“Gone,” I say, unable to stop the irritation from flooding my voice. “Abandoned us and fled like a coward.”
Kira’s brow furrows. “I didn’t think Harlow was a coward. I wonder what happened?”
“She left to get poles for the travois, and never returned. She has ran for the hills seeking safety from your aliens. She is foolish and has caused her own death, and possibly that of Haeden.” I force myself to get up, even though I want nothing more than to remain here, seated in the snow with my mate as she fusses over me. “We must get him to the healer, and soon. I do not know if he will last another night.”
Kira’s eyes are wide. “But Harlow—“
“We must choose,” I say gently. “We can wait here and hope she returns, and Haeden will almost certainly die. Or we can leave her to her fate and take Haeden to be healed.” I leave the choosing to her. It is not my choice to make, because I will never be able to choose flighty, fickle Harlow over the man I have grown up with and whom I think of as a brother.
Kira’s gaze moves to the travois, and then back to me. “Of course we can’t stay,” she says, her voice soft with sorrow. “I just thought…” she shakes her head. “I guess it doesn’t matter. Poor Harlow. I hope she can find her way back to the caves at some point.” She gets to her feet and then presses a hand to my bandages as I stand. “Let’s get Haeden back safely. If he dies, I’ll blame myself.”
“Then we will not let him die,” I tell her in a firm voice.
KIRA
The return back to the caves is brutal. I worry about Harlow, who’s gone missing. She’s so secretive, though, I don’t know if she’s all right and just in hiding, or if something else has gone terribly wrong. Aehako is wounded, and Haeden is hovering at death’s door, so there’s no time to wait and see if she’s going to return. We load Haeden onto the travois and pull it across the crisp snow.
For once, the weather holds on us, and the day fades into night with clear skies and not a bit of snowfall. We don’t stop even when the sun goes down. We walk through the night, endlessly trudging back to the tribal caves. Aehako’s weaker than he tries to let on; he has to pause and rest several times. I take the poles of the travois from him and drag it for a while to help out, though my strength is not even half of his. He kisses the top of my head and murmurs words of thanks at my efforts, though.
It’s a long, miserable night. I make it by simply concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. As long as I’m with Aehako, it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters. I wish I could hold his hand, but when he doesn’t have the travois poles, I do. So I just tuck my hands into my fur cloak and imagine what life is going to be like when we get back to the caves.
Because I’m moving in with Aehako. He’s mine and I’m not waiting any longer to claim him, khui or not.
Eventually, the sun rises. My feet feel heavy and cold as ice, but when we pause to check on Haeden, I can tell that Aehako’s worried about him. He doesn’t need to say anything; it’s obvious that Haeden might not make it back to the caves. I bind his wound tighter, take off my fur cloak and wrap it around his unconscious body, and then we continue on.
I’m utterly numb with exhaustion when I hear a high pitched cry. It sounds a bit like a bird. I look over at Aehako, and his face lights up with joy. He cups a hand to his mouth and repeats the cry, adding a shrill yi-yi-yi at the end. “Hunters,” he tells me. “Raahosh is near. They will help us.”
“Oh, good,” I breathe. Right now, I’d take a piggyback ride all the way home if it was offered.
“There,” Aehako says, and points over a rise. Two fur-covered bodies are jogging toward us, one wearing snowshoes and a thick fur cloak, the other dressed in simple leathers and a loincloth. One horn twists up from his head where there should be two.
Sure enough, it’s Raahosh and Liz.
“Marco,” Liz calls, laughing as they approach.
I want to laugh at her joke, but I’m too tired. I lean against Aehako’s arm as we wait for them. I could fall asleep on my feet right about now. Actually, I don’t think I’ve slept in a long time.
“Yo, dude, you’re supposed to say ‘Polo,’” Liz says, hopping over to us before flinging her arms around me. Then, she blinks, takes one look at my pale face and the travois, and then at Aehako. “What’s wrong? What the hell happened?”
“We were returning to the caves because we saw the alien ship,” Raahosh says in a grim voice.
“Yeah, but it left again, so I thought everything was cool,” Liz says.
“It didn’t leave,” I tell her. “I smashed it into the side of the mountain.”
“We can tell you on the way back,” Aehako interrupts. “But we must get Haeden to the healer before it is too late.”
Raahosh’s eyes narrow and he moves to the travois, ripping my fur cloak down and uncovering him. A moment later, he gets up, replaces the blanket, and takes the travois poles from Aehako. “I will run it in. Stay with the women.”
Aehako claps him on the shoulder gratefully, and we watch as Raahosh takes off like a dervish, hauling the travois behind him with a speed and energy that makes me exhausted to watch.
“You okay, Kira?” Liz asks. “You look ready to faint.”
“I’m fine,” I assure her, though I weave unsteadily on my feet.
“I’d offer to carry you but my muscles are kinda puny,” she says, flexing an arm. She adjusts her bow, slung across her back. “But I’m happy to give you a shoulder to lean on if you need it.”
“There is no need,” Aehako interrupts, and in the next moment, he picks me up into his arms.
“You’re wounded,” I protest. “You can’t carry me.” I try to slither out of his grip, but Aehako only holds me tighter.
“You guys okay?” Liz asks, worried.
“I am fine. And you weigh nothing, Kira,” he says, and then nuzzles my throat. “It is my honor and pleasure to carry my mate.”
“Oh my God,” Liz cries and claps a hand to her mouth. “You two resonated? Really?”
I shake my head, but Aehako interrupts. “No resonance. We have chosen each other.”
“Aww, that’s romantic, I think,” Liz says, and there’s a wrinkle in her brow as if she’s not quite sure if she should be happy for us or not. I know what she’s thinking – what happens if one of us resonates to someone else?
So I distract her as we start walking, heading down the path that Raahosh has cut through the snow. “You haven’t seen Harlow, have you?” I ask her. “She was part of our group and ran off, and we can’t find her anywhere.”
“Jeez, I feel like I’m missing a big chunk of story here,” Liz says. “Someone wanna fill me in between alien plane crashes, wounds, and a missing person?”
We do, and it takes a bit of telling. By the time the story is finished, we’re striding into the mouth of the cave, me in Aehako’s arms, and worried tribesmates swarm around us. I can practically feel the love and worry in the air, and it’s a good feeling. For the first time, I don’t feel like a lonely outsider.
Maybe it’s because when Aehako sets me down, he refuses to let go of my hand and keeps me at his side. I like that.
Raahosh returns a few moments later and puts an arm around Liz’s waist, possessive. He nods at Aehako. “Haeden is with the healer.”
“I am glad you ran into us when you did.”
“You need the healer, too,” I point out. “You have a wound—“
“Hush,” Aehako says, and presses a kiss atop my head. “My mother will pack it with herbs and that will hold me until the healer is ready. Come. We should tell her she has a daughter. She has always wanted one.”
Liz giggles evilly. “Oh boy, meeting the in-laws. Have fun with that.”
I cast a look back at her, but I don’t protest when Aehako leads me deeper into the caves. His wound is first and foremost in my mind, not whether or not his mother likes me.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I ask, squeezing his hand.