7

Kaitlyn

Serik has fallen into my trap like a ton of bricks. A sweet little mate gets whatever she wants. He made some concoction called Alaskan Ice Cream for breakfast that wasn't ice cream, but it was creamy, fruity goodness. The best part is that the dish didn't have eyes to stare me down as I ate. After a second kiss on my forehead, he left to organize a visit from another kidnapped female. Vera is supposedly happily mated to Artyom the Chuchunya. We shall see about that.

Most likely, she will help me overcome my fear of wedging myself in the exit and escaping onto the tundra. Between the two of us, we will find our way to what's left of the university's lab and call for help. With any luck, we will meet with the university officials in charge of rebuilding the center—or at least the insurance adjusters surveying the damage. One look at me and they will whisk us away to civilization—probably a hospital.

I will miss this warm bathing pool, though. It's ten times the size of the economy tub in my bachelor apartment. Serik's fragrant soap rocks would cost a pretty penny, too. His freshly foraged, organic veggies make each meal he feeds me a decadent feast. With inflation and property taxes shooting sky-high, food prices rise by the day. I'm spoiled—for a captive.

Funny, but the more time I spend with Serik, the less I feel like a kidnapped victim. Stockholm Syndrome is real. He's never forced himself on me or hurt me, despite being twice my size. When he thought I was a vegetarian, he stopped leaving bloody carcasses everywhere. Did his lack of social skills and humanity lead me to assume he was a kidnapper instead of a rescuer?

Nope, even though he hasn't hurt me, he's a jerk. Not my words, he calls himself a Svoloch, which means bastard. A jerk who's about to become part of my past.

I wrap myself in a polar bear hide and my hair into a snow fox fur with a twinge of guilt over wearing an endangered species. My waist-long hair is a blessing and a curse when getting ready under the permafrost. It takes forever to wring out the cave water that's hard with minerals, but the stiffer strands twist nicely atop my head like a crown. While I'd do unspeakable things for the luxury of a ponytail holder, it could be worse. I could be battling humidity in the tropics…bugs…and sweat. Gross. A giggle tears from my throat. Serik's called me ‘stinky and smelly' when he smells like someone fumigated with a cheap vanilla air freshener. What would he call me in the tropics?

"Knock, knock," shouts a feminine voice from the front room. "Serik mentioned your only clothes were pajamas. I don't want to walk in on you if you're strutting around in lingerie."

"Nothing but flannel in here. This accountant isn't a lace teddy kind of girl," I call from inside the bathing pool. I hop into my plaid PJs. My back is to the entrance crevice while I button my shirt. When I turn back, a tiny woman made twice as tall by her poofy hair stands at the entrance.

"Thank goodness for that," she says with a chuckle. She steps forward to shake my hand and I'm dumbfounded by how small she is. I'm not a giant at five foot six, so she can't be five feet tall. No wonder they stole her. They could carry her one-handed. I mean, Serik carries me one-handed. I bet her Chuchunya can toss her around like a juggler.

"I'm Kaitlyn," I say as I clasp her firm handshake. Wow, she's covered in callouses like she's a builder or farmer. How much hard labor do Chuchunya expect of captives when the snow melts? More evidence that we must leave today.

"I'm Vera, Artyom's mate. I'm so happy to meet you. When Serik said he found a beauty to be his mate, I called him a liar. I owe him an apology. I thought you were imaginary."

"Nope, one hundred percent real," I gripe. "Did he call me a beauty?"

It shouldn't matter, but my heart flutters anyway. My kidnapper thinks I'm pretty. How deranged I'm happy about it! He said he picked me over Holly, but that's different from telling others that I'm a beauty.

"Yes, he's smitten, but most fated mates are. I mean, Artyom and I couldn't keep our hands off each other even though I was injured when we met," she says with a guilty shrug. "Can I braid your hair? It's so pretty when mine is total fuzz without conditioner."

"Sure" hardly leaves my mouth before she's through the crevice. I close my eyes, hold my breath, and bite my lip as I follow. My eyes water as I press myself through the crevice. The rasp of the rocks on my clothes reminds me I must escape with Vera today…which means I must convince her to drop the bullshit act. Is she in love with her Chuchunya? Whether or not they procreate like bunnies doesn't matter. She can't actually want to be isolated from the modern world. Was the conditioner comment her code word for ‘I'm trapped?'

"Hey, are you okay?" She rushes to my side and wraps her arm around my shoulder. It doesn't reach my other side, reminding me how small she is. Serik's sturdy comment about me seems like less of an insult when I'm compared to the little pixie. If all the kidnapped women are this small, no wonder he values my size.

"I'm claustrophobic. The crevice between the bathing pool and the main room is too much for me. Vera, I haven't left since he brought me here because I'm scared of getting stuck inside the entrance. You have to help me escape," I whisper.

"Escape? Why do you want to escape? Did Serik force himself on you?"

Red flags wave behind my eyes. She leads me to the bed where I spent the first days in Serik's care. When I sit, she climbs behind me and divides my hair into sections for a French braid.

"Why would ask that? Of course, I want to escape. I want to go home to my job, my television, my frozen pizzas, and mushroom growing kits. You don't have to pretend around me. If you help me find the courage to fit through the crevice, I'll help you escape, too. My university's lab shouldn't be too far from here where there are people to help us—"

"Why would I ask if Serik hurt you? Because he has a reputation as a bastard who forces himself on his roommates. I don't want to leave my male, but if you do, I'll call a rideshare. Artyom and I will take you to the pickup location," she says, waving a cell phone at me.

I scowl at how they brainwashed this poor woman. The urge to grab her and drag her to civilization blazes inside me. What if she has family looking for her? I must protect her.

"Serik hasn't shared a bed with me—not even to sleep—because he believes his reputation and doesn't trust himself. He told me about how his last two relationships went sour. Although I'd bet money the last one broke up because of my coworker, Adam. When I get ahold of him, I'm giving him a piece of my mind!" My skin itches with the need to protect Serik. She has no idea he's remorseful about how things ended with Patricika. It's Adam's fault they aren't together—snow monster with snow monster—which makes my abduction his fault too.

"That's why I brought my phone. Adam expects us to call," Vera says, braiding my hair with swift fingers. "He wants to apologize—"

"I bet," I huff. She tilts my head down so she can braid at the bottom of my head. "Do you know he traded Holly for Patricika to Serik? What human being does that?"

"One in dushevnayasvyaz," she replies, lowering herself to her knees behind me.

"Serik explained that is nothing more than a baby-making factory," I quip. "How can Adam want to bang a snow monster so much he allows another one to kidnap Holly?"

"Oh no, dushevnayasvyaz's not a mating frenzy," Vera chuckles. "It's not funny, but I can see how a horny male might explain it as one. Dushevnayasvyaz is a soul mate bond, true love, and all those things promised to little girls at the end of princess movies. Artyom and I are head-over-heels in love despite not conceiving. A baby doesn't make a happy marriage. A happy marriage might not make a baby—" Her sniffles intensify until she can't speak.

"Hey, are you all right? Remember, you don't have to pretend with me," I say, twisting around to put my hand on her knee. "Fuck the hair. Let's leave now."

"Leaving Artyom almost broke me," she croaks as her eyes fill with tears.

"Wait, if he's your true love, then why did you leave before?"

"Hip replacement surgery," she says, smacking her left hip. "I'll die before you tear me from our home. We're in love. I want to bear his children and can't. I want to give him the world and make his dreams come true. That's dushevnayasvyaz."

"Shit." She's not faking her love for her snow monster. While she offered to help me escape, she's not the ally I wanted. If she calls me a rideshare, it's just me and the driver speeding out of here. Do I want to call Adam for answers first? Do I want to see what Vera has with Artyom, so I know if I must rescue her brainwashed ass, too? Or do I leave her behind without guilt because she's into furries?

I'm lost in thought until she retrieves a ponytail holder from her jacket pocket and secures the end of my braid. The band of elastic brings tears to my eyes. What luxury! I finger the tail, running the pad of my thumb over the symbolic blue tie. Vera has ties to the real world yet chooses to stay. If I had little accommodations like wide doorways and ponytail holders, would I be less miserable?

"I have all the modern treats I could miss. My mother sends chocolate, conditioner, toothpaste, and all sorts of luxuries quarterly. I'm not cut off from the rest of the world. Serik's kidnapping you was wrong—"

"He didn't kidnap me. He saved my life," I interrupt without looking her in the eyes. I can't tear my gaze from the ponytail holder and the modern life it represents. "The laboratory was under attack by men looking for Adam. If Serik didn't take me from the crime scene, I would have become the crime scene, if you know what I mean. He's not a villain."

I can't believe what I'm saying. I've cursed him to hell and back…but I can't sit here while his clan members bash him. They must know the truth.

Serik's trying his best.

"I'm sure it hasn't been unicorns and rainbows in the weeks you were alone. I mean it's Serik."

"What do you mean? I told you he hasn't forced the mating issue. He removed the carcasses when I told him they scared me. The narrow crevices scare me—wedging myself in them is my worst nightmare—so he brings me everything like a queen in her throne room. He hasn't abused me." I must have lost my mind to defend him, but his forlorn face when he talks about how the other males see him floats through my mind. I don't care how the females see him, but the males should respect toothy Serik.

"I mean clan consensus is that he's a selfish bastard who forces himself on pleasure mates, and his teeth—If you never kissed him to protect your lips, I wouldn't blame you."

"They are wrong," I snap, jumping up. "He's kind and puts my needs first. We haven't kissed because he wants this dushevnayasvyaz nonsense that I don't believe exists."

"It does, but there's no use in my arguing when it's Serik's job to show you."

"Let's call Adam while I'm hot."

Changing the subject keeps me from examining why I'm so upset. Every accusation Vera relayed from the clan is true. Serik told me everything, but I can't help my anger at those who point out his faults. He's self-conscious about his teeth and now I know why. I can't sit here while everyone in his life judges him…

…not when I can protect him…ugh, what am I saying?

"Yep, I got her," Vera says into her cell phone. "Here you go. It's Adam and Patricika via video chat."

"Even quiet quitting requires you to give notice at your job," I yell as he says hello. He's beaming from ear to ear with a female snow monster perched on his lap. Despite her fur, she's beautiful. I envy her high cheekbones and muscular arms as she shifts—is she breastfeeding? Is that the baby?

"If you disappeared to be a father, all you had to do is email HR! What do you have to say for yourself? Wait…save it for Holly. She's the one who you sacrificed. I just got caught in the crossfire."

"Kaitlyn, let me explain. Dushevnayasvyaz is a force—"

"That word can't be the explanation for everything, Adam. Because of your antics, I don't have a car, you don't have a satellite lab, and we might not have jobs. Do you care what happens to the university program—the one behind your education and success?"

"I won't lie. I don't care. Everything I care about is right here," he declares, kissing the snow monster beside him. "If Serik's dushevnayasvyaz is true, then you know what I mean."

That seals my fate. Somewhere between Vera's poetic talk of love and Adam's happy family is the dushevnayasvyaz Serik claims to have with me. Adam proves it's about breeding by rubbing the pink, fuzzy head latched to Patricika's chest. How can I have this bond with Serik when I don't want children? Not in the future, and definitely not now.

Clan life with small conveniences wouldn't be so bad if it weren't centered around motherhood. Vera cries for babies…but I love my child-free life. I owe it to Serik to disappear before he becomes too attached.

Is it already too late because I'm the one attached?