Page 22 of Betrothed to the Yeti

“Are you okay? I mean—the…they didn’t hurt you,” she whispers so softly, I strain to hear her. Where is the feisty human who rails at me every chance she gets? This shy creature must be the soft interior she hides behind waspish remarks and mood swings.

“There were seven wolves. They had found a crumbling patch beneath the wall and were digging their way inside Delta. The frenzy from the smell of concentrated prey cloaked my approach. I dispatched two of them before the group knew I was behind them!”

“Did they hurt you?”

“No, I’m fine. Humans don’t consider me a Protector God because the fights are evenly matched,” I reply. I flex my bicep between us. At her giggle, I lift her hand and wrap her fingers around it. She flinches, but I hold her against me. With our fingers intertwined, we rub my muscles. Her hand relaxes, followed by her arm, and her shoulders droop with the release of tension. Is she willing to accept me? Do I break the spell to tell her I’ll wait as long as she remains by my side?

“I’ve been thinking while you were away,” she whispers. Her nervousness returns her shy fingers to the edge of a blanket. This could be the moment I’ve waited for, but I wish she wasn’t anxious.

“I should hope so,” I reply with a chuckle. “I suspect you needed your wits to deliver those three beautiful goats.”

She doesn’t crack a smile and my heart drops. She takes a step forward, but not happily. Why? Does she fear I’ll throw out the lambs if she doesn’t mate with me? She should know by now I’m not like her Alpha kin, no matter what signals my body gives off.

“It’s my thoughts that have me concerned—moreover, your thoughts combined with mine,” she stammers. “I’ll just come out and ask…I want you to imprint upon me. I want the same connection you have with the Seer. There. I said it.Phew.” The lock of dark hair resting on her forehead flies up with her exhale of relief. She curls her lips into her mouth as if afraid of what they will say next.

I’m stunned.

“Do you know what you are asking? I don’t want to insult you—before you get angry—but have you ever had a mind link with someone?” My words rush out in the hopes they console her faster than her brow lowers. The link would meld us into one mind. My feelings would be hers and hers would be mine once we consummated our marriage. “The link I have with the Seer isn’t invasive because we aren’t physically involved, we maintain miles between us, and we reach out with tentative touches which must be taught.”

“Oh,” she says but her tone is a paragraph of longing, learned hopelessness, and rejection. She slays me. I recognize the loneliness in her—the hurt core she hides beneath the bitterness and anger.

“I’m asking if you know what you want because I know what I want from you,” I say. I capture her chin in my fingers and run the pad on my thumb along her tempting bottom lip. The sensation of it pressed against my fangs is burnt into my brain from the garden…days…a lifetime ago. I want her consent slightly more than I want to kiss her.

“You requested a companion—” she hesitates, licks her lips, and inadvertently my thumb “—but I don’t know what that means. I was told you wanted a bride, and we were married by proxy. You have been patient with consummating our marriage, and I thank you. I want to love you…love you the way you love me, but I’m afraid.” She drops her warm hand from my arm and cold takes its place.

“Afraid of what?”

“Of everything,” she replies to her lap. Her fingers twist in their knot. “I’ve been hurt…badly. I’m asking for the reassurance that you are there with me—really with me. I want to show you my memories instead of relying on my jumbled explanations during my outbursts. I’m lonely too…I guess…but differently from you… I grew up surrounded by humans, but no one was on my side. Yes, I had a family—”

“I wouldn’t call the sisters who abandoned you at the village wedding, family,” I snap. After a deep breath, I continue in a calmer voice. “Jaya, I understand loneliness better than anyone, but a mind link isn’t just sharing memories. You will be wide open to me and my mind open to you at all times. I will see everything you wish to hide from me. From your mundane hygiene routines to your worst fears. You will meet the darkness in me and share space with it. I will know your deepest desires and hope you aren’t frightened when you see mine.”

Her breathing increases to shallow pants. I close my eyes to the rise and fall of her breasts. If I extrude while discussing desire, Jaya will run for the goats. This is the last time I may be able to hide my attraction to her. Our hearts, minds, and souls will be bare to one another. She will see why I touch her every chance I get and the thrill that rocks me to the core with each innocent contact.

She will see herself through my eyes, which could be good or bad for her mental health. One thing that will be good for her, she will have my memories and recent experiences with human villages other than Alpha. Will she be convinced not all humans are evil? Is restoring her faith in humanity worth sabotaging our fragile relationship?

My darkness roars ‘no’ while my heart beats ‘yes.’

“I’m not afraid of you,” she whispers. “I understand what it means to be married and what I’m supposed to do as your wife. I’ve bred goats, stolen food from inside the brothel, and listened to Nima’s adventures. I doubt your thoughts could shock me compared to what she has done.”

“And my darkness?” I can’t look at her as I ask the question.

“Pabu,” she says while reaching for me. Her tiny hands clasp my shoulders and pull my torso to face her. I allow her to guide me, so we lay on our sides, facing one another. “I’ve seen you commit violence, but in the name of protection—protecting my kind and me. You are balanced—which is more than I can say for Alpha’s residents. Your optimistic light shines so bright that you cast a large shadow. Besides, if we are mind linked as closely as you say, your light will be inside us too.”

“If you are certain—” Her fingers on my lips cut off my words. The temptation to kiss them overwhelms me. My tongue feathers between her index and middle finger. Her eyes widen with adorable innocence, but the corners of her mouth pull upward.

She wears the coy smile of the portraits.

For me. If lightning strikes me tonight, I’ll die happy, knowing I was the one to put that smile on her face.

“I don’t change my mind. You have to know that I’m steady as a goat because I’m twice as hard-headed.” Her laugh is nervous, but I can’t pretend the weight of the world isn’t on my shoulders. I will spend the rest of my days mending the fractures in her mind and bruises on her heart for this gift. Her acceptance of me and my dark side is a treasure worth more than my hoard.

“Okay, lay back and relax. Imprinting is a blood exchange—” I pause when her mouth drops open in alarm “—not more than a drop or two. Here, you can go first.”

I leave out that once she drinks my blood, my memories will flood her. Images will bombard her mind and won’t communicate with her body until the storm of imagery calms. I’ve completed three blood exchanges with three Seers. The first exchange was out of love and intense—mostly because I was learning about everything the Earthling humans knew. We soothed one another with kisses and cuddles. Will Jaya react the same way?

I’ve learned it’s best if she drinks first and I drink her blood while she sifts through information. She will be distracted from the pain of my bite and my enjoyment of tasting her. My feelings for Jaya are the deepest I’ve ever experienced. I want everything she can give. After the first Seer died of old age, the other two Seer links established a warning system and nothing more. The exchange of information is shallow and brief. I left them to recover in the spare room. I didn’t feel a thing.

Jaya nods and wiggles into a comfortable position on her back. I search her face for excitement. The residual distrust she wears like a second skin stares back. I hope my light burns away that layer too. While I’d love to make this exchange an intimate encounter, my intuition says Jaya wants the mental security of imprinting to prepare for such acts. My fangs score my thumb. I squeeze the base until a red bead sits on the pad. In a familiar gesture, I rub it along the inside of her bottom lip. Her tiny, pink tongue meets my thumb and her eyes flutter closed.

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