Chapter 2

Julie

Heavy breaths escaped his lungs as he leaned against the wall to catch his breath. Blood dripped from multiple wounds, forming a small puddle under where he stood.

I turned to see where the light was coming from and found a crack in the ceiling of the cave that was just big enough to let the bright light of the moon illuminate the space.

The cave wasn't very big, but it was safe. It had no other entrances other than the one now covered by the boulder. And there was water trickling down the wall, which I hoped was safe to drink.

A loud thud sounded behind me. I whirled around to find Mr. Bear on the ground. I rushed to his side, giving me a close-up view of his injuries, and just as I'd suspected, the biggest one was the gash on his lower leg.

He grunted at my touch. "I'm alright. It is good that I have two legs, yes? If not we'd be in trouble." He chuckled at his own joke then sat up against the wall to inspect his wounds more closely.

As he did, he frowned and remarked, "I do think I should bandage these up, though."

"Do you have any bandages in your pack?" I asked as I pointed to the satchel that was still draped across his shoulder.

He pulled the bag off, wincing as the strap brushed against the bite wounds on his back.

I expected him to search through his bag but instead he just laid it on the floor.

"I did not pack any bandages."

"What do you mean you didn't pack any bandages? You live on a planet with beasts like this," I gestured to the entrance, "and you don't carry any medical supplies?"

"There wasn't enough room," he shrugged and then winced with the pain that action caused.

"Let me see that." I held out my hand for the bag, which he freely offered to me.

I named the contents aloud as I pulled them from the satchel.

"You have three pouches of dried berries, two pouches of dried meat, one pouch full of nuts, one blanket, and a large water skin. Did you really just pack snacks? You don't even have a weapon in here."

Shock didn't even begin to describe what I was feeling. How had this male survived to adulthood packing his bag like this? I didn't even leave my house without my phone, charger, chapstick, water bottle, multiple granola bars, pepper spray, keys, wallet, earbuds, and more.

"My weapons are right here." He held up a clawed hand that still had hyena blood on it.

I must have had a strange look on my face, because as soon as we locked eyes he suddenly got very apologetic. "Sorry, I'm sure you don't want to see my claws."

And as if this night couldn't get any weirder, the half alien, half bear man closed his eyes and I watched in amazement as his fur receded into his skin, his paws turned into feet, and his claws retracted into his fingers.

"What the hell is going on? What are you?"

He raked a nervous hand through his hair, causing blood from his arm to trickle down onto his vest.

"Don't do that." I scolded him. I needed this male to stay alive if I wanted even the smallest chance of surviving on this planet. Hell, I needed him just to leave this cave. It wasn't like I could move that boulder on my own.

I sighed and silently acknowledged that maybe asking someone what they were wasn't the most polite thing to do. It wasn't like I ever appreciated it when customers asked me what nationality I was or where I was really from.

"Here." I ripped off the bottom cuff of my sweat pants and dipped the fabric into the pool of water in the far corner of the cave. Wet cloth in hand, I walked back to the now fully blue, furless, horned, alien and started to clean his wounds.

"I'm a Sirret from the outcast dekes." He nearly whispered the words, as if he were ashamed to admit this information. Ashamed or not, I wanted more information from him.

"Do the rest of your people live close by?"

He shook his head. "We live in the mountain half a day's walk away from here."

Interesting. A mountain sounded like a nice safe place to live on a planet like this.

"Do all Sirrets shift into bears?"

"They wish." A broad smile flashed on his face but was quickly replaced by another frown, as if he had momentarily forgotten to be ashamed of something.

"No, I am the only bear shifter. There are many in my dekes who can shift, but we all take different forms. No one from the main dekes can shift."

That last bit of information seemed important somehow. There were two groups of aliens here, those who could shift and those who couldn"t. It was interesting that the shifters were part of the outcast group. I wondered if there was any correlation there.

I ripped off another piece of fabric from the bottom of my pants and wrapped his leg with it.

"What's your name?" His deep voice seemed to reverabate through me as I tied the bandage.

"Julie." I looked up into his very earnest violet eyes. "My name is Julie."

"Julie." He repeated my name slowly, as if he wanted it to linger on his lips. I liked the sound of my name on his tongue.

"Are you from the other dekes, Julie? The Sirrets who live in the valley?"

An expression of sadness crossed his face at the mention of the other dekes.

"No, I'm from a planet called Earth, where I was very rudely taken from my bed by some alligator aliens, one of which is still alive and probably wandering around the forest right now."

The thought of running into my captor again made me shudder.

A big hand gently slid up and down my arm, drawing my attention back to the present.

"You do not need to worry about him, Julie. As long as I draw breath you have my word that no harm will come to you."

Ok wow, that was an intense oath to make to someone he'd just met.

"What's your name?" Knowing the name of my kidnapper and would-be protector would be nice.

"Orsu." He said his name with a shy grin.

"Ore-sue." I repeated. "It's nice to meet you, Orsu. Well, except for the kidnapping thing," I clarified.

"I'm sorry about that. I promise to take you back to your people tomorrow."

He had an earnest look on his face that made me want to believe him. Not only was he a literal bear shifter, but he had that big teddy bear energy. Someone soft and cuddly who you could trust.

"Do you think you'll be able to walk tomorrow?" I looked down at his bandaged leg, remembering exactly how much staggering he had to do just to get us to the cave.

"I might have a limp, but I'll be fine. Are you hungry? I have plenty of snacks." Orsu grinned and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Not right now, thank you. I ate some jerky that I found in your den earlier." Speaking of his den… "Did you make that jerky or did someone else? It was really good."

"No one makes better jerky than me," he beamed. "I am the one who tends to the cookfire for the dekes."

"Ah, so you're a chef like me." It was oddly nice to have something in common with this stranger.

"Chef?" He raised an eyebrow up at me.

"Yeah, a person who cooks for other people," I explained.

"Ah yes, I am the chef of the dekes."

"What spices did you use on this meat?" I held up a piece of jerky that looked similar to what I had eaten earlier. I knew I wouldn't know the names of the spices, but I liked the idea of talking about something as familiar to me as cooking. And who knew–I might get lucky and survive long enough to cook a meal here.

Orsu pulled out another piece of dried meat and lifted it up under the beam of the moonlight shining through the cave.

"See this black speck here? That is from the morot root. There are many morot plants that grow close to the mountain, so it is easy to find them, dry them out, and grind them into powder for a sweet seasoning."

"Morot root. Got it."

"And this red speck here?" Orsu pointed to one of the many red pepper-looking things.

"This is from the lukur leaf. It is one of our spiciest seasonings. When you dry it in the sun the oils are drawn out. It makes your mouth tingle with heat and has a nice smoky flavor to it."

This was turning out to be a lot more educational than I'd thought it would be.

"I add all the spices together in a mixture of thickened broth. Then the strips of meat are dipped in the broth and laid out to dry."

"That's really impressive. Where did you learn this recipe?"

Orsu looked wistful as he recalled the jerky recipe. "This one I learned from my mother when I was young. She saw my passion for cooking early on and encouraged me to learn her recipes and to make some of my own."

"I bet she's very proud of you. You sound like a skilled chef."

"I like to think she would be." Orsu gave me a pained smile. I caught his use of the phrase would be. On a harsh planet like this, it was easy to imagine she may have died either from a beast or maybe some ailment.

The events of the day were starting to catch up to me and I let out a yawn.

"Come, you must be tired." Orsu pulled a fur blanket from his pack, lay down, and gestured for me to come closer.

Did he think I was going to lie down on top of him? I made no move to come closer. Instead I placed my palm on the floor of the cave and my hand came away damp. I bit back a sigh of frustration. Was the whole cave like this? If I slept on a damp floor I'd spend most of the night freezing, and for someone who already struggled to fall asleep in the first place, a freezing damp floor certainly wouldn't help.

Orsu'z gaze followed mine, and as if he had read my thoughts he mentioned, "This cave is too damp for you to sleep on the floor." He paused before continuing. "You can sleep on me, Julie. I promise not to hurt you."

"What about the blanket? Can I sleep on that?" I pointed to the very warm looking blanket currently splayed across Orsu's chest.

He shook his head. "This blanket is too thin. It would soak up the moisture and then keep you cold and wet for the rest of the night. You can lie on top of me and I will place the blanket on top of you," he explained.

I looked around the cave again, searching for a dry corner in the room, but found none. It was starting to sink in that Orsu was my only option for a bed tonight. I looked him up and down again. He was a large male with broad shoulders and a thick midsection. My cheeks heated at the thought of spending the night on top of his muscled blue body. Doing so certainly wouldn't be the worst way to spend the night. I let out a sigh and walked over to Orsu and sat down on my knees beside him.

I looked him over again and marveled at his broad chest. This male was huge.

"My fangs may be sharp, but I promise I don't bite," Orsu chuckled.

His joke made me feel a bit more comfortable about the situation. He had such a lightness about him that it was easy to be near him. As someone who was always bogged down with worries, his broad smile and hearty laugh made me feel at ease. His levity was almost infectious and I felt drawn to him, as if a part of me hoped some of his lightheartedness might rub off on me.

I obviously didn't know Orsu, but he struck me as someone who not only didn't take life too seriously, but also as someone who would never add to the burdens of others.

"Ok," I announced, more to myself than to him, as I lay down on his chest, leaving only my hips and legs on the floor.

With a grunt he lifted me and rested the lower half of my body onto his. "Now you are ready for sleep."

I had to admit he was quite comfortable to lie on. Orsu was a broad guy and I was a short woman with flared hips, but not much else as far as curves went.

I laid my head down on his chest and listened to the beat of his heart. It was going so fast. Was he nervous or did his heart always beat this fast?

I nearly moaned as he laid the blanket on top of me. It was so warm and cozy, and I was so tired. I smiled to myself as I tucked the blanket under my chin and hoped for a good night's sleep.

Drip, drip, drip. The water from the ceiling dripped onto the floor. That was alright, a little dripping wouldn't keep me up.

Drip, drip, drip. What if a bug bit me during the night? Were the bugs poisonous on this planet? I took a deep breath and tried to clear my mind. It's ok, Julie. Just let it go and try to sleep.

Drip, drip, drip. Would we run into those hyenas again tomorrow? What if they were still out there tomorrow morning when Orsu moved the boulder away? What if they weren't out there but something else was? How many different predators lived in this forest?

No, I couldn't think about that or I'd never fall asleep. I was so tired, but I was also starting to feel all wound up.

Drip, drip, drip. I hoped Gabby made it back to the den alright. Would another Sirret guy go to the den and take another woman? No, it was Orsu's den; why would anyone else go there?

I sighed and turned to my other side. Was I bothering Orsu? Was I moving too much for him to fall asleep? What if I was lying on one of his wounds? I should have checked before I laid down. Should I check now? What if he'd already fallen asleep?

Julie, stop. Just clear your mind and fall asleep, I chastised myself. Not that it had ever worked in the past, but I had to try something. I lay there listening to the dripping water for what felt like an hour, and I was starting to get pissed. I NEEDED to sleep! If I didn't sleep, then I'd feel even more tired in the morning, and if I felt tired in the morning then I might not be alert enough to hear an animal approaching. I could literally die tomorrow because of a lack of sleep.

Was my heart racing? Why was my heart racing? I needed it to slow down. I needed to SLEEP! Why couldn't I just fall asleep?!

"Julie?" Orsu's voice cut through my spiraling thoughts.

"Hmm?" I pretended to sound more tired than I felt.

"I promised to keep you safe. You can sleep. I won't hurt you."

His voice was laced with sorrow that cut to my very soul. Did he think I was refusing to fall asleep out of fear? Well I was scared, but not of him. If Orsu was going to hurt me he would have done it by now.

No, there were about six million things I was afraid of on this planet, but this big blue alien wasn't one of them.