Page 12 of Betrothed to the Yeti

“I make cheese from Ku Huang’s milk. My cheese is valued in Alpha—more than my sack of bones,” I say with a hollow laugh. Pabu doesn’t join in. Luckily, the waterfall fills the awkward silence before I start again. “I also sell Ku Huang’s lambs to—to Nawang—the butcher who married one of my sisters, Dronma, the day I married you. Nawang was kind to my family when no one else was. He would take the lambs and give us scraps throughout the year. When Ku Huang’s lambs are ready for sale, I would like to give them to Dronma and Nawang in Alpha.”

“Why would you give your lambs to Dronma, who has the favor of a husband?” He tightens his arms as if his embrace can keep me by his side forever.

“Because the people—the regular people—of Alpha are starving. I can’t live this lavish life with you when they suffer. Please understand.”

“I agree,” he declares. I grab his cheeks and gaze into his starry eyes. He nods to give me the affirmation I seek. “You have a golden heart that shines brighter than the gold of my treasure room. As Protector of the Humans, I must do more than hunt the wolves and tigers threatening their settlements. Will you show me what I can do to help?”

“I should like that very much.”

I seal our pact to help Alpha with a light touch of our lips. He tilts his head for a deeper second kiss, but I shy away. Further kisses wouldn’t be about our agreement and fear wriggles up my spine. I don’t trust the feeling coiling my belly tighter and tighter with each peck.

Splash.

I sputter for air while clawing my way to the surface. Damn Yeti threw me into the water! His chuckle echoes in the cavern, drowning out the crashes of the hot spring falls. Through soaked locks of hair, I shoot my fiercest glare—which makes him laugh harder. I cup my hand under the surface. The other hand swipes at my face as if pushing water from my eyes. I wade closer to him and…

Splash!

I skim the surface with the hidden hand. The wave catches Pabu off-guard and sweeps over his head. As it dissipates, his laughter takes its place. Long ivory fringe falls over his white facial fur. The black pools of his eyes are deep fathoms beneath. His knees must have been bent because he’s taller than before. He brings his hands over his head to push his bangs backward. I’m hypnotized by the rivers trailing down his muscular chest…until he brings his clasped fists onto the water’s surface.

The wave he sends me not only washes over my head, but sends me reeling to the opposite edge of the pool. Will I drown? My back bumps the smooth rock wall, which helps me ricochet upward. His large hands encircle my waist and haul my upper half from the water. As he pushes my hair off my face, he studies me to gauge my mood.

We lock gazes.

I flick my fingers at the surface to spray droplets in his face.

“Gotcha,” I whisper.

Giggling like a child, he paddles to the edge of the pool with me riding his back and exits. We exchange stolen glances and secret smiles as we dry off with fluffy tiger pelts. The icy walls guarding my heart drop. For the first time since Mother died, I feel like everything is going to be okay…thanks to Pabu. Does he truly want to make me happy…with nothing more than companionship in return?

It's a risk I must take…

“Since I was a little girl, I have wanted a garden. The security of growing plants in my own space is something I’ve never had. It’s why I held onto the seeds from the tribute. They represent never feeling hunger pangs again. I’d like your help to dig beneath the snow to the soil—if you don’t mind,” I ask while focused on my towel. My confidence shakes like a goat in a snowstorm.

“I will work until my muscles quit to make your dream come true.”

“Not just me, but Alpha, too,” I add quickly. As much as I loathe Alpha, a slow death by starvation is more than I could wish upon anyone. He isn’t going to like my next request. Will he turn on me if I anger him? My fingers twist the tiger skin until it cuts off my circulation. “They have a better chance at feeding themselves if they no longer provide for you.”

Chapter 7

Pabu

My human companion is prickly. One day she asks for my help to create a garden and the next, she pushes me away. I expected her to be a ray of sunshine with her new gift, but her trauma fueled her request. She doesn’t allow herself an ounce of happiness. Her view of Alpha stirs the darkness inside me. Who hurt her? Who stole her trust in fellow humans? She says she was born with an icy wall around her heart, but I don’t believe her. Mostly because she refuses to commit the same crimes against those who wronged her.

Is it loyalty to her sisters—the ones who lived off her cheese and scraps from the butcher? What about the sister who married that kind soul? Why aren’t they crashing through my doors to save her? Her loyalty can’t be to those who would leave her to bed a beast. I’d like to think they fight to free the sister in the brothel first—the one who tried to trade Jaya’s virginity for her freedom.

Now I’m seeing violet, so I breathe away the rage.

Jaya’s feud must be against starvation itself. That’s the reason she’s outside daily, stabbing at the ground with an ornate ax from my treasure hoard, right? All our conversations come back to food. She asks a million questions about the seeds and zero about me. How much will grow with each batch of seeds she plants? Will I fetch stones to grind the grains into flour when the time comes? Do I mind if she uses the cheesecloth in the treasure room? I had no idea what cheesecloth was until she became excited by it.

Humans are emotional creatures with expressive eyes, and Jaya is no exception. The sorrow forming a film of glassy tears over her brown eyes when I mention food is something that can’t be faked. How many days did she starve? No one is that consistent when schooling their face—especially a human. Her joints are wider than her limbs, and her skin has a grayish tint of sickness. I’d do anything to never see her hungry again…

Because when she’s happy, Enceladus’s cold, bleak terrain brightens. The land collects her smiles like Saturn’s rays. If only one would stretch from her lips to her eyes. Oh, to be the male who coaxes those expressions from her! Would she look like the portraits upstairs—a coy, almost seductive grin? Or would joy radiate from her heart like the landscape paintings depicting humans at play?

I gaze out my upstairs window at the scowl she currently wears. With that fierce baring of flat teeth, the soil better yield to her pickax. She bundled herself in her ‘traveling dress’ instead of one of the gowns from the treasure hoard. She claims she wants her ‘dirty clothes’ to be for outside and promised to wear one when she returns—like every other day she has spent in the garden.

She claims she hasn’t noticed a dress she favors yet.

The truth is, she’s terrified of touching my treasure. The longing in her eyes as we pass it to bathe in the hot spring is undeniable. It wasn’t until I brought the pickaxe outside that she would accept the tool. No matter how many items I offer, she shies away from taking anything from me. She still sleeps with her goat by my hearth too. I suspect the two strange behaviors are connected, but I’d rather not distress her further by asking.

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