Page 7 of Koha'vek
“You’ll need more time to heal. It’s only been a few days,” I reminded.
A long silence stretched between us before she finally asked, “Why did you help me?”
I had no answer that would satisfy her. I had seen too many of her kind die under my watch. I couldn’t let her be one more. Instead, I handed her a bowl of stew. “Eat.”
She hesitated, then accepted it with a solemn nod. I watched as she took a slow bite, herexpression unreadable.
For now, she was here. And I was not alone.
Ava
I wasn’t dead. I had Koha’vek to thank for that, and I was grateful. Although I was still sore, I was feeling much better.
When I first became fully aware of my surroundings. I wished I hadn’t.
The alien repulsed me. He watched me too closely, his golden eyes unreadable. His skin was olive green, and his features were sharp and angular in an unsettling way. The ridges along his jawline flexed as he observed me, and I forced myself not to flinch. I had heard stories of his kind, about their ruthless and unforgiving nature. The invaders had come and gone, leaving only destruction in their wake.
And yet, he had saved me.
I took another slow bite of the stew, not because I wasn’t hungry but because I needed the time to think. My soreness from the fall was nothing compared to the dull ache of knowing I had nowhere to go. Even if I did, he already told me I couldn’t leave.
Did I really want to? He was the first being who had been kind to me in a very long time. His presence was sort of growing on me. I sighed. There was still a part of me that longedto go home, the home that was mine before those bastards stole it.
“You are thinking of your lost home again.” He leaned back against the chair, arms crossed. “I lost my home, too. Now home is wherever I am.”
The simplicity of his statement unsettled me, as if it were that easy.
I just shook my head. It almost sounded as though he had nothing to lose.
Silence stretched between us. He did not offer false comfort, nor did he pry further. He simply nodded as if acknowledging a truth neither of us could change.
For now, I was here. And for the first time in a long while, I wasn’t alone.
Koha’vek
Ava stirred, her breathing even as she slept on the couch I had prepared for her. The bruises along her temple had darkened, but the swelling had gone down. Each day, she grew stronger, her spirit as unyielding as the mountain winds outside.
For the past few days, she had asked questions—more than I expected to answer. At first, they were practical: where we were, how I had found her, what I planned to do with her. But as time passed, the questionsbecame more personal.
“You don’t seem like the type who enjoys war,” she had said just last night, her voice quiet but steady.
I had stared into the fire, unwilling to meet her gaze. “Because I am not.”
She hadn’t pressed further, but I had seen the understanding in her eyes. And perhaps something else—curiosity or even trust.
Now, as I stepped outside, the crisp mountain air filled my lungs. The world was silent but for the occasional rustling of branches in the wind. I had been fortunate to find this isolated dwelling. It allowed me to disappear from the eyes of both humans and my own kind. And yet, Ava had disrupted that solitude in a way I had not anticipated.
For the first time in years, I wasn’t alone. And the truth I had been avoiding pressed in on me—I didn’t want to be.
Ava
The cabin smelled of wood smoke and the faint, lingering scent of dried herbs. I had always been stubborn, but even I had to admit that I was healing faster than expected. Whether it was my resilience or the careful attention of my reluctant savior, I wasn’t sure.
Koha’vek was an enigma. He was a warrior who did not wish to fight, an alien who seemedto want nothing more than to disappear into the mountains. I had caught him watching me more than once, his golden eyes unreadable, but he never said what was on his mind.
Today, I felt well enough to move without the sharp sting of pain at every step. I tested my ankle, biting back a wince. It was still tender, but at least I wasn’t completely useless.
The cabin door swung open, and Koha’vek stepped inside, his gaze flickering to me before he set down a small bundle of wood near the hearth. “You shouldn’t push yourself.”
