by Selena Scott
Just then, John Alec came over with a plate of food for Valentina. He was childishly expectant of her reaction. He fully expected it to be the same one that he’d had when he’d come face to face with how Earthlings ate.
“God in heaven, John Alec, are you trying to murder me?” She gaped at the plate piled over with food. She and her brother had been brought up as hunters and gatherers. They ate well and often. Seasonal foods. And not a bite wasted. But their portions were minuscule compared to the heaping plate he held. In the last week she’d been stomaching little things. Broth, bread. She’d had some cheese and nuts yesterday and that had been just divine.
But she didn’t even recognize most of the food on her plate. And it was heavy. It must have been a full pound of food.
John Alec cracked a boyish smile that had his wife doing a double take across the room. “Just joking. That one’s for me. This is yours.”
He passed her a much more manageable plate, all the same foods but in much more reasonable proportions for someone who’d barely been able to eat all week.
Valentina set the plate on her lap and in less than two seconds Kain was leaning over the back of the couch, baby Carmen gripping at his collar as she leaned with him. “Should you set that on your lap? Won’t it hurt your incision?”
She craned her head to look at him and the two of them found the other startlingly close. “I’m being careful,” she assured him and snapped her head back around to face front.
The noise of the group swelled and ebbed as everyone chatted with one another, leaned across to snatch something from each other’s plates. Valentina knew John Alec and Milla, of course, and the very pregnant Inka. And she’d met Matt, remembering now that he was the scientist. The one who’d invented the tool to make portals. Across the room was Ansel, who tipped his glass at her–they’d been on plenty of caravans together at this point. But there was a little red-haired woman, very pretty, and a dark-haired young man whom she hadn’t met either.
She stared thoughtfully around as she took her first bite. The food was soft and looked yellow with some sort of red on top. Valentina thought her head might just blow right off.
“Who made this?” she asked, loudly enough for the party to come to a little bit of a halt. Her wide eyes opened even further when no one answered. She gestured with the fork. “This red food, which one of you made it?”
“Um, I did?” said the red-headed woman, her cheeks going a little pink and her eyes darting to Ansel, as if she wasn’t sure what was going to happen next.
“This is—you should—I’ve never—” Valentina gave up and shoved another bite in her mouth. “I didn’t know food this good existed. I’ll never be the same.”
The group laughed, letting out some of the tension, but Valentina hadn’t been telling a joke. She already knew that she would dream of this food for the rest of her life.
It wasn’t long before the red-headed woman came and sat on the coffee table in front of Valentina. “We didn’t meet yet. I’m Ruby. That’s my, um, fiancé, Ansel. And my brother, Griff.”
“Ah,” Valentina put the pieces together. “He’s the Griffin.”
Everyone on Herta knew about the Griffin. He was the young shifter who’d been lured to Herta but had never succumbed. Not in all the time he’d been there. He’d never shifted once and he’d never become enslaved. When John Alec, Milla, Ruby, and Ansel had freed him and brought him back to Earth, they’d made legend on Herta.
Ruby nodded.
“But I don’t know what fiancé means,” Valentina said, cocking her head to one side.
“It means that we’re getting married soon. In a couple of months.”
Valentina could see from the flush on the woman’s cheeks that she was very happy about this.
“Actually,” Ruby leaned forward, “I was just going to show the girls my wedding dress. Will you come see?”
She was starting to be uncomfortable, her incisions aching and fatigue gunning for her, but there was something about this woman’s smile. You didn’t turn down a smile like that. Valentina set her plate aside and Ruby helped her stand with a hand on the elbow. She didn’t need much help, if any, to walk into the bedroom, but there was something about Ruby’s presence that Valentina didn’t mind.
Milla and Inka followed them into the room and Valentina immediately sat down on the bed, completely unsure of what was going to happen next. What was so important about a wedding dress?
Her question was immediately answered when Ruby unzipped a hanging bag in the closet and swept the dress out into the room.
It was a gorgeous fall of ivory silk, made to cling and compliment. The straps were wide and would fall off the shoulder when she put it on. There were no adornments besides a small row of red stones sewn in at the scooping neckline.
“Wow,” Inka gasped, clutching for her sister’s hand.
“Rubes,” Milla breathed and surprised Valentina. She didn’t think that the serious, fierce woman would have had tears in her eyes at a moment like this. But she did.
Valentina wasn’t sure whether she was supposed to compliment the dress out loud or not; the other women had. But she didn’t have the words. She simply rose slowly from the bed and stepped closer to it. Ruby’s eyes went to Valentina and Valentina got the impression that the other woman was nervous for her reaction.
Valentina searched for words. “It—it has the same kind of perfect beauty that a waterfall does. Or the crescent moon.”
Tears sprang to Ruby’s eyes. “God, you guys, you’re getting me all excited now.”
“Is the wedding soon?” Valentina asked, and she was surprised to find that she was hoping that it was. She would like to still be on Earth in time for it.
“Just a few months,” Ruby replied, as if it were just around the corner. But sadness clutched at Valentina. She’d be gone. Back in Herta.
She’d never see Ruby wear that dress.
***
“Come swimming,” Kain cajoled Valentina.
“No.”
“Come swimming… please?” His calm green eyes were large and blinking fast at her. He clasped his hands in front of his face.
“No.”
John Alec chuckled from where he sat in Kain’s kitchen, finishing off a peanut butter sandwich.
“Gah, come on! Your incisions are healed, your energy is up, you’re eating like a normal person again. We need to celebrate! Come swimming! Alec, you’re in, right?”
Alec’s eyes went back and forth between Kain and his sister. “No. Milla and I are moving our things back today.” He’d just decided that this minute, but hey, plans were plans.
“Really?” Kain squinted at his brother-in-law. “But there’s no guest room at your house.”
Alec took a big bite of sandwich and avoided his wife’s eyes when she came into the kitchen. She would know that he was up to something.
“She’ll just keep staying here.”
“Oh,” Kain’s eyes went from Alec’s downturned face to Milla’s confused one. “I mean, of course. Sure, that’s fine. I just thought—”
He cut off. He really wasn’t sure what he’d thought. But he definitely hadn’t expected to be staying alone in his house with Valentina.
“John,” Milla started.
“They’re going swimming,” Alec cut in.
“I’m not,” Valentina asserted.
“Look, it’s either that or you come with me to the bar.”
He’d already told her all about bars and he watched suspicion rise in her face. “Where people go to dance and drink?”
“And celebrate. Look, Val, you’re all healed up! We should party!”
“No,” her eyes went dark and still. “It’s the opposite. I’m all healed up so I should be getting ready to go back to Herta.”
John Alec stiffened up but Kain merely waved a lazy hand. “There’s always tomorrow for that. But today we p.a.r.t.y. So, you choose. Swim or bar.”
Milla was used to her brother. The flirty fun thing
he did with girls. Especially pretty ones like Valentina. But she was also very confused by the vibe in the room right now.
Her husband was widening his eyes at her, trying to communicate something, Valentina was turning the handle of her tea cup one way and then the other as if she were trying to talk herself out of something. And Kain was leaning way too far across the table toward Valentina, his hat tipped back on his head, like a small boy.
“Yeah. I’m… gonna go pack, like Alec said. If you go to the lagoon, you should show her where the portal used to be.” And then Milla slipped away.
Valentina looked up at Kain. “What portal?”
“Long story. I’ll tell you the whole thing while we’re there.”
Valentina crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s only noon. If we go to this lagoon then what will we be having for lunch?”
Kain was up like a shot and sticking his head in the fridge. “I’ll pack sandwiches for us. And look, two Cokes, aaaaaaand yup! Leftovers from the other night, roast chicken and mashed potatoes. And we’ve got some of Ruby’s cookies for dessert.”
“Fine.” Valentina rose. “I’ll come to the lagoon.” She was two steps out of the room before she turned back. “But you’d better not talk the whole time.”
Kain mimed zipping his lips and flashed her two thumbs up. He turned back to Alec, huge grin falling away. “What?”
CHAPTER FIVE
Kain parked his car in Griff’s driveway. “This is where Ruby and Griff first moved in when they came to Green Mills. It’s just Griff here now. Although, I don’t think he’s home. Must be at Ansel’s with the coyotes again.”
“They lived here all by themselves?”
“Their parents were gone when Griff was just a kid.”
“Gone?”
“Disappeared. Probably into Herta. They were never found.”
Valentina was quiet as Kain pulled her out of the car and she followed him down the driveway. There wasn’t a car in sight when it was time to cross the street, but even so, he led her across with a hand on her back. It was strange, all these Earth rules about men and women. He was teaching them to her one by one. You take a man’s hand when you’re getting out of the car. He lifts the heavy things down from a shelf. He puts a hand on your back when you cross the street. None of these were things that Valentina required. Earth was confusing to her in so many ways.
“Herta isn’t all terrible, you know,” she said as they entered the cool, mossy forest. Sun dappled the fresh green leaves and pine needles crunched under their feet. Somewhere she could hear the call of a Northern Flicker.
“I know,” he glanced at her. “I’ve been there a dozen times.”
“It’s just hard, living around a bunch of shifters and their families. Everyone here hates Herta. And I get it. It’s dangerous for you. But even John Alec has forgotten the parts of it that are worth loving.”
Kain cleared his throat. A weird tug in his chest was happening as he looked at her honey-brown eyes, so big he could see the forest reflected in them. He felt the urgent need to console her. “Herta’s cool, Val. I actually really like it. I mean, sure it’s uncomfortable for me to spend a lot of time there. But it’s gorgeous. Unspoiled. And all the extra kinds of plants and herbs you guys have? That’s really awesome.”
“That’s one of my favorite parts,” Valentina nodded. “There’s so many ways to heal in Herta.” She side-eyed him. “For those of us without superhuman healing powers.”
She had no idea how many times over the last weeks Kain had wished to heaven that he could have given her his healing power.
“I didn’t like the way they healed me here,” she continued. “Those pills took the pain away, but they took everything else, too. I couldn’t feel what my body was telling me. I was so sleepy all the time. I wanted my herbs from Herta.”
“You should have told me! I would have gone and gotten some for you.”
Valentina turned and looked at him, utterly startled by the idea of that. “That’s insane.”
Kain shrugged. “Look, we’re still a mile from the lagoon.” He took a hearty sniff of mountain air. “There’s no one around. Just some squirrels and birds, rabbits too. And a mama bear about three miles that way.” Maybe he was trying to impress her with his shifter senses. It was hard to say. “I’m gonna shift and then carry you the rest of the way.”
“I don’t need to be carried!”
“Fine, you can walk beside me then, but the fresh air is calling to me and I’m shifting one way or another.”
She shrugged and wandered over to sit on a stump while she waited.
Kain had never been shy. Not about his personality or his body. He’d gotten naked in front of his siblings thousands of times. And now their spouses as well. Not to mention the countless women he’d been naked in front of during sexy times. He’d never blinked at it. Being naked was a part of Kain Keto’s life. But as he quickly shucked off his clothes, shoving them in his backpack, he had to admit this was a little different.
Valentina watched him with no expression on her face. Her eyes searched his body in a matter-of-fact sort of way. There was no indication of her thoughts. And when Kain was standing in front of her in just the black cap on his head, he wondered, for a brief second, if she was liking what she was seeing.
It didn’t matter, he reminded himself as he shoved his hat away and triggered his shift. She was with Williams. Even though she’d barely talked about him since the injury. But Kain hadn’t asked, either. He hadn’t wanted to know the details.
For the sake of his sanity, though, when she finally rose from the log and took steps toward him, she was with Williams and that was just the way it was. Off limits.
Besides, she was John Alec’s sister. Double off limits.
But his brother-in-law floated right out of Kain’s head as Valentina stood a foot in front of him, her honey-brown eyes roving all over him. “I’ve never seen it before, you know. Your bear. Not really.”
He’d never shifted on Herta for obvious reasons and the one time he’d shifted for her on Earth, she’d been passed out from blood loss.
She raised her hand, as if to touch his wide face, the golden fur, but then she dropped her hand away.
Kain chuffed and pushed his huge head forward. Perhaps he’d moved a little too fast for someone who wasn’t used to being face to face with a 1400-pound bear, because she jumped back. But he didn’t wait for her to get used to it. He pushed forward again and this time got his head under her hand.
She got the message and dug her hand into his fur. Kain was delighted when she didn’t explore him so much as give him a nice firm scratch.
“Alright,” she conceded. “I’ll ride on your back.” Her eyes narrowed. “But only because I want to be able to say I’ve done it conscious.”
Kain immediately dropped down so that she could slide on with the bag and then they were off.
Valentina looked down at the golden bear underneath her, the dapples of sun on his fur as he ambled along, sniffing this and that. He was a gaspingly beautiful creature, and for the first time since her injury, Valentina was perfectly happy. The fresh air and the birds on the wind soothed her. She scented sap and pine and fresh water. As she sank her fingers into Kain’s coarse fur, it hit her that she actually couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this happy. Perhaps when she was a child.
The walk to the lagoon was too short for both of them.
When they arrived, Valentina laughed, hopped down and crossed right to the water. Kain took the opportunity to shift and slide into his swim trunks. He didn’t think he could handle her watching him naked again.
“It’s silly,” she called. “Because the two worlds mirror one another. But I hadn’t realized that I would have been here before. On Herta.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yes. Where was the portal?”
“It was through the waterfall there, until we closed it last year. It was the one that lured Griff originally.”
Valentina strode over to the waterfall and stuck her hand right in, feeling around. “Those bastards. Hunters, I mean. They like to hide the portals so that a shifter can’t see it when they’re being lured.”
Kain grunted and tried not to watch when she crossed back to where he’d dropped the bag and started tugging off her clothes. She wore a black T-shirt and a pair of cargo pants he was pretty sure Ruby had bought for her.
“I still can’t believe your brother is the Griffin.”
Kain grunted. And then her words sifted to him. “It’s nice that you call him my brother, because that’s the way I feel, though sometimes I think Griff still questions his place in our family.”
Her back was to him when she dropped her pants.
“Well, the Griffin deserves family. He endured so much while he was on Herta. Not to mention the loss of his mate.”
“What the hell is that?” Kain demanded, his eyes trained on Valentina’s half-naked body.
“What?” She looked down at the hot pink bikini she wore. “Ruby says it’s a swimsuit. She bought it for me with all those other garments a few weeks ago. Is it wrong?”
“Uh, no.” Kain cleared his throat. “It’s not wrong.”
He was delighted to see that she’d filled out since her injury. Kain just wished he weren’t quite so delighted. But there she was, looking all healthy and normal girl, her breasts pushing against the triangles of the bikini, her ass spilling out either side. He cleared his throat again. Double off limits, he reminded himself.
“I was just surprised about the color, I guess.”
“Oh, I know,” she acknowledged, looking back down at the suit and adjusting the fabric at her chest. Kain turned quickly away. “It’s a ridiculous color. Like so many earthly garments.”
She’d never understand why Earthlings dressed the way they did. Like they wanted every hunter in a thirty-mile radius to take them from this world with a single, well-aimed arrow.
She followed Kain to where he sat at the edge of the lagoon, swirling his feet in the water. She started undoing her braid as Kain turned to her.
