Page 14 of Keeping His Mate

Varrek and Ahlvo exchange a glance that almost looks like a shrug before Varrek says, “Very well. At first light, you will accompany Elle-noor to the falls to investigate. I shall have the crew waiting at the tree line should you need assistance,” he says with a nod. Then he takes a deep breath. “But should you feel that anything is off, or that this creature poses a threat, do nothing and return to the main path at once.”

“Understood,” Bruvix replies. Then he looks down at me, expectantly.

“Oh, yes. Agreed. Uh-huh,” I add, nodding enthusiastically.

Ahlvo looks down at the screen pad in his hand then gives Ava the telepathic-conversation look. A moment later, Ava says, “The sun should be up in about three hours, so you won’t have to wait too long, Eleanor. Maybe try to get some sleep while you can.”

“Yeah, okay,” I reply, trying to sound convincing. There’s no way I’ll be able to sleep knowing there’s a hurt animal out there, but I appreciate the concern for my well-being.

Varrek turns, and waves his arms above him, trying to get the attention of the clan. Then he begins speaking in his native Trovilian, which the translator chip Kaiva installed behind my ear translates to “Clan! We must remain cautious of this creature we are hearing until we have the sun at our backs. Until then, it is not safe to venture off the main path. Return to your dwellings. Resume your slumber. We will seek the source of this noise in the light.”

Everyone nods and murmurs their agreement as they disperse. Ava and Chloe give me comforting pats on the arm before they leave, and then I’m left on the main path with Bruvix, and no one else.

We stand there, staring at each other long enough that it gets uncomfortable, and then his eyes dart away first.

“Right. Well, I’ll be up waiting for the sun to rise,” I say, looking up at the inky black sky. “Want me to come wake you when I’m ready to go?”

He doesn’t reply at first, just stands there, brushing his hands together as if there’s dirt on them. I follow the movement, tracing the length of his long, calloused fingers. His hands are strong, I notice, with little silver scars crisscrossing over his wide knuckles. Then he narrows his gaze and then finally says, “This is a terrible idea. It is not safe.”

“I’m aware,” I tell him, nodding. I don’t need to be reminded of this. “Look, you don’t have to come with me. I can ask Varrek to find someone else to–”

“No. I will go,” he growls, his tone resolute. “I shall meet you here when the sun is up.”

“Okay,” I reply, confused by his willingness to do something he clearly wants no part of, and also stunned by the low, rich timbre of his thickly accented voice. Such a puzzle, this one.

He storms off with a final grunt, and I can’t help but watch him go. When his wide back and thick, juicy snack of an ass are out of sight, I stumble back to Kaiva’s, kick my boots off by the door, and make my way upstairs.

Flopping down on the bed, I lie there, staring at the ceiling as I count the minutes until the sun comes up.

When another long yelp meets my ears, starting off low and growing into a piercing wail that cracks by the end, tears fill my eyes. We lie there, this unknown creature and I, crying together as we wait for the darkness to fade into light.

CHAPTER 7

BRUVIX

“Morivikka, Elle-noor,” I greet her as she stumbles out Kaiva’s front door on wobbly legs. Her tunic is wrinkled, and little hairs stick out around her forehead. She lifts her chin mid-yawn as an acknowledgment of my presence and passes by me onto the main path. The dark smudges under her eyes tell me that she truly has not slept at all since the creature’s cries first began. Cries that continued until the darkness faded. “The torture you are inflicting upon yourself is a waste of time.” It is just a tr’gory. A violent monster intent on slaughtering anything in its path. Why does one in pain bother her so?

“A living thing dying a slow, agonizing death in our backyard is a waste of time?” she asks dryly, slinging a small, stuffed pack over her shoulder. “Good to know.” Then she turns to face me and begins walking backward. “Hey, if I ever end up injured in the middle of the forest, please make sure you’re not in the rescue party, okay? Send someone else. Preferably, someone whose chest isn’t a hollow tin can.” Turning, she resumes facing forward, but now with a sour expression on her face.

“You assume I would not care if you were hurt merely because I feel no sense of urgency to save a tr’gory?” I ask, catching up to her and walking at her side. She does not answer me. She keeps her eyes on the path in front of her as she takes long strides toward the falls. “You are wrong,” I finally reply. “I would do whatever was in my power to save you, just as I did everything in my power to save Dokai, a hunter who came with us from Trovilia, and who was killed by a tr’gory not long after we arrived.”

That gets her to meet my eyes. She stops walking, and her chin dips. “You were there when he died?”

“No, he was dead when we discovered him at the bottom of Nee-roh’s mountain. His blood was soaked into the path beneath him, his left foot was ripped from his body, and his stomach was slashed open,” I tell her. “Varrek and I attempted to revive him, but he was already lost––his soul taking its final rest.”

Elle-noor sucks in a breath. Her dark eyes glisten with unshed tears. My fingers flex at my side, desperate to catch any tears that spill onto her smooth cheeks––marring the exquisiteness of her skin.

“I carried his body home.”

She pinches her eyes closed, and I know I have hurt her soft heart. It was not my intention, not initially. But I cannot comprehend how someone could have more concern for a brutal beast than a member of the clan. She must know what they are capable of before she puts herself in danger like this.

“Look,” she mutters quietly as her gaze drops to a clump of blue moss on the ground. “I’m really sorry. I know you don’t understand why this matters to me, but it does. I’ve always had a bond with animals. An intimate, instinctual connection that I can’t explain. Strays have followed me home since I was a kid.”

She is right. I do not understand. I am not inclined to try, either, given the behavioral similarities between tr’gorys and the mit’xcruul, the colossal carnivorous predators of Xelai, a vast prison planet on the edge of our galaxy. That was where my first mission took place as I was training to become a warrior. It is where a mit’xcruul attacked me under the dark of night with its massive green tusks and leathery brown skin. Its eyes were red, much like a tr’gory’s, its claws were twice the size, and just as sharp.

I was not meant to survive that encounter. Incredibly, I did, and here I am now, willingly putting myself between a small human female and another bloodthirsty behemoth.

“It is nice that you feel a kinship with creatures of your world,” I tell her. “But you are not on Earth anymore, Elle-noor. Tr’gorys are not like the docile balls of fur you are accustomed to.”

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