Chapter 11

Abby

I didn’t sleep a wink last night. All I kept doing was reliving my conversation with Rojtar as we sat beside the river. It had been surprisingly easy to talk to him. The fact he accepted—and actually agreed with me about—my opinion regarding men and the whole mating and marriage concept still shocks me.

My cheeks heat at the way he stared at me when I asked him not to change. I’m not sure what prompted it, but in the moment it had felt right. I hope he takes my request to heart. Why do you care if he does or not ? I hate that I can’t answer my own question.

On the other side of the tent, Carter stirs. He’d come home shortly after the second moon crested the horizon and the sun disappeared. We talked a little bit, catching up on our day with each other, before he fell asleep. I remained awake, tossing and turning and thinking.

He sits up and stretches his arms over his head with a loud, obnoxious yawn.

“Feel better?”

“No.” Carter groans. “It’s too early to be awake.”

“The Tavikhi have been up for ages.” I chuckle. “I bet Talek and Cecily are already down in the training arena.”

“They better not be,” he says. “He told me yesterday they’d come get me before heading down there.”

I know I should better prepare him for people to be a disappointment, because I don’t want him hurt by learning the lesson the hard way. But I suppose that’s one of those life lessons a person has to learn for themself. Although Rojtar seems to think those kind of people don’t exist in the Tavikhi village. People who don’t break promises.

As though sensing where my thoughts have drifted and as if to prove me wrong about everyone, there’s a hard slap at the door and a youthful voice calls out, “Carter? Are you awake? It is Talek.”

My brother scrambles out from beneath his blankets and furs and throws open the door flap, exposing the Tavikhi child standing on the other side. Despite he and my brother being near the same age, Talek stands several inches taller than Carter.

“Give me just a second to change my clothes and then I’ll be ready,” he says.

The flap drops and he rushes around the tent. He chucks the dirty outfit onto his pallet, forgetting the fact that I’m right here. I keep my eyes closed until I feel like I’ve given him enough time to be decent. Carefully, I peek through one slit lid and open both fully. Carter’s hopping around on one foot tugging on his second shoe. He manages to get his foot in it and then rushes out the door without a goodbye.

I wait for several seconds, hoping he’ll remember and run back in, but at least a minute passes and he doesn’t. Trying not to be hurt, I get up from my own pallet, grab a change of clothes and my toiletries, and head for the river to bathe. The water is almost colder than I can stand, but I’ll suck it up if it means being clean.

On one of the first days I’d been here, London showed me where the females have privacy and how to signal I’m here and probably naked just in case any of the warriors wander this way. Once I reach the large nenuphar bush, I yank off a dirty sock and make sure it’s displayed in full view so there’s no mistaking its presence.

It’s either too early or everyone’s come and gone already, because the water’s empty.I lay my stuff on the ground and strip. With the berries that suds up like soap in hand, I step into river. A shudder runs down my spine and my nipples harden into tiny pebbles.

“Fuuuuck.”

Rushing to be done, I scrub every inch of myself and save my hair for last. The second I’ve dunked my head enough times to make sure all the soap’s been rinsed out, I nearly run back onto land and wrap the animal hide around my shoulders. I stand there, shivering for several minutes, until I manage to get dressed and wrap my hair turban-style. The thought of heading into the forest to hunt again today isn’t an appealing one, but I need to do it.

Finally, I pick up my dirty clothes, including the sock I left on the bush, and make my way back to my tent to brush my hair and teeth. The village is alive with activity as I stride through it. The sound of sparring drifts up from the training arena on the other side and the scent of the fire is strong. Voices carry and hunters and warriors alike stride with purpose toward their destination.

Against my will, I search for a specific man—male. Every guy I see either has mating marks or isn’t the right build. I’m annoyed with myself for looking. It takes far too long, but I finally reach our tent. I eyeball the pile of dirty clothes on both Carter’s and my side and groan. Laundry is one of my least favorite tasks, because it’s never-ending, but I’m going to have to tackle it soon.

I add the bundle in my arms to the stack to worry about later, and stuff my trapping supplies in a pouch to toss over my shoulder. From where its propped against the wall, I snatch up the spear that’s still too heavy for me, but it’s all I have. Which reminds me of Rojtar saying he would get me a smaller one or teach me to use a bow and arrow if I wanted. Of course, now that we’re back at the village, he’ll probably never think of it again. I’m not sure why I’m disappointed. It’s just one more expectation of someone that doesn’t get met. After a lifetime of it, I should be used to it by now. Yet, somehow it bothers me more that it’s him.

“Why do you even care?”

Great, now I’m talking to myself.

Taking the same path I did yesterday, I make my way across the narrow field outside the village entrance and into the trees. I do my best to remember what Rojtar taught me to look for in regards to occupied dens. It isn’t long before I spot a nearly hidden burrow at the base of a massive tree. There’s a bit of overgrowth that camouflages the opening, but it’s definitely there.

Quietly as possible, I swing my pouch off my shoulder and bring out mysnare. Once I have it all set up, I lay out the bait and wait. To my surprise, barely any time passes before an alien rabbit thing emerges. I try not to feel guilty when my trap does its job.

The rest of the day passes the same way. By the time I’m ready to head back to the Tavikhi village, I’ve somehow managed to catch six of the critters. It’s the best hunting day I’ve had since landing on this godforsaken planet. A short distance away a branch snaps. I whirl around on the balls of my feet and grab my spear up from where I laid it on the ground next to me.

I scan my surroundings, searching for the source of the sound. The forest is eerily quiet. Shit. I should have been paying better attention. Blindly, I feel around for my kills until my fingertips brush against soft fur. I don’t turn my head as I fumble for the string holding the bundle together. A few seconds later I find it and lift. I hurry to my feet and take off in the direction of the village.

I’ve barely made it a few feet when Lewis steps out from behind a tree and blocks the path. I skid to an abrupt halt.

“I knew if I was patient enough, I’d run across you out here somewhere,” he says as he prowls forward. He glances around while I carefully back away. “Looks like your alien friend is nowhere to be found today.”

“He’s not too far away. We’re meeting in a couple minutes, in fact.” I’m surprised by how steady my voice is.

A evil grin appears on Lewis’ face as he continues to advance on me. “Oh, Abby. You’re not a very good liar, do you know that?”

“I’m not lying.” I take several more steps back, putting more distance between not only us, but me and the village as well.

He chuckles and it sends a shudder down my spine. “I’ve been tracking you for the last hour. You’re out here all alone and we both know it.”

I swallow down the fear and steel my spine. “What do you want, Lewis?”

“You know what I want.” He jumps forward and I scramble backwards, nearly losing my balance.

“Don’t come any closer.” This time, my voice wavers. I tighten my hold on the string and tension fills my arm.

Lewis pounces and I swing the dead rabbits as hard as I can. They collide with a loud thud and I don’t waste any time even as he yells and clutches his head. The soles of my shoes thud against the ground as I run as fast as I can. My grip on my spear tightens and already my arm is fatigued from carrying it. But I don’t dare let loose of it.

Pounding footsteps grow louder behind me until a large body tackles me from behind. Lewis and I hit the ground together. I kick and scream, throwing my elbow back to connect with any body part I can. He grunts and his hold breaks enough for me to push myself out of his grasp. I roll away and jump to my feet at the same time I aim my spear at him.

He stands and chuckles. “The chase is always the fun part, isn’t it?”

“Go fuck yourself.” My chest heaves as I try to catch my breath.

Lewis stalks slowly forward and I jab the spear at him. He leaps back and that creepy grin spreads across his face again. “I love it when they fight back.”

He maneuvers me to move in a circle, and I never take my gaze off him. He hops right and I stab at him, but at the last second, he spins and comes at me from the left. I manage to jerk my arms enough in that direction to throw him off, but the weight of my weapon is too much and it falls from my hands. I scramble to pick it up, but Lewis kicks it away.

“Abby, Abby, Abby.” He shakes his head. “You didn’t really think you were going to win, did you?”

I don’t give him the satisfaction of answering. Nor will I give in without a fight. If he’s going to take what he wants, I don’t plan on lying there quietly. I’m going to inflict as much damage as I can.

Like a deadly dance, for every step forward Lewis takes, I take two back, doing my best to keep out of his reach. He’s merely taunting me, though, and we both know it.

He lunges, and I slip from his grip. Before I can recover though, he’s on me. His arms wrap around my waist and he throws me to the ground. My breath is knocked out of me. He straddles me and pins my hands above my head. I gasp for air, desperate to fill my lungs. Lewis looms over me, and I buck my hips to try and throw him off, but it’s no use.

His creepy laugh echoes in my ears. I finally manage to pull in enough oxygen and then let it loose in a primal scream. Birds scatter from the trees and escape into the air with frantic flaps of their wings.

“I tried to make this easy on you, Abby. I was willing to be nice, but you left me no choice,” he says. “The only person you have to blame is yourself. I would have taken good care of you.”

“You can go to hell.”

Lewis’ whole face shifts and morphs into rage. “I’m going to enjoy breaking you.”

His grip tightens painfully around my wrists and with a free hand, he grabs the neckline of my shirt and yanks. I cry out. There’s a tearing sound as stitches snap and he pulls again, even harder this time, and the seams break apart, exposing my front.

A guttural roar fills the air and a flash of movement appears out of the corner of my eye. In a blink, Lewis’ weight is lifted off me as a massive shadow passes over. I grab the remnants of my destroyed shirt and scramble backward on my butt, holding it against my chest.

I turn toward where two shapes battle. Shock fills me at the Tavikhi warrior who is beating the shit out of Lewis. Recognition finally hits. It’s Rojtar. He’s like a rabid beast, throwing punch after punch. Blood covers his hands, and the face of the man lying on the ground beneath him is already a pulpy mess. From the look on the Tavikhi’s face, I actually think he might kill him.

“Rojtar, stop.” I speed crawl over to the two men. “You have to stop.”

There’s no fight left in Lewis, but Rojtar keeps hitting him. As much as I hate Lewis, I don’t want him to die. At least not by Rojtar’s hand. Not unaware of the potential danger, I grab the Tavikhi’s arm.

“Rojtar,” I yell as loud as I can. “Stop, please. It’s over.”

As though I hold some magical power, he freezes. My gaze lands on where my fingers wrap partway around his bicep and the light purple lines that crawl out from beneath them and travel in both directions toward his shoulder and wrist. His chest heaves, and in slow motion, he turns his head and glances down at where I’m still touching him. I stare at his face and watch as the blown black vertical pupils shrink and focus on the same swirling lines.

Rojtar finally lifts his gaze to mine.

“ Keeshla ,” he whispers.