Page 54 of I Married A Catman

On my way to the boat for today’s fishing expedition, I mentally sorted out the plans Ophelia and I had for later tonight. We would meet my brother in his temporary camp and take him on a tour of some of the landmarks in the area. My mate shamelessly hinted that we should invite Ylis to tag along, which I wholeheartedly agreed with. We could even bring some food to have a meal under the stars or hunt something fresh on the way.

The sound of an unpleasant voice to my left interrupted my musings. I stopped walking and braced as Moriak closed thedistance with me. Seeing his two favorite minions, Latsa and Olmar, following him had my eyes narrowing with suspicion. I hadn’t spoken to him since that fateful night of the feast. I couldn’t say whether he’d been avoiding me, or if he’d been too busy doing damage control with the Matriarchs and convincing them to proceed with the mission.

To say that I’d been disappointed by the total absence of follow-up from anyone in a ruling position would be quite an understatement. I wanted to believe that the females were taking this time to do their research and reach some sort of consensus before they reopened the debate for the rest of the Pride at large.

“Gaelec, you won’t be fishing today. We need you to come with us for a hunt,” Moriak said in a commanding tone. “Several Sikkals roaming nearby must be culled.”

“Very well,” I replied in a guarded tone, my eyes flicking to his two companions. “It will only be the four of us? None of the candidates will join us?”

Moriak waved a dismissive hand. “No. We will test the younglings another time. These Sikkals threaten the females’ hunts. They’re males in heat going on a rampage. Now is not the time to train or mentor inexperienced newcomers.”

“All right. Give me a moment to go warn my mate,” I replied, forcing myself to maintain a neutral expression despite my continued suspicions.

While I didn’t disagree with his reluctance at bringing people whose performance might be questionable during a culling, it made little sense that he would pick me instead of the other available males not currently on duty, and with whom he hunted regularly over the past few years of my incarceration.

“That won’t be necessary,” Moriak replied in the same dismissive manner. “We don’t have time for this, and the Matriarchs will handle it.”

“The Matriarchs?” I echoed, my back stiffening. “Why? They summoned her?”

He gestured for me to follow and began walking towards the entrance of the village. “Relax. They only want to get to know her.”

That made me even more suspicious. The urge to run home and make sure all was well burned in my gut. But I couldn’t justify it purely based on my insecurities. Whatever my current feelings about the Pride and its leadership, I didn’t fear any physical harm would come to my woman. On that front, even if dealing with an off-worlder, Nazhrals had extremely strict rules of engagement whenever a female was involved. You never attacked a female unless under an agreed upon duel between opponents of matching skills. If someone wanted to challenge my Ophelia, they would have to face off against her appointed champion.

“I still need to get my weapons,” I argued.

Without slowing down, Moriak shook his head. “We have a spear for you.”

“Only a spear? No blaster?” I challenged, my sense of unease cranking up another notch.

“They cause too much damage to the pelt,” he replied as if that was self-evident. “They are in high demand right now, so we want to minimize any burns. Cuts can be easily stitched. But fear not. I have a stun gun with me just in case, not that hunters of our caliber should have any need of it,” he added, patting the weapon hanging on his belt.

I nearly demanded why he could have one but not me. A quick glance at the other two males accompanying us showed they didn’t possess any blaster either. Although that somewhat pacified me, it only underlined what double standards our so-called Alpha operated under, multiplying the ways to keep himself safe while putting the rest of us at risk.

Four speeders already waited for us by the guard post. A pretty sturdy and respectable spear leaned against my vehicle. A quick inspection reassured me there was no foul play afoot, at least as far as the weapon they had given me was concerned. Latsa and Olmar seemed to have similar weapons on their respective speeders. Long and narrow, the hovering vehicles could comfortably carry two adult passengers, with the second one sitting in the back. However, it surprised me that no one tagged along aboard a shuttle or hovercar to carry back the massive beasts we would slay.

After a little over a fifteen-minute ride, Moriak slowed down and dismounted, leaving his speeder in as secure a position as possible in this wild environment. Without a word, we imitated him.

“I will head west,” Moriak said. “We will herd them towards the rocky formation, corner them there, and then take them out.”

I frowned. “Why not push them straight north? Don’t we still have traps over there?”

He shook his head. “That’s still too far. The beasts could stray and further scare away the fauna.

I fought the urge to argue. Whatever fauna was going to be scared by the roaming Sikkals had already been. With the other two males keeping quiet, it felt wiser not to make waves.

By the look on Moriak’s face, he expected me to do just that. The sliver of disappointment he displayed hinted he’d been hoping I would have done so. That would have allowed him to take little jabs at me, implying that I was too scared to face them using my own skills rather than relying on traps to do the work for me.

“Latsa, you will go south, and Olmar, you will go east,” Moriak ordered before turning to me. “You keep heading north-east, towards the stone range.”

I gave him a stiff nod, and we all parted ways. It felt like a silly approach to me, but I wouldn’t give him any grounds to find fault with anything I did. All my senses on high alert, I kept my eyes peeled, looking for safe spots, cover, and vantage points that could be leveraged once things got heated. It troubled me to have been sent directly towards the dead end where the battle would take place rather than have me assist one of them into herding our potential prey here.

In more ways than one, I felt like I’d gone right back to my early days on Molvi, and we went out into the forest to catch some extra meat to supplement our meals. As a Nazhral, my diet consisted mostly of meat, and the standard portions provided by the Warden had to be rationed over each week to make sure we wouldn’t run out before the next supply came in. To my dismay, some of the other inmates sought to do me in, planning on claiming it as a hunting accident. I quickly learned that the convicts weren’t too keen on having an extra mouth to feed or potentially a new threat. The idiots failed to realize that their provisions increased with new arrivals.

Back then, it placed an unnecessary additional stress on me knowing that my companions represented a bigger threat than the creatures that roamed out there. At least, as I proved my worth and value, that threat waned and then faded altogether. But what remained was my growing proficiency as a hunter, skills that now perfectly served me.

As I neared the edge of the forest which opened on a small clearing in front of the rock formation, my nose twitched as it caught a strange scent. It was extremely subtle and easily overlooked. It didn’t qualify as fruity or vegetable, and instead had a musky undertone to it. It baffled me as I couldn’t figure out what creature it might emanate from. Nothing on the ground or the tree bark indicated the recent passage of whatever might have produced it.

I almost shrugged it off then decided to investigate it. Following the scent, I was shocked to realize it grew more potent closer to one of the areas I had filed away as a perfect spot to take refuge in if one of the beasts charged me. More suspicious than ever, I carefully approached the area, surveying every centimeter of both the ground and the large trees from whence it seemed to emanate. My jaw dropped when I finally noticed the very discreet trap trigger.

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