Chapter 7

SEVEN

Whitten

Lorna hit the water with a splash and dove in face first. I abandoned my bike and raced toward her, worried that she'd drown, but she surfaced with a happy cry and a big splash.

Wet hair plastered to her head and the remnants of her clothes coming undone, she smiled at me with bright eyes. "It's freezing cold, and I don't even care."

I dipped my hand in the water, and found it to be rather temperate, but I knew I withstand much colder temperatures than Lorna. I hadn't wanted to travel this far north, but I had to make our trail harder to track. Also, there was a larger population south. More ways for Lorna to get hurt. More enemies for me to fight. While this wasn't safe either, I would rather take my chances here. The path home wouldn't be easy, but once we were closer to Akoma, I could reach out to my brothers. While my tablet was gone somewhere around Swallee, I still had the tracker in my neck. That would be my last resort.

For now, I enjoyed watching Lorna splash around in the water. Her feet could touch the rocks along the bottom, and she walked around with the water up to her neck until her teeth chattered and her lips were blue. The clothing covered her had long washed away downstream, but fortunately I had extra clothes. Of course, they weren't her size, but they were better than nothing.

I beckoned her with my paw. "Come out, mate."

She turned to me with red cheeks. "B-but the-this f-f-f-feels so goo-good."

"You're going to freeze to death. Let's get you warm and fed. Then maybe you can have another bath."

Her lower lip stuck out, but she made her way to the riverbank. When she reached the edge, she remained underwater. "Um, my clothes?—"

I reached behind me and held up the large fur pelt I kept in the bag on my bike. "This is for you."

Her eyes got big, and she splashed out of the water quickly. Her entire body shivered as she tried to cover her breasts with her arms as she crept toward me on her tiptoes. I met her halfway and wrapped the fur around her. Her hair dripped, and I wrung it out with my paws before combing through it with my claws. She closed her eyes as I tugged on some knots and sighed happily. Her hair was thick and wavy. A different texture than Queen's. When I finished, she turned to look at me with sleepy eyes. "I haven't felt this good in ages."

I picked her up and led her over to a large boulder that was warm from the sun. I set her on top, and she huddled there in a little ball, the lower half of her face tucked into the fur pelt so only the top half was visible.

"Warmer?" I asked.

With her cheeks still flushed, she nodded. "Thank you."

"I'm going to get some guppas for us to eat. Do you need anything to drink?"

She hesitated. "I, uh, drank from the stream. I couldn't help myself. Is that okay? It's not like I have my Life Straw with me."

I had no idea what that was. "That's fine."

"Don't you need to drink something? Also what are guppas?"

I tried to remember the word Queen used for them. She mostly spoke to us in Drixonian, because that was what our father spoke, and she wanted us to feel close to our heritage. But she slipped English words into her speech every now and then. "I think you call them fesh?"

Her head tilted "Fish?"

"Ah, yes, fish."

Her gaze shifted to the water. "There are fish in there?"

"Lots. You didn't see them?"

Her nose wrinkled. "No. Do they bite?"

"If they bit, I wouldn't have let you run in there, mate?"

She ducked her head and made a little sound into the fur covering her mouth. "Oh."

"Sit and dry in the sun. I'll get us food."

"Your saddle bag is like a clown car. Do you have a fishing pole in there too?"

I stared at her, as many of her words didn't translate. "Fishing pole?"

She pulled her arms out of the pelt and made a weird throwing motion before rolling her wrist in a spinning motion. "Fishing pole. Something to catch the fish with. Er, guppas."

I glanced at my paws and protracted my claws as well as the machets on my forearms. "I catch the guppas with these."

She dropped her hands on her knees and let out a little laugh. "Of course you do. Well, this will be a show. Go on, my mate, catch me some dinner." Her eyes twinkled with mirth, and I wasn't sure what was so funny. But I sure would catch her a meal with my bare paws and claws.

I tugged off my clothes and waded into the cool water that I barely felt through my dense fur. I dove under water, letting it wash away the grime from my face and mostly healed wounds. The gold of my loks shone through the clear stream as I swam toward a shady area covered by a small overhang of riverbank.

There, I spotted the telltale silver streaks of guppas. With my claws extended, I stabbed at them, and before long, I had three which I speared through my machets for safekeeping. As I left the water and shook the drops from my fur, the guppas were still flopping half-heartedly on my spikes.

Lorna watched me approach her with big, round eyes. I noticed she looked at my cock before quickly darting away to the guppas on my machets. Her mouth opened. "We're eating those?"

I glanced at the guppas. "They're good."

"They—" she swallowed. "I'm not going to be picky. I'd eat a rock right about now, but they look like they don't have much meat on them."

I dropped the guppas onto the ground, where they finally lay motionless. "Their eyes are the best part."

Lorna grimaced before quickly shaking her head and blowing out a breath. "Sure, why not? I bet someone on Earth would make that a delicacy."

While I could eat the guppas raw, I knew Lorna's stomach would likely not handle the uncooked meat, so I made a small fire and roasted them on a spit. When they were hot and crispy, I picked off the skin and carefully extracted the chewy eyeballs. With one speared on my claw, I extended it to her. "This is a good one."

She eyed it carefully before shuddering. "Sure, I'll take your word for it." Her hand shook as she reached for it. Before she plucked it from my claw, she whispered to herself. "You can do this, girl. You're hungry. You need food. It's just an eyeball. How bad can it be?"

Before I could assure her that they were tasty, she pulled it off my claw and shoved it in her mouth. Her jaw worked once. Her eyes watered. She chewed again with a wince. Another chew, before she swallowed with a loud gulp.

I ate one. "Good, right?"

She swiped at her eyes. "I've had better. But it's not as bad as I thought." She twisted her lips to the side before reaching out with her hand up. "Can I have another?" With a laugh, I dropped one into her palm.

Lorna

The fish eyeballs were a rather revolting texture. A little slimy—even when cooked—and when I bit into the chewy exterior, the mushy center burst on my tongue. I barely got the first one down. But the taste was not as bad as the texture. They tasted a bit like an egg yolk, which felt filling.

Either way, by the time I downed three eyes—which were about the size of a ping pong ball—Whitten had eaten a few and was picking meat from the small, fine bones. The guppas were a bit like skinny eels, but there was a surprising amount of meat inside their wriggly bodies, and the taste resembled any flaky, white, freshwater fish. Between that and more water, I felt sated for the first time in a long time.

Whitten had redressed by the time I finished eating, and he'd scrounged around in his bags for spare clothes for me. Of course they were made for Whitten, so they were huge, but with a few slashes of his claws and some ingenuity with fabric tying, we managed to fashion a pair of pants for me as well as a shirt. For shoes, I sat braiding a thick flat vine that would act as sandals. Whitten was busy taking inventory of our supplies.

As I worked in silence, I had the time to go over what had happened in the last few hours. Days? Whatever. Now that my belly was fully, my mind was back online again, and of course the first thing I thought of was the women left in the underground prison. I would never forget the sound of those screams. We'd left them behind.

My fingers fumbled with my braiding, and I had to redo a section of the sole. "I can't stop thinking about the women."

Whitten's paws went still as he laid out the fur pelt to dry. "I'm thinking of them too."

I wanted to be a little happy for myself. I was safe. Dressed. Fed. The sun was shining. The breeze was blowing. The stream was gorgeous, and if I forgot for a moment about all the things on this planet trying to kill me then… well, I could admit there was beauty here too. But I couldn't. I would be forever haunted by the blonde warrior's blue eyes.

Whitten knelt in front of me where I was still perched on the rock. I put aside my mostly done sandals as he placed a paw on my thigh. "I'm sorry we couldn't look for them. I know you were angry at me. And I would have been more patient, but we didn't have the time."

He was right. I knew he was. Looking back, I could see the broader picture. If I had insisted then we could have been recaptured. Whitten could have been hurt, and it would have been my fault. "You did the right thing. I wasn't thinking properly at the time. I was just so panicked, and even now I feel so much guilt."

"Mate." His voice was soft. Patient. "One of my brothers was left behind when we escaped. He's out there somewhere, and we suspect in the hands of Xaberians, where he's lived most of his life. I always carry guilt. Why did Fatas allow me to be happy with my brothers? Why was he chosen to suffer? I do not know. All I can do is stay alive and do everything I can to find him and rescue him. And that's what you must do. Stay alive."

I rolled my lips between my teeth. "That was what she told me the last time I saw her. Stay alive . And I have thanks to you."

"You stayed alive for a long time before me. And you'll stay alive for a long time after me."

"How about we live the same amount? I'd like that."

He smiled his fanged smile. "I'll try my best."

His paw was warm on my thigh, and I didn't know when I'd done it, but I'd somehow curled my fingers into the fur on the side of his wolf-ish face. In the sun, his fur shone a pearlescent blue-black, and his light eyes seemed nearly translucent. I never in my life thought I'd look at someone like him and feel attraction, but he wasn't just a wolf face. He was the whole package of Whitten—smart and protective and capable. I still remember when my last boyfriend had made me a bookshelf, and I'd gotten down on my hands and knees and blown him. Competence was hot, and I'd never met anyone as competent as Whitten.

The sand jaws in my mind ground together and then clacked with a snap that I felt behind my eyes. Whitten's expression changed. His eyes darkened, and the bulge in his pants swelled.

"Shit," I muttered just as I felt a hot ball of warmth pool in my belly. "Whitten, I?—"

"We can't," he looked away, fangs dripping. "I don't want to risk it until we are farther away. What if they kill me and get a hold of you while you're pregnant?"

But my body wasn't responding to any of his words. Fear was the last thing on my mind. I had thought the concept of me being in heat was insane, but there was no other reason for my intense reaction to him from a touch on my thigh. And speaking of that touch—he hadn't removed his paw. His claws were nearly poking through the fabric, and I felt the slight pricks on my skin.

"We…" I swallowed as my mouth watered. "We can do other things for release."

He shook his head. "No, I don't think… I have no control. I'm don't trust myself not to spear you with my cock and rut until I find my release."

But I needed it as badly as he did. And his claws were now digging into my skin. "I have an idea."

He pulled away then, standing quickly with his paws curled at his side. "Mate?—"

"What if I bind you?"

He went very still. So still that I wasn't sure he breathed. The breeze ruffled the delicate fur in his ears. His nose twitched. "Bind me?"

I held up the length of strong vine that I'd been using to make sandals. "I can tie you, and you won't be able to reach for me, but I'll be able to touch you and give you release… and me."

He inhaled sharply. Audibly. Loudly. His gaze homed in on the vine in my arms. "I might break it."

"It's really strong." I snapped it. "I'm confident I can make it unbreakable." My skin felt hot. My inner thighs were slick. "If you let me."

His eyes shot to mine. "I'd let you do anything to me."

His raspiness, lust-filled tone skittered over my skin like fingernails. I shivered. "Then let's try."