“Let’s get you dressed and get back.” Rygar kissed her, nipping at her lips, once before he drew back. “I am getting hungry even if you aren’t, my pretty exhibitionist.”
She stood as he came to his feet right in front of her. In moments, he was fastening his pants.
“I don’t have to dress. I could go back just like this. None of the other Zarain would mind.”
“You’d probably do it too but you’re mine. If it was necessary, that’s one thing, but it’s not,” he said with a growl in his voice. “Now stop trying to make me jealous and get dressed.”
She pulled on her shirt but turned back to him. “There’s no need to be jealous. You know I’m yours, just as you’re mine.”
He hugged her but released her so she could finish dressing. “Does that mean you’re going to stop threatening to leave?”
She tilted her head and looked up at him through her lashes. “What does my saying you’re mine as much as I’m yours have to do with me deciding to stay with you for the rest of my life? There’s so much I don’t know about you and your pack.”
He frowned. “You are going to stay with me. Mates don’t run away just because they don’t like the way something’s done.”
“Mates don’t normally make someone miserable. I won’t stay in a place where I’m miserable.” She folded her arms across her chest.
This wasn’t something she took lightly. She didn’t want to leave him and she hoped he realized that. Only if it got to the point where she was certain that they’d both be absolutely miserable would she even consider it. She knew they’d have good times and bad. She was willing to work through them as long as there was good to be found.
“You know that I’ll do my best to make you happy.” He tangled his fingers in the tight curls of her hair. “You won’t find it easy to walk away from me.”
She closed her eyes. Even if everything was horrible now, it wouldn’t be easy. She felt pulled to him, wanted to be with him. The way he treated her always made her feel cherished, wanted.
“Come here. No more talking about leaving. It upsets you. We’ll go back to the camp and we’ll talk.” He watched as she pulled on her pants and fastened them.
Dari smiled as she finished. Talking about leaving did upset her but she could tell that it also bothered him. She walked over and curled her arm around his waist. She wasn’t going to think about leaving him, not unless she had to.
“Talk about what?” she asked as they walked through the forest.
“Do you have any family?” His head tilted and he slid a look toward her. “Someone who’ll miss you?”
“I have…” She swallowed loudly. A wave of sadness and guilt rushed over her as she thought about Jaina. “I had a sister, Jaina.”
“Had? She’s dead?” Rygar’s head lifted and he stared at her.
She bit her lip. “I don’t know if she’s dead. We were in a small city on a world. She disappeared. I was in a different part of the market. She was just gone.”
“How? Where was this pack of yours?” He frowned, his hand stroking over her in soothing motion. He stopped, drawing her to a stop beside him.
“I think I’ve mentioned we didn’t always have males. That was before the Achan and his men joined us. We think she was taken by other shifter males. We know they were in the city.” She met his eyes.
“Why do you feel guilty?” He cupped her cheek.
“She was younger than me. I promised my mother I’d take care of her. I failed. I should have been with her.” She shook her head. She had been in another part of the market getting some supplies but she couldn’t help thinking that if she’d been there, she would have been able to change things.
“And you were alone after your sister was taken?” His head tilted.
“She was my only family but the pack became my family. They stood with me.” She’d never felt more lonely than after her sister had disappeared. For ronas, she’d felt lost and desperate, especially when they couldn’t find a trace of Jaina. She didn’t know what would have happened if Caidi and the other women hadn’t been there. They’d helped her to cope when she’d finally had to accept that they wouldn’t be able to find Jaina. The other women had become her anchor, her family.
He looked at her but didn’t say anything. He nodded and began to lead the way back to the camp.
Chapter Five
The next morning, they stepped through the gate on Vassair, Ajiari pack’s home world. She noticed the Zarain men standing in the gatehouse and guessed that they monitored who came and went here. She hadn’t really expected that. From what they’d said, their Taivain wasn’t very close to the gate.
As they walked out of the gatehouse, she saw a market spread out in front of her. She hadn’t had any idea that there would be a market here. Not when they seemed so concerned about enemies finding them.
Rygar came to stand beside her. “I’m glad we’re almost home. I want to show you that our way of life isn’t as bad as you imagine it is.”
She slid a sidelong glance toward him. She wasn’t going to touch that comment. It would only start another argument. “Is this place secure enough for me to have a look at the fabric?”
“Let me check with the two guards at the gate. They’ll know if anyone unknown has come through the gate. If everyone here is just the normal visitors, you can walk through the market.” Rygar’s eyes swept the market once.
He stepped back into the gatehouse but Dari wasn’t alone. There were at least two men near her. The market wasn’t overly crowded but there were a good number of people browsing the stalls. She looked over the nearby wares. Fruit held prominent place in one of the nearby covered stalls. Most of the carts near the gatehouse sold food or pans and other supplies that might be needed by travelers.
Rygar came out of the gatehouse with a smile on his face. She took hope from that. She wanted to shop for some cloth and just be able to walk through the market, to feel a little freedom.
“You can go look at the stalls. I’ll be talking with Logan but there will be a guard with you,” he said with a smile.
Dari opened her mouth to protest.
“We’ve lost a woman here just recently and she didn’t run away. We have our reasons for our watchfulness here.” He pulled her close and dropped a swift kiss on her lips.
It was there and gone before she could respond. She snapped her mouth closed. She wanted to ask what had happened but he walked away from her only a moment later. A man stepped up beside her as soon as Rygar stepped away from her. It was Sian, one of the men who’d been with Rygar in that prison.
“Are you ready to go?” Sian asked.
She nodded, deciding to get going before Rygar changed his mind. Heading into the market, she began looking over the tables farther away from the gatehouse. She found a row of stalls selling cloth near one corner of the market square. She inspected the wares on sale.
Stopping at a stall, she began to go through the cloth set out on the table. She moved to another stall but didn’t have much hope for that one as she approached it. She had no idea of the quality of the cloth but there didn’t seem to be much choice available. Brown, black and blue abounded on the cart but it wasn’t what Dari wanted or usually liked. She fingered the fabric and was surprised by the feel. It felt good, like quality cloth should. She picked it up and looked at the weaving. It was nice, tight weave, good color, no obvious flaws. She’d have picked up some cloth if they’d had had anything besides the dark colors on display. She smiled at the vendor and turned to walk away from the table.
“You don’t see what you like, lady?” the vendor asked in a very friendly tone as he came out from behind the stalls.
Dari tilted her head as she looked at him. She could tell he intended to haggle about prices and from the look in his eyes, he was almost certain he’d make a sale to her. She wasn’t worried about his determination. She had enough experience to know when she’d gotten a good deal and when she’d been taken.
&nb
sp; “You don’t have much selection. I’m going over to one of the other stalls to have a look.” She took a step toward the next stall.
She wasn’t surprised when the short man rushed over to stop her from leaving. Sian took a step forward, his expression grim. The shorter man paled and stumbled back, his hands out in front of him.
“You don’t need to go there, lady. I’ve got more cloth in the cart at the back of my stall. Those dark colors sell so well that I usually don’t have any use for the others. You won’t find better cloth in the market than what I sell.” He gestured back toward his stall.
“It’s the same quality as what you have on display?” she asked with a raised brow.
“Even better,” the merchant assured her with a smile.
The wily salesman was probably only saying that because he planned to increase the price for the cloth. She stepped back over to the stall and waited as the man lifted the covering tarp off the cart. He pulled a bright selection of cloth out and carried it over to the stall.
She fingered the cloth and picked up an edge of the bright green bolt in front of her. The quality was good and she loved the color. She moved on to the red and rich gold-yellow fabric.
The man named his price. She tried haggling him down to a lower price but he remained firm. She told him thanks but she’d look elsewhere. The price he’d named was much too high. If he really wanted to sell that fabric he’d lessen it. She’d learned that sometimes a merchant had to think he’d lost a customer before he’d bargain.
“You wanted some of that cloth, didn’t you? You came here to buy cloth.” Sian looked at her as if she’d done something really strange.
“He was asking too much for it. I could get nearly two lengths of cloth for what he wants for one. That green, the red and the yellow are nice pieces of cloth but they’re not that nice.” Dari smiled and walked over to another stall.
They checked two more stalls. She glanced over and saw a Zarain man at the stall, buying the red, green and yellow cloth. She sighed and slid a glance at the man at her side. He didn’t even look a little guilty.
“You wanted that cloth,” Sian said with a shrug. “Rygar told me that if you found something you like, I was to make sure you got it.”
“You overpaid.” She put a hand on her hip and glared at him.
“That’s about the price we usually pay for cloth, I think.” He looked as if he couldn’t understand her problem.
“Then you usually overpay. Don’t you men bargain at all? Sometimes, you have to be prepared to walk away to get the best deal. He wanted to sell that cloth. He’d have found us and offered us a better deal.” She felt like yelling at him. She’d been looking forward to bargaining with that merchant.
“Do you want to see any more of the market? There are some jewelry stalls in a section just off this main square.” Sian gestured to a street that connected to the main market area.
She drew in a deep breath. She wasn’t ready to stand and wait until the men finished doing what they needed to do. Looking at jewelry sounded nice.
She walked beside Sian through the market. She could tell that he was really relaxed and didn’t think that they’d find any danger here. He didn’t look at everyone who came near her with suspicion as her guards had in the other markets.
The area he took her to was filled with stalls of jewelry from the most basic leather string necklace to ornate bands. She looked at the worked metal, careful not to show partiality to anything. She didn’t know if Rygar’s instructions included jewelry too.
They were just turning away when a woman standing behind one of the stalls stepped forward. “If you don’t see anything you like, I have more in my home just behind this market.”
Dari wanted to look at some more of the wares but didn’t know if it would be a good idea. She looked over at Sian. He nodded.
“She’d like to see more of your wares,” Sian told the woman.
The woman smiled and turned to a younger woman sitting at the back of the stall. After a few words, the older woman turned back and gestured for them to follow her. Dari and Sian followed her out of the market and onto a nearly deserted side street.
As they turned a corner, Sian stumbled forward and almost fell on top of her. She spun as she instinctively leapt to put some distance between them. She heard the older woman’s indrawn breath and rapid footsteps. Dari didn’t pay her any attention. She focused on the dark-haired man in front of her. A moment later, she heard a door slam. He stood a good body length away from her with a scarred, short, thick metal club in his hand. Her hand automatically went to her side, feeling for the knife sheath she normally wore there. Finding nothing, her hands clenched as she kept her eyes on the man. She wanted a weapon of some kind. The man looked as if he was too familiar with that cudgel in his hand. He stepped forward, the club moving in a slight swaying motion. She didn’t focus on that mesmerizing movement.
“He didn’t take long to choose another woman, did he?” the man asked. “He’ll pay for what he’s done and so will you.”
Dari had no idea what he was talking about and didn’t care at the moment. She’d get the details later after she was safe. She wasn’t going to try talking to someone who could very well be insane. The first thing she had to do was either get a weapon of her own or get that one out of his hands.
She glanced at Sian. She hoped he was just unconscious.
Rygar! She tried calling to him in her mind but had no idea if he’d heard her. He always initiated the conversations between them. She didn’t even know if she could talk to him on her own yet. Where was her overprotective mate when she needed him?
She kept backing away from the man, not wanting him to refocus his attention on the man near his feet. Sian would be defenseless against any further attacks as he was now. The man seemed totally unconcerned with Sian. He didn’t even glance down to see if he was regaining consciousness. Dari had the feeling he was hired muscle. He appeared to just want to get the job done and move on.
He brought the small club up to about chest level, ready for attack. Her muscles loosened and she felt a calmness fall over her. She was still scared but every bit of her attention was locked on the coming fight.
The man’s hand rose and the club slashed toward her upper body. Dari jumped back, dodging the blow. She circled to the right. She watched his body, let it tell her which way he was going to move.
“Bitch, just hold still and this will be over in a few moments. If you keep giving me trouble, I’ll mess you up so bad no man will look at you,” the man grated in an angry hiss.
Dari laughed. What kind of fool would stand still and let someone beat them with a club? She wasn’t going to make this man’s job easy. He’d have to work to beat her.
The man swung his weapon again. This time the club struck the wall as she dived out of the way. It clanked and rang as it struck the stone. She looked for an opportunity to take the offensive. She didn’t want to take too many blows from that weapon and knew that if he kept swinging he would eventually hit her.
He drew his arm back and she rushed him. Her hand clasped his wrist as his arm descended. Fear and anger gave her an extra burst of strength. She kept pushing him back until he was stopped by a stone wall. She had a sure grip on his right arm but his left was free and he punched at her. The first blow slammed into her unprotected side. She grunted but kept his right hand pinned between them as she did her best to block the worst of the blows.
She drew in a ragged breath. The man was strong and nearly broke free from her grip as he twisted, kicked and struggled. She didn’t know how long she could hold on to him. Even though she was a Zarain, she had to use every bit of strength to keep him pinned to the wall.
Her grip on the wrist holding the club tightened. She twisted, trying to force him to drop the weapon. Once she did that, she was certain she’d be able to handle him. They’d be more evenly matched.
He strained, trying to keep his fingers wrapped around the weapon. A harsh
groan ripped from his throat. She felt his muscles tense. Although she barely realized it, a low growl rumbled from her. She wouldn’t let him win. With a last upward twist, she heard a snap from the man’s arm. The metal bar fell. She stepped back enough to let it drop to the ground and kicked it to the side. It made a skittering clatter as it bounced over the street.
She jumped back, releasing the man but kept her body between him and his weapon. Hopefully, now that he didn’t have a clear advantage, he’d leave. His icy blue eyes narrowed as he glared at her. She could see the fury burning in his eyes.
“You’re going to die now. No woman is ever going to be able to say she beat me.” His large body assumed a fighter’s stance and he took a step toward her.
Dari held back a groan. Male pride. He was going to stay and fight because of male pride. Free but beaten was better than captured or killed any day in her opinion. She moved in gliding steps, countering his moves.
“If you don’t get out of here, you’re the one who’s going to die,” she warned. She really didn’t want to be forced to kill him because he wouldn’t back away from the fight. She would if it came to it but she didn’t want to do it.
He laughed, scorn evident in the sound and the sneer on his lips. “I’ll admit your strength surprised me but you won’t be the one walking away from this.”
Dari wished for a weapon and seriously considered going after that short club but she didn’t want to chance giving him an opportunity at her back. Besides, she’d never really used anything like that club. She’d just have to beat him with bare hands. With any luck, before he could push her into a situation where it was her life or his, some of the other Zarain should arrive. She’d just begun to realize how long they’d been gone.
The huge man swung his fist at her head. Dari jerked her head back just in time. She felt the wind off that swipe as it sailed past her nose. Her heart jerked in her chest. Fear sent a burst of energy through her. Automatically, she put a little more distance between them. If that had landed, she’d have at least been knocked off her feet. She pushed the thought out of her mind.
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