by Ruby Dixon
Even now, my tongue feels tied into a hard knot as I hand out rolled-up furs to the weeping creatures. They all seem to be upset and shivering, and nearby, Aehako makes hot tea in front of the fire and hands out warm cups of it to try and settle the hoo-mans. I can tell by the smell that he has added a calming herb, but it does not seem to be working yet.
Only two of the females are not panicked by their situation—Shorshie, Vektal’s mate, and the one with hungry eyes who watches me. I kneel down and pretend to adjust the laces on my boot, and as I do, I steal a glance over at her. She still watches me, her strange, dark eyes avid. When our gazes meet, she purses her lips in my direction and then chuckles to herself. I do not know what that gesture is but…watching her strange pink lips makes my cock stir. Flustered, I jerk to my feet and move to the back of the cave, where my brothers lean against the wall and talk in low voices. Pashov and Salukh glance at me as I approach, my tail lashing.
“That one rattles you,” Pashov tells me with a grin, nudging his chin at the hungry-eyed female. “Your brow is flushed like a young hunter with his cock newly erect.”
I give him an irritated shove, but his words just make my face heat even more. I look over at Salukh, my capable, always-settled brother. He does not look flustered by the females. “Do…you think it is resonance?”
Salukh snorts. “How should I know?” His mouth curves into a wry smile. “My chest is as silent as it ever was.”
I glance at Pashov. He rubs his chest, expression thoughtful and distracted. He does not look at my female, though, but at another. Of course, the realization that I think of her as “my female” makes me restless and uncomfortable all over again.
To think that I might have a female when all of this is settled. To think that we all might. It is…incredible. “You are calm, Salukh,” I point out. “My heart races at the sight of the females. Pashov looks similarly affected, but you do not. Tell me your secret.” I want to know how to remain calm so the smiles of the one with the dark mane and enticing eyes do not make my tongue attach itself to the roof of my mouth.
My unruffled brother shrugs. “Resonance decides,” Salukh says. “If I am to have a female, I will resonate. Until that happens, they are just new tribesmates, nothing more.”
New tribesmates. Of course. But that is not such a simple thought either. We are a small tribe. New tribesmates are born, and ever since the khui sickness, the births are few and far between.
It is not as easy as all that. “Mm.” I look to Pashov to see what he thinks, but he is lost in thought yet, his gaze fixed on the females. I turn and try to see who he stares at, but as night approaches and the temperature drops, the females huddle together for warmth near the fire, piled together like snowcat kits. It is impossible to tell who has captured his attention, but I will ask later.
A male approaches us—my chief. Even he is different now that he has resonated to the small, pale hoo-man called Shorshie. There is a sparkle in his eye, a spring to his step. There is hope that lightens the weight on his shoulders. He approaches me and my brothers and leans in, speaking in a low voice. “The hoo-mans cannot stay here. We must find a sa-kohtsk and hunt them khuis, and then we must take them to the elders’ cave so they can receive our words like Georgie did.” He pauses to look at his mate with a possessive expression. “We leave in the morning at first light.”
I nod. Morning, because the travel will be slow with so many sickly and weak females. They are not like my sister, Farli, who is strong and tall despite her young age. These seem far more fragile, more likely to break at a strong wind. How does it not terrify my chief to be mated to such a delicate creature?
“Would sleds not be better?” Salukh asks, ever practical. He crosses his arms over his chest and studies Vektal. “We could take another day or two, get some bones from one of the hunter caves and make several of them so the hoo-mans can ride.”
The chief shakes his head. “Some of the hoo-mans are very sick. The air is poisoning them because they have no khui. We must go and go soon. First light.”
It makes sense. “Of course, my chief.”
He studies me, and then Pashov. “Because the hoo-mans are so weak, I am asking all the hunters to find one and watch over her. Take her under your wing and make sure she stays warm. Make sure she can keep up and that she wears enough furs…and make sure that she stays with the rest of the group. I cannot watch all of them. Carry a female if you must, but we need them all together for when we find the sa-kohtsk.”
“Understood,” Pashov says, his expression focused once more. “We will not fail you.”
Vektal nods at my brothers and then heads off to talk to Haeden, who is already scowling with displeasure. He will not like being told to watch over a hoo-man, I think. Then again, he does not like much of anything.
Pashov flings an arm around my shoulders. I am shorter than him, and he does this to point out this fact. I try to shrug him off, but he only grabs me in a headlock and grins. “Which one are you going to pick, little brother?”
I growl at him. Pashov is tall, and Salukh is massive and broad. I am neither, but that does not mean I am puny. The words “little brother” make me irritated, especially in front of the females. “Do not make me break your nose again.”
Salukh barks a laugh, and Pashov immediately releases me. “You said that was an accident!”
“It was. This time it will be on purpose.” I give him a light shove. “As for the females, I do not know.”
It is a lie. I do know—I want the one with hungry eyes—but I do not know if I am brave enough to approach her.
Pashov looks over at Salukh.
He shrugs. “It matters not to me.”
“I want the one with the big teats,” Pashov says, his expression suddenly fierce. “The big teats and brown mane. Stay away from that one.”
Big teats and brown mane? I look at the cluster of females and see one that I suspect matches that description, but she does not look particularly enticing to me. Pashov watches her with an intensity that makes me wonder, though. “She is yours,” I tell him.
“You should claim the one with hungry eyes,” Pashov tells me, breaking his gaze long enough to look over at me.
I can feel my face grow hot again. My tail thrashes and I just shrug, imagining her pink mouth in a curving smile as she looks at me…and then I am too awkward to speak.
“Someone else will claim her if you do not,” Pashov warns me.
The thought is absurd. There are so many females that it makes my head spin…and yet the thought of her giving her enticing smiles to Dagesh or Haeden or Aehako makes my head spin. Fierce possessiveness ripples through me and I cross my arms over my chest, frowning as I look over at the females once more, seeking out the black mane of the female in question.
The moment I see her, I realize she is still watching me. I look away again.
“She watches you,” Salukh tells me, amused.
Even though I do not want to, I turn to look over at her again. She wiggles her strange eyebrows in my direction and traces a shape on the floor, her fingertip moving over the flat metal cave in an enticing manner that makes my cock respond. I look away again.
“You should talk to her,” Salukh encourages. “Perhaps she is interested in a pleasure mating.”
My brother makes it sound as if it is the easiest thing in the world to discuss. Pleasure mating. It is something that I have always wanted yet never thought would happen for me. A pleasure mating. A hand on my cock other than my own? I think of the female. She would not weep and whimper at the thought of mating. She would welcome me with hot eyes and a smile. I bite back the strangled sound that rises in my throat and hope my loincloth hides my erection. “I will talk to her…soon.”
“When? She still watches you.”
“Soon,” I say again quickly, and then stalk away from my brothers so they do not pester me with more questions. I head to the front to relieve one of the hunters guarding the entrance, just because it
will give me an excuse to avoid the females and my brothers both.
I am not on guard for long before Aehako comes out and gives me a nudge. “Go inside. We are all taking quick turns so we have an opportunity to watch the hoo-mans.”
I want to protest that the hoo-mans are why I am out here, but…I do want to look at them more. At one in particular. I avert my gaze and pull my hood over my horns so he does not see the blush staining my brow. I return inside, and I am disappointed that the female with the hot eyes and dark mane is asleep, curled under the blankets against all the others. But since she is sleeping…this gives me a chance to look at her without embarrassment. I approach, pretending to add another chip of fuel to the fire, then stoke it with the bone left next to the stones for such a purpose. As I do, I look at her, drinking in her features. Up close, her face is small, her features tiny compared to my own. Her nose is but a snub, the brows she wiggles at me small slashes of dark above her expressive, odd eyes. It is her mouth that fascinates me the most, how pink and wet it seems. Her lips are full and pleasant, and her pale skin is an ugly color but it looks…soft. Her eyes flutter and then she is looking at me.
I should greet her. Be kind. Reassure her that all is well. Speak hoo-man to her.
Instead, all that comes out is a strangled sound, like the honking of a scythe-beak in mating flight.
She makes a soft sound of amusement and then pats the open floor next to her, as if inviting me to sit. I blink, and then hastily move away again. Coward, I tell myself. Coward! She is but a small female. Why do you run?
But I know why I run. I know my tongue will remain tangled, and my cock will throb and I will not be able to speak. I will end up scaring her more than reassuring her. I move to the far end of the strange stone cave and clench my fists, trying to calm my thoughts. Go back to her, I tell myself. Go back and greet her. Say “ho.” It is the easiest sound to make. She will not bite. She will not laugh at you—she likes you, does she not?
One of the humans makes a startled cry, and then everyone is on alert. “They’re coming back,” one of the humans says. “We have to go, now!”
4
ZENNEK
T here is a mad scramble as we rush to get the humans away from the cave. Other aliens will be coming back to snatch them away from us, tracking them from devices embedded in their arms that flash under the skin. I have never seen anything like it, but when Shorshie digs hers out of her arm and reveals it to be a bit of metal, I realize what they are saying is true. Soon, all the humans go under the knife, some crying, most grim-faced and silent as they are wounded and bandaged. As the humans have the strange flashing rock removed from their arms, they are immediately bundled up by those of us waiting nearby. I have a bundle of boots that were retrieved from our stores and hand a pair to each female as she passes by.
One small female has a bad leg and her tone is hysterical. “Please don’t leave me behind!” She casts us worried looks, her eyes full of tears.
Haeden gives her a look of disgust. He snatches the boots from my grip and scoops the small female into his arms. “I will carry this one.”
She flings her arms around his neck, sobbing her relief, and Haeden just looks even more displeased.
A familiar thrumming sound touches my ears. The throb of it is faint…but I know it. I look around, and as I do, Pashov’s gaze meets mine. He puts a hand over his chest, a look of wonder on his face.
My brother resonates. I am filled with joy for him. At his side, Dagesh touches his chest, watching one of the human females swaddled in furs by the entrance.
“Who is it?” I ask my brother, moving close.
“The female I liked. I knew it.” He casts a grin in my direction. “Say nothing, though. I do not want her to be scared. She needs time.”
And we need to retreat from this place. I nod at him and steal a glance over at Dagesh. Does he resonate to my female?
But no, she stands, waiting for her arm to have the strange pellet removed. A wave of relief rushes through me.
Vektal stalks through our group like a protective father. He puts a hand on my chest, pauses, and then moves on to Pashov. My brother immediately bats Vektal’s hand away, and my chief scowls at him. He leans in. “Let the hoo-mans make the first move.”
Pashov nods.
The last of the humans have the strange flickering thing removed from their arm, and then they are bundled up. Vektal takes the pouch of the location-pebbles and hands it to Pashov. “Take this away from here and drop it into the nearest metlak cave.”
Pashov looks at the females, then back at his chief and nods. I know he wants to stay. It is in the stubborn set of his shoulders, but he does as Vektal commands. I suspect Vektal deliberately sent my brother away because he resonates.
Then we are out in the snow. Vektal hefts his mate onto his back and takes the lead, gesturing for the rest of us to follow. One by one, we pair up with the females, some males taking on the responsibility of watching over two as they currently outnumber us. Haeden carries his broken-legged female on his back, and I heft my backpack then look at the females, trying to find one in particular.
A hand taps my arm. “Salut.”
I turn, and it is the female with the hot eyes. They are not so hot right now, though, but full of fear. She shivers as she looks at me, waiting patiently. I automatically pull my light cloak off of my shoulders and wrap it around her. The snow drifts down, but otherwise it is a pleasant day, yet she shivers and trembles as if it is deep in the brutal season. “Ho,” I manage to choke out.
“May I walk with you?” she asks, and she says hoo-man words strangely, as if her tongue is caressing them. Fascinated, I watch her mouth for a moment, then nod, blushing. “Merci.” She puts a hand on my arm and steps forward, only to sink into the deep snow.
“I…can…carry you,” I manage to choke out in hoo-man tongue. It is hard to look directly at her when she watches me. She is so…fragile and lovely. The strange color of her skin and her small features grow more appealing by the moment, and I can feel my brow is on fire with my blush.
She pauses. “If you are sure? I can walk.” And she tries to step forward again, this time losing her boot in the snow. “Merde,” she says, and the sound is annoyed. It is another hoo-man word, and one I do not recognize. I rub my ear, wondering if perhaps the hoo-man words did not go into my brain properly as they did the others.
I will worry about that later, though. I bend to retrieve her boot and hold it out so she can put her small foot inside it. She does, and I automatically lace it up her calf, making sure it is tight so it will not slide off again.
Her hand goes to my back and I stiffen.
“Oh, mon Dieu,” she murmurs, her fingers stroking over my shoulder. “Tu es si doux.”
My cock reacts, hardening immediately, and the breath whooshes from my lungs. I make a “guh” sound and then clear my throat. “We must walk.”
“Apologies,” she says, but she does not sound sorry. She sounds amused. “Perhaps it is best if you carry me after all.” She looks ahead at the others, who are already outpacing us.
I nod and remain bent in the snow, patting my shoulder so she can climb onto me like Farli used to do as a kit. Her arms go around my neck and the scent of her fills my nose. There is a strange scent to her skin that reminds me of the liquid that covered her in the pods, but under that, she smells musky and pleasant and my cock feels like stone even as it thrusts against the leather of my loincloth. I am glad she is on my back, because now she cannot see that, at least.
I draw in a breath to brace myself and then get to my feet. Her legs curl around my waist and her arms are chokingly tight, but I do not complain. I like the feel of her against me, and I jog forward to catch up with the others, hoping that my erection will die down before anyone else notices.
Then again, this is the first time we have all been around so many unmated females. I am probably not the only one with an aching cock.
We walk for a time, a
nd I say nothing. Some of the others chat with their humans as they encourage them to walk faster—Aehako is talking the ear off of two of the females, and Rokan is in conversation with another while Zolaya grins and tells a silly story, doing his best to make a weeping one stop her crying.
“Je suis Marlène,” the female says in my ear. Her breath tickles against my skin and I shudder, immediately shocked at how much that brush of her breath affects me. “Et toi?” she prompts, and pats my shoulder with one thickly-gloved hand.
She seems to want something, but I do not know what she asks. “Can you speak hoo-man?” I ask her. It is easier to talk to her when I stare ahead and try not to think of how close she leans in, or her pink mouth so near to my ear…
And now I am hard again. I furtively rub a hand against my cock, willing it to subside.
The female chuckles into my ear. “There is more than one human language, silly man. Perhaps it is you that is not speaking the words correctly.”
That draws me up short. I pause, worried. “I am not?”
“Keep walking,” she tells me with a tap to my shoulder. “I do not want to be left behind.”
Of course. I pick up my feet again and continue. I must get her away from the strange cave. We do not have time for me to pause and get flustered by her words.
“I tease you,” she tells me in that soft, lilting voice. “I am sorry if it was confusing. My tongue is different than the others’.”
“Different?” I ask, because I must. I caught a glimpse of it earlier—pink and wet—but I did not notice it being different than the other humans. “Is that why you sound different from them?”
“Oui. Ahem, yes.”
Well, that explains a great many things. She is still interesting, for all that her mouth has a strange tongue in it. “Say no more. I will tell the others not to mock you.”