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Rukhar shrugs, and he no longer looks like a sprouting young man, but like the little boy he is. He rubs a fist against one eye and sniffs.

“Aw, honey,” I say, cuddling him. “I promise you it’ll be fine. If your mom was really worried, would she send you out here to get fruit with your dad?”

“I guess not.”

My heart squeezes at his mopey tone. “Exactly. And if Veronica thought she wasn’t able to handle things, we have a second healer over at Croatoan and Ashtar could go and get her lickety-split. No one’s going to even get a splinter with two healers around!”

He manages a small smile, rubbing his eyes. “I guess so.”

“Why don’t we pick some fruit for your mom and then pick a few extra for Pak? I bet he’d love some fruit.” I throw in his buddy’s name, because I know they’re super close. “Maybe we could find one that’s a funny shape and make him laugh.” I point at one fat red fruit hanging from a vine. “That one almost looks like a teardrop, doesn’t it?”

“And that one looks like balls,” he agrees, pointing to a doubled-up one next to it.

Oh goodness, so it does. My face gets really hot. Count on a young boy to point out genitalia-shaped fruit. “Maybe we leave that one alone.”

CHAPTER 13

O’JEK

“You’re not staying any longer?” D’see hugs R’khar again, then ruffles his mane, messing up his braids. “Are you sure?”

“Dad says we need to get back to Mom,” R’khar says. His father is silent, his pack on his shoulders. It is bulging with fruit to bring back to his mate, and his expression is impatient.

D’see presses a kiss to R’khar’s forehead, and the kit flushes with embarrassment, his gaze darting to her teats as she squeezes him in another hug. “Okay, well, we’ll be back soon enough. Tell them we’re fine, and I’ll see you when we get back. Thank you for coming with us. You’re always welcome to hang out.”

R’kh glances over at me.

I say nothing. D’see does not need to know that I “encouraged” R’kh and his son to leave sooner rather than later. I plan on claiming my mate—thoroughly—in this cave, and there is not a lot of privacy here. Best that they leave, and soon. More than the need for privacy, I simply want R’kh gone. D’see is good with his son, and R’khar is a well-behaved kit, but I am angry at his father. I pulled him aside a short time ago to let him know my plans to be with D’see in this cave, and he told me that D’see is using me to get what she wants. That she sees nothing but the kit in her future and will do whatever she wishes to make that happen.

I do not think he is wrong, but I also do not like that he thinks to lecture me. Does the entire tribe think I am completely blind? Of course D’see chooses me for this instead of R’jaal or I’rec. She knows my answer will be yes. She knows I need no convincing to touch her. But R’kh’s words remind me that I am not anyone’s first choice. I am not first in anything, and it sours my mood.

The hunter and his son leave, and D’see follows them to the entrance, waving and calling goodbyes while I pretend to check my weapons. She sighs once they are gone and turns back to me. “Poor Rukhar.”

“Why is he poor?” I shoot her a sideways glance, putting my spear aside. She has peeled down to her lightest layer of leathers, her teats outlined by the clothing. Her skin is flushed, the burn mark on her face livid, but she is smiling.

I hate that I think of R’kh and his words. She is using you to get what she wants.

Nothing says I cannot use her back, though the idea leaves a foul taste in my mouth. A mating should be sacred. It should be two perfect halves coming together to make a whole and creating a kit between them. This feels…off. And yet when D’see smiles at me and slinks forward, I know I will not be able to refuse her.

I cannot refuse this female anything. She has my heart firmly in her grasp, even if I do not have hers.

Her smile is sweet as she comes and sits next to me on the ledge. “Rukhar’s worried about his mom. Remember they mentioned that she had a really tough time with her first pregnancy and only the healer got her through? She asked them for fruit, and so Rukh thinks she’s going to resonate again soon and I suspect he’s stressing. I think that’s why he was so growly to us. He’s nervous for his mate and projecting.”

“You are too understanding.” I will not tell her of R’kh’s words to me. Not when her eyes are soft with sympathy for his worries.


Tags: Ruby Dixon Fantasy