Page 34 of Saved By a Barbarian

Most of my wariness of him melted away at that comment. Yes, he’d been a jerk before, but seeing him hurting and being honest with me went a long way to helping me forgive him. It was possible he only said those things to make Tavik happy. Lots of Richard’s friends were like that. They didn’t look at me twice when he wasn’t around and only bullied me when he was present to hear it.

“So you haven’t told him?” Finn asked.

I shook my head, answering for Saneth, who looked too dejected to answer. “He says Tavik only sees him as a friend.”

Frowning thoughtfully, Finn gave his full focus to Saneth. “He might not have even considered it if you haven’t said anything.”

Saneth looked up at him, confused. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, if you’ve been friends a long time and you’ve never given him any clues that you are interested, then he might not have given it any thought. I read a romance book once with a similar situation. The main character and her love interest had been friends since they were toddlers. He never thought of her that way until it was time for her to enter society and she asked him to dance with her. He was secretly thinking of her that way all along, but because she never showed any interest, he pushed those thoughts aside to protect their friendship. Only when he realized they both were interested did he make a move.”

I wasn’t much of a reader, having spent most of my time when I was younger in the kitchen with the cook, but Finn definitely was. And if it worked out for the characters in thebook, it was worth considering. People wouldn’t enjoy books like that if it didn’t make them want the same thing.

“But… What if he doesn’t want me? He only has eyes for Verus, he’s never even looked at me in such a way,” Saneth argued.

He looked terrified at the thought of coming clean to Tavik, which I totally understood. I was nervous about asking Verus if he wanted to bond with me, and I knew he liked me. Saneth didn't have that kind of reassurance.

Finn didn’t look comfortable answering that, but I could see what he was thinking written on his face.

“You have to decide if it’s worth the risk. Would you rather stay friends and risk watching him fall in love with someone else, or would you rather try so you know for sure, and maybe get what you want?”

Twenty-Four

The plan worked better than I had hoped. Using the rain and the mud hid both our scents and the sound of our approach. It did make the hunt more difficult, crawling through the mud like that, since we couldn’t see one another through the deluge to know if everyone was in position. We had a general sense of how long it would take each person, and I waited until I assumed we were all ready before shifting to my knees in the tall grass and aiming my arrow at the nearest coiwak. It was one of the larger ones, which meant it would likely need more than one arrow to take it down, but I was prepared for that. Rath talked me through it, and as long as I focused, I could hit it twice without issue.

Letting out a slow breath, I aimed at the coiwak’s chest, right at its heart.

Please let this work.

Releasing the arrow, I quickly drew another without taking my eyes off the coiwak. It reared up when it was struck but stumbled immediately. I hoped it was a good sign but let loose another arrow just in case, this one striking the beast in the head. I jerked out another arrow, lining it up again, but the coiwak collapsed with a groan without running away.

Several thuds nearby made me think my brothers were successful as well, but I had no time to check. The noises startled the herd, but instead of running toward the open plains like they had been since we started watching them, they darted in my direction instead. A stampede of coiwak had me scrambling to get out of the way. If I was trampled, I would likely not survive.

A high-pitched whinny drew my focus, and Dhellgas came out of nowhere, rearing up and pawing at the air, forcing the herd to change directions. I ran for him, climbing quickly onto his back, and watched as the herd turned toward Orvak’s direction instead. I worried for him and urged Dhellgas into motion, racing for him.

Stallions were faster than coiwak, but the herd was closer than I was. When I was close enough to see him clearly, he was trapped in the middle of the herd, fighting to keep his feet, and I worried about him getting knocked down. If he did, the likelihood of me finding him in time would be slim.

Thankfully, Orvak was quick on his feet and managed to dodge the coiwak until I could get to him.

“Orvak! Here!”

Throwing out my hand, I reached for him, clinging to Dhellgas’s mane to keep me on his back. Orvak lunged for me, swinging himself onto the stallion’s back just before we passed him by. We ran with the herd, slowing until the coiwak could pass by us and we could turn around.

Once out of danger, we both fought to catch our breath, the fear making us breathless. When I looked over my shoulder at him, we both burst out laughing, letting go of the excess energy of the situation.

“I’m glad you’re both okay,” Rath said blandly as he approached. Rhos was not far behind him, worry for his brother written in his eyes. He only settled when Orvak hopped down and gave him a back-slapping hug. Watching your twin nearlyget trampled had to be terrifying. I was glad Dhellgas was quick to act.

Patting his neck, I leaned to murmur to him. “I owe you big time. I will tell Godr to pamper you when we get back. Once he finds out what you did, he’ll likely give you all the treats.”

That seemed to make the stallion happy, his head bobbing in agreement. Chuckling, I jumped down from his back, grunting when Rath pulled me into a tight hug. The action surprised me, and it took me a second to hug him back.

“Rath?”

“They turned in your direction first. Had your stallion not been there…”

Tightening my grip on him, I smiled to myself. This was just a reminder of how much I loved my clan. Rath was not my blood brother, but he was my family, and he cared that I was safe and well. It meant a great deal to me that we could hunt together like this.

With a final clap on my back, he released me, jerking his chin toward the coiwak who were taken down in the hunt.

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