Chapter 10

Kyler

I have not taken my eyes off Zara the whole day. She has held up surprisingly well, but I sense her increasing fatigue. There have been a few times where she has stumbled, but I have been at her side for each of them to help her recover, which she managed quickly. We have only stopped twice to replenish our water supply and for everyone to take care of their personal needs.

Remi assisted Zara once, but the other time I did. My mate has appeared to get over her embarrassment of asking for my help. While I have tried to treat her as I would one of the injured warriors who comes to see me, I admit to being curious about the human female’s body. Not just any female’s but Zara’s. I caught a glimpse of her bare cunt each time I pulled her leg coverings up. It fascinated me and also made me uncomfortably hard.

“We will rest soon.” I will call for it if I have to.

She huffs and braces her free hand on her thigh as she trudges up the hill. I suspect by the time we stop we will have reached the peak, and tomorrow will begin our downward trek to the village.

“Thank God. I’m really trying here, but I swear the oxygen is half of what it normally is and I’m out here sucking wind.”

“You have done well, keeshla . I know the journey has been difficult, but if we are lucky, then by the next turn of the sun, we will be back in our village.” If we are lucky. There still has been no sign of Njeri and only a few sounds of predators within the forest.

“I’m not sure I believe in luck. At least for me.” Zara loosens a small laugh. “Now I probably just jinxed it.”

“Jinxed?” This is not a word I have heard any humans use.

“It basically means I just screwed us.” She glances over and waves her hand in my direction. “Sorry, that didn’t help. Um, how to explain jinxed? It’s sort of a superstitious thing. It’s like me saying ‘I’ve never broken a bone’ and then the next day, I break a bone. It’s as if I brought it on myself by putting it out there in the universe. It’s sort of like calling in bad luck.”

I nod. “We do not have a word for this, but I understand what you mean. Let us hope then, that you have not ‘jinxed’ us.”

Although it was not my intent, Zara laughs again, and it is the sweetest sound. “Fingers crossed.”

My brow bones shift downward at this new Earth saying. What do crossed fingers have to do with anything?

“You’re getting the full human language experience and education today, aren’t you?” Zara asks, clearly sensing my continued confusion. “Fingers crossed is sort of the opposite of jinxed. It’s like trying to call in good luck.”

“Thank you for sharing your language with me. I am intrigued by your various words and manner of speaking.” I want to learn everything there is to know about my mate.

I sense the difficulty she has talking and breathing at the same time, so I let the conversation lapse until we rest. Just as I feel Zara has reached her limit, Zydon raises an arm and calls a halt.

“We will make camp here for the night.”

“Thank God,” my mate gasps out as she bends partway at the waist, supporting her broken arm with the other while she struggles for breath. “I think I’ve done enough cardio today to last me a lifetime.”

“You have done well.”

Zara turns her head toward me with a small smile and she slowly stands upright. “Thanks. I don’t want to be a burden on anyone.”

“You could never be a burden.”

Her expression falls and she no longer meets my eyes. “I’m not sure that’s true.”

I study my mate. Someone has hurt her. Did someone from her past make her feel like a burden? Anger fills my blood with heat. If I ever meet the one who made Zara feel anything but worthy, I cannot promise not to harm them. She deserves to know her worth, and to me, she is nothing but a blessing.

“Come, let us find a spot to rest and ease ourselves.” She lets me guide her to a flat area of the forest where several large rocks lie in a formation.

Zara sits against one of them and breathes out a sigh. She swipes her damp brow with the back of her hand. I pass her the skin filled with burim root-infused water. She drinks without prompting.

“I’ll never get used to the taste of that stuff, but I suppose after a while it doesn’t pack quite the shitty punch as it does the first time.” She wrinkles her adorable nose and gives me back the skin.

“It is an acquired taste.”

“Well, let’s hope this is the last time I ever have to acquire it.” Zara makes a sound of distaste that makes me chuckle.

“Fingers crossed.”

A laugh explodes from her. “Look at you.”

“I am learning your human phrases.”

“Nice one.”

I dip my head. “Thank you.”

We both turn at the sound of someone approaching. Remi draws near and comes to a stop before us. She squats next to Zara.

“How you feeling? You pushed yourself hard today.”

My mate blows out a harsh breath. “My legs feel like limp dick and my arm aches like a motherfucker, but other than that, I’m super swell.”

Remi’s laughter fills the air. “Sounds about right. Luckily, we should be home tomorrow night, if everything goes well.”

“That’s a big if. There’s still a lot of time and space between now and when we reach the village,” Zara points out.

“Jesus, pessimist Patty.” Remi bumps shoulders with my mate. “I know who not to come to for a pep talk.”

“If you wanted rainbow-shitting unicorns, you should have brought Maeve.”

My gaze bounces between the two of them, trying to decipher the human phrases they use, but only half of what they are saying makes any sense. One thing I am noticing is that Zara has an unusual fascination with excrement.

“Yeah, she’s a much better cheerleader than you. Although, under normal circumstances, you’re not too terrible.” Remi nudges her again and then slaps her hands on her thighs. “Since you appear to be in good hands, I’m going to head back to my mate. Holler if you need anything.”

“Thanks, babe.”

Remi gets to her feet and with a final nod in my direction she makes her way back over to Zydon.

“You should eat something.” I bring out the cloth-wrapped dreri meat and give the leanest portions to Zara.

Together, we finish off the rest of it.

Once we are done, I bring us water to wash our hands. “Tomorrow should be easier. It is a downhill trek until we reach the village.”

“At least that’s something in our favor. This is more exercise than I’ve had in my entire life. I’m not meant for hiking and outdoors.” Zara shakes her head. “I’m an upper tier woman through and through.”

“What is upper tier?” This is more knowledge I want to soak up about my mate. With every piece I receive it helps me to understand her a little better.

She blows a piece of hair out of her eyes, but it only flops back down so she swipes it away. “It’s probably easier to explain if I start back a couple hundred years ago.”

I nod for her to continue.

“Back on Earth, the whole place was overpopulated. Separated villages grew outward and melded with other villages until there was practically no land left. All you could see for miles and miles was building after building. Dwelling after dwelling. They—humans—destroyed all the grasslands and wiped out entire forests. With all the land now covered in buildings, there was no place else to expand villages except up. But building up took credits. Lots and lots of credits,” Zara emphasizes. “So, humans weredivided into those who had enough credits—upper tier—and those who didn’t—bottom tier.”

“And you were one of those with lots of credits?”

“Yes,” she admits. “Although, technically my dad has all the credits, but obviously, I reaped the benefits.”

I try to picture a world where dwellings spread out so far in every direction that they would need to be built on top of each other. It is not an image I can create. “How tall were the dwellings in your upper tier?”

Zara glances around us. “We’re about at the top of the mountain range that sits behind the village, right?”

“Yes.”

“Taller than that.”

My eyes widen. This is where she has come from? A place that does not have bari or trees, but only dwellings that nearly touch the sky as far as one can see?

“If you are this upper tier person with many credits, what was it that brought you to Tavikh?” She spoke of her baba and yet she arrived with the shefira and her other tribe sisters. Why would she leave her family and travel to another planet that is nothing like Earth?

Zara’s expression closes off. I have studied her for all these lunar cycles and thought I have seen every emotion, but not this one. Her face is devoid—blank—of all of them. As much as I would like to, I do not push. I want her to trust me with everything, including all her feelings. Her past. Her future. That is what a mating should be like.

“There was nothing left for me back there,” she finally says, after far too long of a pause.

I take her hand, because I need her to know that I care. “I may not have any credits, but I will always be here for you no matter what.”

Zara smiles, but it is not one of the true ones I have witnessed. This one feels forced, as though she thinks I must see it.

“Thank you.” She loosens her hand from mine. “I think I’m going to try and get some sleep. It’s still going to be a long day tomorrow.”

I stifle my disappointment that she is choosing to push me away. It is as though last night, when she let me hold her in my arms, was only something I made up in my head. Someone has hurt my mate in the past. Was it the baba she spoke of? What about her nene? I dig deep into my well of patience. It will take time for Zara to believe I speak the truth. I must use my actions to prove myself, because when someone has been hurt, words are often not enough.

Soon, she is asleep against the rock, her head at an awkward angle. At the risk of waking her, I sit beside her and gently draw her into my side so she now rests against me. Everyone also settles in for the night, despite the small amount of fading light that manages to creep through the trees. But today was a long day and tomorrow will be equally as long. We will need all the rest we can manage. I glance down at the top of Zara’s bari-colored head. I am not sure how much sleep I will get, though.