Huntress

by S. J. Sanders

  Orth escorted the human to a sheltered spot between two leaning stones and hovered over her until she sank onto another rock. Unstrapping his pack from his harness, Orth immediately rolled out a fur and wrapped it snugly around her stiff, uncooperative body. When he pulled back, she gave the fur a puzzled look and slowly began to relax by increments as she leaned into the rock, seeking what comfort she could find while Tah crouched to build a small fire.

  Glancing at his brother settling at his side, Tah couldn’t resist poking his younger triad brother. “Getting comfortable with the human?”

  Orth cast him a startled look but grinned. “She is a far sight better to look at than you, brother,” he retorted easily. “In any case, it costs nothing to be kind.”

  “You are not going to feel that way when she ends up plunging one of your own knives into your belly,” Tah snorted.

  Orth’s smile widened and he shrugged. “I like to think that I move quickly enough to prevent anything worse than a mild maiming.” His smile fell and his tone grew solemn. “She is very guarded. Sometimes gaining trust means showing trust first.”

  “You are foolish if you trust her,” he snorted. “Perhaps someone else should watch her.”

  The other male shook his head. “I do not trust her that much. We are still learning of each other, anyway. It could be that you are right, and she is nothing more than a calculated killer waiting for the right moment to move in, but I do not think so. Something within her broke and never healed right—why else would she have been chosen as an assassin to hunt her brethren rather than fight by their side? She is an interesting puzzle to me,” he admitted.

  Tah grunted and shook his head in disbelief.

  “You are certainly being quite considerate to the enemy as well,” Orth observed in Ragii with a laugh.

  Casting an irritated look his way, Tah growled back in kind. “If she becomes ill, she delays us. Even her shivering with the cold as she trudges on the path is a delay. If her presence were not necessary, I would not care if she crawled into a hole somewhere and died.”

  He winced internally. Maybe that was a little extreme. Though he hated being burdened with the care of a human among them, the idea of her dead didn’t bring him any pleasure. In fact, it did just the opposite. Imagining the spark of her life snuffed out saddened him more than he would have expected.

  “If there is any benefit to caring for her right now, it is only because this is good practice for when we finally have our mate,” Tah continued, ignoring the way his brother’s brows inched up. He took a water skin and tipped the contents back into his mouth, drinking deeply.

  Out of his peripheral eye, he caught the thoughtful look that crossed Orth’s face before his brother spoke. “I wonder how far she would allow such practice.”

  Tah choked on the water, liquid spewing as he coughed. “What do you mean?” he growled. “We are Ragoru. We do not lend ourselves out to exercise our passions with females who are not our mate as if we are beasts or men. I will not degrade myself in such a manner.”

  Orth broke out into a chuckle. “I did not mean practice in such a way, although it is fascinating which direction your mind immediately went. I meant more in terms of grooming, feeding and general care of a mate. What practice do you desire?” the younger male queried as he leaned forward, propping his lower elbows on his knees as a wide grin stretched over his face. The long scar that ran diagonally across his muzzle wrinkled with mirth.

  Fur bristling, Tah turned away, his eyes landing on the human sitting in the shelter. Although she was huddled into herself beneath the dark material draped over her, her icy eyes felt like they cut through him as she focused her attention on him. It made him uneasy. Even many Ragoru failed to remain quite so still. She didn’t move at all except for the rustle of fabric from the breeze. He knew for a fact that the Order did not know the Ragii tongue, and yet she looked at him as though she understood every word and was passing judgment upon him—condemning him for his thoughts.

  He shook his head, perhaps more violently than necessary. Turning his back to the huntress, he stared into the fire’s embers and tried to conjure the image of the female that his triad would acquire from the Citadel. If her image at times appeared to bear similarity to the mate who they vowed themselves to avenging, then that was all the better. She would be small and delicate, like the other triad’s human mate, Emala, had been, with a sweet personality and a mild temperament. She would be nothing like the dominant, larger female Ragoru, but instead would bend her will to that of her triad. They just needed to fulfill their oath. They were so close that Tah could nearly taste it, his entire body humming with anticipation.

  A feminine throat cleared behind him, startling him out of his reverie.

  Glancing back, he met the cool gaze of the huntress as she lifted her pale brows at him. “Not to sound ungrateful after you went through all that work to build a fire, but do you think you can move over a little? This shelter you set me in is doing fine against the wind, but your mountain of a body is blocking all the heat.”

  A small shiver stole over her as he took note of the fact that he was blocking the fire, his large body casting her smaller frame deeper in shadows. Grunting, he moved out of the way. Her eyes closed in pleasure, and he almost swore he heard her sigh.

  Gund dropped easily to her side, his larger body sprawling over the ground as he looked at her. “Do you hunger, female? We have plenty of provisions.”

  One corner of her mouth twitched. “I could eat.”

  The male leaned forward, pulling out a handful of dried meat from his sack, and placed it on her lap with an approving nod. She immediately bit into a hunk, eyeing them as she made headway into her food.

  “Heidi,” she muttered.

  Gund’s ears tilted toward her curiously. “What is that?”

  She swallowed and gave him a flat look. “My name. I am Heidi.”

  Tah grimaced. The name didn’t flow, but rather, it seemed to snap aggressively at him even as he attempted to make out the vocalization mentally. His expression must have betrayed him because her eyes landed on him and her lips tightened.

  “Do you have a problem with my name?” she demanded quietly.

  “Not at all,” Orth cut in.

  “It is awful,” Tah corrected.

  Heidi’s eyes slid over Orth and landed on him, narrowing as the temperature of her gaze dipped noticeably. “It’s awful?” she repeated.

  Something within Tah stilled at the dangerous note creeping into her voice, but he willfully disregarded it. He refused to be intimidated into conforming his opinion. His lips pulled back from his teeth. “Awful,” he repeated.

  “And what exactly is so awful about my name?”

  He snorted disdainfully. “Every sound of your name snaps and bites without even a trace of elegance. It tears against the tongue and ears as if some unknown thing is sinking its teeth into you with nothing more than the mention of your name.”

  Pale brows winging up, the infuriating female actually smiled and turned her attention back to her food.

  “Why do you look pleased?” he demanded.

  She grinned at him—a wide, sharp smile—as she licked traces of meat from the fingers that she’d freed from her glove before she began eating. “You gave me a compliment.”

  His ears flattened, taken aback. “There was no compliment in my observation.”

  Lifting one shoulder in a tiny shrug, she dug into the pouch of meat that Gund produced for her, and once she began hunting for more, ignored him. Tah fumed. She treated him as if he were nothing more than an annoyance. If she was going to be among his triad, she would respect him.

  Leaning forward, his face invading her space, he snarled. “Do not dismiss me as if I am nothing more than a silly rog!”

  “I do not control your self-perceptions,” she replied firmly, shooting him an impatient glance from beneath her lashes. “If you are acting like a silly rog, then that is on you. And if I say it is the sw
eetest compliment anyone has ever given me, you have zero control over that. So, deal with it, asshole.”

  “Vile human,” Tah snarled as he snapped up to his feet. Gund stilled and looked up at him impatiently from where he sat.

  “Sit,” he growled. “Eat and rest. Tomorrow is another long day in the mountains.”

  Settling once more onto the hard ground, Tah eyed Heidi distastefully. Her attitude was as coarse and undesirable as her name. Huffing irritably, he turned his attention to his food, ignoring the amused glances from Orth that occasionally drifted his way.

  7

  The higher elevations leading to the mountain pass had not yet been touched by spring. The track was at least clear, although the slushy snow gradually seeped into her boots. Her boots were made to be durable and silent but not water-resistant. Perhaps a lack of foresight on her part when she commissioned them to be made, but really, when was the last time she had to trek through slush for this long? She wanted to groan as she felt the telltale squish of her sodden wool socks. Within the first few hours, they had become so soaked that she was going to have to strip off her boots and dry her socks by the fire when they made camp. She only hoped that they would soon locate the pass and descend from the higher elevation. In the meantime, to distract herself, she kept entertained by verbally poking at Tah whenever she and Orth caught up to the male.

  To her surprise, despite the Ragoru being a suspicious lot and not individuals she was eager to trust with anything where it concerned her personal safety, Heidi was starting to enjoy the company of the males. It was preferable to that of others she had known over the years. They didn’t flat out ignore her or whisper behind her back like the men she’d worked beside in her youth, nor did she feel an overwhelming need to kill them—yet.

  She almost… begrudgingly… liked them. Almost.

  Gund, despite being a big grouchy male, was an effective leader, and though he lacked patience for a great many things, he attempted to remain civil and on task. He treated her respectfully, if not distantly, in their infrequent interactions throughout the day. Tah, on the other hand, was an utter dick, but even he proved to be surprisingly tolerant of her teasing. He huffed and glowered, returning her snark until he caught on to the fact that she was intentionally baiting him. That was sooner than she’d expected. He had ceased replying hours ago, much to her disappointment, though he still shot her dark looks from time to time. He did, however, take pleasure from her furious expletives whenever more icy water penetrated her boots. She’d given up hiding her irritation some time ago.

  He let out a low, raspy chuckle at her groan as she glared at the track in front of them—more specifically at the lake that had sprung up in the middle of it. The track had dipped down and the melt-off from the surrounding hillside created an enormous puddle that, though narrow, seemed to stretch on for a fair distance. The pooling melt-off was large enough to rival the size of the lake at the center of the Citadel. Going around it wouldn’t help, because then she would be sinking into snow and suffering the same problems.

  “Who the fucking hell put Gastler’s Lake in the middle of the fucking track?” she muttered. She shuddered as she imagined the deep water not just wetting her boots but swamping them. She glared at Tah as he laughed again.

  “Fuck off, Tah,” she shot at him. Her flash of satisfaction as his face dropped into a scowl was short-lived as she returned her focus to the dilemma in front of her.

  Orth grunted at her side as he too peered at the expanse of water. “It is not so bad…” he muttered dispassionately.

  “Says the male whose feet are protected by thick fur,” she returned sharply.

  He frowned at her tone but didn’t snarl back for a change. She noticed that, despite all the growling that he did when he first carried her off, and the way he liked to bare his fangs at her to demonstrate his displeasure, he was the slowest to rile among the males. Instead, though he bristled in annoyance, he glanced at either side of the pool speculatively. “Perhaps if we go around…”

  She shook her head, her mood sinking further.

  “No good. The snow is still deep up here in the mountains. I would be facing the same situation. Besides, going around it would slow our pursuit.”

  He grunted and inclined his head in agreement as he surveyed the steep slopes at either side of the pool of water. It was clear to Heidi that when the track had been put in, the natural path had been artificially widened, likely through blasting. To avoid it, they would have to retreat, cut back up into the mountains in another direction, and then try to work their way back, hunting for the track. All it would take would be loose snow covering it and they could easily miss it. The mountains stretched for enough of a distance that they could wander for weeks trying to find the track with little to no success.

  Obviously, the Ragoru at her side also considered this because both Tah and Orth stared bleakly at the water, not thrilled at the idea of wading across it. They were still staring at it when the triad’s lead pulled to a stop at their side. Gund immediately bit back what sounded suspiciously like a string of foul words in Ragii when he saw the reason for their delay and scowled. He scanned the surrounding landscape, growling to himself. It didn’t take him long to come to the same conclusion. Glancing at Tah, he jerked his head toward the puddle.

  “We are wasting time standing here staring at the water. It is not going anywhere. Let’s move forward.”

  Tah rolled his shoulders back and gave Heidi one last smirk that shifted into a grimace before plunging into the water. Spray kicked up as he splashed out ahead of them. Heidi gritted her teeth and glared at his backside.

  “Let’s get this over with,” she muttered, a small shiver of dread running through her.

  She stepped forward, steeling herself for the icy deluge, when four hands suddenly spanned around her, one pair around her ribcage and another gripping her hips as she was hoisted into the air. Orth’s gray fur warmed her as he turned her toward him, pulling her close against his chest. He didn’t give her an opportunity to protest before splashing into the water after Tah. His breath puffed over her head with a startled hiss at contact with the slush, but he made no complaint. His grip merely tightened as he began to wade across it.

  “What are you doing?” she whispered fiercely at him.

  “Carrying an ungrateful female who is not only fragile but lacks the basic sense to be thankful for the assistance,” he shot back waspishly. “Now be quiet and accept my aid before I recall my lack of sympathy and drop you in the water.”

  Pinching her lips together, Heidi settled against him, dropping her cheek against his chest. Her nose twitched as his fur tickled her face. Despite the way he was handling her, he was wonderfully warm, and Heidi wanted to burrow into him with pleasure. She settled for just pressing against him, turning just enough to keep an eye on the passing landscape.

  Although the water wasn’t deep on the track, it eventually had the male shivering as he quickened his pace. She knew that carrying her across was slowing him down. More than once, Heidi half-expected him to dump her in the water like he threatened, leaving her to make the rest of the way across on her own so that he could speed to the other side where Tah was already emerging.

  He breathed heavier with the extra exertion.

  “Apologies,” he gritted out as droplets of water splashed up, chilling her.

  “Don’t worry about me. Let’s just get across,” she mumbled into his fur. His chest vibrated against her cheek as he laughed. The sound was so unexpected that Heidi just stared ahead in shock, her body stiff against his. She refused to interpret anything more from the moment than there was. He clearly felt moved by some misplaced sympathy for her. Although every bit of her railed to mistrust it, another small part sincerely appreciated it.

  It was… nice. Even if it made her suspicious.

  They were out of the water before long, both of them wet, but when Orth set her down on the bare tracks, she saw that he was soaked through the thick
fur not only on his feet, but well up to his legs where the splashing water had drenched him. Tugging her cape tighter around herself in a desperate hope for more warmth now that she was no longer in direct contact with his body heat, she let her gaze linger on him for a moment from beneath the shadows of her hood. Orth inspected her and then, with a grunt, turned away to join his triad brother. Tah was sitting on the track only a short distance away, his entire body shivering as he worked to catch his breath.

  Heidi stepped closer, frowning. It appeared that he hadn’t acclimated to the frigid water as well as Orth and, despite his speed through the shallow water, was suffering more from it. She was somewhat tempted to taunt him about it, but she just couldn’t seem to summon the desire to do so. Not that there weren’t plenty of huntsmen who debated on whether or not she possessed a heart. A sigh gusted out from between her lips. Apparently, she did.

  Trudging wearily over to Tah’s side, she crouched down and met his eyes. “Are you going to survive?”

  “Yes,” he bit out thanklessly in face of her concern.

  Half-frozen and he was still a dick.

  “Great. I’ll make a fire.” Without another word, she stepped by, digging into the pouch belted at her side.

  The pouch was small, just big enough to carry a few necessities. Running her fingers over the few gold coins she kept for emergencies, she located her flint and steel. Sure, she could afford matches, but preferred not to waste the coin when she considered the flint more reliable. In such situations as this, it was a good thing too. Although the Ragoru likewise kept flint and steel, she didn’t like feeling as completely dependent on them as she would have been with damp matches.

  The sound of footfalls behind her alerted her to Orth following closely as she headed toward a rise of rocks several feet away, picking up small, windblown branches in her path along the way. It looked like a promising spot to rest for a bit. By the time she arrived, she had a pitiful armful of twigs, but at least it was something. Orth stopped near her and grunted with approval before he bent down and set several small discs down on the snow, like those they had used the night before. Unlike other fuel that she knew of, they burned slow and hot.