Episode Twenty-Three Better Alive Up Above?

M irron

I've seen the looks Dek has given me almost constantly since our prize fell from Up Above. Especially when the four of us were in the furs, as the brothers shared pleasure with a female who has never refused anything that was asked of her. When I didn't touch her, his disapproval was clear.

He'll be happily surprised when Alliana and I enjoy each other tonight. He won't be jealous. In fact, he'll be filled with happiness. And I will, too.

"There!" I whisper as I point at a rabbit.

I must admit, I never expected the pleading look she gives me, eyes wide in her exquisite, pale face.

"Kill it." What more is there to say? We came out today to hunt.

"But it's so cute."

"It's not cute. It's dinner. Shoot."

Her face is so expressive, I can almost read her mind. Is she really questioning if she should kill that rabbit for our stew tonight? Does she think the meat for our dinner is going to drop from the sky just like she did?

I still can't picture what it was like Up Above. How did they procure their food? And who cooked it? Certainly not her. She didn't know how to start a fire, nor how to chop carrots or dress meat, nor whether it was the veg or the meat that went into the pot first.

Is it really so abhorrent for her to kill the little thing?

I don't say another word, partly because the damned thing can't be expected to stick around while we fight. Mostly because I hate to order her around. She's not like me, not like the brothers or anyone I've ever met. She's so tender. She'll have to make this decision on her own.

I know we won't be having rabbit stew tonight, at least not this rabbit, when she finally nocks her arrow and pulls the bow taut. She's trembling so hard, she'll be lucky to get within ten feet of the furry thing.

She's trying. I have to give her that. She does just as we've taught her. She corrects her stance, nocks her arrow, pulls the string, then remembers to take a moment to relax her grip. After straightening her shoulders, she kisses the string just as Dek taught her, then releases.

The arrow misses, but not by as much as I'd feared. The rabbit is long gone by the time Alliana looks at me, her brow creased and the corners of her mouth tipped down in disappointment.

"That was horrible," she moans.

This is a new aspect of my mate I haven't met before. Up to now, she's remained positive through every setback.

I've spent days with this female. At first, I felt resentful, then jealous, then rejected as I waited for her to overcome her fear and reach out for me. Now that things are good between us, it's easy for me to stride to her, bend my knees and fold her into my arms.

"It was a good first attempt. You'll get better. I still can't picture what it's like Up Above. That you can't bear to kill anything astonishes me and makes me care for you even more. You're sensitive, which is good. I'm tough enough for both of us."

She relaxes against me and kisses my cheek. It's soft and swift and her innocent affection makes me feel like I personally filled the night sky with stars.

After reminding myself I don't want to take my new mate for the first time on the dirty forest floor, I release her and resume walking.

Moments later, I stop in mid-step, instantly bending my knees, lowering my center of gravity, readying myself for whatever is coming. It's a noise not of this world.

My ears flick as I try to determine where the sound is coming from.

"You hear something?" she asks.

"Yes. Like a hum."

"A hover," Alliana whispers. "Coming for me."

I guess the mystery of how many days she's been with us has been solved. Fourteen.

Tucking her closer, I whisper directly into her ear. "We're going to wait until it lands, otherwise it will just keep following you. Once the hover's on the ground, I want you to run to our cave. It's that way."

I point.

"Don't go in a straight line. Dart in and out."

It suddenly strikes me. We're not where they let her off. Luka told me it was near the dogwood grove. We're nowhere near there.

"Do you know how they're tracking you?"

She pauses, then her eyes flutter shut as she groans. "Bleeker shot me with something as he dragged me to the hover. Could that be it?"

I use a bow and arrow and live in a cave. I don't understand hovers or tracking devices. "I imagine so."

I recalculate. "Forget what I said about running. It will just separate us and leave you unprotected. We'll stick together."

I look at her. Somehow my pale beauty, her skin already so white, is even paler. Her brow is furrowed. She's terrified.

"I will do everything in my power, Alliana. Everything . To keep you alive and Down Below with us."

She nods seriously, then adds what I was too cowardly to speak out loud. "But if you can't fix it, if it's a choice between staying here and dying, or going with them, you'll let them take me. I'll wind up Up Above." Her voice is shaky and full of so much pain my heart breaks.

"Yes. Better alive Up Above than dead Down Below."

"I'm not sure of that, Mirron."

Neither am I.