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I felt my eyes sting and took a shaky breath, stopping and closing my eyes.Stop it, soldier. Be strong now. Those women are depending on you.
The far-off thud of a blaster startled my eyes open. I listened hard, ignoring my wet cheeks, wondering if there was trouble or if Naxer had actually found prey that quickly.
The sound did not repeat itself—not a fight.
I waited, cheeks drying, glad for a distraction.
Soon enough, Naxer came back with a large, flightless bird slung limp over his shoulder. It had four legs set close together under its belly and talons that could have shredded metal. “This should help fill our bellies better than more survival rations.”
I offered to help but didn’t know where to begin. He smiled and shook his head, instead showing me how to pluck and gut the creature by doing so himself. A few handfuls of sharp-smelling herbs got stuffed into its body cavity while I built a fire for cooking it, using the bundle of dry wood he had gathered before breaking camp.
“Hope they don’t see our smoke,” I commented quietly as the bird roasted on its makeshift spit.
“If they do, they’ll probably send another party out to investigate. And we will kill them. And every time they send more, we will have the chance to thin their ranks without facing the whole of them.”
I touched the blasters at my hips. “Let them come.”
This time Chaser ate with us, scarfing down the rest of the carcass after Naxer had cut us both as much meat as we wanted. It was dense but mild, only a little gamey, like a cross between chicken and duck breast.
My portion disappeared so fast that it shocked me. “Damn. That was delicious.”
“Told you.” He flashed me a sharp-toothed grin. “Besides, there’s only so long I can stand rations. They’ve been my staple for far too long out here.”
“I’m guessing a lot of your pack will be really glad to see you once we get back.” I imagined him not in his Gladiator form for this reunion but in Wulfaen form, running back to his pack for a lot of sniffing and wagging of tails. It was a wild image, but when I saw the wistful happiness in his fierce eyes, I knew I wasn’t too far off.
“Yes. But I do not know what has happened in my absence aside from what we have been able to work out. No matter what my cousin and his few hangers-on may have done, I will still have many loyal members waiting for me. And they will aid us.”
After they’ve accepted you again,I thought.
I wondered what that would even look like.Would he try to introduce me as his mate?He seemed to believe that we were fated to be together. He claimed his illness could only be cured for good if we were together or, at least, had sex.
The dynamics between us were going to be awkward with me internally going back and forth on whether I would accept him as my mate. He was a near stranger, an alien, and we were in a crazy life-and-death circumstance that didn’t just affect us. Yes, he was smoking hot, and even with all my wariness, he really seemed to be a good guy. And the idea of fucking had me very curious.
He could have been bullshitting me. I had seen men tell some truly elaborate lies for pussy. But I was more worried about another outcome that I didn’t want to see.
What if he’s wrong about me?
What if I’m not his Sheleki who holds the cure to his sickness?
And what if we have sex and I fall for him and he goes crazy and dies on me anyway?
“You’ve gone quiet on me again,” he noted as he wiped his mouth with the back of one hand. “I am always left wondering what you are thinking when you do that.”
“Sorry,” I said almost reflexively. “I was thinking about you.” I scrambled to come up with something less personal than that strange, unknown fear. “You’re trying to get me to do things your way, but you’re willing to follow me wherever I go.”
“Yes, if I must. Your well-being is connected with mine. I must ensure your safety even if you break our agreement.” His brilliant eyes searched my face. “Why do you ask?”
“Don’t worry—I’m sticking to our agreement. I gave you my word.”And my word damn well meant something.“But well, I guess I’m not used to anyone but my squadmates looking after me.”
“It is one of my duties to my Sheleki,” he replied, reaching for his canteen. “I am to see to your needs, physical and otherwise, and to the needs of our pups.”
The certainty in his voice when he mentionedpupsmade me want to snap at him to step on the damn brakes. But this was his people’s tradition, and he was simply describing it and being honest about what he wanted. Any mention of putting a half-alien baby in me was probably just part of the Gladiators’ culture and tradition.
But I was far from ready to even entertain the idea of babies with an alien.
The gleam in his eye said that given an invitation from me, he’d be trying to put that pup in me right now. Or at least getting in some enthusiastic, hot, and sweaty practice.
“Well, you cook a great roast whatever-that-was,” I said cheerfully as I squeezed my thighs together to stop the lustful pulsing of my needy pussy.
