“What will they do?” she wondered suddenly. “Now that I’ve run off?”
“I do not know. To publicly forswear a mate—as you intend to abjure Ar’ar when we reach the Erah clanhall—is shaming to him. Even more so to a proud man, the heir of a powerful enclosure.” By the light of the Sisters his shoulders were tense. “His father may demand compensation from the Council for the loss of potential clanmother by our interference.”
Her hold tightened on the saddle, her heart thumping in her chest. “Wait—you don’t mean Ar’ar will get a crack at another human woman? If he can’t have me he gets to go back to Earth and grab some other woman?”
“You are jealous?” Ke’lar was looking back at her, his glowing blue eyes cool in the moonlight. “That your mate might seek another female?”
She grimaced. “God no! But that means—I’m saving myself but condemning another woman to take my place here.”
He gave a shrug. “Human females have shown themselves just as happy as g’hir women to be claimed by a strong mate. Ra’kur’s mate is loved and happy, content to live at our enclosure.”
Summer shook her head. “I still can’t believe Jenna’s here. I can’t believe she’s—she’s—”
“Mate to my brother? Mate to an alien monster?”
“Hey! I didn’t say—!”
“You did,” he growled sharply. “Not a few short hours ago while I tended your injuries.”
“I was talking about Ar’ar,” she grumbled. “In case you didn’t notice, he’s kind of a dick.”
Apparently that made it through the translation matrix just fine because he burst out in a g’hir’s huffing laugh.
He looked back at her, his luminous eyes crinkled with humor, and Summer, for the first time in a week, laughed too.
“I hope,” he began when their laughter had faded, leaving both of them still smiling, “you will find that we are not all like Ar’ar.”
“I—Thanks,” she mumbled. “For helping me. I started to say it before . . . but I didn’t get a chance to finish. Thank you for helping me get home.”
“Do not thank me.” He turned to lead the multari again. “I am not sure that it will be enough. No matter what I do.”
Six
Summer was drooping in the saddle, their conversation having ebbed to silence as the night wore on. At their last stop to rest he’d given her a blanket to wrap around her shoulders against the chill and with one hand she held it closed over her chest. As she gripped the saddle’s horn with her other hand, Beya’s swaying walk, the late hour, and the dark and quiet left her struggling to keep her eyes open.
“Come.” The sound of Ke’lar’s growl at her side jarred her fully awake. “We will make camp here.”
“Here?” She looked around sleepily as he tied Beya off to a nearby tree limb. It didn’t look any different to her than any other stretch of land they’d covered that night. The moons were lower in the sky, the trees softly rustling with the cool, sweet breeze. “Why here?”
“The ground is higher and there is fresh water nearby.”
She frowned. “Have you been here before? How do you know there’s water nearby?”
“I can smell it,” he said, surprised.
“Right,” she murmured. “I forgot you g’hir are all half bloodhound.”
His large hands went to her waist, effortlessly helping her down from the multari, but her legs felt wobbly and her feet were asleep from so long in the saddle. She had to grab his shoulders just to keep herself upright.
“You are not accustomed to riding,” he growled, helping her keep her balance. “I should have stopped earlier.”
“I’m fine.” But a step away from him still had her legs struggling to work properly.
“Here,” he said, encircling her waist and drawing her arm around his shoulder, his body very warm against her side. “Walking a bit will help.”
She had to rely on him a lot for support as they started, he moving with careful slowness for a g’hir, she stiff and limping a bit.
“Man, I’m glad that painkiller hasn’t worn off yet.” Her feet were tingling as the blood started moving through them again and it was hardly a fun feeling. “I’m not looking forward to when it does.”
“I have more in the pack,” he assured. “I will try to make the journey as comfortable as possible for you. There will be a healer at the Erah clanhall who can better tend you. I regret greatly that I did not bring a comm unit. If I could call for assistance a ground transport would have you there within the hour.”
“Why don’t you have a comm unit anyway?” She frowned. “Isn’t it dangerous to be out in the wilderness without a way to call for help?”