Page 96 of Ruled By The Alpha

“Amazing!”

He makes me take the next piece too, saying he can’t enjoy the food with me watching him like a starving dog. When the meat is finished, we each take the bones, nibbling at the meat that remains and then sucking the marrow. When there is no more to be had, I lick my fingers one at a time and then drink from my flask.

Hensta stares up at the sky as I look back over to him, his head tipped back. The clouds have cleared, and the sky is bright with the swollen moon and the blanket of stars. Tonight there are so many. They blend into one another like a swarm of fireflies, their glow so dazzling Hensta appears made of the shining material the ancients used.

“Do you ever wonder what is up there?” he asks me.

“I think it’s where the spirits of our ancestors go when they die. Sometimes I think those lights are their eyes gazing down on us, watching."

"You think she's watching me? My mother?" It has been many years since his mother passed. He rarely speaks of her, says he barely remembers her.

"Yes," I tell him, holding his gaze. "I think she watches you and is proud of the man you have become.” His gaze falls to his lap. “I think my sister is there too. The little one. Sometimes when I cannot sleep, I talk to her."

“You were very sad when she passed.”

“Yes,” I whisper. “I could not bear to lose someone dear to me again.”

“It is why you do not wish to have a child. You are scared of losing them.”

Sometimes I think this man possesses the power to see right inside my heart and discover what is perched inside. I sigh. “Perhaps. Right now I want to explore more of this world. To have adventures of my own.”

“I think this will be enough of an adventure to last me a lifetime,” he mutters, and I laugh.

"What do you think they are, Hensta? The lights in the sky?"

"I think it's a great lake, and the sun, the moon and the stars are all giant creatures."

"Do you remember the lake?" I ask him. Our people had come across it when we were children, and we'd camped by its side for some time.

"I remember trying to catch the fish with the other children, and I remember you getting so cross when I caught one and you couldn't, and you stomped about and lost your footing—"

"And you had to drag me out."

Our eyes meet again. He's always been looking out for me. I realize that as the moon shimmers in the dark lake above our heads.

Now my belly is full, tiredness overtakes me and I yawn.

“Get some sleep, Nafia.”

“We both need sleep.”

“I must keep watch.”

“No, with the fire out here by the entrance to the cave, we can both sleep.”

His warm eyes float over my face. “There is not much room.”

“There is enough.” I wriggle farther into the cave and lie flat. “See?” I gesture to the sliver of ground beside me.

He doesn't need any more persuasion. He walks around the fire and squeezes into the small mouth of the cave, occupying the space beside me.

We lie facing each other, our heads so close our noses almost touch and his warm breath skims across my skin. It's very darkin the cave, and I can't make out the expressions drawn over his face, but his eyes shine in the darkness with their usual keenness.

"Tomorrow we will find our people—your father, your mother, your sisters."

I have so many I hold dear. Hensta has so few. His mother and father are gone, his grandparents too. He had only his aunt, and she has no children of her own.

"Your aunt will be relieved to see you."

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