by Stacy Jones
Her guys had spent that entire day tense and vigilant, keeping her within the protective circle of their bodies, refusing to leave her side to help with the work. Frrar had even conscripted the brothers, Lok and Rork, into guarding her with them.
He’d tried to call more men—specifically the men she knew didn't have mates—to help, but she’d put her foot down. Their hopeful, optimistic stares, even subdued as they were with worry and preoccupied with urgency and alarm, made her feel exceedingly uncomfortable. She knew their chances of being chosen as mates were slim with the significant discrepancy between the number of males to females, but as bad as she felt for them, she was absolutely not going to adopt them like puppies from the pound just because she knew they were lonely.
Lily finally won the argument with Frrar by pointing out that if they were all busy protecting her, they weren't working, and she would be exposed to danger for longer. That, thankfully, got him to let it go but she was still more than a little irritated that he seemed so ready to fill her bed with strangers, even if she knew his intentions were honorable and that he was doing it to try and keep her safe.
The third day was spent setting up the next layer of defense, just outside the perimeter of lookout huts. For the enemies that made it past the boundary of covered pits, they set up trip lines, both on the ground and in the lower levels of the trees, before the branches got too dense. Some were attached to snares with the hope of capturing one or more alive so they could attempt to interrogate them, but most triggered a spike attached to a vine rope to swing down in an arc, impaling whomever set it off .
Aside from the pits and trip lines, they’d made and set up a variety of booby traps, everything from deadfalls and spike balls to anything else she could think of, pulling ideas from movies, television, and hunting.
In between whispering orders to the people working, Lily wasn’t idle but busied herself crafting a weapons cache of her own. She’d used a water balloon to store a small collection of the sap secreted from the poison thorns they were using to line nets, thorns from a plant Drrak had discovered during his past exploration of the forest beyond tribe borders. She and the guys had already made nearly three dozen arrows the first day and, while she still needed to test the wood of various trees until she found something suitable for making bows, she planned to use the sap to make her shots more effective once she had one.
Lily yawned again, feeling much better after she’d eaten, but she was still beyond tired. She knew the tribe was working in rotations to let everyone take a rest, but she was the only one who knew how to make the traps. She had to oversee the construction and placement, as well as test each one to ensure they worked. They couldn’t afford to move at a slower pace or for her to slack off.
She wanted to trust the shevari people. She’d seen for herself how intelligent they were and how quickly they picked up new skills, Lok in particular, but their lives depended on all the traps working, so she felt compelled to check every single one.
Adding to her exhaustion, she wasn’t sleeping worth a damn, plagued with ceaseless nightmares no matter how close her guys held her at night.
Drrak and the cub had stayed with them since that first night, which eased her anxiety about him sleeping in his nest, situated outside even the farthest circle of defenses. But, in rare moments when she was able to focus on anything other than preparing, she missed him. He was always right there, protecting her just as vigilantly, just as closely, as Arruk, Tor, and Frrar, but she felt like he was miles away. He was quieter than even Arruk, his discomfort at being constantly surrounded by people making him reserved and withdrawn.
The exhilaratingly unpredictable, playful, intense, and openly, if sometimes hesitantly, affectionate man she’d grown to know and care for was hidden beneath this reticent and introverted version of him. She wanted desperately to go back to spending mornings and afternoons on his nest with all her guys safe and around her, learning more about him and feeling herself fall in love.
Glancing away from the men and women working on the last trap, she saw Drrak staring directly at her. He looked like he wanted to say something, but before she could encourage him to speak, he grumbled something at Frrar and gestured to the branches above. Frrar seemed reluctant but eventually nodded, acquiescing to whatever it was Drrak had said. Her guys turned to her one by one, kissing her before they leapt into the branches directly above, leaving her with Rork and Lok to watch over her.
Lily entertained a moment of suspicion, even peering at the brothers to see if they knew what was going on, but they looked just as confused as she felt. After one more peek up at them, she dismissed it since they weren’t more than ten feet away and went back to monitoring the work .
Her gaze snagged, as it had repeatedly, on the poison thorns lining the net. According to Drrak, the poison was known to kill most anything. The food she’d eaten, which had felt so rejuvenating only moments before, turned to a rock in her stomach as she imagined someone dying from her contraptions.
Lily had second guessed herself countless times over the past days. She’d killed animals before, hell she didn’t know anyone who ran a farm who hadn’t, but it had been in mercy when a bull had gotten tangled in barbed wire. By the time she found him, he’d struggled so much the wire was embedded in his throat, and he was slowly bleeding out. Suffering. So she’d done the only thing she could for him.
Afterward, she spent the next three hours puking her guts out until she was reduced to dry-heaving.
As awful as that had been, and as much as she loved animals, she knew it would be worse to kill a person, even indirectly.
Who was she to decide who lived and died? What if there was just some misunderstanding, and she was going to be the death of innocent people ?
She didn’t know what worlds these people came from. For all she knew, butchering and displaying the bodies of slaughtered animals could be how they said hi. But every time she doubted herself, an image of Seti, suffering the way those animals had, would flash through her mind, and she would remember that one of them had been responsible for the kidnapping of Skaa.
The possibility of someone accidentally setting off the traps, or perhaps a captive, forced to travel with the invaders, being killed was still enough to make her want to change her mind and tear them all down, but she couldn’t do that, not with the lives of so many people—people she knew were innocent—depending on her.
Lily recalled asking which members were Skaa’s family in the meeting tree. Frrar had pointed out a small group of three males and two children sitting together in the middle of the tree.
Lily hadn’t considered that the missing woman might have children, though why that hadn’t occurred to her, she couldn’t fathom. Maybe because she hadn’t wanted to think of it. But once she saw them she couldn’t think of much else .
They’d looked… hollow.
The two children, who appeared to be no more than six and eight, were silent, staring out one of the entrances, as if waiting for their mother to walk through at any moment. The men were working with a desperate kind of urgency, their pile of tools and spears twice the size of everyone else’s, but every so often one would stop and stare at the entrance with the children, as if he, too, were hoping against hope his mate would magically appear.
They were why Lily was pushing herself so hard. How could she take a break when she knew they weren’t? They swapped off who watched their children, but two of the three men were always present at the construction of nearly every trap, still working twice as hard as anyone else, despite the exhaustion that was clear on their faces.
So in spite of her second guessing, her doubts, and her horror at the thought of being the cause of someone’s death, even if that someone was a horrible person, Lily kept working. With what they’d done to those poor animals, there was no telling what nightmare Skaa was having, or had, to endure. Lily vowed to do everything in her power to save the woman… if she still lived.
And if she’s dead, I ca
n at least help protect her children.
D rrak dropped back onto the branch behind Leelee without a sound and straightened before silently waving away the strange brothers, wanting them to leave so he could speak with her.
They, Rork especially, looked like they wanted to argue, but he scowled and bared his teeth, letting them know in no uncertain terms that he wanted them gone. After a long moment of narrow-eyed consideration, they finally left, moving to the neighboring tree with clear reluctance.
His shoulders relaxed slightly, and he felt like he could breathe for the first time that day. Being around so many was wearing on him but he was not willing to leave Leelee just for the selfish want to be alone, even if the sensation of being surrounded made him feel like there were burrs caught in his down and stabbing at his skin. He would endure that and so much more for her, happily and without complaint.
Staring down at the top of her head, he waited for her to turn around and greet him.
Except that didn’t happen.
Long moments passed as she kept watching a group of shevari work on the last contraption, occasionally whispering instructions, not acknowledging him at all.
Frowning, he tried to think of anything he could have done to anger her, but came up with nothing.
It took longer than he would like to admit to recall her tiny ears and weak hearing. Pulling a face, he shook his head at himself. He should have realized when she didn’t react or question him about sending the brothers away that she hadn’t heard them at all. Leelee questioned nearly everything, whether out loud or by shifting her expression and moving those odd fur stripes Tor was so suspicious of.
“Leelee, ” Drrak grunted, then winced when she jumped in surprise and whipped around to face him, her eyes wide with alarm.
“Holy shit, Drrak, don’t do that !” she gasped, speaking words he did not understand and pressing her too-many-fingered hand to her chest, as if her heart had tried to leap away from her.
Eyeing her hand in alarm, he wondered if that were possible for her people.
Deciding he didn’t want to know, he focused back on her face. He didn’t need to know her words to understand he’d startled her and shifted from foot to foot awkwardly, forgetting for a moment the sounds he’d practiced that Tor assured him were her words.
“Sorry for yell, what need Drrak?” she asked in his tongue when he didn’t say anything.
She gifted him with a tired but welcoming smile as she stepped closer and reached out to lay her palm on his chest, her face tipped up toward him.
Taking a breath, he lifted his gaze to hers, trying not to become lost in her unique eyes like he usually did .
“Come forr mee. Find dickss wit you ,” he said slowly, the words feeling strange and foreign in his mouth.
Her jaw dropped and color bloomed on her cheeks, spreading at an alarming rate down her throat to her chest, while her rounded eyes dropped to his maleness.
That was not the reaction he expected.
Scowling, he glanced up at where Tor was hiding in the tree above, immediately suspicious the younger male had taught him the wrong sounds, but Tor just waved a hand, motioning for him to turn back around before ducking back behind the branch.
He heard her clear her throat and turned to find her watching him, mirth making her green eyes sparkle, even as her fur stripes were still raised questioningly.
Grumbling, ears stiff in embarrassment and irritation, he bent to pick up one of the arrows stuffed into a long, skinny leaf pouch at her feet and showed it to her. Giving up on the attempt to speak her tongue, he reverted back to his own.
“We go find more stone for your sticks. And give you markings so you blend with trees as we do,” he growled, his voice coming out harsher than intended .
“Oh, umm—,” she looked back at the shevari working, her expression reluctant, and he knew she was going to refuse… or try to, anyway.
He did not plan to give her that option.
He may not know her as well as her mates did, but he knew her well enough to know he wouldn’t be able to persuade her to stop working completely. But, he could insist he needed her help with something less strenuous so she wasn’t working herself quite so hard.
He’d been worried for days about how hard she was working, and the terrors that she fought in her sleep, but it worked to his advantage that he’d waited until now to approach her. The traps were all set, the last being finished as they spoke, everyone in the tribe had been supplied with a spear and two knives each, and the watching huts were already staffed.
Other than the testing of this last trap , which Lok was more than capable of, everything was finished.
She looked like she could fall over at any moment, and that worried him. Drrak was still getting used to worrying about someone.
He enjoyed being alive, but his life was no great loss so he’d never bothered himself with being overly concerned with it, and his brothers could take care of themselves. This feeling of someone else’s health and happiness being absolutely vital to him was frightening. It left a peculiar tightness in his chest and made him want to hover over her like a Mother with a newly born youngling.
He felt as if his heart had decided to leave him to reside in another, and he knew if he lost it, he would die. But it would not be a peaceful end. It would be a death worse than that of losing one’s life. A death of the soul.
Drrak greatly admired her drive and, after catching her staring at Skaa’s mates and younglings, thought he knew why she pushed herself so hard, but he could not—would not—watch her work herself to exhaustion.
He’d pulled his brothers away from her side earlier to the branches above and demanded they make her stop, only to be met with wry or disgruntled expressions and, in Tor’s case, outright amusement. Before he could growl at them, Arruk made a contemplative noise and looked below to eye her speculatively.
Drrak had never been more thankful of his twin’s understanding of people than at that moment.
Arruk came up with the idea that Drrak approach her with a task, something that required her to relax, and also required them to be alone together.
Drrak turned to watch her, trying to hide how his mangled tail was twitching with excitement at the prospect of having time to continue wooing her, away from the prying eyes of the Unchosen males who would no doubt be watching and keeping track of how she responded, hoping to woo her as well.
He thought she had accepted him on his nest, but that was days ago. Now he was no longer so sure of his place with her, especially since he had foolishly not Presented then to solidify their bond. He knew how he felt for her, knew he had imprinted fully, but he needed to confirm that she still felt the same for him.
He needed space and privacy to gather his courage to Present. Her other mates were supposed to be there for the addition of another male to the harem, but he knew he had their support, and he’d never let tribe rules stop him before. After all, he was an outcast so what did it matter if he didn’t follow all their traditions so long as he held Leelee’s safety and care first in his heart.
Frowning in concentration, Drrak stared at her as he tried to think of something for them to do. He tracked her with his gaze as she moved in the tree, and it struck him suddenly how easy it was to spot her, how much her fur-less pink skin and brown hair stood out among the black and white background of the forest.
Why hadn’t he noticed that before?
Grimacing, he admitted to himself that he’d always been too focused on her and hadn’t been able to peel his eyes away long enough to see how she stood out from her surroundings.
“We are low on stone for her arr —”
“She needs markings—”
Drrak and Arruk spoke at the same time, then glanced at each other, grinning. Waving at his twin to finish his thought, Drrak listened.
“She needs more stone to make tips for her arrows . We have emptied the tribe’s supply. You could take her there. She also mentioned need for a type of tr
ee that bends for something called a bow . She will want to test the wood herself,” Arruk beamed .
“She also needs markings. She stands out too much in the trees. The dirt near where we get the stone for knives turns black when mixed with water,” Drrak added.
“I can mix dried sha leaves with water for the white,” Frrar announced.
Drrak was rumbling in anticipation until a thought occurred to him.
“I cannot take her alone. Taking her out into the forest is dangerous already, but now? I do not want to stop her from collapsing in exhaustion only to have her hurt or taken by intruders or pantari,” he deflated, his hopes of having time to woo her and Present evaporating.
“We will be following you. Like we would let our Pasha go anywhere without us?” Tor said, his tone making it clear he thought that should have been obvious.
“Take the kit as well. He will scent danger before you hear it,” Frrar spoke before Drrak could do more than give Tor a sour look.
And so Drrak found himself standing in front of Leelee, determined to persuade her to come with him.
“I need stay, watch,” she argued .
“No. Must come, find wood for bow , stone for tips, and must color skin so intruders do not see you,” Drrak insisted.
Her eyes lit up with excitement at his mention of the bow and markings, and she didn’t pull his ears for being too bossy, for which he was extremely grateful.
After just a moment more of looking torn, she nodded her consent. Rumbling in pleasure, Drrak bent to pick up her vine strap, her water spear, and the pouch holding her arrows and helped her to put them on, though he knew she didn’t really need the help.
He savored the small brushes of his fingertips over her skin, the feel of her head fur sliding over the backs of his hands, and how she stared up at him, her eyes trusting and soft.
However, when she lifted her arms, he froze.