by Dixon, Ruby
“The winners also get the female of their choice,” A’tam says, jumping to his feet.
“No,” R’jaal, Raahosh and Tia all say at once.
Bridget just puts her hand on her forehead.
“What is the point, then?” A’tam asks, frowning at the group. “I can make my own food. Why do I compete if it is not to win a female?”
“You don’t have to play,” Tia says in her sweetest voice. “It’s not required. We just thought maybe you might like to impress the ladies with how strong and capable you are.”
A’tam stares at her for a moment, thinking. “Very well,” he says, and sits again. I’m pretty sure he flexes his biceps as he does, and I bite back a giggle.
Tia goes around with a covered basket and makes us pick rocks. Two of the rocks have been painted with a white dot, and whoever pulls one is a team leader. My rock is blank. S’bren pulls the first one and leaps to his feet as if he’s accomplished something exciting. The second rock goes to Flordeliza, who also jumps to her feet and bellows, mimicking S’bren’s enthusiasm.
Everyone laughs, including S’bren, and I admit, I’m warming up to the idea of a few days of fun.
“All right, pick your first choice for your team, S’bren,” Tia says, handing him a bunch of bright red strips of leather.
“D’vi,” he says immediately, looking over at me.
My jaw drops. I’m shocked. I’m clearly not the only one. Everyone’s looking at me in surprise, but then Penny hoots and calls out, “Get some, girl!”
I flush bright red, getting to my feet. I wipe sweaty palms on my leggings as everyone claps and cheers for me. I give S’bren a curious look as I move to his side and take the band he offers. “Why did you pick me?”
He grins down at me, leaning in. “It is so I can finally feed you when we win.”
I laugh, because it’s an absurd thing to say. He’s a nice man, though, and I’m strangely pleased at being picked so early. For once, I’m not last. I tie my band to my wrist and look out at the crowd.
N’dek isn’t smiling. His mouth is drawn down into a hard, unhappy line and he looks as if he wants to punch S’bren, he’s glaring at him so hard. That’s…weird. Confused, I glance up at S’bren again and he puts a hand on my shoulder, tugging me close so I stand right next to him. It’s sweet, and flattering, but…I also wish it was N’dek.
I watch as Flor picks O’jek, who’s built like a barrel for all that he’s Shadow Cat clan. He saunters up to her side and takes a band, and then everyone looks at me.
It’s my turn to pick. My mouth goes dry and I look over at N’dek, but his expression is closed off. It’s like the games suddenly lost all their fun for him, all because S’bren has his hand on my shoulder. Maybe it made him remember that he’s about to resonate and now he’s nervous? “I pick N’dek,” I say loudly, and hold the band out.
S’bren leans in. “We want to win, little human.”
“You should have thought of that before you picked me,” I joke. “I have two left feet.”
“You do?” He stares down at my feet.
Exasperated, I move forward and approach N’dek, holding the band out to him. When he glares up at me and doesn’t take it, I shake it in his direction. “They said it was going to be all kinds of tests, so even the wimpy humans can participate.” I don’t care that he thinks his bad leg holds him back. He’s just as smart as anyone else on this beach, and there’s bound to be tests of skill, too.
After a moment longer, he reaches out and takes the band from me and I move back to S’bren’s side.
“I pick A’tam,” O’jek says.
“You have to pick a chick,” Tia interrupts. “You can’t pick him.”
“I cannot?”
“A girl.”
His gaze swings out on the crowd. He stares at the sea of faces for a moment. “Then I pick you,” he says to Tia, who giggles and looks pleased as she dances up to his side.
Tia beams at him as Bridget lets out a breath. She looks tense as hell, and I feel sorry for her. I know she’s expecting Shadow Cat to pull a stunt, and I bet they do.
“I pick B’shit,” N’dek says.
“Bridget,” she corrects, but she beams at him as she goes to N’dek, gives him an awkward high-five, and then moves to stand next to me and S’bren.
A’tam scowls. His scowl deepens when Tia picks him. “It’s because you’re so big and muscular,” she coos, and that softens his misery. Tia winks at Bridget.
The picking goes on. Liz is in our team, Raahosh on the opposite, and Liz looks smug about the fact that she’s going to be competing against her mate R’jaal and Rukh are on the other team, along with Sessah, which makes him happy because he’s with Tia. Harlow ends up on ours, which she sighs over. But eventually everyone is divided up and wearing their bands.
Veronica and Ashtar are our tie-breaking judges. Ashtar refuses to let Veronica join in, and gets growly if anyone suggests it, and puts a hand over her stomach protectively. She rolls her eyes at his overbearing attitude, but I think she looks pleased. I remember how clumsy she is, and I suspect that has more to do with her sitting out than the baby in her belly, since Lauren and Willa both are participating.
Angie and Gail are not. Angie has no desire to join in and Gail says she’s too old (which is a lie) and will watch Harlow’s and Liz’s babies for them.
When everything’s decided, the afternoon is growing late, the suns creeping toward the horizon. “There’s time for one competition,” Tia says, and grabs a basket from the sidelines. She pulls out an object—a square-shaped beanbag. “Bag tossing!”
I groan, because aim is not one of my strong points.
“Come, D’vi,” S’bren says, grabbing my arm and dragging me along with the others. “Our team will win. You will see.”
* * *
Our team does win.
Not because of me, of course. I’m freaking dreadful. Worse than dreadful, really. My carefully tossed beanbags veer way off target and I score zero points for us. S’bren is pretty good, as is Liz. The rest of the team is average…except for N’dek. Vaza carries him to the designated throwing spot and I can tell that he hates it. He hates being toted around. It’s written all over his handsome face and for a moment, I’m incredibly tense. I’m torn between the need to protect him from the world and the need to leave him alone. I close my eyes, waiting…
And I open them again when the beach erupts in cheers. N’dek’s first toss is perfect. His second…perfect. Third? Perfect. His fourth veers off a little, but his fifth? Perfect again. He does it all with one hand on Vaza’s shoulder to hold him up, and tosses a cheeky little grin our way when he throws his sixth and final bag and scores yet another point for us.
I want to fling myself at him with excitement, because he just scored the best out of everyone. Instead, I give him an awkward little thumbs up when he glances my way. Then, the next person is ushered to the throwing spot and the game continues.
But we win thanks to him, and we all know it.
I’m so thrilled for him and the cheerful claps he gets on his shoulders as the group migrates back to the main fire to eat stew that’s been simmering for hours. We all eat a hearty bowl, drink some hot tea, and talk about nothing in general. It’s kind of nice to just hang out, and I admit I’m warming up to the whole “games” thing. I glance over at N’dek and notice that Bridget’s seated right next to him, chatting up a storm to N’dek and Raahosh. She seems happy tonight, and I don’t know why that irritates me. I’m happy for N’dek that he got to have his moment in the sun, because if anyone deserves a little happiness thrown his way, it’s him.
But does Bridget have to lean over him so much? Damn. She’s practically touching his knee as she talks.
“You do not look happy, D’vi,” S’bren says, dropping down into the empty seat next to me. He’s got a platter in his hands and is eating handfuls of roasted seeds mixed with these savory little buds that grow on the seaweed here. The man is al
ways eating, too. He grins at me and holds the platter out as if I should join him.
I hold up a hand. “I’m good. Just getting tired, you know?” I yawn deliberately, glancing over at N’dek’s side of the fire again. Bridget’s laughing, and N’dek is smiling and rubbing his jaw. Our eyes meet across the way and he frowns at me.
“Do you see that?” S’bren murmurs, leaning in close. “She does her best to make A’tam jealous.”
“Is that what’s going on?” I lean in, whispering.
He nods, popping another seed from the platter into his mouth. “She laughs hardest when he is looking, watch.”
I do, pretending to stare at the fire so I don’t look so obvious. A’tam—who’s talking to R’jaal at the edge of the group—glances over at Bridget. Then, Bridget’s laughter peals out and she touches N’dek’s knee again.
“Jeez, you’re right. She’s being kind of obvious,” I whisper to S’bren. “But I thought they hated each other.”
“Hate is a very strong feeling, much like lust.” He shrugs and offers me the platter again. “You should eat. Your curves should bounce like that one’s.” He gestures at Penny, who’s full figured and cute as a button. “But you do not eat enough.”
Great. Now he sounds like my Nani. “I’m really not hungry, I’m just waiting for everyone to go to bed.” Because then I can sneak off to N’dek’s hut and talk to him about his prosthetic and the day and point out how Bridget keeps tossing her hair…
S’bren shoves the platter under my nose. “Try it.”
Irked, I take the platter from him…and I’m surprised. It’s stone and the edges are perfectly smooth and strangely thick. I run my fingers along the edge because this triggers a memory, and sure enough, there’s a broken spot at the top, right where…
I gasp. Suddenly, I have to see what this is. I grab the nuts and pods and dump them into S’bren’s hand, then stare at the now naked “platter” before me. It’s not a platter at all. It’s a fossil of a massive lumbar vertebrae. Or at least, most of one. The pedicle has been broken off. “Where did you get this?”
“This? I found it in a cave.” He taps the edge with one finger. “It had a pointy side but I removed that with a good hit.”
I let out a keening cry of horror. “No! You didn’t!”
“What is it?” N’dek asks, his body tense. “What is wrong?”
“This is a vertebrae,” I cry out, showing S’bren. “I’ve never seen one this size. Where did you find it?”
“In a cave,” he tells me, a curious look on his face. “Do you want one for yourself? There were more.”
I fan my face at the thought. Do I want more? Oh my god, do I ever. “Yes, please.”
“I will take you there in the morning,” he says, giving my shoulder a pat. “For now you should eat.”
I can’t decide if I want to hug the guy or punch him. “Why can’t we go now?”
He laughs. “It is far too dark for such things. Humans are fragile. And you are tired, remember?”
I grit my teeth, clutching the broken vertebrae to my chest. “The morning, then.” What could this be to? It looks like a shark vertebrae, but it’s impossible to say without seeing the parts that broke off. Also, I’ve never seen a shark this large, but it’s absolutely not out of the question for this planet to have megafauna. I practically tremble with excitement at the thought.
Morning can’t come soon enough.
6
N’DEK
I dislike S’bren.
A lot.
The big Tall Horn hunter makes sure to sit very close to D’vi and continually offers her food throughout the night. He thinks he is not being obvious, and perhaps to the humans he is not, but one hunter recognizes when another is closing in on prey.
S’bren is trying to establish a claim on D’vi. He is making it obvious to the other males that he has designs on her. He chose her first when it came time to pick teams, above all other females. He is saying to the world that she belongs to him.
And I do not like it one bit.
She is too innocent. I think of the way she watched me bathe, her eyes wide with wonder. S’bren is not right for her. He will not take care to ease her into mating, to be mindful of her inexperience. He will just cram his cock between her thighs and—and—
“You okay?”
“What?” I snap at the person next to me.
At my side, B’shit looks confused. “You’re growling.”
“Ah.” Am I? “Apologies,” I bite out. “I was thinking.”
“About what?” B’shit tosses her mane and gives me a pretty smile, but it leaves me cold.
If this is the one I am to resonate to, I am confused. Does my khui like her pale skin and big teats, then? It does not prefer warm golden-brown skin and a lithe body? I glance over at D’vi again, but she is staring at the plate in her hands, entranced. She pays no attention as S’bren toys with a lock of her hair. The sight of that makes me so angry my chest burns.
Is this why she did not come to my hut last night? Was she meeting with S’bren?
The thought makes me want to throw things. I grit my teeth and do not want to see any more of this nonsense. So what if he has tall, arching horns and two good legs? She deserves better. She deserves…
Me. The thought whispers through my head and immediately vanishes. She deserves better than me. N’dek is no longer a strong, capable hunter, and the thought just chews at my spirit even more.
B’shit touches my knee again. “You seem kind of upset. You need to talk about it?”
“No,” I grit out and look over at V’za, indicating that I want to leave. I am tired of the celebration. I want to go back to my hut and practice walking with my new leg.
I want to be ready for tomorrow’s competition. It is a shame S’bren is on my team, because I would like the chance to grind his face into the dirt very much.
Very, very much.
* * *
“Psst, it’s me.”
D’vi’s voice comes from outside my hut, late at night.
I pause in sanding down the rounded stem of one bone. It is the best for my height so far, but the knobs of it push into my stump and make it uncomfortable, so I am trying to curve it to the shape of what is left of my lower leg. I was not sure if D’vi would come by this night…but in case she did, I prepared.
I am naked on the furs, and when I hear her scratch at the screen, I pull a bowl of water to my side and slop a cloth against my belly as if I have been bathing and she just caught me. J’shel would laugh his fool head off if he knew of my pretending, but he is not here…and I liked the way D’vi looked at me. “Enter.”
She ducks into the hut, pulls the screen behind her…and stares. “Wow, I really do have some bad timing, don’t I?”
I pretend as if I am just now putting the bowl of water aside, even though it is ice cold. “Come in. I am surprised you are here tonight.”
She shakes off her dazed expression. “You are? Why?”
Because S’bren would not like it. “Because you did not come last night.”
“Oh. Right.” She stares at my body for a moment longer and then sits down near the fire in a wobbly way that amuses me. I like how hard D’vi stares at my body. It makes me feel like a strong, fierce hunter once more.
Perhaps if B’shit looked at me that way I would feel more for her. I rub my chest absently, wondering when my khui will lead me in the right direction.
“I didn’t come last night because there was drama in the cave,” D’vi is saying, her gaze following my hand as I take the cloth and deliberately run it over my arm. “Tia was running off to hook up with boys and I couldn’t escape. How’s your prosthetic?”
“Better with every step,” I admit, rather proud of that.
An excited look crosses her face. “Can I see? Are you practicing with it tonight?”
I am. I practiced last night for hours, until I was sweaty and exhausted…and then I practiced even more. My stump aches
today and there are bruises on it from where it hits the bone of the fake leg, but I am walking and getting better all the time. To answer her, I strap it onto my leg, tightening the leather harness. Then, I add on a second leather harness of straps over the first one to help anchor it—something I came up with last night. The double layer helps to keep things from shifting, and this time when I get to my feet, I am more comfortable, more at ease. I do not need the spear to take three steps toward her. I hobble, but they are real steps with no support.
She rises to her feet, her eyes gleaming with excitement. “Oh, N’dek, this is wonderful. You’re kicking ass!”
“Not yet, but perhaps soon, and perhaps one ass in particular,” I say, thinking of S’bren and the way he loomed over her earlier. “Let us go outside so I can practice more.”
“Should you, ah, wear something?” She gestures at my bare body. “It’s cold out.”
I shrug and grab a fur from the pile on the floor, then wrap it around my shoulders, deliberately pretending to misunderstand. “Better?”
D’vi gets a strange, flustered look on her face. “You know what? It’s fine.”
I smirk at her and pull the fur off my shoulders, wrapping it around my waist instead. “Was this what you expected?”
She bites her lip, looking awkward. “I’m sorry. It’s just weird for me to wander around at night with a naked guy. The others might get the wrong idea.”