by Ruby Dixon
“Is the ocean blue?” She grabs my hand and tilts her snowshoes, like I have shown her.
“No, it is green.”
“That sounds gross. Like a dirty swimming pool. Maybe I’ll just pretend it looks nice since we’re not going to go see it.”
“You would not want to swim,” I caution her. “The shore is very rocky and would tear at your feet. Plus, there are many things that live in the water that could eat you in a bite.”
“Charming. I love this place.” Her tone is dry. “So where are we? Close to where you found me and my sister?”
“Closer to the mountains. We would need to journey for another day or two in order to reach it.”
“Good. I really don’t want to head in that direction.” She shudders, and I feel the tremor in her hand. “Sometimes I still have nightmares about those little green dead guys and what might have happened if the ship hadn’t crashed.”
I squeeze her hand tightly in mine. I do not like to think about that at all.
Mah-dee pauses at the base of the hill, pretending to adjust the straps of her pack. I have learned these little tricks; she does not want to tell me that she is tired, so she checks her things. Sometimes it is her shoes, sometimes her pack. I wait patiently, pretending not to notice that she is breathing hard. Every day, she gets stronger and can go for longer, but she is still new to this life. It will take time, and even then she will never be as strong as a sa-khui female. Humans are delicate.
It is good that I am strong and capable, because I can take care of her. The thought gives me fierce pleasure.
“Hmm.” Mah-dee’s steps cease their crunch in the snow.
I stop and turn. “What is it?”
“Thought I saw something. What’s that over there?”
I look around, but I do not see what she refers to. “What?”
“Over there. I thought I saw the snow moving.”
I look where she gestures and see nothing but rolling hills and more snow. A cluster of many snow-covered bushes are visible at the top of a small mound, but other than that, there is nothing unusual. I turn to ask Mah-dee what it is that bothers her…when one of the bushes moves.
It is not a snow-covered bush at all…but a metlak.
And it is not just one, but several. At least two hands. As another bush moves, I realize that it is three hands, maybe more. And they see us. They are hunting us.
Metlak normally avoid sa-khui, and are chased away by anything bearing our scent. They are cowardly creatures…but they are also hungry. I think of the hunter caves we found that were raided, the contents destroyed and the supplies eaten. If they are brave enough to go to our caves, they are brave enough to attack me and Mah-dee. Perhaps they see our packs and think we have food.
Mah-dee is in danger. A cold chill moves over me, and I scan our surroundings. Even if I take her to a hunter cave, there will not be enough time to make a fire to chase them off. We must do something, and fast.
I turn and grab Mah-dee by the arm, hauling her along. “We must go.”
“Where are we going? What’s wrong?”
With my free hand, I yank one of the spears off my back, pulling it free from its bindings on my pack. “Those are metlaks, and they are coming after us.”
She jogs at my side, trying to move fast, but the snowshoes slow her down. “Should we try to talk to them? Lila says they’re intelligent—”
“They are hungry,” I tell her. “And unpredictable. I do not want to risk it. We are going to walk faster and hope they do not follow us.”
It is a stupid hope, but right now, it is all I have.
Mah-dee quickens her steps, and I can hear her breath huffing. “Should I get out my weapon?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, fuck.”
“Not right now,” I tell her, scanning the distant cliffs as we hurry toward them. If we get to the hunter cave fast enough, maybe I can hold them off long enough for Mah-dee to make a fire. The metlaks hate fire and are easily frightened. Mah-dee is not fast with a flint, but perhaps today…
She stumbles, a small cry escaping her. I stop in my tracks, turning to help her up. “Are you all right?” She struggles to get to her feet, nodding, and one of her shoes flops around her ankle, the leather ties broken.
“My shoe,” she pants. “I can keep going.” Then she stumbles again, crying out, and her hands cling to my arm. “Okay, might be my ankle, too. Leave me, Hassen—”
I do not even let her finish. With a growl of anger, I grab her into my arms and sling her over my shoulder, ignoring her cry of protest.
I will not leave Mah-dee behind. I will die first.
With my spear as a walking stick, I jog slowly toward the cliffs. They come ever closer, and despite the gentle weight of Mah-dee on my shoulder and her squirming, I am able to move faster. “Are they still coming?” I ask Mah-dee as I plunge forward.
“Oh yeah,” she says, her voice wobbling. “Also, I might be sick if we don’t slow down. Your shoulder’s hitting my stomach—”
“Then be sick,” I tell her, and speed up.
“Okay,” she says faintly. “Should I get out a weapon?”
“Yes.”
“Fuck.”
“Not right now,” I tell her again, distracted. I am closing in on the distant cliffs, and they look…different. The rocks are tumbled here, the snow mounded. The earth-shake has affected this place, too, and I worry that the hunter cave will not even be there. Desperation makes me move faster, and I head toward the overhanging cliffs and the shadow they cast. We are close. As we approach, I can see the shadow of the cave in the distance, and I double my steps, hurrying. I must get Mah-dee to safety. If I can block the entrance of the cave with her behind me, I can hold them off for longer—
A shattering sound.
The snow beneath my feet disappears. I yelp in surprise, and Mah-dee screams as we tumble through the air. I fling my spear aside and curl my body around hers, trying to shield her—
We land. I fall onto my back, and despite the soft snow, the wind is knocked from my lungs. Blackness dances behind my eyes, but fades just as quickly, and I feel Mah-dee groan as she pulls herself off of me. “What…”
I struggle to sit up. It is dark here, the shadows protecting us from the sunlight above. I look up and see we are in a crevasse, the ground above us split open. A layer of ice must have covered it somehow and I broke through, plunging us down here. Snow is piled around us, and the cliff walls scale far above my head and Mah-dee’s. As I look up, I see a metlak peer over the edge.
Mah-dee sucks in a breath, touching my arm.
The creature hoots at us, then grabs a handful of snow and flings it in our direction. Others appear at its side, agitated. They skirt the edges of the crevasse, glaring down at us and screaming their anger, but none approach.
“I don’t think they can get to us,” Mah-dee says. She looks over at me, worry on her face. “Are you all right?”
I sit up, looking around for my spear. It is several arm lengths away, and I get to my feet slowly, testing my body. “My tail is bruised,” I say, rubbing it. “But I will live.”
She giggles.
I scowl at her. “What is so funny?”
“Just you…rubbing your ass while we’re stuck in a pit.”
“It is not a pit,” I tell her, glancing around, trying to determine what exactly it is. It is almost like the ground has an open wound and we have fallen into it. I am not entirely sure I like it.
“A canyon, then. We have them on Earth.”
I look up. “At least it has stopped the metlak.” They throw handfuls of snow down at us as if responding to my words, but do not move otherwise. They will not come down to us. I do not even know if they can. We are at least two body lengths below them, maybe more. I eye the rocky walls. I will need to climb them to get out and lower a rope to Mah-dee. But that is a problem for later. “We are safe for now.”
She shudders. “There is that. I guess we just stay do
I glance around. The canyon is wide enough that several hunters could walk abreast, but a herd of dvisti would not make it through. As valleys go, it is extremely narrow. It winds in a zigzag, and I wonder where it goes. I grab my spear, rub my tail, and then pick up my fallen pack and sling it over my back. “Since we are down here, let us see where this goes.”
Mah-dee looks up, where the metlaks watch us from above. “Yeah, I guess we might as well.” She pulls her broken snowshoe off her foot, then the other one, and fixes her boots before hopping to her feet. “Snow’s not very deep here. That’s good.” She takes a few crunching steps forward and holds a hand out to me.
Her hand is cold, and I make sure to wrap my fingers tight around hers.
“We’re going to be okay, right?” Her voice is small.
Her worry makes my heart ache. She is normally so confident, so assured. She has kept me strong in many dark days. I must do the same for her. I turn and bring her hand to my mouth, pressing my lips to her knuckles. “I will not let anything harm you, Mah-dee.”
“I know. I just…I’m a little rattled.” She gives a nervous laugh and glances back at the still-watching metlaks. “Those things are creepy.”
“Stay close to me.”
“Not a problem.” She pulls her hand from mine and puts an arm around my waist. “I’d rub your sore butt for you, but I’d rather get away from the metlaks before we fool around.”
I grunt, not entirely sure how to take that. “Let us see where this takes us, then.”
14
HASSEN
We head into the narrow canyon. It is dark here, almost like walking through a long, winding cave if it were not for the narrow strip of sky above. I keep an eye on the walls of the canyon, in case there is a place where it is shallow enough that the metlaks can get to us. So far, though, the walls grow taller with every step further into the canyon we take. Soon, the walls are so tall that five males standing head to head would not be able to get to the surface…and I would not walk away from that fall with just a sore tail.
Mah-dee cocks her head as we walk, admiring our surroundings. “This place is kind of cool.”
A strange comment. “Of course it is cooler. We are in a valley. It will not be as warm as where the suns touch the snow.”
She laughs. “No, I mean, it’s nifty. Not cold. It reminds me of the Grand Canyon back at home, except like, it’s purple and blue instead of orange and red. Was this carved by a river?”
“Eh, I do not know.” I study our surroundings. I have never considered that. All I know is that here the cliffs almost close overhead like teeth. In some areas, the walls of the valley close in tight and it almost feels as if you are walking in a cave tunnel. “Stay close.”
“I’m close. Any closer and I’d be grabbing on to your tail and rubbing against your ass,” she grumbles behind me. “Though you’d probably like that.”
“Save it for later, when we are by the fire.”
“Flirt.”
I grin with amusement at her words. Perhaps I am flirting. I like to tease Mah-dee. She teases back, unlike her sister, who cried and wept if I so much as looked at her. Not for the first time, I curse the day I grabbed the dark-maned sister instead of the yellow-maned one.
It is quiet as we walk. Our footsteps crunch on the snow, but Mah-dee quickens, moving to my side and slipping her fingers around my belt. “There really isn’t as much snow down here,” she says. “You’d think it’d all fall in and pile up, except it’s not. Maybe this canyon is protected from the weather. Look up.” She gestures, and I obediently glance upward. “One side of the canyon looks higher than the other. I bet it protects the bottom from a lot of the weather.”
“Perhaps.” I pull her closer against me. “It will be all right, I promise.”
“I know. I’m with you.” She looks up at me, and there’s a small smile on her face. “Everything’s okay when we’re together. You realize that, right?”
I feel a surge of affection for her, along with intense possessiveness. Mah-dee is mine. No female has ever been as strong, as smart, as clever, as sweet, or as giving. No female is as perfect for me as her. I think of Li-lah and her weeping, and curl my lip with disgust. I was a fool. “I will keep you safe,” I vow to her.
She smiles up at me. “I know.”
“No, you do not understand.” I stop and put my hands on her shoulders, turning her toward me. This feels…important. It feels big. That she must listen to me. That I must spill to her how I feel. “You are my heart, Mah-dee. Without you, I am nothing. You saw me as an exile and still took me to your furs. You are kind and giving.”
Her cheeks flush with color. “Hassen, you make it sound like charity—”
“Was it not giving?”
“I wasn’t thinking about giving! I was thinking about how I wanted to sleep with you!” Embarrassment shows on her face.
“You chose me out of all of the males in the cave. You could have had any of the unmated hunters. Instead, you pick the one that you should hate the most.” I cup her face in my hands. “What did you see in me?”
“You just…looked like you needed a friend. And I did, too.” She puts her hands over mine. “No, it’s more than that. I needed to connect to someone. I felt alone, and lonely, and I felt like…well, that you would understand. That you would know how it felt to be surrounded by people and still feel adrift.” Her fingers brush over my skin. “No one else could relate. And it didn’t matter to me that you were the guy that stole my sister. Well, okay, it did matter a little, but I needed to know how you felt. If you were in love with Lila, I wouldn’t have approached you.”
My lip curls at the thought. “In love with Li-lah? Never.”
“Which is why I wanted you. You made a mistake, but that doesn’t mean you should be punished forever. And maybe I’m looking at it with rose-colored glasses or something, but I know what it’s like to lose your shit during a bad moment and then have people keep throwing it in your face over and over again.” She smiles wryly.
“I…have no idea what you just said.”
She chuckles. “I figured as much. Just know that I see beyond your actions to the person underneath, okay?” She pats my hand. “You’re good people. Don’t ever forget that.”
I feel a warmth in my breast, and smile down at her. Mah-dee sees the true me. It makes me so…happy. For the first time in a long time, I feel content with my place. If I am exiled, so be it. If I have lost the trust of those I care for with my actions, as long as I have Mah-dee, I can live with it. Perhaps I will never get over the shame of disappointment, but it will not destroy me. My mate will not let it. I feel a rumble of pleasure in my chest that I have such a female at my side. “My mate,” I tell her softly. “What would I do without you?”
Her eyes go wide. “Your mate?”
“You have been since the day you claimed me.” I stroke my thumb over her soft, strange, pink mouth. “There is no other for me. There never has been.”
“Not even my sister?” Her voice catches.
I snort. “Your sister is my greatest mistake. I do not think I have ever even liked her.”
Mah-dee bites gently at my thumb when I stroke it over her mouth again. “You might want to learn to like her, since she’s my family.”
“Because she is your family, I will tolerate her.”
Mah-dee giggles. “That is a terrible thing to say, and I shouldn’t laugh.”
“You should laugh. You should laugh all the time. I love to hear it. It makes me happy.” I lean in closer. “You make me happy.”
Her smile dims a little. “It feels awful to be so happy when things are so rotten for so many. Can I…” Her expression changes to one of worry, and she clutches at my vest. “Oh my god. Do you feel that?”
“What?” I feel nothing but the warm, content rumble in my chest.
“I think it’s another earthquake!”
The panic in her voice makes me pull her protectively against my chest, and I hunch my shoulders over her smaller form, trying to shelter her with my body. We are not safe here in this slice of the ground. “I have you.”
A long moment passes, and I wait to feel it. I feel nothing under my feet, though, just the warmth of her pressed against me, and the tickle of her mane against my chin.
She stiffens against me and then pulls back, a frown on her face. “Okay, this is going to sound weird…” Her hand presses to the center of my chest. “But you’re rumbling. Baby, do you have indigestion?”
I do not ask what she means. Now I feel it, too. The building, slow thrumming in my chest that is spreading warmth throughout my body. I…dare not hope.
I drop to my knees and press my head to her teats, listening. Hoping.
“Oh,” she breathes, just as her chest begins to resonate. “Oh. I think…I think the ground isn’t shaking. I think it’s me.”
“And me,” I tell her, utter joy racing through me. I hold her tightly, burying my face against her as I listen to her khui begin its song.
It is singing to me.
And I am singing back.
“Oh my god,” Mah-dee says, her voice faint. “Is this what I think it is?”
“Let it happen,” I murmur to her, stroking her back. “We are meant to be, Mah-dee. Even our bodies know it.”
“I…guess they do.” Her hands go to my mane, and then she touches my cheek, caressing my face. “I love you, big guy. You know that, right?”
I nuzzle at her teats, wishing she were not wearing so many layers of furs. I want to hear the song in her chest as loud as the one that is rumbling through mine. I want to feel her warmth. I want to lick at her nipples and taste the juice of her cunt. I am hungry for her with my entire body. I need her. Right here. Right now.
I push my hand under her tunic and then into the waistband of her leggings. Her small squeak of surprise is drowned out a moment later by the moan of pleasure she lets out when my fingers brush over her curls. She is wet with need, the scent of it perfuming the air and making my mouth water. “I must taste this,” I groan, shoving at her leathers. “Get on your back for me, Mah-dee, so I can taste your cunt.”
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