by Ruby Dixon
“It didn’t leave,” I tell her. “I smashed it into the side of the mountain.”
“We can tell you on the way back,” Aehako interrupts. “But we must get Haeden to the healer before it is too late.”
Raahosh’s eyes narrow and he moves to the travois, ripping my fur cloak down and uncovering him. A moment later, he gets up, replaces the blanket, and takes the travois poles from Aehako. “I will run it in. Stay with the women.”
Aehako claps him on the shoulder gratefully, and we watch as Raahosh takes off like a dervish, hauling the travois behind him with a speed and energy that makes me exhausted to watch.
“You okay, Kira?” Liz asks. “You look ready to faint.”
“I’m fine,” I assure her, though I weave unsteadily on my feet.
“I’d offer to carry you but my muscles are kinda puny,” she says, flexing an arm. She adjusts her bow, slung across her back. “But I’m happy to give you a shoulder to lean on if you need it.”
“There is no need,” Aehako interrupts, and in the next moment, he picks me up into his arms.
“You’re wounded,” I protest. “You can’t carry me.” I try to slither out of his grip, but Aehako only holds me tighter.
“You guys okay?” Liz asks, worried.
“I am fine. And you weigh nothing, Kira,” he says, and then nuzzles my throat. “It is my honor and pleasure to carry my mate.”
“Oh my God,” Liz cries and claps a hand to her mouth. “You two resonated? Really?”
I shake my head, but Aehako interrupts. “No resonance. We have chosen each other.”
“Aww, that’s romantic, I think,” Liz says, and there’s a wrinkle in her brow as if she’s not quite sure if she should be happy for us or not. I know what she’s thinking – what happens if one of us resonates to someone else?
So I distract her as we start walking, heading down the path that Raahosh has cut through the snow. “You haven’t seen Harlow, have you?” I ask her. “She was part of our group and ran off, and we can’t find her anywhere.”
“Jeez, I feel like I’m missing a big chunk of story here,” Liz says. “Someone wanna fill me in between alien plane crashes, wounds, and a missing person?”
We do, and it takes a bit of telling. By the time the story is finished, we’re striding into the mouth of the cave, me in Aehako’s arms, and worried tribesmates swarm around us. I can practically feel the love and worry in the air, and it’s a good feeling. For the first time, I don’t feel like a lonely outsider.
Maybe it’s because when Aehako sets me down, he refuses to let go of my hand and keeps me at his side. I like that.
Raahosh returns a few moments later and puts an arm around Liz’s waist, possessive. He nods at Aehako. “Haeden is with the healer.”
“I am glad you ran into us when you did.”
“You need the healer, too,” I point out. “You have a wound—“
“Hush,” Aehako says, and presses a kiss atop my head. “My mother will pack it with herbs and that will hold me until the healer is ready. Come. We should tell her she has a daughter. She has always wanted one.”
Liz giggles evilly. “Oh boy, meeting the in-laws. Have fun with that.”
I cast a look back at her, but I don’t protest when Aehako leads me deeper into the caves. His wound is first and foremost in my mind, not whether or not his mother likes me.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I ask, squeezing his hand.
“I will be fine. I don’t wish to distract Maylak from the healing she is doing on Haeden. He needs all her attention.” His brows furrow with worry and he casts a look at the healer’s cave. “If he doesn’t live…”
“He will,” I reassure him. And when he hesitates, I gently steer him back toward his own cave. “Tend to yourself first, then you can see how he is doing.”
He nods and tugs me along. I pass by Tiffany and Josie, who have worried looks on their faces. The loss of Harlow is one I’m not ready to talk about yet. I’m not even sure if I can grieve. It just doesn’t feel real yet. How can we have possibly lost a human? There are too few of us as it is.
“My son,” an elderly woman cries, and I see Sevvah emerge from her cave, holding out her arms for a hug. “What is this I hear about a wound?”
“It is nothing, Mother,” Aehako says, and his usual grin resurfaces. “You worry too much.”
“And you do not worry enough,” she fusses, embracing him.
My hand slips from his as he steps into his mother’s arms, and I remain behind, feeling a bit timid. I’ve talked with Sevvah plenty of times before. It’s a small cave, and I like her. She’s lovely, with gray braids looping around her horns and the same pale blue her son is. She looks regal and there are lines at the edges of her eyes from laughter, which is good. I shouldn’t feel weird about walking right in and sitting down as she leads her son into their cave. I mean, she’s invited me in for tea before.
It’s just that the last time I was just one of many humans, not a daughter-in-law. A daughter-in-law that will never resonate.
I swallow hard.
“Where are you wounded?” Sevvah fusses. “Oshen, bring me my herb bags. Sessah, move away. Go play with Farli.”
As I linger at the mouth of their cave, Sessah – a boy that can’t be more than ten years old or so – bolts out of the cave, giggling. I always forget that Aehako has a much younger brother. I know he has an older one named Rokan, but the sight of Sessah’s skinny body and twig-like horns makes me feel a curious kind of longing. Is that what Aehako’s children would look like?
A tail flicks at the edge of my vision and as I watch, Asha saunters into Sevvah’s cave as if she owns it. I watch as the flirty female moves toward Aehako, and puts an arm around his back.
To his credit, Aehako flinches away and looks for me. “Kira?”
I bite my lip and head in, though I feel like an intruder. Sevvah’s giving me a curious look and Asha’s shooting daggers at me with her blue gaze. Oh dear. I am really not good with confrontation, and this feels like confrontation.
Ironic that I took out the aliens without an ounce of anxiety, but approaching the man that loves me while his ex-girlfriend tries to slide in on my territory? While his mother watches? This is hard.
Meekly, I step to Aehako’s side and lace my fingers with his again.
“Hold this?” Sevvah asks, and hands me a small bone bowl full of herbs and what looks like fluff. “Now, Aehako, tell me what sort of things you have been up to, you naughty scamp.” His mother’s voice is loving, the affectionate tone of a woman who knows just how much trouble her son can be.
“Did you miss me?” Asha demands, pushing her way to Aehako’s other side as if I’m not there.
He frowns at her and shakes his head. “I, no—“
As I watch, her hand slides to his tail and she grips it at the base. I gasp, because that seems incredibly sexual.
How dare that bitch touch my man?
My hand leaves Aehako’s and before I can even stop to think of what I’m doing, I slap her hand away from him. “Quit touching my mate!”
The words tumble out before I can stop them, and everyone in the cavern stares at us. Aehako’s father Oshen, his mother Sevvah, Asha — they all look at me as if I’ve grown another head.
Then, Sevvah gasps and a smile breaks across her face. “My son! You resonated? And to such a lovely human!” She beams at me with matronly warmth.
“No resonance, Mother,” Aehako says, and pulls me against his side, carefully steering me away from a gaping Asha. “I’ve chosen her as my mate, and she’s chosen to be mine.”
I wait for Sevvah to question this, but she only smiles. “Equally wonderful.” She pulls at the laces of Aehako’s leather tunic, but it’s clear it’s not going to come off like that.
I step back out of Aehako’s grip. “Take off your shirt so your mother can see the wound.”
He removes his clothing, and then hands his tunic to me with a wink. “Not bac
k an hour and my mate’s having me strip down. You see why I took her as my woman? She’s demanding.”
I blush.
Asha’s still standing there, and I sneak a peek over at her. She is frozen in place, an unreadable expression on her face. It’s clear she doesn’t belong, and it’s also clear she’s making no attempt to leave. This is awkward. I feel bad for her. I know she’s throwing herself at Aehako, but it’s clear that she’s miserable, all thanks to a khui that picked someone else.
Her gaze flicks to me and I offer her a tentative smile.
She scowls at me and storms away.
So much for sympathy.
Sevvah shakes her head and takes a handful of the wooly herbs out of the bowl I’m holding. “That one has a hard head. Perhaps now that you’ve taken a mate she’ll get it out of her mind that you should be together.”
“One can hope,” Aehako says drily. He hisses when Sevvah presses the bundle of herbs against the wound.
“This should be stitched,” Sevvah tells him.
“Maylak can fix it.”
“Maylak will be exhausted trying to save Haeden,” Sevvah insists. “I won’t have you bleeding out while you wait for her to recover. You have a pretty mate to take to your furs. The last thing you want is to spend your time moaning in pain.”
“Not when I’d rather spend it just moaning, eh?” Aehako teases.
Oh my God, I can’t believe he just made that joke with his mother. I stare at him, horrified and unable to laugh.
As if she can read my thoughts, Sevvah rolls her eyes, taps his cheek with her hand, and says, “Behave, you randy fool.”
A giggle escapes me, and Sevvah flashes me a grin. Maybe the whole mother-in-law thing won’t be so bad after all.
“So,” Sevvah says as she readies an awl and a thick length of cord. As she pulls up a small stool, her husband Oshen retrieves a bowl from a shelf over the fire pit and carries it forward with gloved hands. Hot water. He sets it down nearby and Sevvah dips a bit of leather into it, then dabs at the edges of Aehako’s deep wound. “Where will you and your new mate be caving?”
“Caving?” I ask.
“What, you don’t want us here, Mother? I am wounded.”
My eyes widen. Sharing a cave with Aehako’s big family? And trying to have sex while doing so? The idea is unthinkable. But there’s no place else to go, either, and Harlow – and any hopes of a stonecutter – are gone. This is something I haven’t even considered, and I shoot Aehako a worried glance. Does he really want us to live here?
But even as I look over, he winks.
Sevvah snorts. “The last thing a young mated pair needs are two old ones and two boys snuggled up in the furs nearby. Your mate will want more privacy than that.” She dabs at his wound again, then looks at me. “Since there are so many newly mated pairs, there is talk of opening the caves to the south for the winter and splitting the tribes.”
“Then we’ll go there,” Aehako says, wincing as his mother tends to him. “Kira and I will definitely need our own space.”
“A noisy one, is she?”
“The noisiest,” Aehako says proudly.
I’m so going to die of embarrassment.
• • •
I must drift off to sleep at some point, because the next thing I know Aehako is kissing my brow and tucking me into bed. I should get up, but it’s so warm and safe and I’m curled up next to him so I just snuggle down closer and drift back to sleep.
It’s heaven, pure and simple.
I wake up at some point because I feel like someone’s staring at me. I squeeze one eye open and Sessah – Aehako’s much younger brother – is gazing down at me. I feel a little awkward and shy under his scrutiny. “Good morning,” I say in his language, since I know it now. The words feel fluid on my tongue, and I realize this is the first time I’ve been able to say more than just ‘hi’ to the younger ones, who haven’t been out to the elders’ ship for the language dump. I decide to show off a little. “Am I sleeping funny? Is that why you stare?”
“You’re Aehako’s mate?”
“I am.”
“But you didn’t resonate. How can you be mates?”
Oh boy. Am I going to have to explain the birds and the bees to this kid? “Well, ah, sometimes when two people love each other very much, they want to be together all the time despite the fact that they can’t have a baby.”
He wrinkles his nose at the thought. “Does this mean you’re moving into our cave? It’s already crowded.”
“I don’t know. Um, is your brother Aehako around?”
“He is with the chief.”
“Thank you,” I murmur, and straighten my clothing before emerging from the bed. I’m still dressed, thank goodness, but my leathers smell like smoke and sweat and I kind of wish I had something else I could change into. Clothing’s been at a premium with twelve new people to tend to, though. Maybe someone will have extras I can change into. I slide out of the furs, glancing around. I’m still in Sevvah’s cozy cave, though this portion has been sectioned off with a strategic rocky outcropping and a large woven basket to give the illusion of privacy. Nearby, I can still hear the heavy breathing of someone else sleeping, and the low murmur of Sevvah’s voice nearby.
Sessah’s right. The cave is definitely small and crowded. I’m grateful for the bed, of course, but I think longingly of my loft apartment back on Earth that had seemed so small two months ago and now seems like unrivaled luxury. When the babies get here, we’re going to be falling over each other with the crowding.
I…suppose that won’t be a problem for me and Aehako. I feel a guilty pang at the thought. It was his choice to mate me despite knowing my flaws, so I can’t worry about it. I tell myself this as I slide on soft boots, give Sessah a pat on the head, and then emerge from the private cave into the main interior of the tribal caves.
I yawn as I pad out into the main area and realize…I slept great. For the first time in what feels like forever, I slept without overhearing everyone having sex, the whispers picked up by the translator, everything. No wonder I feel so utterly refreshed. Even now, the cave is crowded but not overwhelming with voices. Instead, it’s like a low, pleasant hum of conversation.
This is…awesome.
Of course, a small downside is that I have no idea where my mate is now. I can’t follow the sound of his voice via the translator. I’ll have to hunt him down the old fashioned way.
Nearby, Tiffany and Josie are scraping skins stretched on frames. Josie gives a happy squeal at the sight of me and waves her gore-covered arms. “I’d hug you, girl, but I’m gross! I’m so glad you’re back!”
Tiffany’s the more reserved of the two, and she just smiles at me.
“I’m glad to be back, too.” I rub my earlobe. “I feel so much better without the translator.” I wonder how much they know about the ship returning and wanting to snatch us all again, or if that’s being kept on the down-low.
“I almost didn’t recognize you,” Josie says in a sunny voice, then turns back to scraping her skin. “Maybe I should check out the old mothership and see if it does breast implants. I’m feeling pretty inadequate around the sa-khui ladies.” She shakes her small chest back and forth, trying to make what little she has jiggle.
“Oh, stop it,” Tiffany says and nudges Josie with an elbow. “For real. No one’s gonna give you boob implants because you’re a skinny white girl.”
Josie sticks out her tongue, and Tiffany returns the gesture before they both start laughing.
Yeah…I’m thinking they weren’t told about the ship. They’re entirely too…happy. I gesture at the mouth of the chief’s cave. “Is Vektal in there?”
Tiffany leans over to look at the entrance of his cave. “I don’t think so? I thought I saw him walk outside with a few of the others earlier. You might check with the hunters if he’s not in the furs with Georgie.” She winks.
Oh, yikes. The last thing I want to do is run into them having sex. Lord knows I’ve
heard it enough already. “Um, maybe I’ll check with the hunters first.”
“Good call,” Josie cackles. “I saw more than I wanted to, once.”
“These people need some damn doorbells,” Tiffany says, and shakes her head.
I can’t disagree with that. I give them both impulsive, one-armed hugs around their shoulders that they can’t quite return because of their hands, and then trot off to find Aehako and the chief. Marlene is tending to a small fire where the cooked human food is prepared, and offers me a root-cake – not unlike a hash-brown cake – for breakfast. I nibble on it as I walk. If there was some coffee around here, I’d say this cave was downright cozy.
I find Aehako and Vektal talking near the entrance to the cave. They’re up on a rise, just far enough away not to be overheard. Georgie squats nearby in the snow, dry heaving as Vektal strokes her hair.
I cram my root-cake into my mouth and chew rapidly. Probably a bad idea to eat around the pregnant lady with morning sickness. Poor Georgie. She’s been barfing ever since she got knocked up.
Of course, I’d gladly trade places with her. I’d barf every day for three years in a row if it meant I could have Aehako’s child.
My mate looks up at that moment and sees me approaching, and a smile crosses his broad face. I bask in the warmth of his approval, so happy I could burst. The aliens are gone, my translator’s removed, and I have the love of a sexy, delicious alien. Oh, it is so tough to be me.
Aehako kisses me on the mouth as I move to his side and then swipes at the corner of my lip. “You have grease on your face.”
I scrub at my cheek, blushing. “I was trying to eat fast so I wouldn’t bother Georgie.” I look over at my fellow human sympathetically. “How are you today?”
“Not bad, actually,” she says, and stands up, wiping her own mouth. She looks pale and tired, but gives Vektal a small smile of thanks as he hands her a waterskin. She rinses her mouth and then spits off to the side.
Vektal studies me, arms crossed. His tail flicks once. “I did not recognize you without your shell,” he says, and gestures at one ear.