Page 36 of Meat

Then, at the first opportunity, Ravnar had bent her naked body over his lap and spanked her, followed right after by Jale—and wasn’t he supposed to be the nice one?

Alyx knew what the spankings were for, of course. She got the message loud and clear. The ukkur were pissed at her for running away from them this morning.

But what about the food Krogg offered?

What was the motive behind that?

Was he genuinely concerned about feeding her? About keeping her alive? Or was he just trying to plump her up more, as he had already done quite successfully the night before?

Based on the amount of ksh she’d seen him drop into that pudding, she was leaning toward the latter.

Still, the strange violet mush that Krogg had concocted of berries, sugar, and ksh cream actually looked pretty appetizing, and it smelled heavenly too. It was kind of like one of those fruit smoothie bowls that Alyx had used to enjoy back on Earth.

And right now, after a long day of fighting and traveling, her poor stomach felt painfully hollow with hunger.

Still, she refused to give in.

After one final offer, Krogg gave up trying to feed her. He snarled angrily—a sound that put chills between Alyx’s shoulder blades—and said something to Ravnar who grinned cruelly.

Never a good sign.

The shaven-headed hunter grabbed Alyx by the back of her neck and lifted her from Jale’s lap the way an ordinary human might lift a toy.

“Hey!” she shouted. “What are you doing?”

Ravnar hissed at her to be quiet.

Alyx’s first thought was to tell him to go fuck himself. It didn’t matter if he understood or not, she wanted to say it. Then again, the brute probably had a point.

She had noticed the lack of a campfire, despite the fact that the sun had set and the light was rapidly draining out of the cloud smudged sky. She had noticed too the way that the ukkur had tried not to make too much of a racket, even when they had been spanking her.

There could be more nith in the area.

And nith were worse than ukkur. At least, Alyx was pretty sure they were.

Ravnar backed her up against a thick, straight, rough-barked tree. He made her sit, motioned for her to raise her hands overhead. Alyx hesitated only briefly before she complied. The sting in her butt from her double spanking reminded her that it was a bad idea to disobey Ravnar.

He had his leather cord. The one she had cut that morning. The severed end had been knotted to keep it from unraveling.

Ravnar crossed her wrists and wrapped them tightly in an elaborate series of loops. Then he set to work lashing her to the tree.

Meanwhile, Krogg rummaged.

What was he searching for?

It wasn’t long before Alyx learned the answer. Just as Ravnar was putting the finishing touches on the knots holding her wrists against the tree, Krogg approached carrying several items in his muscular arms.

A metal funnel.

A length of rubber tubing

The wooden bowl filled with the fruit mush, no spoon.

The first two items were clearly not made by primitive hands. The ukkur must have scavenged them from the nith, just as Alyx had seen Krogg do this morning.

Her heart beat faster at his approach. She tried to swallow, but her throat had gone dry.

“Krogg?” she stammered. “What are you doing? What’s that for?”