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Warol stepped close to her and nuzzled her jaw as she’d seen them do many times amongst themselves in a gesture of comfort. Her body responded to it instantly. Her muscles relaxed and she leaned against him as his arms came around her. For the first time, she felt the soft suede of his pectorals against her cheek and reveled in the sensation as he stroked her back.
“Do not worry, Arie. We will not allow any harm to come to you.”
Those were the kind of words that men often carelessly threw around, but coming from Warol she felt the strength and assurance behind them. He would protect her if it became necessary. There was comfort and safety in his embrace. She could trust him. She could trust all of them.
Chapter
Thirteen
They stood together at the entrance of their den watching the sun sink behind the mountains, the entire sky flaring orange and red, then finally fading into pale yellow and gray as the blanket of night settled all around them. A flock of bats, each one the size of a platter, burst out from a rocky slope to the west, their bodies blocking out the quarter moon that still hung low on the horizon. Arie shivered. She wanted more than anything to retreat inside the burrow and chase the night away with the comfort of a warm fire.
Rager stood at the fore, his body alert and pulled up to his full height. The fur on his back and the scruff around his neck bristled, making him appear even larger. Even his tail was held out stiffly from his body. Although this had been his idea, it was apparent to her that he was not comfortable with it, just as Kyx had assured her earlier.
Warol moved up beside Rager, his body likewise alert, every muscle tight, his silhouette light against the lead’s darkness. He sniffed the air, a low growl rumbling in his throat. Both males turned their heads to the southwest and stilled. Their ears pricked forward. Knowing they were listening for any sign of danger approaching, Arie was afraid to even breathe loudly. Her muscles knotted and beads of sweat trickled down her back despite the cool temperature of the night.
Then, in a fluid motion, the males parted from each other like water. Kyx materialized behind her and pulled her into his arms as Rager swept up behind them. Though he was still weak, Warol took the fore. The lead and second had argued about it for hours during midday. Rager hadn’t believed that the other male was strong enough yet to protect their fore while he protected the rear. To which Warol had argued that even in his weakened state, he was still meaner and tougher than Kyx. Warol had won that argument through sheer stubbornness but only because Rager had relented on the promise that the male would communicate if he became tired and needed to rest.
Leaning into Kyx’s neck, she whispered, “Why isn’t Rager leading us? Wouldn’t that make more sense than Warol leading, especially when he is still recovering?”
She felt Kyx’s amusement more than she was able to see it from her angle.
“Rager is the lead for our triad, but often this means that when we are traveling through dangerous areas, he takes the rear to protect us and make sure we are not attacked from a direction where we are most vulnerable. He also ensures everyone ahead of him makes it safely rather than potentially going missing. When Warol fell with you, Rager was the first to notice it and he alerted me.”
“Is he always at the rear then when you travel?”
“Not necessarily. When we are traveling through safe, familiar territory, we tend to do as we like. I am quicker and so will often scout ahead while Warol and Rager move at their own pace however their moods strike them. When we are moving through more dangerous areas, they prefer to keep me between them, since they are stronger males, in case something should try to ambush us. While you are with us, however, Rager will not give up the rear position so he can keep you in sight.”
“What happens when you find a mate? Will she be kept between you like this, then?” Arie asked. She found the whole thing fascinating, despite the sudden dip in her mood at imagining them no longer with her. “I assume any young… uh, rogs… would be, but I was wondering if that protection extended to your mate as well.”
Kyx went silent and Arie craned her head to attempt to look up at him. Finally, at length, he spoke.
“Ragoru females are not like you. You are soft, vulnerable, and precious. Ragoru females are dominant. She accepts a triad only if she considers them worthy of her, which is often based on the strength and characteristics of the lead. She would not permit a triad to protect her except when and how she demands it. No Ragoru female I’ve heard of would have the patience to travel with me between Warol and Rager either. She would lead at the fore with Rager at the rear. Warol would likely trail close behind her while I would travel at a safe distance with whatever rogs are produced.”
Arie was struck by how sad he sounded at that moment. She rubbed her cheek against his neck in an effort to cheer him up.
“I am sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” She blew out a frustrated breath. “I know I have disrupted your plans and delayed your triad in finding your mate. Will you still have time after you deliver me to the Citadel?”
An amber secondary eye turned toward her and glinted with an unidentifiable strong emotion.
“I don’t care about that anymore,” he said. “You are far kinder and better in all ways than any female of my own kind that I’ve met. I am enjoying our time together. It is worth any sacrifice for me,” he said with solemnity that she felt her breath catch in her chest and she ducked her face into his fur to hide her smile.
“I’m really happy to be here with you as well,” she whispered, and her eyes widened as she realized just how true that was.
When her mother died, her world had turned gray. She hadn’t been able to foresee any happiness. Even when she attempted to attract the attention of Joshu, it had been born of desperation not to be left alone in the world and for his protection. She hadn’t expected real happiness. Yet, despite her initial terror and a few hiccups in their time together, she discovered that she was, in fact, happy with the Ragoru triad.
Arms silently tightened around her, and unless she was imagining things, it seemed that Kyx’s step seemed a bit lighter at that moment.
Arie glanced back at Rager, and she smiled at him where he paced behind them, his head continuously moving as he scanned the landscape. His ears seemed to constantly adjust, and every few minutes he lifted his muzzle into the air. Only briefly did he still enough to meet her eyes, and his expression softened before he turned his attention back to his task.
Arie settled more comfortably into Kyx’s arms as he carried her. She still felt guilty being carried around but ignored it. It wasn’t like she could keep up on her own and she was practically night blind; the last thing they needed was for her to wander into the reach of a nocturnal predator. She’d always known that humans were a weak species when it came to natural defenses and survival, but it had never been more than a passing observation. As they traveled through the pitch-black forest, barely illuminated by patches of moonlight, a few large bioluminescent beetles, and night-blooming flowers, she was acutely aware of how vulnerable she was. Her stomach knotted and bile rose as the minutes lengthened into hours.
She tightened her fingers in the male’s fur as a fist-sized beetle swung toward her face in its rapid flight. Kyx knocked it harmlessly away, but her eyes widened when the beetle halted in midair and began to wiggle its torso and legs in an attempt to free itself. She squinted in confusion, but then it shifted just enough that the luminescence of its wings bounced off the long filaments of a giant web.
Oh, no, no…
Kyx veered away from the web, but not before she saw a spider—with a spiny body roughly the size of her head—descend near where they’d been standing. That brief glimpse was nightmare fuel as the spider crept along the threads of its web toward the vibrating beetle. Arie whimpered softly as they left it in their wake, and she felt Kyx turn his head to see what had scared her.
“I think I could have lived without ever seeing that,” he observed as he shuddered, drawing a giggle from her.
