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He shakes his head. “Kiss me again. Kiss me and I will show you that I want you.”
“No!” I snort. “Absolutely not.”
A stubborn look crosses his face.“Then I will kiss you.”
“I will break both your hands, Tall Horn, if you touch her.” The dark, angry snarl comes from down the path, and I’m shocked to see I’rec storming towards us.
And he lookspissed.
ChapterTwo
I’REC
When I hear that R’jaal is sniffing around F’lor again, I drop everything and race off into the hills after them. To think that the Tall Horn fool cannot leave her alone bothers me.
Today, it truly,trulybothers me.
F’lor has told me all about how they had mouth-mated, and she had hinted that she would like more between them, but he never approached her. And whensheapproachedhim, he turned her down. He is a fool, because it is clear to all that now he regrets these actions. He sends her sad looks when he thinks she is not paying attention. He finds reasons to stand near her at feasts.
And it annoys me. F’lor is kind and thoughtful and devoted to the tribe. She is as attractive as she is wise, and he would have been a lucky male to have such a female in his furs. If I were not already claimed by T’ia, I would have pursued F’lor, I think. But he pushed her away and hurt her, and now I feel responsible to protect her from him. I make sure to stand near her around the fire. I occupy her time when he looks as if he is going to approach her at camp.
I am just being a good friend.
Like today. Today, I am going to march up to that Tall Horn and wring his neck for cornering F’lor into heading out on the trails with him. I know she does not want to be alone with him. I know it like I know my own tail.
And it enrages me.
It is not just that he is Tall Horn and therefore my rival. It is not that F’lor offered him everything and was rejected, and if T’ia had offered me the same I would have leapt upon such a chance. It is that F’lor has become a true friend to me over the seasons, and I hate the thought of R’jaal making her miserable.
She deserves better.
Just thinking about how V’ronca told me that he volunteered to gather herbs with her makes fury boil through me. Normally R’jaal is an annoyance, a buzzing fly like we had back on the island. Today, though…today, fury makes my steps faster. Today, I am furious that he yet does not realize this female is not for him.
Today, I shallenlightenhim.
I storm up the paths, my nose picking up F’lor’s delicate scent entwined with R’jaal’s. Smelling the two of them together is like sand in the furs, a grit that gets under my skin and rubs me raw. Ihateit. R’hosh would tell me to calm myself, that I am being all temper and no sense like usual, but…today it is different. I do not know why, just that I cannot sit back at camp and wait for them to return.
Something pushes me to rush after them, something that pounds in my head at the thought of R’jaal putting a hand on her warm golden skin, of R’jaal touching her and mouth-mating with her as if he thinks he hasanysort of claim to her…
Perhaps it is because T’ia will be returning soon. She has hinted as much in her messages to me. All of my pent-up longings and frustrations over our situation will be resolved soon. Perhaps that is why I race after F’lor and R’jaal as if the Great Smoking Mountain is bleeding fire at my heels.
I had other plans for this afternoon, I think with a snarl. I wanted to ask F’lor to read through my messages from T’ia once more, to see if there were hidden meanings I had missed. Some sort of hint at how she felt about me that I had not noticed yet. It does not matter that I have had them all read to me a dozen times. Perhaps something was overlooked.
T’ia sends messages to me on leathers, and they are full of stories of her life in Croatoan, the other village. She tells me about herbal plants, and things she has learned to make. She has even learned how to create something called “woohl” and to “nit” from another female in Croatoan named T’fnee.
She tells me of the weather. Of the animals they keep as friends there, like K’thar does with his flyer, Kki. She tells me of others and their kits.
She never, never tells me that she misses me. That she wishes to mouth-mate with me when she sees me again. That she thinks about me.
It is…frustrating. I cannot help but feel as if I have missed something. A female would not stay away for three turns of the seasons but write messages to me if she did not have some caring for me? I do not understand it, and that is why I need F’lor and her help before T’ia returns.
I do not want to be surprised by anything. I hate surprises. I want to know what to expect when T’ia arrives at Icehome Beach. Should I be happy? Or should I give her space?
Should I prepare my furs and my hut for a mate?
The sound of arguing voices makes me speed up, and I forget all about T’ia for the moment. I can hear F’lor arguing with R’jaal. The tone of the Tall Horn hunter’s voice is sad and apologetic, while F’lor sounds angry. Good. She will not be taken in by his soft eyes and beseeching looks. I march across the snowy valley, but I do not think either of them have noticed my arrival. They are too caught up in their argument. F’lor wears a leather wrap and a hood that frames her face, and even though she is small, she glares up at the much larger Tall Horn.
Impressive female, I think admiringly. She will not let a male tell her what to do. I like that.
