Tribe Protector

by Stacy Jones

  It had been Lily’s idea to attach stone tips to their spears, but she hadn’t expected to find herself standing face-to-nearly-flat-boobs with someone carrying one who looked like she could snap Lily in half without breaking a sweat.

  Not that the shevari people sweat.

  “Shh tuuk mer kur tul uk, ” the woman said, her voice naturally husky but distinctly feminine, as she nodded her head to the bow still held in Lily’s right hand.

  “Oh! You want to learn how to shoot? I thought y'all were here to kill me,” she laughed slightly, relieved.

  Arruk made a startled sound beside her, and when she glanced at him, he was staring at her in shock.

  “What? They look scary as hell when they come at you through the trees like that,” she retorted defensively, answered by a chuckle from Tor and a conceding look from Arruk and Frrar.

  The female was peering back and forth between them, frowning, before she grunted to regain Lily’s attention and gave her an expectant look.

  “Drrak, would you get my arrows from the target, please?” she asked, pointing from her empty quiver to the target in the distance.

  He nodded, stopping to kiss the top of her head and stroke his hand down the length of her braid before going off to collect her arrows.

  After a round of introductions where she learned everyone’s names, they stood in silence while they waited for Drrak to return. Lok broke the tension before it could become uncomfortable by stepping forward to stand next to the woman, Tarra, and wordlessly asked to look at Lily’s bow.

  Lily handed it to him without looking. Her fascinated gaze was locked on Tarra who had stood straighter and begun to subtly flex her muscles as soon as Lok got close to her.

  Lily watched Tarra glance at Lok from the corner of her eye. When she saw that her flexing wasn’t getting a reaction from him she frowned in frustration and started waving her tail behind her, just slightly at first until she had enough momentum going to accidentally stroke the tip up the backs of Lok’s legs… and higher.

  Lily couldn’t see from her position in front of them, but the height of Tarra’s tail told her the woman was probably stroking his ass. Lily’s brows rose and her jaw dropped as she blinked owlishly, stunned at how forward the woman was being, at least by human standards.

  I guess when Arruk said Lok was much wanted he really meant it.

  That touch pulled Lok from his concentrated study of the bow. His head whipped up, his eyes wide and startled. He started to turn to look up at Tarra, but apparently thought better of it and faced forward again.

  Obviously deciding to pretend he hadn’t noticed, Lok raised the bow higher and squinted at it, then, with practiced casualness, stepped forward and turned slightly.

  He strategically placed himself so he could watch Tarra from the corner of his eye but was out of her reach. He acted like he was completely absorbed with inspecting the bow and needed to catch the sunlight to see something on it in better detail, nevermind that the sun was still shining brightly since it was only maybe four o’clock… or would be if they were on Earth.

  Lily was feeling an odd mix of scandalized and amused at the little dance that she’d just witnessed, but when she caught the shift in expression on Tarra’s face, that turned to sympathy.

  The female looked confused and disappointed, but what made Lily feel bad for her was when she glanced down at the scars on her chest, as if it was their fault Lok wasn’t responding to her overtures.

  That glance reminded Lily of something she’d learned: if a woman had a lot of scars, it meant she wasn’t a skilled warrior. If a woman’s ability to protect and defend her family was at all in question then, limited number of females or not, she’d have a hard time attracting males until she proved her prowess beyond a shadow of a doubt.

  Tarra struck Lily as being young—capable and strong, sure—but young. Lily thought it was completely reasonable to expect someone to get a few scars as they learned how to be a better fighter. She didn’t find it at all fair that young shevari women were judged so harshly, but she also knew survival wasn’t always easy in their world, and she could understand the males’ points of view. The men could and did fight when needed, but Lily knew their first priority was to take care of their children. Protection of the family unit was the responsibility of the female. To mate someone who may not be proficient at fighting was literally risking not just your life but the lives of your children.

  Drrak landed behind her just then, thankfully redirecting all their attention. Taking the arrows from him and thanking him with a kiss on his scared, smiling lips, she refilled her quiver and turned back to their guests.

  Picking up the other bows, she held one out and raised her brows questioningly, asking who wanted to go first.

  Tarra unsurprisingly stepped forward, beating Lok who had moved half a second later.

  Handing the woman the bow with a gentle smile, Lily guided Tarra to stand on her right side then positioned Lok on her other. Using a lot of pointing with translation help from her guys, she showed them both how to notch an arrow, how to position their bodies, and how to aim.

  Lok’s first shot missed by a mile and Tarra’s only flew about ten feet before it dipped to the ground and vanished into the thick lower limbs. Their second, third, and tenth shots weren’t any better.

  Really wishing I’d thought to make practice arrows right about now. It’s going to take an hour to collect all of these.

  With a strained smile, Lily took the bows away from them, moved them farther down the branch, and showed them how to throw their spears before leaving them to practice.

  Rork and one of the other males, Karr, were next to step up. Karr was the first shevari she’d seen that she would call pretty-boy handsome. He still had the prominent, superhero jawline typical of their people and he was tall and built like a gym-rat, but his features were softer, less harsh-looking than most. He looked… kind, in a boy-next-door kind of way.

  Rork was better with the bow than either Lok or Tarra, but he still only managed to hit the target once, and Karr was possibly even worse than either of them. Lily thought Rork could become proficient with enough practice, but she only had three bows. She wanted to give the two extra she’d made to people who would really be able to use them to help defend the tribe.

  Karr and Rork joined Lok and Tarra farther down the branch to learn spear throwing, which was something Karr picked up on immediately and turned out to be quite good at. Scarily good at, actually.

  Pretty boy on the outside, deadly on the inside.

  She went through pairs of males, with her own guys trying their hands at it as well over the next hour or so. A few were okay, but most were downright terrible.

  Frrar surprised her by being pretty damn good. He picked up on it quickly and, before long, was hitting the target with almost every shot. She hadn’t wanted to let him shoot at all with the still-healing wound on his stomach and what she thought must be a sore lower shoulder, but he insisted. She finally relented when he proved he was okay by taking off his bandage to show her the claw slashes were mostly closed up and raising his lower right arm as high as his body would naturally let him, never wincing or showing any signs of pain.

  One of the last men to try was named Dasak. He’d been one of the ones waiting for his turn in the branches above. When he dropped down, she saw that he was predictably tall and muscular, but he seemed friendlier than most.

  In fact, he was downright flirty.

  She found that odd in an alien, especially after her admittedly limited observations of interpersonal interactions within the tribe.

  Lily thought it was just his personality at first and not directed at her in particular, but when she was showing him how to position his elbow, she felt his tail slide up the back of her bare thigh in much the same show of interest Tarra had given Lok. Except she was pretty sure males weren’t allowed to be quite so forward with females being that they were supposed to be submissive and, from everything she’d learned
, were only permitted to show their interest in a female by giving her gifts.

  Not by feeling her up with their tails.

  Lily reached back and gave the wandering appendage a hard pinch. Dasak yelped low in his throat and turned to gaze down at her in surprise, blinking at her when she gave him a displeased look, complete with narrowed eyes and pursed lips .

  Unfortunately, her obvious disinterest seemed to have the opposite effect than the one she was going for.

  An enamored smile slowly curled his grey lips and a distinctly delighted sparkle entered his cornflower blue eyes.

  Oh no. Nope. I know your type. Not happening, buddy.

  Lily had met more than one guy like him in college. The kind of guy who’s used to being wanted and starts to find the women who want him boring. When they meet someone who isn’t instantly attracted by their charm they become intrigued, and then the chase is on.

  She hadn’t thought male shevari had that kind of prey drive singular to mating, but Dasak had just proved her wrong. Or maybe he was an anomaly. Either way, Lily was not pleased to find herself the recipient of his interest.

  I’m perfectly happy with my four guys. I’m not trying to be like what’s her name… Shava, with her nine mates. How does she even manage to leave her nest with all those men?

  Another unfortunate development was that Dasak was an absolute natural with a bow. He was the obvious choice to give the last one to—the other two going to her and Frrar. Yet, as counterproductive as she knew it was because they needed someone to be good enough to use it, she didn’t want to give it to him .

  Lily had the feeling he would see it as a gift and, therefore, a show of interest.

  I’ll just ask Drrak to give it to him. He growled at Lok and Rork when I met them, maybe he’ll growl at Dasak too.

  With a plan in mind, she moved away from him, leaving him to practice while she checked on Tarra and Karr at the beginning of the line.

  Arruk skipped spear throwing practice since he was already proficient and took care of Trrak while she was busy, taking him to the ground a few times to let him potty and hunt up his dinner. Lily was thankful for that. Having so many armed shevari nearby, who were clearly wary of the big cub, made her uneasy.

  Karr, who seemed just as laid back as his boy-next- door appearance suggested, despite his deadliness with a spear, surprised her by sneaking in an ear-scratch for the cub when he thought no one was looking. It gave her hope that the tribe might learn to accept her unorthodox pet if they spent enough time around him and saw how sweet and not-people-eating he was.

  Something else that surprised her about Karr were the furtive, doe-eyed glances he kept stealing at Tarra. Those glances made Lily itch to play matchmaker.

  She spent the next while walking down the line of people practicing, helping with positioning, giving advice or praise, then standing back to watch. She may have been a bit more effusive in her praise of both Karr and Tarra in the hopes of drawing Tarra’s attention to Karr as well as giving the young woman a much needed confidence boost, but she thought she kept it relatively subtle.

  Lily felt proud of them for how well they were doing and of herself that she’d been able to teach them.

  She felt like one of the tribe at that moment, felt accepted for the first time since she and the guys had arrived weeks ago. It made a warm feeling—a feeling that maybe she could really find a home and a family with the tribe—fill her chest. She knew her guys had been stressing about the fact that she still hadn’t been accepted by their people and hoped today was a step in the right direction to change that.

  Akksha might take a bit longer to win over, but she could come around. Maybe. In time.

  L ily called a stop to the practice when the sun began to set. They’d been at it for almost two hours as best as she could tell. She was getting hungry, they still needed to collect the last round of arrows, and give everyone time to get home before dark set in.

  She cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention and smiled at them happily, making sure to keep her teeth hidden.

  “Shh uk sehr, ” she praised, telling them they’d done well.

  Lily gave them pats on their backs and a few last bits of praise or help for the ones still struggling as they left one by one.

  She was watching Tarra and Karr leave, noticing with a smile that they were swinging very close to one another, when a hand came down on her shoulder.

  Turning, she found Frrar staring down at her with Rork, Lok, and Dasak standing just behind him. Something about their expressions had a frown descending over her face. She still needed to give a bow to Dasak so she wasn’t upset to see him still there, but the way they were all staring at her made her feel immediately wary.

  She glanced over near the hut at Tor, Drrak, and Arruk, wanting some clue as to what was going on.

  Arruk looked disapproving but resigned as he stared at Frrar, his full lips tightened into a line and his usually bright eyes stormy. Drrak appeared unsure and unhappy, yet he, too, looked to be holding his tongue.

  Tor seemed almost darkly amused.

  Her usually playful mate looked pissed, like he knew what was about to happen and didn’t like it one bit, but anticipatory and smug as if he also knew how the situation was going to turn out and was waiting for the fireworks to start. His expression very clearly said I told you not to do this but fine, birdbrain, dig your own grave.

  Or at least that’s how she read it, which didn’t exactly give her a good feeling about what was coming.

  Looking back to Frrar, she asked warily, “What’s going on?”

  He shifted in place and drew in a deep breath before cupping her shoulders with his upper hands and her hands with his lower. Bending slightly, so she didn’t have to tilt her head back so far to see him, he gazed at her very seriously.

  “Mek Lily, I want you be sehr . Morre mates, morre sehr. Dasak, Lok, nu Rork be roaer mates,” he proclaimed, his tone beseeching.

  Lily gaped at him, speechless.

  She’d known he was deeply disturbed about her having only three mates because of his parents. His mom had had three husbands and, from what Frrar told her, they hadn’t been enough to keep her from being killed when pantari attacked the tribe en masse when he was a child. They left the safety of the trees when a young Drrak had fallen and left Frrar above. They’d managed to save Drrak, but hadn’t been able to save themselves, and Frrar witnessed their gruesome deaths.

  She knew he didn’t blame Drrak, but the trauma of that moment hadn’t ever left him and continued to color his actions into adulthood, in more ways than maybe even he realized.

  Lily hadn’t married Drrak to appease Frrar and put his worries to rest, but she’d thought he would’ve felt better once she had more than three mates.

  She really thought he had let go of his badly hidden focus on her taking more men.

  Apparently, I was wrong.

  “What the hell, Frrar?” she demanded, torn between hurt, angry, and shocked.

  He winced and opened his mouth to try again, but she cut him off by pulling her hand from his and slashing the air between them.

  “No, just no.”

  Pulling away from him, she studied the men waiting. Lok and Rork both seemed guarded but still hopeful, even after her reaction. She knew they couldn’t understand her, but she felt like her expression should’ve been telling enough for them to catch on that she was unhappy and that they had no reason to continue looking so optimistic.

  Dasak, however, appeared somber and was staring at her with more intuition than she usually associated with the kind of cocksure, flirty men he reminded her of. From her experience, those men were usually somewhat shallow and didn’t have the perception to be so observant of others, but he seemed to know how she felt. Granted, the player-type men she had experience with had been immature college guys. Lily knew there wasn’t much room for immaturity in the dangerous world they lived in, so it probably shouldn’t surprise her that he was more intuitive.r />
  There was a somber expectation in Dasak’s sky blue eyes and a bracing kind of tension in the way he stood.

  The brothers’ hopefulness and Dasak’s tension made her pause and choose her words carefully. She didn’t want to hurt them, but she wasn’t going to give them, or Frrar, any false hope either .

  “Shh sehr . But, me uknaa pari aaras shaerii, ” she stated, keeping her tone gentle but resolute as she told them she thought they were nice but she was not looking for any more mates.

  Lily held her breath as she waited for their reaction. She recalled Arruk telling her about some kind of mysterious connection or bond that formed for male shevari when they met the woman they wanted to be their mate.

  She didn’t know how it worked or how long it took to develop and was worried the brothers might be affected.

  When she’d asked Arruk what happened if the woman didn’t return the male’s connection, he painted a picture she found both heartbreaking and horrifying.

  The males never recovered.

  The shevari people mated for life and not, apparently, just because they wanted to. They became tied to their mate and would wither away without them. Lily didn’t know if that was a strange, alien biological thing that only worked once or if they eventually died because they weren’t later chosen by a different female, thus replacing the broken bond, but it also didn’t really matter.

  If Lok and Rork or even Dasak had been affected, she knew herself well enough to know she wouldn’t be able to leave them to suffer. So she watched their faces very closely after making her statement.

  Lok’s shoulders slumped a little and his lips turned down at the corners as he sighed softly. Rork was more stoic. His back stayed straight, but his gaze dropped from hers to the nest at her feet, his ears tilted backward, and his tail went limp behind him.