Episode Four How to Keep Her Alive

A zael

I'm fletching arrows in my quarters when I hear a hover. I didn't know what those vessels were called until a human female named Alliana fell from the sky a few turns of the moon past. She taught me many things about the world Up Above.

Hovers carry humans. They are never up to any good.

Instantly, I rise and grip one of the vines hanging near my hut in the treetops.

"Kaz! Onyx! River! Birch! Grab your weapons and follow me!"

We swing through the trees from vine to vine and branch to branch as we close in on where we heard the hover set down. As we ease closer, I need give no orders for all the young males to go into stealth mode. The five of us move so silently we barely rustle a leaf.

I thought we would wait in the treetops, at least for a moment, to observe before we pounce, but the scene before me is too terrible for me to pause. Without giving it a moment's thought, I move above the two people on the forest floor, then jump on the burly male.

I pull him off the naked human female he is beating to death, yank him to his feet, and pound him with all my might.

This male is taller than me, and I'm one of the tallest in our troop. His height doesn't matter. We monks are strong.

My first punch causes blood to spurt from his mouth as his head snaps back from the force of the blow. Monks don't fight each other, not like this, but I needed no practice to know what to do to make this terrible male stop attacking the female.

My meaty fist slams into his jaw. I relish his grunts of pain, just as he took pleasure in the abuses he heaped upon the female.

Several teeth dislodge from his gums, fly out of his mouth, then spray onto the ground. Kaz comes up behind him, saying, "No you don't," as he disarms the male who was reaching for his weapon. I've seen these before. Alliana called them lasers.

"Hold him," I tell Onyx. The young male keeps the brute standing so I can continue to beat him as he slips into unconsciousness.

After one powerful uppercut forceful enough to snap the male's neck, I walk away to check on the female. The young monks will ensure the horrible male is dead.

River and Birch are kneeling next to the female's lifeless body. Their nimble fingers are sifting through her hair, pulling leaf shards from the striking red strands. They are singing the song of the dead, preparing her for a proper burial by cleaning her broken body.

Females are rare in our tribe—in all the tribes Down Below. They are highly prized and respected.

To harm a female is strictly forbidden. To beat one to death is punishable by death. To take such pleasure in it? If I could kill that human male ten more times, it wouldn't be enough.

"Terrible." What kind of person could do such a thing?

As I ponder a place to bury her, one of highest honor for enduring such pain and abuse, I catch her chest moving out of the corner of my eye.

Leaning close, I feel her shallow breaths graze the fur on my cheek.

"She lives." I carefully scoop her into my arms, bile rising in the back of my throat when I see her arm hanging at the oddest angle.

I tell the males to cover the hover with tree limbs and leaves after they scavenge for anything useful.

"Leave his body for the animals to eat." Picturing his gnawed and scattered bones left to bleach in the sun gives me no comfort.

Tucking the female against my chest, I vow to cause as little pain as possible as I take off back to our village at a run. I hope I can reach our healer before she dies.

It seems an eternity before I arrive at our village. Others offer to help me carry her into the treetops to Reese's hut. I refuse to allow her out of my arms until I place her gently in his hammock.

Reese works silently, checking her pulse, feeling every inch of her naked body for broken bones, and gently wiping blood off her pale skin so he can see how badly she's injured.

As the leader of this large monk community, I'm ultimately responsible for everything that happens here. It's up to me to ensure every person under my care is fed, clothed, and will be warm in the coming winter.

I want everyone to be happy, to find love, and have babies. I've been honored to officiate at all the matings in our troop since I became the leader five turns of the seasons ago.

I gave up on finding a mate of my own the day I fought Garren for the position of leader after our previous leader died. Had I earned this leadership position sooner, every unmated female in the troop would have been interested in mating me. By the time I won my bid against Garren, there were no available females to choose from, at least none that interested me.

As I watch the medic, it's as if I'm two people at once. Part of me is the monk leader, the male who puts everyone first, who even now is unemotional as he watches Reese work.

Another part of me is chanting mine, mine, mine as my cock twitches to life in my loincloth. I can't tell if she's beautiful because her face is so badly bruised.

What she looks like doesn't matter, because something sprang to life inside my chest the moment I saw her. Mayhap it's how fragile she is, or the way this triggered my protective instincts, but I feel connected to her.

"She's hurt bad," Reese says. Even though he's finished assessing her, his gaze is still on her as he thinks.

"Fix her." My voice is harsh. It's the tone I only use with outsiders, never with my own people.

"I can't."

"Fix her!" I repeat. The words are half growl, half speech. I feel almost feral with the desperate need to keep this female alive.

"I don't have the skill to fix her. There are internal injuries. Broken ribs. Look." He points to a thin trickle of blood leaking from the corner of her mouth. "This means she's bleeding from somewhere deep inside." His gaze flashes to me, then skitters away. Is he afraid of my anger?

"You fixed that minotaur not long ago. He was hurt worse than this," I insist, stabbing my finger in her direction. Something inside me is cracking apart as I think about this little female dying.

"He had a mate. I used the matebond to make an Energy Transfer."

"Then DO IT!" I shout.

"But Azael, she has no mate."

"She has one now." I make sure the medic sees how serious I am. To be even more clear, I step closer, invading his space, and bow my chest.

I expected an argument. This is not the way we do things. Our people do not take . The word rape is only in our vocabulary because it's what some species do. Not us. Not the monks.

He rubs his mouth with his fingers as he thinks. "How are you going to do this?"

"You have something in your kit to wake someone, right? I saw you use it years ago. It smelled awful."

"Yes."

"I'm going to carry her to my hut while she's still unconscious. You'll wake her up with your stinky herb. I'll get her to consent, then mate her. When the deed is done, I'll call for you and you will perform the Energy Transfer."

"She's so badly injured, I'm not sure those herbs will wake her, Azael. And what makes you think this human, if she does open her eyes, won't take one look at you and say she'd rather die than mate you?"

"After you wake her up, you'll leave my hut, Reese. That's all I ask."

He takes a long narrow cloth and motions for me to sit her upright. He wraps the cloth tightly around her ribs. "This will stabilize the broken ribs and stop them from puncturing her lungs."

He takes her bent forearm and pulls until the bones snap into place. Taking another long cloth, he wraps her arm from elbow to wrist, then binds her broken arm against her middle. I wish I hadn't ordered my males to kill her attacker. If I could find her attacker and raise him from the dead, I'd kill him again… slower this time.

After Reese wipes the blood from the corner of her mouth, we both watch for a long moment, but no new blood appears. I let out a long labored breath, feeling my body sag with the weight of my emotions.

He doesn't hide his disapproval of my desire to mate an unconscious female, which reminds me of what a good male he is. Right now, all that matters is keeping her alive.

Reese reaches into a vine basket hanging from a branch in the top of the hut and pulls out three white whyler leaves. "You know what to do with these, Azael. Chew them until they're soft and put them in her mouth when she regains consciousness. They'll reduce her pain for a short time. I can't give her more. In her condition, it might kill her."

I nod as I tuck the leaves into the waist of my loincloth.

Lifting her into my arms, it's impossible not to notice how tiny she is, and how broken. Bruises are blooming all over her naked body. I will do everything necessary to keep the little human alive.