Page 33 of Unleashed

His amber eyes bore into hers for a moment before he dipped his head in acknowledgment. Then he lifted his gaze, focusing on something beyond her.

“Nina! Have you been harmed?” Balir asked from behind her.

Aduun’s hold on her tightened as she turned, but he relented and lowered his arms. She glanced back at him; though his expression was neutral, there was a tension in his stance. Her gaze fell, and she swallowed hard at the sight of his erection. Heat flared in her core, reminding her that the rest of her body was chilled from the floodwater. She forced her attention away.

Balir had reached their branch. At least a dozen cuts stood out starkly against his pale skin, and he was smeared with blood, but he made no indication of pain. He hurried forward, pulling her into his arms. Nina was caught off guard by a wave of relief — Balir’s relief. She settled her hands on his sides.

“I’m fine,” Nina said. “Aduun saved me.”

His mouth drooped in a concerned frown. “I smell your blood.”

“I was roughed up a little, but it’s nothing serious. Especially given how bad it could’ve gone.”

The branch shook suddenly. Nina’s heart leapt, and her hold on Balir tightened.

“Nina!” Vortok called.

Balir twisted slightly, turning his face toward Vortok, who’d landed on the branch behind them. The big valo’s heavy steps vibrated through the wood beneath Nina’s feet, but now those rumblings brought joy instead of fear. Despite his own collection of cuts and gashes, he smiled when his eyes met hers, displaying his tusks.

Without hesitation, he tore Nina from Balir’s grasp and swept her into a hug, one of his hands covering the back of her head. Her feet dangled in the air.

She was overcome by a powerful sense of belonging. It wasn’t a projection from the valos; this was a feeling from deep within herself, one that she’d only ever felt with Quinn and Orishok. These men were her tribe, but they were also…more.

“Our little huntress!” Vortok boomed. Nina laughed and threw her arms around his neck as he swung her from side to side. His motions halted abruptly. She looked up into his dark eyes; his bony brows were low, his expression solemn. “Do not scare me like that again.”

Nina smiled and touched a finger to his brow, gently rubbing to smooth out its crease. “I will do my best not to. It’s not like I chose to take a swim.”

Jealousy brushed against her mind, a faint, fleeting sensation that made her glance over her shoulder at Aduun. He stood near the trunk of the tree, his posture stiff, arms folded across his chest. His eyes caught hers for a moment before he averted his gaze.

“Did the treeclaws really just flee?” she asked, looking back to Vortok.

“They did,” Vortok replied.

“The fight was too much for them,” Balir said. “Their survival instincts came to outweigh their hunger.”

Nina wiggled, and Vortok reluctantly set her on her feet. Keeping a hand on his hip to hold herself steady, she moved away just enough to glance at the other valos. Her lower lip trembled, and shivers coursed along her spine and spread through her limbs; the small amount of distance between herself and Vortok’s heat was enough to allow the chill to return. “What are we going to do now?”

“The water doesn’t seem to be rising anymore,” Vortok said, pulling her back against his side; she eased gratefully into his warmth. “Perhaps it will recede soon?”

Balir shook his head. “I do not believe that was the intention of this flood.”

“It was a flood. It cannot have an intention.”

“But it was an unnatural flood,” Nina said, looking at the large trees. “Everything about this place is unnatural.”

“It was a trap,” said Balir. “Either drown in the flood or face the treeclaws. Whichever way it went, it was meant to be deadly.”

“We wait,” Aduun said, calling everyone’s attention to him. “We rest, tend our wounds, and wait to see if the water recedes.”

Nina bent her arm and reached behind her. To her relief, her bag was still there. She swung it to her front, opened it, and rummaged through the contents. Everything was wet, but nothing was missing. That was a small reason to be grateful.

“Might as well eat this food now,” she said, “or it’ll spoil.”

After asking Balir to drape the soaked blanket over the branch a little farther from the trunk, Nina passed around wet strips of meat and the remaining nuts and berries. When Vortok settled down with his back against the tree, she sat between his legs and leaned against him, relishing the feeling of being surrounded by his heat. His fur brushed her skin; it was long and shaggy in some places, short and bristly in others, but it wasallcomforting.

The feel of his cock against her side was proof that her nearness affected him. While it was a large thing to ignore, she chose to disregard it.

As the others ate, Vortok chewed some of the moonweed to smear over her wounds. Despite the aches in her body, a thrill swept through her every time he ran his fingers over her skin. Though his hands were huge and clumsy-looking, his touch was light and soothing, calling up the memory of the intricate braiding he was creating during their shared dream. That he’d set aside his food to tend to her first was endearing and warmed her heart toward him further.

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