by Beth Sadler
Chapter 4
Zabron had been walking for over an hour when he decided that he could no longer ignore the shivers of awareness running down his spine. He stopped suddenly, he was being followed. There could no longer be a mistake. He had felt the tracker at his back for the last half hour. How they were keeping up with him without a light or without his superior strength was a mystery; but, he was definitely being followed, and darn well too. Hail Hera, what new mystery was this? Stepping carefully off the path he merged into the dark shadows of the trees and waited.
Jenna drew the fresh air deep into her lungs as she picked up her pace. She had always been a strong runner and the full moon was providing enough light for her to see the path. Two minutes later she closed in on her target, for some reason the man had slowed down and was now only metres away, invisible but, there. The humming of his thoughts lapped at her mind, telling her he was now alerted to her presence. Jenna drew to a halt beside a large fern that draped delicately over the edge of the path then, turning to look into the dark shadows she spoke.
"You can come out onto the path now. I know you're aware that I'm following you. I want to help you to find the boy; together we can reach him quickly and get him home safely."
Zabron was stunned. How had she known where to find him? He hadn't made a sound, hadn't moved a muscle, and yet she knew exactly where he was standing. Cautiously moving out into the moonlight, he looked a long way down into a beautiful upturned fairy face.
Delicate elfin features were dominated by huge green eyes. Her smile was wide and inquisitive as she gazed up at him in awe. She couldn't have been much more than five foot, her body and limbs, incredibly slender. Although, Zabron was man enough to notice the gentle curves that were in just the right places. And, she had kept up with his pace for over an hour. Then, to his absolute astonishment, his hand began to tingle in the age old Teeron signal, as he fell head over heels in love. Hail Hera, he had found his life-mate, here in the middle of the Australian bush.
"How you follow me?"
Zabron cursed his lousy English. How was he going to win this woman if he couldn't talk to her? "I speak little your language, please answer slow," he begged.
Jenna smiled in relief, he wasn't going to try and avoid her. It was time to lay her cards on the table.
"You can speak in your own language, I understand it."
Zabron felt his head swim, first in denial and then in relief, his love could understand him; he would be able to court her once this rescue was over. Swiftly he changed to Teeronal and bombarded her with questions.
"How is it that you understand me? How were you able to follow me?
"I honestly don't know. I heard you and your friend talking down by the path earlier and just knew what you were saying. As to following you, that was easy, your mind sends out a humming signal that I can follow," she laughed at his stunned expression.
"What in Hera do you mean by humming?"
"With you, I seem to hear a humming noise in my mind when you're thinking, and I can understand what you're saying. I followed the sound you were making to keep track of you." Jenna laughed at his chagrined look. "You couldn't have dodged me if you'd tried."
Shrugging her backpack into a more comfortable position, she turned, preparing to move on. "Have you located the boy yet? If you can get me close to him I think I can help; that's why I followed you." She spoke over her shoulder as she moved up the track.
Zabron remembered what she'd said when they'd first met up. "How do you think you can help to find him?" He questioned.
"I have another little idiosyncrasy, one that's blighted my life." Taking a steadying breath Jenna confessed her secret. "I hear what the average person is thinking if I open my mind to them. I'm hoping that I can use this ability in reverse, to make contact with Jason."
"Your ability certainly would help if we can get close. I'm heading for the area where they stopped for lunch, it's just up ahead. Once I'm in position I will contact Teril to find out if he has a fix on the boy."
Placing his hands gently on her shoulders he halted her, and turned her to face him.
"Before we continue let's introduce ourselves, I'm Zabron Hadrini, what's your name little fairy?" He smiled that gorgeous smile that had captivated her attention earlier in the day. Jenna felt her heart race and her knees weaken.
Wow! This man would only have to crook his little finger to get any woman. Swinging her arm up in a smart salute, Jenna replied, "Jenna Bradley, at your service General."
Jenna saw Zabron's white teeth flash a quick grin in the dark, before he moved on again.
"You don't seem to be afraid of me--you do understand where I come from and what I am, don't you?"
Jenna shrugged and then carried on walking; this time following his broad back.
"Sure, you're an alien from Teeron. But, what the hell, I'm weird too and we both want to help Jason. I figure we can sort out the 'Alien Invasion' thing after we find him." Jenna laughed merrily at his shocked gasp. "Don't choke, that was only a joke. I figure from what I heard of your conversation with your friend that you're the good guys. Of course, if you turn out to be a green, eight legged jellyfish in disguise, I might change my mind."
Jenna wasn't ready for Zabron's dead stop and ran straight into his incredibly hard, muscled back. Swinging around, he once again grabbed her by the shoulders, only this time not as gently.
"Jenna Bradley, I'm as human as you are. We are all the same biologically, just not from the same race or planet. We are humans who were separated thousands of years ago, and are now finally meeting."
Taking a deep breath Zabron got his frustration under control. He didn't want his life-mate to be frightened of him. He wanted her to fall in love with him and make him her slave. Oh boy! How he want to be her love- slave.
"Oh damn! Do you mean if I'd been born on Teeron I'd be tall and gorgeous like you? Jenna joked.
"You're perfect just the way you are; being tall is over-rated." Zabron growled in reply. "We don't have women who look like fairy princesses on Teeron." With that said, Zabron once more turned around and moved off. Jenna trailed Zabron's fast pace with ease; she had always been a fast walker, her speed belying her short legs.
She spent the next ten minutes ogling Zabron's tight tush and gorgeous back as she walked along behind him. There was something to be said for, literally, pulling up the rear, she thought.
They came upon Jason's lunch stop minutes later. Zabron slowed as they approached the benches that the group had used while they ate their sandwiches. He spoke softly to Jenna.
"We'll stop here for a minute while I contact the Pod. I'm hoping Teril will be there by now and has learned where Jason is." He waved Jenna to a bench. "Please, rest for a minute and perhaps, try to contact Jason. He shouldn't be too far from here, he's only twelve and wouldn't be able to walk a great distance."
Zabron sat in a boneless sprawl on one of the benches, while he fiddled with his com-watch. Jenna watched in fascination as his watch started to beep a regular signal. Seconds later Teril's worried voice drifted into the clearing.
"I have you on my scanner Zab but, you have a problem. A human is very close and appears to have followed you."
"Don't worry Teril, I know who it is; it's a fairy princess who will be my life-mate, if I'm very lucky." Zabron chuckled at the choked sound coming from his com-watch. "I will tell you all about it later, but first, our rescue mission I think."
Jenna heard Teril give Zabron a lot of technical data that made absolutely no sense to her. However, her mind was really not on their conversation, she was still mulling over the 'life-mate' thing, how strange, but very intriguing.