by Ruby Dixon
Immediately, the thorn in my side peels off from the group and comes to stand by me. “Shall I warm you with my body heat, Kate?” Harrec gives me an appealing grin and flexes his arms. “I can hold you close. It would be no trouble.”
Gail chuckles, and I see Taushen smirk.
I feel like a big idiot. Why does he always have to embarrass me? I roll my eyes and push Harrec away when he reaches for me. “Buzz off. I just came to hang out by the fire.”
“There is time yet,” Harrec says, undeterred by my reaction. “It is a long journey with many cold nights ahead.”
“Wouldn’t you just love that.”
“I would, yes.” He grins at me.
“I’d rather freeze, thank you.”
“Would you? I should like to think I could have you in my arms before we return to the tribe.”
My face feels like it’s burning with humiliation. “That will never happen.”
“That sounds like a challenge.”
“Or common sense.”
“You will eventually realize what a good pleasure-mate I would make you, Kate.” He leans forward, ignoring my angry look. “I will be more than happy to explore between your thighs with my tongue—”
“Ugh! Do you ever let up?” I move forward and reach up, slapping a hand over his mouth.
He grins under my fingers and removes my hand. “Never. How else will you know of my affections?”
“Is that what you call it?” I snap back, flustered. “More like delusions.”
The others laugh, except for Bek, who makes an irritated sound. “Are you two going to stand by the fire and bicker all night? My Ell-ee needs to sleep.”
Elly pokes Bek in the ribs. “Be nice,” she whispers, just loud enough for me to hear.
“No need. I think I’m done here,” I tell them. “See you guys in the morning.” I duck back into the cave, pressing a hand to my burning cheeks to cool them. God, does Harrec have to continue his schtick in front of the others?
“That didn’t take long,” Summer mumbles sleepily, looking like a big furry caterpillar on the floor next to Brooke.
“Changed my mind,” I tell them in a low voice. “Go to sleep.” I grab my blankets and burrow in on Brooke’s other side, but I can’t fall asleep. Instead, I’m thinking about Harrec and his laughing smiles, the amusement of the others, my embarrassment…
…And Harrec’s comment about going between my legs. I press my thighs tightly together and wish I wasn’t thinking about it, but I am.
HARREC
“She does not like you,” Bek declares by the fire two evenings later. “Give up and leave her alone.”
Leave her alone? Never. The thought is unbearable. “I have decided that Kate is mine.” At his snort, I continue. “It is true. I must only convince her of this.”
“Your convincing needs work,” he says, surly, and glances over at his mate, asleep in the furs nearby. His expression softens, and he moves to be by her side, touching her mane. She turns in her bed, smiles sleepily at him, and puts her cheek on his thigh as a pillow.
I am glad for my friend, but envious as well. I want what he has with his mate. Bek has changed so much in the last turn of the moons, ever since he resonated to Ell-ee. He no longer has that hungry, dissatisfied look on his face. He is content. He is…happy.
I want that happiness. I want a mate and a partner. Not one as delicate or somber as Ell-ee, I think. Someone fun. Someone who can tease as well as me. And kits do not matter. Resonance does not either. I am tired of being lonely. If resonance will not happen for me, I will not bother to wait for it. I will claim the female I want, and we will be happy together.
At least, until one of us resonates to someone else. But I do not make trouble where it is not, and I will not worry about such things.
And Kate? Kate is perfect for me. Tall and strong, not tiny and far too delicate for my clumsy hands. She snaps back at me when she is angry, and the flush on her cheeks is my favorite sight to see. I like her fire. Someday it will not be directed at me but shared with me. “I will wear her down,” I tell Bek confidently, and smile to show him I am not worried. “She will like me eventually. She just needs to realize I am the right hunter for her.”
He gives a snort of disbelief.
He does not need to believe. That is fine. He just needs to know I am serious about Kate. That she is the female for me. I am more convinced every day that I spend with her that no other female is so perfect, so sharp of wit, so capable, so unique and lovely in appearance. And since being with the group has not made her appreciate my wooing, perhaps it is time to do as the others have done and convince her to travel alone with me for a few days.
I have given this quite a bit of thought on the journey, with nothing to do but walk next to Kate, wanting to touch her but unable to. Wanting her to realize that I am the hunter for her. She does not seem to realize it, so we need time alone. A few nights by a fire to ourselves in which we can talk without others around, staring and watching our every move. It has worked for so many other couples—Bek and his Ell-ee included—that I have thought and thought about it, and decided upon a course of action.
“If you see that we have fallen behind the group,” I tell Bek casually, “do not bother to come looking for us.”
He gives me a surprised stare.
I grin at him to show him I have given this much thought. “I will leave behind a boot so you know it was on purpose, and then I will entice Kate into my furs. I will bring her back once her heart is mine.”
Bek rolls his eyes at me.
He does not need to believe. He just needs to remember. “A boot,” I remind him. “If you see it, know I have spirited my female away.”
“And what if she does not wish to go? I cannot let you just take a female away from the group.”
“Oh, she will want to go with me,” I boast to him. “She will go of her own accord.” She might need some convincing to stay, perhaps, but I can get her away from the others for a time, I think.
He grunts. “She will still need the words from the Elders’ Cave, so you cannot take her away for long. You will meet us there?”
I nod, pleased. I know it will not be much time away, but I hope it will be enough. “We planned to be at the Elders’ Cave for a hand of days, yes? I will have her back by the third day, this I promise.”
He clenches his jaw, thinking. “And I cannot stop you?”
“You cannot.” I would do this even if he disapproved.
Bek sighs. “Then do what you must, but it is your hide you are risking. You know Vektal does not like it when the humans are stolen.”
“This one will not be stolen. She will come with me willingly. Wait and see.”
He strokes a hand through his sleeping mate’s mane. “Your idea of willing and mine seem two very different things, my friend.”
It is midday before I know how best to steal Kate away from the others.
We pass through one of the many valleys between the rocky hills, and then crest one of the cliffs, walking along the edge because the snows of the next valley are too deep. After that, there is a canyon that fills with a thick sheet of ice when the weather is colder, and since we recently had a days-long snowstorm, it will be a very large sheet of ice, indeed. On the other side of that ice, though, is a hunter cave, not often used. And farther down, the valley itself cuts to the far side of this particular set of craggy hills.
I could take Kate across the great ice sheet and we could meet the others on the far side.
Or we could stop at the hunter cave there for several days and get to know each other in the furs.
I like that idea better. Now, of course, the question is how to convince Kate to go to the great ice sheet with me. I glance over at my walking companion. We are only about halfway through our journey, but the humans are showing their weariness. It is a long journey for them, unused to making lengthy treks in the snow. Sessah is far ahead, scouting. At the front of the group, Vaza carries his
pleasure-mate, Chail, like he would a pack. She has tried to walk much of this journey, but she is tired, as is Bek’s mate, Ell-ee. They walk near to the back of the group, holding hands, their pace slower than normal. In the middle, Warrek and Taushen trade off pulling the sled with our supplies, the humans Buh-brukh and Suh-mer riding along.
At the very back of the group, I walk with Kate. Every day, she wears her pack, and every day, she walks.
Every day, she falls a little bit farther behind the others.
And I feel guilty that she is struggling to keep up. Of all the humans, she is the strongest. Her pack is larger than Ell-ee’s, and she has no one to carry her when she is tired. Even Ell-ee has accepted Bek’s help, resting in his arms from time to time. But Kate struggles on alone, and every suggestion I have made that she should hand me her pack is met with an angry glare. I have played into her stubbornness too much, and she suffers.
She will be glad for a few days’ rest, I think. And the sheet of ice will be the tool I will use.
As a group, we pass the rocky path that leads to the valley of ice. I know we will not go there with a sled—the path itself is far too narrow, and walking on the ice can be precarious. But I think Kate will want to see it. I just need to…encourage her.
So I glance over at my lovely human. Her cheeks are flushed bright pink with the wind, her white curls tamed into a fat, frizzy braid on one shoulder. Her steps are slogging, and she looks weary, her gaze cast on the ground. I must find a way to get her attention. To make her come with me. I jog up next to her and pretend to give her an up and down critical glance.
Immediately her back stiffens. “What?”
“You are walking slow today, Kate. Are you too tired to go on? Do I need to carry your pack for you?”
Her jaw sets, and she gives me an angry look. “Don’t you have someone else you could walk next to?”
“I could, but I prefer walking next to you.”
“Why? Because you can harass me?”
“It is not harassment. I enjoy your company.”
“Well, I don’t enjoy yours, you turd. Go away.”
I laugh. She is so fierce when she is frustrated with me. It is adorable. But she is walking faster now. “I think you secretly enjoy spending time with me and just do not want the others to know it.”
She makes a face in my direction. “No chance of that, buddy.”
“Lies,” I say confidently. “Who else will educate you on hunting as we walk? I offer my knowledge freely.”
“Yeah, because no one in their right mind would ask for your opinion.”
Up ahead of us, Bek turns and growls. “Are you two going to argue the entire trek?”
“Yes,” I shoot back, grinning.
And I’m surprised to hear Kate’s small laugh of amusement. It makes me feel good. I know she likes me underneath her hard words, or else she would refuse to banter with me. It confirms that my decision is the right one. I just need to figure out how to make her leave with me so I can woo her in private. I think for a moment and then lean in closer to her as she walks. “Do you want advice on how to walk?”
Kate recoils, looking at me as if I am crazy. “Advice on how to walk?”
“In snowshoes. There are better ways to do it,” I tell her, and when she pauses in the snow, her hands on her hips, I pause with her and plant my foot on the side of one of her shoes so she cannot walk away.
She makes an outraged sound, trying to lift her foot. “Stop it. You’re being a child.”
“You are walking like one. No wonder you are so tired.” I gesture at her shoes. “You should kick the snow as you step, not lift your entire foot.”
Kate just stares at me.
“I am trying to help.” I put a hand to my heart. “Your suspicion wounds me.”
She rubs her brow, and for a moment, she looks so tired and miserable that my heart wrenches. “Why can’t you leave me alone for five minutes?”
“Do you truly hate me so much?” Perhaps I have read her wrong after all. The defeat on her face makes my spirit hurt. The last thing I want is for my Kate to feel defeated when near me.
Her eyes meet mine, and for a moment, she looks confused. “I don’t hate you.”
“That is good, because you have my heart,” I tell her, taking this moment of softness to tell her how I feel. I take her hand and clasp it between both of mine. “It beats solely for you, my Kate.”
She looks uncomfortable once more and pulls out of my grip. “Stop it, Harrec. Just stop teasing me for five minutes, okay? I’m tired.” She looks up at the others, who are getting far ahead of us. “I’m tired of all this snow and the walking and I just want five minutes without you giving me shit or making me feel stupid, all right?”
Making her feel stupid? By declaring my affection? I want to ask about this, but she has given me the perfect opening for my plan to take her across the glacier. “If you are tired of snow, we could walk where there is none.”
“You mean like Florida?” Kate’s hands go to her hips.
“I do not know that place. But there is an ice sheet in the next valley.” I point down the steep hill. “We do not go there because the path is too narrow for the sled, but it cuts across these cliffs and comes out the other side. A short-way, as your people say.”
“A shortcut?”
“Yes, that is it.”
She drums her gloved fingers on her mouth, thinking, then glances ahead. “What about the others?”
I lean toward her and step on her snowshoe again so she cannot escape me. “I did not invite the others, pretty Kate.”
Her cheeks flush, and she flicks her gaze at my mouth before looking me in the eye again. “Are we going to get in trouble if we take a shortcut?”
“Why would we? We will meet the others on the far side of the valley and rest our feet while they jog to catch up.” I give her an encouraging smile. “And the ice is beautiful to see.”
“Is it dangerous? I thought glaciers were dangerous.”
“No more so than walking on the edge of a cliff in snowshoes,” I tell her, gesturing at our current path. When she still hesitates, I add, “Unless you would rather ride in the sled…”
Her eyes narrow at me, and she gives a toss of her snowy-pale braid. “That is a dick move.”
“Ah-dick-muv? I do not know this word.” I rub my chin, frowning. I thought I knew most of the human phrases by now.
“A dick move. You are a dick. That was a crappy thing to say to get me to go with you. It’s a low blow. You know I’m not riding in the damn sled.” She scowls at me, voice rising, and then looks up ahead to see if the others have noticed our spat. She notices—as I do—that the others are far ahead and getting farther ahead the longer we stand here and argue. “And since you’ve practically dared me, show me the dang glacier already.”
I just grin at her, pleased. “You are lovely when you are angry, you know—”
“Oh, stuff it,” she retorts, huffy. “And get off my damn snowshoe.”
I chuckle, obliging her. She adjusts her pack and then glares at me, waiting. “Down this path,” I tell her, putting a hand to the small of her back and turning her. “We will follow this down the side of the canyon. See the trail?” As I show her, I loosen one of my extra boots from the bottom of my pack and toss it in the snow a short distance behind her.
It is my signal to Bek that Kate comes with me willingly and not to look for us.
“I see the trail,” my sweet Kate says.
“The ice is just on the other side. From there, it is a short distance to the opposite end of the valley.” And the cave I wish to take her to first so I can woo her in private.
4
KATE
Harrec’s right about one thing—the glacier is really pretty. It looks like a river of snow nestled between the cupped rock hands of the mountains, but as we get closer, I see that it’s not snow, but ice. Thick, thick ice. It creaks and groans as we approach, and I shoot Harrec a worried look. He�
��s right that there’s not as much snow in this direction—it’s all rock and ice—but I’m not sure it’s safe in the slightest. “You’re sure about this? Maybe we should rejoin the others.”
“I am positive, pretty Kate,” Harrec says confidently, and then begins to climb the sloping side of the ice sheet to the top. It’s about four or five feet tall from this point, but I can tell that as it goes into the valley, it gets bigger and wider. Harrec pauses at the edge of the sheet, leans down, and offers me his hand.
And even though I should tell him no, to turn around and rejoin the others, I’m still flustered by the “pretty Kate” comment. There’s no one around to hear his silly jokes, so why is he still calling me pretty? And why am I such a doofus to be all flattered by it? I automatically reach my hand up to him, and he shakes his head, long black hair spilling over his shoulder like he’s a model. “Glove off so I can grip your hand,” he tells me. “Snowshoes, too.”
Oh. I pull my glove off and shove it into the front of my tunic and then strap my snowshoes to my pack. I offer him my hand again. This time, his big hand clasps mine, and I’m immediately shocked at how warm and strong his grip is. The touch of our hands feels incredibly intimate, and I’m blushing as he hauls me up next to him. Of course, he’s so strong that I immediately stagger on the ice, losing my balance, and have to hold on to him.
Harrec chuckles, his other hand going under my arm. “Do you have your feet, or shall I carry you?”
“Dick,” I tell him, but he only laughs, and I find myself smiling, too. I put my glove back on, my belly still full of flutters, and just when I think I’m cool and calm again, he unstrings his bow and hands it over to me. “To use as a walking stick,” he tells me. “So you can be sure of your footing.”
And then my flutters all return again. “Thank you.”
I take the bow and use it as a walking stick. The first few steps on the ice are a little treacherous, but I get used to it, and in no time, we’re walking along the glacier. It’s not smooth like an ice rink, but rough and uneven on top, which makes it not that hard to walk on. It’s pretty, too, the glacier seemingly so white it’s blue underneath. The suns are shining down and the weather’s nice enough, and it’s a change of pace.