She drilled me with her eyes. “The jury is still out on you.”

I didn’t know what the latter meant, but I let it skim over my mind. “I’m polite.”

She snorted. “We’ll see.”

I’d show her.

“You’ve made a pet out of a grundar?” I asked. “That’s a first.” But look at Vanessa, befriending a spiky creature she lured with food. When I visited her and Aizor’s clan, even Amanda, who was there with her new mate, Xax, had mentioned taming a drettire. A male might go a long way toward winning the hearts of these humans if he presented them with tiny, vicious creatures. I’d give the idea thought.

“Molly’s sweet,” Kerry said. “She lets me pat her belly, and she doesn’t act cocky, like you.”

A solid warning that I wasnota pet and that if I didn’t behave, she would not pat my belly. I did want her to pat my belly, though I was too injured at this time to appreciate the gesture.

“Not yet,” I said.

“Not yet what?”

“Nothing.” My tongue was racing ahead of my mind, and I needed to control it, or I’d blurt out something that might frighten her away. I was nearly defenseless, and she was obviously in control of the situation. If she decided to leave me, I wasn’t sure I’d have the strength to follow. “I’m grateful Molly came into your life.”

“Yeah.” Her brow furrowed. “Let me go scout the area. When I come back, we can have story time. I can fish and collect roots this afternoon.”

---