Page 21 of Fated to the Alien Protector

“Are you well now?” My racing heart has finally returned to its normal rhythm.

“I’m fine. It just went down the wrong pipe,” Abby says, although her voice is hoarse. She clears her throat and makes an amused noise. “You’re an unusual guy, Rojtar. Do you know that?”

“I am not sure what you mean. I am no different than any other Tavikhi male. At least not to my knowledge.” More and more I want to understand what has made this female the way she is.

She stares at me for many beats of my heart. It is like she is trying to learn as much about me as I would like to know about her. Her intense study does something to me until finally she slowly swivels her head side to side in tiny movements. “Do me a favor, will you?”

“Of course.” Anything Abby asks I will do for her.

“Don’t ever change.” With those words she stands and walks away leaving me to stare after her and wonder what she means by that.

I watch until she disappears from sight and then I take the last bite of the root vegetable before washing my platter in the river with the cleansing berries. When I return to the central fire, Abby is nowhere to be seen. I push down the disappointment and head for my tent. It is too early to sleep, but perhaps the other unmated young males I share a dwelling with will have some stories to tell of their hunting efforts or have knowledge of where game is plentiful.

Katem, Evren, Daveel, and Zalik are inside already. They are seated around the unlit fire pit in the center and pass a jug of the elder’s brew to each other as they laugh.

“Rojtar, greetings brother,” Evren calls out. “We are happy you could join us.”

I sit in an open space between him and Katem, and take the vessel. The scent of the liquid has a pleasant fermented fruit fragrance, but the burn it possesses while going down is always a jolt to the body at first. I turn to Katem and hand him the brew as a warm sensation settles in my belly.

“News traveled that you and the prickly female brought in two dreri today,” Zalik says.

I bristle at the description of Abby. Evren must sense my offense, because he claps my shoulder. “Easy, friend. He did not mean to insult your female.”

“Abby is not my female.”

He gives me a look I cannot decipher, but it is almost as though he knows I wish her to be. “Still, our tribe brother meant no insult. Is that not right?”

Zalik shows me his hands in defeat. “Peace, brother.”

Still not liking how he spoke of Abby, I loosen the tension I had been holding and nod. “Peace.”

“Youdidbring in a pair of dreri though, did you not?” Katem asks.

“Aye. I tracked them through the forest and happened upon Abby. Together, we found a small herd and were able to take down two.” It does not matter that I both found and killed the dreri, I will still make sure she is given credit.

“We’re heading into the hills tomorrow if you would like to join us,” Daveel offers. “There have been a number of dhibani spotted roaming about.”

As much as I would like to chance upon Abby again in the forest, the village would be better served by me joining the other experienced hunters to bring back more meat for our stores. I nod. “I will join you.”

“Excellent.”

We pass the jug of brew around twice more before finding our own beds. I lie on my back with my hands under my head and stare up at the hide above me. It is still just barely light enough to see. Images of Abby find their way out of my mind and project onto the tent surface. There is one of her in the forest the first turn I ever saw her as she squatted over the empty burrow. Another is her storming through the village searching for Carter and then turning her anger onto me. But the image that plays over and over again is the way she looked at me and asked me not to change.

I am not sure what it was I saw in her gaze, but it warmed me inside. There is something about being different than anyone she has known before that pleases me. So long as it remains a positive difference for her, then I will continue being exactly who I am. Perhaps then she will develop softer feelings toward me. If I am the luckiest of males, those soft feelings may even turn into love.

Chapter 11

Abby

I didn’t sleep a wink last night. All I kept doing was reliving my conversation with Rojtar as we sat beside the river. It had been surprisingly easy to talk to him. The fact he accepted—and actually agreed with me about—my opinion regarding men and the whole mating and marriage concept still shocks me.

My cheeks heat at the way he stared at me when I asked him not to change. I’m not sure what prompted it, but in the moment it had felt right. I hope he takes my request to heart.Why do you care if he does or not? I hate that I can’t answer my own question.

On the other side of the tent, Carter stirs. He’d come home shortly after the second moon crested the horizon and the sun disappeared. We talked a little bit, catching up on our day with each other, before he fell asleep. I remained awake, tossing and turning and thinking.

He sits up and stretches his arms over his head with a loud, obnoxious yawn.

“Feel better?”

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