Episode Twenty Hearts Are Magical

A lliana

Mirron doesn't move a muscle when he says, "Dek, Luka, I'd like you to go hunting today. The days are getting shorter. The air is crisp this morning. We'll need to move south soon. We'll need dried meat for the journey. I don't want to get stuck here for the first snow. Our little prize won't fare well in the cold."

He grazes one finger along my arm, from wrist to inner elbow. Perhaps he simply meant to illustrate how naked my skin is, as opposed to the three of them with their thick pelts. His touch may have been a throwaway gesture on his part, but it didn't feel that way to me. It's almost as if that soft finger dipped between my legs.

When my gaze darts in his direction, his eyes flame with what? Need? Affection? He sniffs deeply, his head tipping as if he's trying to catch more of the scent. My scent. How does he know his soft caress woke up every inch of my body?

He eases his massive bulk to his feet with the grace of a dancer, then reaches down to offer me a hand. Whatever bad feelings had been between us seem to have been banished.

"Our little prize is coming with me today. She's going to practice her skill with her bow and arrows on squirrels and birds instead of fallen logs. Let's see how the boots Luka made her are going to feel on a long hike. I want to make certain she'll be safe and comfortable on our trek south."

The males ladle out the remnants of last night's stew for themselves while Deklan fixes my favorite breakfast, a bowl of dried grains laced with honey. My chest expands in happiness at his generosity. I've never been doted on before. It feels divine.

Soon Mirron and I head in one direction as the brothers move west to where the cattle herd has been spotted. Beef. Even in our household Up Above, as wealthy as we were, beef was a rarity reserved for special occasions, like when one of my sisters was bought at auction. How did a society lose its way so badly as to treat one half of its population like possessions?

"I'm not sure we'll be back tonight," Deklan says. "Tomorrow for sure."

"Do what you need," Mirron says. "We'll dry more lamb if we must, but I bet the little prize will like beef better."

I heft my bow in my hand. Mirron made it for me. All three had laughed the first time I tried to pull Mirron's bow. I couldn't make the string budge. Then I tried Deklan's, also to no avail. Finally, I'd used all my might on Luka's weapon. He's the youngest and isn't as strong as either of the others. That didn't mean I had any better luck with his bow.

After they had a good laugh at my expense, Mirron left for the better part of a day and returned with what he declared was the perfect piece of wood with which to make my bow. Every night around the fire, after we ate but before we piled in the furs to share our bodies, he worked on that bow.

First, he stripped the bark, then he used a piece of charcoal to draw the outline on the wood, then he used a long knife to rough out the shape, and after that he used the small knife that hangs on a pouch on his leggings.

He made a trip to the river to gather fine sand and sat around the fire at night, rubbing the wood with it until it was smooth as glass. "We wouldn't want our prize to get a splinter," he'd said with just enough levity for me to wonder if he was joking. Yet he kept sanding just the same.

While he did that, Dek made me arrows. He took such joy in making them for me. He trekked half a day's walk to the dogwood grove where the cardinals nest so he could gather red feathers for my arrows. Will I ever get over feeling so special, so cared for?

I've had my bow for almost a week and I practice every day. I'm not great at it, but I can hit the log Mirron leaned against a tree as a target.

As we walk, something suddenly strikes me like a bolt of lightning.

"Mirron? How long have I been here?"

"Shh," he says.

I must have spoken too loudly, forgetting we're on the hunt.

"It's important," I whisper, still probably too loud. "How long?"

"Maybe ten days." He sounds distracted. Far more interested in spotting squirrels than in figuring out something of no importance.

"Mirron." I catch up with him and grab his arm. It's the first time I've initiated any contact, and my soft touch grabs his full attention. "I never mentioned it. I mean, I kind of forgot."

As I pause, figuring out my next words, he waits, brow raised in silent question.

"The Senator said he'd send a hover for me in two weeks, fourteen days. He said he'd bring me back if I was still alive."

Mirron's eyes widen in surprise, then every muscle in his face stops moving as he closes himself off. As if that wasn't enough self-protection, he wipes his mouth with his palm. He thinks he's being smooth, like I don't know he's hiding his reaction from me.

"Do you…" He pauses for so long my stomach has time to squeeze itself into a giant knot. "Want to go back?"

My bow is precious and I know I shouldn't drop it on the ground, but it's no more precious than this male who I want to make my mate. I run into his arms and thrust myself against him so hard even this tower of muscle presses backward against the force of my embrace.

"No! No. I would never go back. I love it here. I love Luka and Deklan." I snap my mouth shut so hard and fast my teeth clack together. "And you, Mirron. I love you . And I want to stay here, and I want to be your mate. All of you. All three of you. For the first time in my life, I feel safe. I feel cherished, I feel needed, I feel respected. And I never want to leave. I never want to wake up without my three furry mates hugging me while they decide how they want to make love to me."

I lean back far enough to look into his oddly beautiful eyes. The next words he's going to say will be the most important I'll ever hear.

"Will you have me, Mirron? Will you let me stay? Can you love Deklan and be my mate, too?"

My emotions are flying in a dozen directions at once. From fear of the Senator to how much I love my males, to wondering if Mirron is going to reject me, to thinking about all those gorgeous cocks.

His bow hits the ground as he lifts me into his arms and holds me like a baby in his thickly muscled arms.

"I discovered something since you fell from Up Above, Little Prize. Hearts aren't made of matter like bones and trees and rocks. Hearts are magical. They can expand when given the right incentive."