by Lily Thomas
Ezi needed time away so her body could cool.
She weaved her way through the village of huts until she arrived back at Tor’s hut, she pushed through the hut entrance and stared down at her small pack that she’d left on the ground. “Can you take Flosa?”
Ake was right next to her in a second, her arms outstretched. Ezi relinquished her baby into the other woman’s arms, bent, grabbed her small pack and then went in search of the group of women who were preparing to leave the village. She could get used to Ake being nearby. She might even use the other woman to get some more sleep while they were gone, then she would be able to resist Tor’s charm when she got back.
“You’re coming?” Aiyre’s voice rang out with happiness when she noticed Ezi approaching. “I’m glad Ake found you. With Flosa being still so young, I figured you would like to have her nearby.”
Ezi nodded as her fellow pronghorn shifter walked towards her, with a pack slung over her own back. “I am coming, and it does settle my mind to have her with me.”
“I thought you might have changed your mind again. You seemed so uncertain, and I didn’t want you to stay here and miss this opportunity.”
Ezi shrugged. “It was a difficult decision to leave Flosa, but now that I can have her come with, it made the decision easier.” Especially since it would get her further away from Tor for longer if she didn’t have to worry about Flosa. After their passionate night together, Ezi and Tor both needed some space.
Right as she had that thought, she felt his presence lurking nearby. Slyly, she glanced over to her side, not moving her head, and spotted Tor leaning against a hut studying her from a distance. His blue eyes almost appeared black from her angle, and she wondered what he could possibly be thinking about.
Perhaps he was angry with her for abruptly leaving him back in the forest and forcing him to chase her down. Their passionate kissing and coupling had gotten quite heated… maybe more than just heated. He’d sought her pleasure several times.
A shiver spread through her as Ezi remembered the way he’d begun to shift into a half-beast half-human. It wasn’t something a pronghorn could do, and she was surprised to find that Tor could do something so… horrible. Those claws that’d been gripping her waist. Another shiver raced down her spine in horror. And she’d let him enter her.
“Come,” Aiyre placed a hand on Ezi’s arm, distracting her from her thoughts, “the women are setting up over here, and we should be gone soon.”
Ezi shook off any thoughts about Tor and followed Aiyre over to the other women with Ake trailing behind them. Soon she would be far away from Tor. Far away from his delectable lips that sent tingles straight to her toes and those wandering caresses.
Aiyre stopped by Daerk, rose up on her toes, and planted a kiss on his mouth. “I will see you in a day or two.” She reached up and patted the side of his bearded face.
Daerk nodded his head, his nose close to hers as one of his hands worked its way into Aiyre’s brunette braid. “I will see you soon, mate.” He growled down at her before he placed a loving kiss to the tip of her nose.
Ezi glanced away as she walked over to the rest of the women. She wanted to give Aiyre and Daerk their privacy. Ever since Aiyre had accepted him, they’d been inseparable. Even with Ezi’s mistrust of sabertooths, she was glad something so wonderful had come from that night of terror.
“Ezi.” One of the women greeted her with a warm smile, but she couldn’t seem to remember her name.
“Hello.” Ezi returned the smile, still trying to ignore the pair of blue eyes that were focused in on her. Tor was still standing off to the side, watching her, assessing her. He was probably trying to read how she felt about the other night.
“Are you ready for the mammoth hunt?” Fina came up beside them, a glow in her brown eyes.
Ezi nodded. “I’m hoping it will take my mind off things.”
Fina sent her a sympathetic look. “We all know you still suffer from your memories of that night. Let us know if we can do anything.”
Not liking all the eyes suddenly on her, Ezi smiled broadly and waved their concern away with a dismissive hand. “I don’t need anything. All I need is some time to figure out my place in this clan.” Which should be easier now that she wasn’t cloistering herself away inside a hut.
The women started discussing how and where they should set up the camp as they began walking away from the village. Aiyre was in the lead with a few other female hunters, and the rest trailed behind.
Glancing over her shoulder, Ezi cast one last glance back at the sabertooth village and caught sight of Tor. Those intense eyes of his were still watching her as he continued to lean against a hut looking relaxed, and she wasn’t sure they would ever stop their watching.
Aiyre’s words floated through her mind. Maybe she should try to find another pronghorn clan to join, and the best place to find them would be at a clan gathering. She’d just have to wait until the first clan gathering happened, which wouldn’t happen any time soon.
Chapter 15
A couple of days later, the women had set up the camp near the hunting ground. There were a few fur tents for when the men arrived, other than that there were furs set up around the immediate area for the women.
Ezi stepped out of some nearby bushes with some berries clutched lightly in her hand to find the men arriving. Women stood up from where they sat, and if they had a mate, they ran into that man’s arms. Unmated women simply greeted the arriving men with smiles and waves of their hands.
Her eyes landed on Ake, who was in love with Flosa. The baby was bundled up in some tanned furs in Ake’s arms. It was nice to have them both here with her, and she was glad Aiyre had been kind enough to think up the idea.
Even though she knew he wouldn’t be here, her eyes still searched the crowd of faces to see if Tor would be there among the men. When her search came up empty, she sighed in relief. She’d been right. His limp had prevented him from coming on the hunt, and she would finally get some time without him watching her.
“Hello, mate.” A deep voice said from behind her.
With a gasp that parted her lips, Ezi spun around nearly losing her balance as she let go of her fistful of berries.
Tor’s hands shot out and caught her around the waist before bringing her firmly against his hard chest. “Thought you could escape me?” He raised a dark eyebrow as his blue eyes read her.
Ezi’s mouth hung open in shock. “You came.” She almost didn’t believe her eyes.
“I did.” He smiled down at her, his blue eyes darkening as his eyes zeroed in on her lips.
He was going to kiss her again. The intensity of his eyes told her that much. Would she let him? There were two sides warring inside her. There was one side that wanted nothing more than to sink into his embrace and let him take the worries of the world away for her. She was tired of running. But then there was another side of her, a side that wanted to run screaming in the opposite direction of this sabertooth shifter who refused to give up on her.
Out of nowhere, Tor raised a hand and ran a thumb across her chin and up to one corner of her mouth. “Juice from a berry.” He held up his thumb, which was now stained blue.
A blush crept up her neck and face. “Oh.” So, he hadn’t been thinking about kissing her. He’d just been focusing on her messy eating habits.
He raised his thumb to his mouth and licked off the juice in one fluid movement of his tongue. Her eyes followed his every moment, and the area between her thighs heated as she imagined that tongue on parts of her body… what that tongue had done to parts of her body.
Tor dipped his head lower until his lips were almost touching hers. “I can smell your arousal, mate. You want me, yet you restrain yourself.” His last words were barely audible as they sank into his chest as a deep growl.
A tremor thrummed through Ezi as her two sides warred inside. She did want him, and it scared her.
“I can’t want you.” She finally uttered in a single br
eath.
“Why?” Tor leaned back, his eyes scanning over her face as he waited patiently for her answer.
“It will be a betrayal.” At his confused look, Ezi continued, “Your clan destroyed mine. If we are together…” she shook her head, “It would be wrong. I would be disgracing their memory.”
“I had nothing to do with their deaths.” Tor’s eyes bored into hers.
“You’re a sabertooth.”
He shook his head. “You would push me away, simply because I am a sabertooth?”
When she said nothing, Tor released her like she’d burned him, and she stared at him in shock all over again. Before he marched away, she thought she saw a flash of hurt streak through his eyes, and a sliver of guilt entered her chest as she watched his back recede.
She was simply being honest with him. The night they’d shared was fantastic, but it didn’t mean she intended to share his furs for the rest of their lives.
Tor stalked away from her, leaving her to stand there blinking in confusion. He shook his head as his sabertooth growled at him to go back to his mate and satisfy the need that he could smell pulsing through her.
His sabertooth began forcing the shift, and he felt his canines elongate. Groaning, he forced the beast back where it belonged. His beast was getting harder to control the more he denied it their mate. They’d had a taste of Ezi the other night, but he couldn’t seem to win her heart, and her body wasn’t enough for him.
Wishing he could look back her, Tor ground his teeth together. He couldn’t do that. He couldn’t give her the satisfaction of getting to him. Her rejection hurt him more than he could put into words. She was from a mateless shifter species, and she would never understand the pain he was experiencing.
“Did I spot Ezi in your arms?”
Tor spun to find Rir beside him. A smile cracked across his face, shattering the frown that’d been adorning his face and brightening his foul mood. “Rir. It is so good to see you again.” He hadn’t seen Rir since he left the clan.
“We all thought you were dead.” Rir wrapped an arm around Tor’s shoulders and brought him in for a brief hug. “I would’ve come back to the village to see you, but someone had to scout the movement of the mammoths.”
“I understand.” He clapped Rir on the back with an open hand and brought him in for another hug. Daerk and Rir were like brothers. Ever since they were children, they’d been close, and he could trust them to always have his back.
“You and Ezi?” Rir asked again as he pulled back. “She’s accepted you?”
Tor shook his head sadly as he played with his beard with one hand. “She still won’t accept me.”
“Sorry.” A pained expression crumpled Rir’s face. “I have no idea how this rejection must hurt, but don’t give up on her. Her eyes still haven’t left you since you walked away.”
“I’m doing my best with her. I can smell her desire, but she resists me.” Tor didn’t plan on giving up on Ezi, but it was still hard on him. All he wanted was to shower her in happiness and give her everything she wanted… and right now, she wanted him to leave her alone. Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure he could give that to her.
“Sometimes I wish I had my mate, and then I look at you and Daerk and rejoice that I don’t have one.” Rir shook his head of brunette hair that had streaks of gold. “Daerk and Aiyre haven’t been able to have a child yet, even with the help of Eron and the gods, and you…” he waved a hand in Tor’s direction, “found a mate too traumatized by pain to accept you.”
Tor cringed. He and Daerk hadn’t been blessed by the gods yet, but there was still hope. “One day, we will both get past our troubles, and you will be jealous of what we have.” He promised.
Rir chuckled. “I hope you are right. I would gladly be the jealous friend as long as you and Daerk can find your happiness.”
Tor glanced back at the camp and finally spotted Ezi among the other women. When he’d walked into the hunting camp earlier, he’d wanted to surprise her. His sense of smell had told him to walk around the women, and he would find his mate among the berry bushes on the other side. He’d been right. Unfortunately, it hadn’t been the warm welcome he’d prayed for.
A smile curved his lips as his eyes fell to her lips. Even from this distance, he could see the berry stains around her mouth. She liked the sweet taste of those blue berries that grew nearby. He would have to make a note of that.
“Good luck.” Rir slapped him on the back, forcing him to throw out a foot on his good leg to catch himself.
“I don’t need luck. I need the gods to help me. To direct me.” Tor growled in frustration as he watched Ezi speaking with some of the women.
“The gods will give you what you need when you need it. That is what Eron has taught us since we were children.”
“Rir! Tor!”
They both turned to find Daerk heading straight for them, his strides filled with the purpose of a leader.
“Aren’t we glad to have Tor returned to us with only a limp?” Daerk asked.
Rir’s gaze turned to Tor’s injured leg. “I did notice something strange about the way you walked.” Then he glanced up at Tor’s face. “I heard rumor from some men that you were injured while hunting on your own.”
“Tor was stupid and hunted a wholly rhinoceros on his own.” Daerk’s eyes fell on Tor, and Tor got the feeling his leader was trying to figure out if he would be a problem during the hunt.
But Tor had learned his lesson. There would be no more solo hunting when it came to big or dangerous prey.
Rir shook his head as one corner of his mouth turned down in a frown. “What were you thinking? Rhinoceroses are ill-tempered beasts and thick hides.”
“He wasn’t thinking,” Daerk replied before Tor could even open his mouth to defend himself.
“I thought I could take it on my own.” Tor folded his arms in front of his chest as he got defensive.
“When has any hunter taken a wholly rhinoceros down on his or her own?” Rir scoffed. “You’re lucky the gods didn’t bring you to the Eternal Hunting Grounds.”
“The gods wouldn’t want someone so stupid in their land of perfection.”
Both men bellowed in laughter, and Tor frowned at both of them.
“I’m not sure why I came back,” Tor grumbled.
Rir wiped a tear away from one corner of his eye and flicked the droplet. “We are happy you’re alive and well. We are only teasing you.” Rir pointed to Tor’s leg and changed the course of their discussion. “Think you can hunt with that limp the rhinoceros gave you?”
This time it was Tor’s chance to chuckle at them as if it was the silliest question he’d ever been asked. “I may suffer from a limp, but I can still hunt. Hunt better than you.”
Rir looked over to Daerk.
“Don’t look at him,” Tor growled as his eyes darted between the two men standing before him. “I can hunt. I know I can.”
“He’ll hunt with us,” Daerk confirmed with a firm nod of his head. “But,” he held up a finger, “if you hinder the hunt, you will be asked to step aside. There will be no arguing with me.”
Tor nodded his head. “I understand.”
As much as he might want, and need, to join the hunt, he wasn’t about to let his limp ruin it. If it got in the way, he would step back and do something else, but he really hoped it wouldn’t ruin his ability to hunt. Hunting was something he enjoyed. A way to free the mind from all other worries.
The stars glistened up in the dark sky as Tor made his way back to the camp the women had kindly set up earlier in the day. He’d been out stretching his leg, preparing himself for the hunt. The moment the mammoths came to their hunting grounds, he wanted to be ready.
After so much time on his own, he enjoyed the peace and quiet that came with the night, and the walk had helped to bolster his mood. The only sounds to keep him company had been the animals and the bugs, and they’d never bothered him. Very few things would want to bother a sabertooth shifter
.
Tor strode towards the flickering campfire, where most of the hunters and women were gathered. He may have grown used to living on his own, but he still enjoyed being near his clan. He could now sleep with both eyes closed, with no worry about stumbling upon an enemy stronger than himself.
As he approached, he caught snippets of conversations, but there was one voice he wasn’t hearing. His eyes searched the group, wanting to see her. It was hard for him not to seek her out. It was instinct for him to check on her.
But there was no sign of Ezi. He turned his gaze to the darkness of the night outside the circle of light the fire provided. He couldn’t see her.
A piercing cry floated through the night air, and a smile spread across his face.
At least Flosa was on his side. She was giving her mother away because he saw Ake sitting by the fire, which meant all he had to do was follow the noise of the baby, and he would find Ezi.
First, he needed some food. He strode into the group of clanmates.
“Want some meat?” A man beside the fire asked as he noticed Tor.
Tor nodded. “Give me some extra.”
The man standing over the fire nodded as he used a bone knife to cut slices of the meat off whatever animal one of them had caught nearby. Placing it on a large piece of bark, the man handed it over to Tor.
Now he could go in search of his mate, who was most likely trying to hide from him. His one worry was that she might be skipping her dinner to avoid him, and his sabertooth couldn’t stand the idea of her being in discomfort as her stomach growled in hunger. If she thought hiding away would prevent him from looking out for her, then she was wrong.
As he left his clan mates around the fire, he passed by a pile of moving furs. A woman’s giggles could be heard underneath as she begged whoever was with her to do more. A small smile curled his lips as he imagined Ezi and himself in a similar position.
