THIRTY-ONE

- sedona -

"So," Meghan draws out, her voice just loud enough for our group to hear, "these guys aren't as friendly as our guys."

She's not wrong.

I figured there would be some resistance when we arrived, but not like this. Not a single person has said a word to us. In fact, they all move away as if we have some sort of contagious disease. I grip Kuvier's hand tightly. He let me walk into the village when I made it known in no uncertain terms that I would be pissed if he didn't. The idea of being carried in was beyond mortifying.

Part of me wishes I was wrapped in his protective arms right about now, though. All of me would like us to be anywhere but here. Perhaps back behind that boulder from earlier.

Enikk leads the group, his posture tense but confident, while the other women stay close, their expressions varying degrees of apprehensive. According to Xiomara's translation and what I learned from Kuvier, Enikk is taking us straight to their chief.

As we move through the commune, it's hard not to feel like a zoo experiment. Around us, Lieq people move with purpose. Some are tanning hides. Others are expertly cleaning animal carcasses. Nearby, women sit together sewing silently.

Yet, despite their busy tasks, all activity manages to pause as we pass by.

Kuvier's village puts into perspective how far back we have fallen technologically as well. The huts, varying in size and shape, are constructed from animal hides stretched over frames of large bones and wooden supports. There are at least two dozen of them and they form a circular arrangement around the heart of the village—a massive fire pit where a whole animal turns slowly on a spit.

As we get closer to the center of the community, it's also not hard to figure out which is the chief's tent. Kuvier instructs us all to sit around the fire, facing the largest hut that is adorned with intricate bone carvings.

The atmosphere crackles with a mix of anticipatory apprehension. As we settle onto haphazardly strewn rocks, whispers pick up around us, as more villagers crowd on the outskirts of the circle. None of them venture close, but they all continue doing what they seem to love. Staring.

I sit on a smoothed stone with Kuvier standing protectively behind me. Leaning into his warmth, I try my best to slow my racing heart and catch my speeding thoughts. I'm not sure how long we sit there, several minutes for sure, but no one in our group speaks, until finally, there is a rustle at the entrance of the chief's hut.

A large figure emerges from the hut in front of us, and from the way the crowd and our boys respond, it's easy to determine that this is the man of the hour. Atan Junq is not what I expected. While he is dressed in finer furs than what I've seen, with carved bones adorning his neck, his actual form is so much…smaller than I thought.

Draped in a thick fur cloak, the atan is almost dwarfed by his own clothing. Even his large ram's horns outweigh him, making him appear even slighter. With slim shoulders and an aging frame, Junq looks more like he should be somebody's grandpa than a feared leader.

And yet, everyone cowers in his presence.

Even my brave mate seems to deflate slightly under his scrutiny. In all honesty, it pisses me off. This guy reminds me of a boyfriend my mom had when I was a teen, Richie. God, I hated that man. He was scrawny and older, a wealthy doctor that thought he was god's gift to Earth. Despite being skinny enough I could take him in a fight, that man scared the hell out of my mom. Abused her for years before he finally went to prison for embezzlement.

If there's one thing life has taught me, it's that bullies come in all shapes and sizes. And, if there's one thing I cannot stand, it's a bully.

"What is this, Kuvier?" Junq begins his eyes narrowing on us women. Xiomara whispers translations to the others, but I'm understanding just fine.

Enikk jumps in first. "Atan Junq, we—"

"I asked Kuvier." Junq levels Enikk with a stare that quiets him. "Kuvier? Speak, boy."

"We return to the village in triumph, my atan," Kuvier responds, clapping his fist over his heart. "We bring females gifted from the Great Mother herself."

The crowd murmurs, and it's clear this declaration does not go down lightly. I knew that there would be few other women in the tribe, but Kuvier's description still didn't prepare me for the way the testosterone in this tribe far outweighs the estrogen.

"And when did you discover these," Junq peers at us, taking in every difference, "females?"

This brings Kuvier up short and it is a long pause before he answers, "We encountered many challenges and—"

"When did you find the females, Kuvier?"

"At the start of this storm," he finally admits. Murmurs move through the crowd.

"So, many blinks passed before you chose to bring this to my attention?" Junq hums his disapproval.

Kuvier just says, "Yes, my atan."

"Are we sure these creatures are even female?" An older-looking woman speaks from Junq's left side, her voice grating and condescending. "They look so different from us. They could be a danger."

I cannot help myself as the words are clipped from my lips, "We are not creatures. We are people."

Every set of eyes snaps to me, and for a moment, there is silence.

"They speak our tongue?" It's an older male this time who speaks up, standing at Junq's right. He addresses Kuvier as if I am merely a decoration for him.

I clench my jaw and murmur in English, "This talking around us shit is getting old fast."

"I don't have a good feeling about this chief guy either," Renata retorts, her words barely audible. No kidding.

"What is this? They have their own tongue?" Junq peers at us with increased interest. "What are these females?"

"They are human women, atan," Enikk inserts. "They talk, eat, and fellowship like us. They each are working to learn our tongue fully."

"Can they carry our kits?" The question comes from Junq, unsurprisingly. The way he looks at me makes me want to scrub my body under a hot geyser.

A rumble starts in Kuvier's chest and he moves me behind him, partially out of sight. "This female is mine. She is my bonded."

Enikk references Amari, but doesn't touch her. "As this one is mine."

Their declarations turn the muttering from the crowd to an all-out roar. Junq glares at them as one of his elders leans in to whisper in his ear. His anger drops at whatever is being said to him and his face breaks into an eely grin. The older dude leans away from Junq's ear and fixes his stare on us.

"I do not see a mark. In fact, none of these females carry marks."

Enikk tries to defend us saying, "Elder Viquum, human females have different customs tha—"

The irritating female elder interrupts, "Without the marks, they are all unmated and available to any who are worthy of them."

Junq's grin gives way to a wide, vicious smile, and I know in my gut that whatever shit comes out of his mouth next is not going to be good.

"Clansmen," he turns to the crowd with victory in his voice, "the Great Mother has gifted us eight unmated females to carry on our clan's lineage with the worthiest of males. Rejoice!"

A roar of celebration rises in the crowd and I feel my body go cold. Kuvier's grip on me tightens and I see him exchange a look with Enikk.

Junq holds up a hand to the crowd and everything quiets.

"Much has been revealed today, but I think there is one thing we can all agree upon," he turns his eyes towards our group, "Kuvier and Enikk have proven themselves unworthy of any female in their selfishness. While their clansmen starved for female affection, these two males took it upon themselves to withhold them and pursue false bonds."

"That's not true!" Amari exclaims suddenly, her eyes bulging with fear. "Our bonds are not false." There are crickets at first since her words are entirely English. But then Xo jumps to translate, her voice echoing in the air as she relays what Amari said.

"If they were not false, they would be complete already." Junq waves away her words as if they are gnats in the air. "None can resist the pull of the bond."

"We are not Lieq," I assert in their language. "Human women do not feel the bond as your males do, but that does not make it less true."

This is news that the crowd was not expecting. Nor, it seems, was Junq. The fact that we don't feel the bond as intensely means that any claim to us needs to be proven. How can they prove or disprove it? They would need to rely on our word alone, whether we confirm that we felt it or not. I can see the wheels turn in this grimy man's head as he tries to find some other way to pawn us off.

My eyes stay on him, but out of my peripheral vision, I see that awful woman slide away. She disappears into the chattering crowd, and a minute later a voice breaks through the crowd.

"I call upon the Rites of Challenge for the females that stand with Kuvier." My head snaps towards the voice and Kuvier goes statue still behind me. The man that steps forward is broad and clearly closer to Junq's age than Kuvier's.

"Jepiil," Kuvier growls his name as a warning, moving closer, but I stop him with a hand on his wrist. Something in me is screaming not to let him go more than a foot away from me. I do not feel safe without him right next to me.

"Atan, that custom has been long forgotten," Enikk protests and pleads at the same time. "Surely you cannot allow this to happen."

"Forgotten does not mean it holds no weight," the older female reappears beside Junq and smirks at him.

Junq continues addressing the crowd once again, "In accordance with ancient laws, we will host a Rite of Challenge for each female. For eight blinks, the unmated males of this clan will have the opportunity to enter the pit and fight for the female of their choice. Each time, as the second eye sets, a different female's hand will be offered. The male left standing at the end of the day will claim them as his mate."

"Atan, you cannot—" Kuvier protests, his body nearly shaking with anger, but his sentence is never finished.

Junq locks eyes with me and says, "The first female up is that one."