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She froze for a moment, her eyes darting to his face as she watched him lower himself to the ground, but she did not protest or attempt to move away from him. A day of carrying her through the woods had built some small foundation of trust, although she was still understandably wary. He opened his four arms, and with one hand patted the fur of his chest as he spoke to her in her language.
“Come, lean against me. It will help warm you.”
He watched her suck her full pink bottom lip between her teeth as she regarded him, her blue eyes appearing like fathomless pools in the dim light from the fire. A sharp wind made its way into the crevice, and her decision was made quickly. She scampered against him, turning her back against his belly as she returned to warming her hands. He wound his arms around her and carefully slid them closer to the fire so that she could better enjoy the heat. With the bitter cold, the fire felt good to him as well. What felt even better, however, was the feel of her soft body pressed against his in all the right places. His breeding cock twitched in its sheath, and he nearly moaned out loud at the sensation of pleasure twisting deeply through him when suddenly a leather bag full of meat was thrust in front of his face.
Relieved to have a distraction, Rager happily accepted it from his irate brother. In Warol’s other hand was a large white fur from a greater mountain sheep they had killed two revolutions back. He grunted his thanks and accepted it with another hand, leaving Warol to settle just feet away with a glower on his face. Rager cocked an inquisitive brow at his brother, but the other male turned his face away in obvious embarrassment.
Snorting with exasperation, Rager turned his attention back to the small female as he carefully wrapped her in the thick fur. She jumped a little at first, but then sighed with pleasure as he bundled her up and drew her against his chest once more. He handed her a bit of meat, which she gnawed on with obvious hunger, and set the pouch beside them.
“Did you secure the leather flap over the entrance?” he asked, glancing over at his triad brother.
Warol looked toward the entrance and nodded, his muzzle wrinkling, showing the tips of his long canines. “Yes, I did so immediately. The wind was already beginning to pick up when we arrived. This storm is going to be a bad one, I think.”
Rager tipped his head in agreement. “Although we are safe from the storm, this cannot repeat. We need to be more aware of the shifts in the weather while we have Arie with us or else things could end very badly. We should have been aware of it and taken her to shelter sooner. As it is, we are fortunate to have been close to this cave before the storm hit. While we may have had a chance out there for a few hours before we succumbed, I don’t think Arie would have lasted long.”
Warol’s expression became solemn as he noticeably absorbed the full impact of what could have happened. Arie could easily have died had they been less fortunate. Or perhaps Arie was being blessed with the good fortune that they’d lacked—marked by the Mother by her red hair. To Rager, it seemed as if the benevolent hand of the Mother had overseen matters and placed Arie in their path and now Ewa made sure that they had found shelter in time. She had clearly saved Arie in her mercy, but what were her plans for their triad?
Drowsily chewing on a chunk of meat from where he crouched behind the female, Rager remained alert while he waited for Kyx to reappear. The storm was progressing enough that he doubted they would have trouble with anyone or anything else trying to enter until it abated, but he wouldn’t rest easy until his triad brother arrived. Once the last of his triad was safely inside, he would allow himself to sleep.
Arie began to lean against his thigh as she settled into the crook of his left arms. She’d eaten the meat he gave her and yawned before nestling more comfortably against him. He watched in fascination as the firelight played off the red strands of her mane, making them shiny. Even her face seemed luminous in the glow. It was strange and yet oddly endearing, like she was not a human but something otherworldly in their company for a brief time.
He crooned a melody his mother once sang when he was a rog. Arie opened one sleepy eye and looked up at him, her lips curving into a small smile before she drifted off to sleep. Warol snorted from where he was lying off to the side, but refrained from commenting. Rager paid him no mind.
He shifted so he could lie more comfortably curled around Arie, his head facing the entrance while he waited and watched.
Kyx cursed himself for wandering so far from his brothers as the snow pelted down around him in thick billows. The wind had picked up quickly, whiting out the world in front of him. He’d already begun to shiver as the snow began to seep through his fur. He was completely disoriented by the snow and wind, so much so that he couldn’t even be certain that he wasn’t lost.
Lost or not he had to be close. He could feel it.
He groaned quietly and resisted the foolish urge to call out to his triad. No one would hear him this wind. This stupidity was all his fault, too. He knew he should have joined his brothers again as soon as he caught the scent of snow on the wind, but he’d been distracted by what looked like a human camp in the direction from which they’d come from his higher vantage point. Although he had been driven by an instinct to put more distance between them, that had given him a pause due to his own curiosity. Was it someone looking for Arie? He hadn’t like that thought and so he’d watched it for a long while, hoping to somehow decipher a reason for human presence in the woods if he just watched long enough. After some time observing the smoke with little result, he decided that he would keep an eye on it and if it was a human looking to retrieve her, then he would do whatever was necessary to prevent that. Though he’d been pleased with his decision at the time, he had to acknowledge that now he was paying the price for his distraction. He should have returned to his triad before the storm picked up. At least then he would have made his way to the cave with them instead of hunting out the entrance alone.
Where was the damned entrance anyway?
He leaned against the rocks beside him, his breath coming out in exhausted pants. He wasn’t going to be able to go much farther. He was cold and wet, and his bones and muscles felt weak and stiff with exhaustion. He sagged against the side of slope and then yelped when what he thought were rocks gave way, and he nearly fell inside a crevice. The only thing that stopped his fall was the thick leather hide lashed to hooks that they’d painstakingly planted in the rocks.
Kyx regained his balance just as the lashes were untied and the hide pushed aside. Warol glared at him from the opening, more disgruntled than usual. Kyx attempted to smile cheerfully at him, but his entire face felt frozen. His brother grunted and pulled him inside.
“You are a damned fool,” Warol lectured as he hastily brushed the snow off him. “One of these days you are going to wander too far and end up in the belly of a giant flesh-eating plant before any of us will be able to come and help you in time. As it is, Rager was nearly ready to go and search for you, and then you never would have heard the end of it if he was forced to leave that female uncomfortable from the cold.”
“How is Arie?” Kyx asked through his chattering teeth.
Warol growled in disgust. “She is perfectly fine. She is by the fire wearing Rager like a fur.”
Kyx chuffed at the obvious jealousy in his brother’s voice but refrained from pointing out that clearly Warol would have been happy to be the one being worn by their little human. He didn’t think the other male would appreciate it, and Kyx wasn’t eager to be bruised as well as freezing. The female was clearly a sensitive topic.
Taking the dried meat his brother shoved at him, Kyx found a comfortable spot on the furs piled around the fire. He could scarcely see the top of Arie’s red mane from where it peeked out from beneath the large white fur and half concealed by Rager’s bulk, but her smell flooded the small cavern, sending a languid pleasure through him. Pale eyes tracked him as he settled beside the pair and stretched his stiffened limbs. He was glad to be inside and out of the howling wind. It was strong enough now that the leather flap rattled from the force of it, letting in cold drafts and Kyx shivered when a particularly icy blast found him.
The eyes watching him narrowed, then Rager grunted and motioned for him to come closer to share body heat, as was their norm.
“Keep Arie between us so she doesn’t become chilled,” his brother advised gruffly, but it was unnecessary. Kyx was already moving into position on the other side of her, leaving just enough room for Warol as he joined them.
It took some finesse working themselves around the sleeping female without waking her, but before long they were settled comfortably. Warol grumbled about sharing a bed with a soaking wet male, which prompted Kyx to snuggle even closer to his grouchy brother and wrap two of his arms around him until the male wiggled free. Rager gifted them with a rare laugh as he playfully tugged at Kyx’s scruff until they all settled in comfortably once more. Kyx snuggled in with his family contently, his gaze straying over to the little human female who somehow seemed to complete everything in that moment. He chuffed softly at the sight of her. She looked just as content as he felt.
Though she lay curled tightly into Rager’s warmth, her delicate hand had come free of the fur and twitched ever so slightly at the commotion as her lips twisted with silent laughter in her sleep. It was if somehow their playfulness had made it into her dreams, and she’d been laughing along with them in her secret place. Kyx smiled, wishing he knew what she was dreaming of at that moment. He nuzzled her hand before tucking it back beneath the covering.
The storm’s howl intensified and Kyx’s smile widened. Let it rage. He didn’t mind. He knew his triad brothers had resolved to part ways with the female as soon as possible and would likely snarl and moan over the delays but Kyx was in no such hurry. He liked Arie. She was sweet, and warm, and she smelled good. She smelled like home to him for reasons that he’d never disclosed to his triad. Reasons that made their reaction to their current situation laughably frustrating. His brothers had the idea in their heads that they had to go hunt down an elusive Ragoru female, as if that was all it would take to make their triad complete. After seeing what females of their species were like over the summer, with how they dismissed Rager and their entire triad so easily over superstitions, Kyx wasn’t in a hurry to bring one of them into their fold.
Bias against the color of a male’s fur was ridiculous and had brought them nothing but embarrassment and disappointment. He wasn’t even sure he wanted a Ragoru female if they were going to pick over his triad as if they were only good for one thing and hold them up to ridiculous standards. His own lead father had been almost as dark as Rager and was a fine male.
