11. Chapter 11

Khadahr's departure and ominous words broke the party up, and people moved to their tents. It was late, I supposed. We had marched for a long time, been hungry and thirsty, and our emotions had run high. It was time to get some shut-eye. I expected we would leave at first light since Khadahr had warned it would take five days to reach Farruk, where we were supposed to mate .

I shook my head at the thought, reminding myself that I had willingly entered this bargain, that I had, in fact, been willing to do anything to be able to step foot on Vandruk. In theory, selling one's soul or body didn't sound that bad, but in reality, it was an entirely different story. I didn't fully understand my sudden scruples, but mating one of the Vandruks suddenly sounded terrifying. I nearly laughed. I had accused the others of being airheads for not thinking this fully through. And now, here I was, quite frankly freaking out just a bit. Okay, more than a bit. For the first time in my life, I wondered if I had bitten off more than I could chew.

I stared thoughtfully in the direction to where Khadahr had walked off and wondered if he would mind speaking to me. I remembered our talk when we had first met in the laboratory and how easy it had been. It would be nice to experience that again, just to assure myself that all would be well.

So after a moment of internal debate, I veered from my course to the tent and took off into the darkness to where I had watched Khadahr disappear.

I swore to myself that I wouldn't go too far, even if I didn't run into him. I turned around to get my bearings for where the fires were and was relieved to see that I could still make out their shine.

Low voices drifted to me, urging me to slow my steps. In the darkness, I made out two shadows in an intimate embrace. My first instinct was to retrace my steps, but then my breath caught in my throat when I recognized Khadahr and Sandra.

Seeing them felt like a punch to the gut. I didn't have any rights over Khadahr, but seeing him holding Sandra, of all people, felt like a deep betrayal.

I tried to convince myself that I couldn't fault him. Sandra was a beautiful woman, model perfect, just like the others, whereas I was… plain old me. Short. Good hair, I had been told. Pretty eyes, one of my boyfriends said right before he called my tits marvelous. That's pretty much what anybody had ever seen in me. Big tits .

Not big enough to compete with Sandra, apparently , my mind whispered. No , I agreed, Sandra was the full package, at least on the outside.

Well, inside, you're not such a great catch either, my inner bitch bullied her way into my internal discussion.

Slowly, I retraced my steps, hoping neither Khadahr nor Sandra would look up and see me. Fat chance of that happening. They're deep into whatever they're doing, the same bitchy voice corrected. When I thought I was far enough away from them that they wouldn't hear me, I ran back to our camp and straight into Szun-Var.

"Ouch," I cursed at the impact with a ginormous, hard chest.

Strong hands surrounded me, preventing me from falling flat on my face.

"You… alright?" he searched for the right words.

I swallowed, feeling my skin prickle where his hands touched me. He was a very good-looking man. They all were. Would it really be that bad to be mated to one of them? Living on Vandruk?

I licked my lips. "I'm okay," I assured him. In the darkness, his eyes glinted orange, a warm orange. Not the deep reddish brown like Khadahr's, not the kind I could get lost in, but there was a gentleness to them that was missing in Khadahr's.

"I just… had to go… pee," I lied.

His head tilted like he didn't understand me. I mimicked squatting and peeing. Embarrassed, he turned his head away. Okay, so I guess those kinds of things weren't discussed here.

"Careful…" He scrunched up his face in concentration, searching for the words in English, reminding me that I really needed to learn Vandruk if I wanted to make a life here. "Dangerous animals. Xythrax."

I gathered xythrax had to be an especially nasty creature. "Got it. Dangerous animals. Xythrax."

"Help… you." He let go of my arm and held out his hand. I gathered he wanted to accompany me back to my tent. Not thinking much of it, I took the offered hand and let him lead me to the tent I shared with Kenley, Michaela, and Sophia.

"Thank you." I sent a bright smile at him, letting go of his hand, and ducked through the flap, feeling his eyes burning a hole in my back. I entered the tent a bit more forcefully than I needed to.

Kenley and Michaela were already in bed , made up of several furs, while Sophia sat on hers, brushing her hair. All three looked up at me when I dashed in, startling them.

"Sorry," I apologized, realizing I might have startled them. "It's so dark out there." I forced a nervous giggle. "I got spooked."

"So you decided to spook us?" Sophia put her brush aside and lay down on her bed of furs.

"Sorry," I repeated.

"It's okay. Come, we kept this spot for you," Kenley said, pointing at an untouched bed with my backpack sitting on top of it.

My pack contained a pair of pajamas, but now I wondered how wise it would be to wear those. Wouldn't I be better off staying in the clothes I was wearing? Just in case? We were on an alien planet. Everything was possible. Most likely, the Vandruks weren't wearing their bone swords and daggers for fun and games. They had hunted for our dinner, so I assumed there were other predators out there hunting those same animals.

Sophia, I noticed, still wore her clothes. The other two were snuggled under their furs, so I couldn't tell, but if Sophia had decided to sleep dressed, I figured my caution probably wasn't misplaced.

"Thanks," I told Kenley, took my shoes off, and glided underneath the pelts.

They were comfortable, although they smelled like wild animals.

"No problem. Are you guys ready for me to turn the light off?" Kenley asked.

The light was a small bowl of some kind of oil with a wick inside that Kenley blew on when we all assured her it was okay.

With the tent flap closed, the darkness that followed was nearly absolute. The sides of the tent were made from animal hides as well, and they didn't allow the smallest glimmer of light in from the fires outside.

I lay my head down and closed my eyes. Voices drifted to me from outside, the sound of footsteps as they moved by our shelter, and I wondered if they belonged to Khadahr. If he had returned to camp yet. What had he and Sandra been doing? Dumb question. I rolled my eyes behind my closed lids. It was pretty obvious what they had been doing or been about to do.

The fact that I didn't like it didn't matter. Neither to them nor to the universe at large. So why did I care? Khadahr wasn't the only man out here. Not to forget that the others were also prime specimens of their species as Szun-Var had proven. All of them looked as if they modeled for a men's sports magazine. No, I corrected myself. No man could be that buff. No human man, at least.

So why was I pining for Khadahr? Simply because he had been the first of them I had met? Because we had talked?

Even now, thinking about him made my stomach flutter. I called myself a stupid bitch. Stupid, stupid bitch , my mind reiterated. F ind one the others aren't after because you don't stand a chance .

Now, that thought did hurt. But since I was blunt and honest most of the time, I treated myself the same way. My mom had taught me to recognize my weaknesses, and boy, had she been right.

With another deep sigh, I rolled onto my side, arranging my pillow and pressing my face into the soft material. The pillow wasn't made from fur. Whatever it was made from felt smooth and cool, slowly warming to my body temperature.

A shrill howl from outside jolted all four of us into an upright position on our beds, staring at each other through the darkness that didn't show more than merely our silhouettes.

"What was that?" Michaela asked in a trembling voice.

"Didn't sound good, whatever it was," Sophia added.

"Sounded like a wolf," Kenley suggested.

"Whatever it was, I'm sure the Vandruks heard it too and will protect us." I kept my voice strong even though my heart hammered inside my chest, urging me to run. Could that have been the xythrax Szun-Var had mentioned? But I didn't want to frighten the other women more than they already were; somebody had to keep a cool head.

"She's right," Kenley said and plopped back down on her bed. "Night, Gwyn."

"Night, Kenley," I replied, followed by the same calls from the others. It reminded me of the old TV show The Waltons and I snickered quietly, still a little anxious, into my pillow.

I slept surprisingly well for the rest of the night. Knowing Khadahr's warriors were out there, protecting us, had eased my mind enough to allow my body to get the rest it needed from yesterday's exhausting march.

The furs had been comfortable, kept me warm, and prevented me from feeling the hard ground below me.

Just as I had suspected, the next morning, the loud noises of an entire camp stirring woke us before the sun was even up. The scent of cooking food provided enough incentive to get us out of bed a lot quicker than I expected most of the women to be ready.

When I stepped out of the tent, bleary-eyed, loud complaints about missing coffee and not being quite awake yet rang out into the cool morning air.

"Coffee," Kenley groaned, following me outside .

"Yeah, coffee would be nice," I agreed and eyed a large clay pot standing on top of a flat stone raised over a fire. "What do you think is in there?"

She shrugged. "Let's go find out."

I was about to follow her, but then Khadahr's powerful figure appeared from his tent. I half expected Sandra to emerge from it next and braced myself, but nothing happened. Khadahr walked up to his warriors, who were beginning to take down the camp.

"You like him," Kenley observed.

I nodded mutely, my eyes glued to Khadahr as he moved through the camp like a panther stalking its prey. "I do."

"We should come up with a plan for how you can snag him," Kenley suggested, not looking tired at all anymore.

"Too many queen bees already clambering around him." I sighed.

"So?" Kenley shrugged. "You're the one he asked for."

I didn't know how she knew that, but her point was moot. He might have asked for me that day, but now that he had seen how large the pool of human women was ready to throw themselves at him, I didn't stand a chance. He embraced Sandra last night , I reminded myself.

"Let's go find out what's in that pot and come up with a plan." Kenley pulled me toward a large Vandruk warrior standing by the pot and fluttered her eyelashes at him, pointing at the pot.

"Koshu," the warrior replied, producing a clay cup from seemingly out of nowhere and filling it with the steamy, brownish liquid. He held it out to Kenley before he filled one for me .

"Oh my God," Kenley exclaimed loudly. "I don't believe this."

She gained the attention of the other women, who slowly clustered around her.

"Try it, Gwyn," Kenley encouraged me.

Oh my God was right. It wasn't exactly coffee, more like a hazelnut latte, but who cared?

"Good." I nodded at the cook approvingly.

Kenley did one better and fluttered her eyelashes. "Heaven, thank you."

The man's chest visibly puffed out at the attention, a grin spread on his handsome face. It would have been a good moment, had Sandra not suddenly popped up. Using her arms like a swimmer, she pushed the arriving women out of the way, snatching the cup meant for Lurdes.

"Oh my God." She stared up at the cook. "Thank you!" Rising on her tiptoes, she kissed his cheek, nearly felling the giant as his chest puffed out even more.

Another warrior appeared holding a wooden tray, filled with what looked like bread rolls. Dark, but not burned. Sandra grabbed the first roll, biting into it greedily.

"Yum." She nodded approvingly.

We gathered around the Vandruk warrior and took rolls from him, while another approached with another wooden tray, filled with warm pieces of meat.

"It's not bacon," Lexi criticized, "but it's good."

A warm, happy atmosphere grew around us, and more warriors arrived, soaking up the presence of us women and our nearly exultant demeanor. Laughter rang out as we tried to communicate with one another. Baleful glares were thrown from the guards' camp, but I ignored them. This was how this was supposed to be. Happy laughter. I even saw a Vandruk warrior and one of the women share a roll together. She touched his bulging arm muscle flirtatiously.

Szun-Var joined me. "Good?" He nodded at my cup of latte .

"Very good." I nodded vigorously, sending a brilliant smile at him.

He was about to say something else but was interrupted by Khadahr's booming voice. I didn't understand a word he said, but all the warriors scurried to follow whatever he had ordered, which, from the looks of it, was to take down the camp.

Szun-Var winked at me before he turned to join a very sullen-looking Khadahr snarling at him. Szun-Var's smile never faltered, and I watched him walk through groups of warriors, delegating responsibilities.

"We should help," I suggested to the others.

Sandra stared at me as if I had lost my mind. "Go for it, Putzfrau," she snickered. "We'll get ourselves ready in the meantime."

The queen bees sat down, opened their backpacks, and meticulously began applying their makeup.

"What are they gonna do once that runs out?" Kenley whispered.

"Beats me." I shrugged, hoping it would happen sooner rather than later, but then shame rushed through me for being so mean-spirited. If applying makeup made the queen bees feel better about being here, I shouldn't fault them.

"I'm gonna go see if I can help," I told Kenley.

"Go for it. I'm gonna rest while I can," Kenly replied.

Slowly, I approached the first three warriors and watched for a moment how they rolled up the furs. Then, I grabbed one myself and copied their moves.

Mostly we worked in silence, but I felt their surreptitious glances at me and took the opportunity to learn a bit more Vandruk and get to know these aliens better. I held up a pelt. "Fur."

Startled by my word, all three stopped what they were doing to openly stare at me.

"Fur," I repeated, putting a questioning expression on my face. A few paces away I noticed Khadahr standing, watching us, frowning. I pointed at him. "Khadahr." Then at me. "Gwyn."

"Khadahr," a warrior with a scar running down the left side of his face repeated, then pointed at me. "Gwyn. Fur."

I nodded. "Yes, fur. What do you call it?"

Clueless, they looked at each other, repeating, "Fur."

A deep voice said something from behind me in Vandruk. I turned, Szun-Var. "It's from gronk," he added.

"Gronk," I repeated, delighted to have learned another Vandruk word.

"Szun-Var!" Khadahr called. Szun-Var nodded at me and jogged over to a very pissed-off-looking Khadahr.

I would have loved to know what he was so pissed off about, but I didn't want to lose the opportunity to learn more Vandruk words. Since the three warriors with me had finally caught on to what I wanted, I repeated my little game, this time with a tent pole.

All the while, I learned how to roll up the leather sheets from the tents and how to bind the support beams to make a sort of narrow pallet to carry the pelts and leather sheets on, as well as the other supplies—cups, flat stones, bowls, and so on.

I wondered if the Vandruks knew about the wheel and resolved to ask Khadahr about it at the next opportunity.

"Hey, do you want to help me collect some samples on the way?" Dawn sidled up to me.

"Absolutely," I agreed wholeheartedly. Helping her gather samples felt more like what I had envisioned it would be like coming to Vandruk. Not as a bride to some barbarian but as an explorer. I resolved that until that happened, I would pretend that I was here to be a simple pioneer.

The human guards had broken their camp as well and while the sun was rising, our trek began to move.

Over the next few hours, I was so occupied cutting plants, occasionally catching an insect, and then running to catch up with the rest of the trek that I didn't notice the sun nearing its peak. Not until everybody stopped when it was time for a break.

"You did well," Dawn praised, taking my little baggies and adding them to hers inside a black box.

"Thanks. This is actually a lot of fun." I grinned, wiping sweat off my neck.

"Tonight, we should go over what we have so we don't collect too many of the same," Dawn suggested .

"What about the others?" I pointed at her fellow scientists. "Should we compare our stuff to theirs?"

"Theirs?" Dawn laughed derisively. "They haven't collected anything. They want to wait until we reach Farruk. They claim they need to build up their endurance first."

I blinked. "That's…" I fished for the right words but didn't want to offend Dawn either since they were her colleagues.

"Lazy? An asshole move? Slackers?" She nodded, showing she had no such reservations. "Yup, all that."

"Wrat-her?" One of the alien barbarians approached us with one of their skins filled with water. His hungry eyes assessed Dawn and me, but since he had taken the initiative to learn our word for water, I saw it more as a compliment than anything.

"Ew, don't touch me! Khadahr!" Sandra cried out, and all eyes moved to her.

All eyes besides Dawn's who didn't even blink, keeping her focus on the Vandruk holding out the waterskin. "Yes, please, and thank you." She took it from him and smiled pleasantly before taking her first sip.

I, on the other hand, couldn't help but stare at the spectacle Sandra was creating. A barbarian had approached her with a waterskin and stood now with a lowered head, looking confused as Sandra berated him, calling for Khadahr.

From the corner of my eyes, I noticed the human guards tensing as if ready to jump into the fray. Not good .

I jogged over to Sandra before the guards decided to get into a brawl because of her .

"Sandra, shh, keep it down." I pulled her elbow.

"Don't touch me," she yelled loudly, jumping back.

"What happened, Miss Denunzio?" The commander suddenly appeared at our side, followed by several of his men. Were we actually more to him than just alien bait? He must have studied up on us since he knew Sandra's last name.

"This alien tried to touch me. That's what happened, Commander," Sandra snapped. "I want Khadahr. Where is he?" Her head whipped left and right.

Great, just great . I ground my teeth and watched the scene unfold.

Just as I had feared, Commander Willis got right into the Vandruk's face, who still looked confused as hell. "Did you take liberties with this lady, alien?"

Willis pushed the alien back or would have if he had been a normal man, but as it was, the Vandruk barely moved. His head rose, and his expression turned from confused to angry. He growled something in his deep, guttural voice while more barbarians gathered around him.

Predictably, more guards appeared, flocking to the commander's side. This wasn't good at all.

Sandra wore a smug expression. Stepping to the side, she crossed her arms over her chest and waited for things to explode. In that moment, I truly despised her, suspecting she had orchestrated this entire situation on purpose. For what purpose, though?

"You fucking aliens need to learn to keep your hands off the women," the commander barked .

Szun-Var, holding up a hand, said something nobody but the other barbarians understood. It was clear though that he was trying to diffuse the situation.

Not knowing what I could or should do, I stood off to the side. I was roughly shouldered to the side and would have lost my footing if another barbarian had not grabbed my arm to steady me.

"What in Vorag's name is going on here?" Khadahr shouted, walking right into the middle. Then he said something in Vandruk to the other barbarians, which I assumed posed the same question.

"Oh, Khadahr." Sandra unlocked her arms and threw herself at Khadahr. "I'm so glad you're here. I was so frightened."

Khadahr gave her an inscrutable glance before he turned his attention to the commander, who seethed, "You need to teach your… males"—he pronounced the word with a derisive sneer—"to keep their hands to themselves."

Khadahr frowned down at Sandra, loosely putting an arm around her. More in a protective than comforting gesture. "Has one of my males touched you against your will?"

In my mind's eye, I already saw where this was going. So before Sandra let loose her accusations and lies, I straightened my back and said, "It was a misunderstanding. The man only tried to hand Sandra a drink of water." I raised my eyebrows at Sandra, daring her to contradict me while she glared at me.

Khadahr stared at me with a stern but unreadable expression that raised goose bumps over my skin. I felt myself withering a tiny bit before I lifted my chin to stare right back at him. He wasn't going to scare me. He was not !

"Is that what happened?" His attention returned to Sandra, who buried her face into his chest—the picture of a frightened damsel in distress. I had to give her points for being an excellent actress. Her glare, carefully hidden from Khadahr, told me that I better watch my back from now on because I had just put a wrinkle in whatever her original scheme had been.

"Yes, I'm sorry. He just… frightened me," Sandra mumbled in a small voice filled with vulnerability that made me cringe since I knew full well that she wouldn't have been frightened that easily.

The other queen bees who had stood to the side, rushed forward. "Are you alright, Sandra?"

With a cry, Sandra wiggled out of Khadahr's protective arm and rushed into the embrace of her brethren, who folded her under their wings and led her away from the spectacle.

"Are we good here?" Khadahr inquired of the commander.

"If you can get your males under control and not have them paw the women, we're good. For the moment." Willis nodded.

Khadahr stiffened. "Let's make one thing clear: these are not your women. They are here to be mated to my males."

"They aren't yet, though, and as such, they're under my protection until they are wed to your males," Willis contradicted.

"You were never part of the bargain nor invited," Khadahr snarled.

"Too bad. We're here to ensure you treat our women properly then. Man up, alien," Commander Willis retorted with a sneer before he turned his back to Khadahr, counting on his honor not to attack him from behind and counting on his men for backup should Khadahr prove him wrong.

Khadahr stared at Willis's retreating form and said something in his language to his men, who dispersed as well.

Once again, I couldn't read his expression when he walked by me, and I didn't understand the tight nod he gave me.

"That was… interesting," Dawn's voice next to me rattled me. How had she snuck to my side this quietly, or had I been that enraptured? She was chewing on one of the bread rolls from this morning, her eyes following Willis and his men.

"I'm not sure I would call this interesting," I replied, wondering about her choice of words.

"Suddenly, you're his women?" Dawn bit heartily into her roll.

That was strange indeed. So far Willis and his men had called us nothing but alien bait.

"He is here to protect us," I offered, but even to me, my voice didn't sound convincing.

"Is he now?" Dawn remarked.

"What are you getting at?" I questioned.

"Nothing, really. Just wondering what his incentive was in interfering here?" Dawn brushed her hands together to get rid of the crumbs.

"You think he picked a fight with Khadahr because…" I was lost. I couldn't come up with one good reason why Willis would pick a fight with the aliens on purpose. I had noticed that he didn't seem to like them much.

"Why would Interplanetary Communications send a bunch of guards who hate the aliens? And why do they despise us so much?" I asked the rest of my questions out loud.

"Exactly. Now that's something to mull over, isn't it?" Dawn winked and trotted off.

Why indeed. Unless… they weren't here to protect us.

I rushed after Dawn. "What are you saying? You don't think Interplanetary Communications sent the guards to protect us?"

"Ding, ding, ding." Dawn nodded.

"Then…" I followed her dark glance to Willis's camp. "Why are they here?"

"That's the million-dollar question," Dawn replied, suddenly not looking like a scientist at all. More like a detective with a bone to pick.