Chapter Six
Oron
After the attack, we walked the rest of the way back to my camp. The trail back took long enough that I got used to feeling Reina’s warm body up against me. I set her down in my tent, and she sat up, pulling her legs up against her chest and holding them there like a child.
There was a pull I felt toward her suddenly: the way she’d looked at me when she was on the Ixu, before she took off.
It infuriated me, yet I felt worse not to have her in my company than I felt frustrated by her constantly trying to best me.
I left the tent without another word, giving her the much-needed time alone she’d been craving.
Reina was not a human female to be trusted, that much was made abundantly clear to me. I wasn’t fond of running around, but that’s all I felt like I’d been doing since meeting her.
I patrolled the area, waiting for the return of the bastard Vithohn. I had never wanted to get back to Bolmore so badly. I looked up at the black night sky and the shimmering stars that seemed vast and endless. I wondered why my heart raced so fast when I thought I was going to lose the girl. My prize.
And then I realized… I felt something.
For her.
What’s more, being around her gave me a sense of peace that I’d never experienced before. My people were known for being ruthless; aggressive; driven by instinct. It’s what kept our kind going for so long, undefeated.
But the animal hostility I felt, the nerves that spun and vibrated in my fingertips and spire, had disappeared.
I was filled with something new, and the thought of it made me feel sick.
The truth was, I hated showing mercy. I hated the weakness of it. Vithohn are taught to exterminate their enemies, not show pity for them.
Yet, here I was, wondering if Reina was alright and worried about what she must think of me. How she hated me and what I might be able to do to change her mind—as if saving her life wasn’t enough.
I jumped, embarrassingly, as I heard a twig snap behind me. I spun around in a hurry and saw it was just Reina, emerging from the tent. She swirled her fingers around one another on either hand and stared at the ground.
Looking up, my eyes focused on her fingers and then down her wide hips and then back up to her chest: her nipples hardened under her shirt.
I cleared my throat just to make something happen and nervously stammered out, “Is everything alright?”
She had a strange look on her face: her eyes, which were always asking for something, always looking sad or wanton, were now glossy and expectant.
I wandered up to her in a hurry, wondering if she was making attempt number five-billion to escape.
“Are you coming to bed?” she asked meekly.
I wrinkled his lips, revealing a single, sharp tooth, and shook my head. “I’m going to keep watch.”
“Oh,” she said in surprise and then nodded, turning back into the tent. “Alright.”
I swallowed nervously and watched her disappear behind the flat of the tent. I could feel myself getting hard as I thought about crawling into the bed with her and pulling her body up against mine.
What was I thinking saying no?
I pursed my lips and did a quick survey of the area before darting into the tent, securing the opening behind me. I walked over to the makeshift bed and looked down at the scraps of blanket Reina was laying on.
“This will be much less awkward if you are also laying down,” she teased, giving the first genuine smile I’d ever seen from her. Her hair was a mess of blonde tangles up above her head, along with her arms.
“Oh, uh,” I blushed, feeling stupid. “Right.”
I lay down behind her, spooning my body into hers and setting my hand on the side of her body where her hip met the curve of her side. I pulled her into me, wondering if she could feel how hard I was, and breathed into her hair. She felt so small against me.
“I was… really scared out there,” she said, calmer now. Maybe it was easier to be vulnerable with me so long as she wasn’t looking at my face. “I’m glad you were able to fight them off.”
“Sorry?” I said, my voice going comically high. I set my chin in the crook of her neck so I could whisper in her ear: “Was that a backward, ‘Thank you?’”
She laughed quietly and shook her head stubbornly. “No.”
“And for the record, while I was busy saving your life, you ran.” I paused and grabbed her side with my large hands, almost like a tickle. “You ran!” I said again, hoping to make her laugh.
She did. “Can you blame me?”
“You would have run and left me to get torn apart by those… those things!” I said, fighting off my own laughter as I said, “It isn’t funny!”
We both chuckled at that and then, in that single moment, she didn’t seem so afraid anymore.
“Life in Bolmore won’t be as wretched as you’re thinking,” I said, stupidly.
Her defenses shot up again and, in an irritated tone, she said, “Ah, yes. My uncontrollable fate. And what exactly will I be doing there?”
“I…” I blanched, unsure how to answer her. “I will bring you before my king, and he will take you as his chosen.”
“Why would he want that?” she asked firmly.
I paused, nestling my chin back into the crook of her neck and taking in her smell. My hand moved down her side, and she pressed into me: for warmth or for something else, I wasn’t sure.
“He feels the calling,” I explained.
“For?”
I laughed. “For you.”
“Well, why don’t you tell him that the feeling isn’t reciprocated and we can all call it a day?” she snipped quickly. I didn’t respond.
“What’s the city like?” she said, breaking the silence once more.
“It’s a flurry of light,” I said.
I could hear her lips part, and then a long silence ensued. Finally, she said, “What does that mean?”
“Bolmore is one of the most intensely built-up cities in the region. Unlike some of the other packs, we haven't squandered your resources.” I explained.
“I always heard that the Vithohn were living in old ruins?” she asked, genuinely.
I smirked, clearly catching her in a previous lie about having no contact with humans. “Heard that from whom?”
Her stomach tightened, and I could hear her smile again. “Willow,” she said.
“Mm-hmm.” I said, unbelieving.
“Is it big?”
“It’s the largest city run by the Vithohn,” I explained, telling her of its gothic structures and the reflective buildings with their spires and towers that went up into the clouds. “We’d found it being used as a base called Mercer by the remaining humans. We’d wiped them out and rebuilt the city from there.”
There was a long silence that followed, and for a minute I wondered if the shy girl had fallen asleep. I craned my neck to look at her, but her brown eyes were still wide open.
“My father fought in that war,” she said with a hollow tone, and my stomach sank.
“Then I’m sorry,” I said tersely. “See? I actually know how to apologize.”
She let out a laugh that was all breath and no voice.
“Why were you really at the base of that cliff?” I asked, tracing my fingers up and down her side.
“I collect scraps,” she said softly. “Tech and things. Debris.”
“For what?”
“To build with,” she answered.
“Wow, what a great explanation,” I mocked. “I never would have guessed.”
“I…” she shrugged against me and gave a wide yawn. “My father taught me how to use them to build things like shelters, guns, other gadgets. But I don’t really feel like sharing that with you.”
I blinked and smiled up against her skin. “You don’t like me,” I said with a smile.
“No?” she scoffed, as though it should be obvious.
“You hate me!” I announced, gripping her tighter and feeling the sudden urge to burst out laughing.
“I hate you,” she said evenly.
“Why?” I asked, knowing the answer but wanting so badly to hear her to keep speaking.
She sat up and turned to me with a deep scowl on her face. “You took me away from my friend. She could be hurt.”
I scoffed. “Or she could be nursing the man, who was clearly another one of your associates, back to health, grateful that you’re not around to drag her into even more trouble.”
“You scare me,” she said, and I felt her whole body light up with goosebumps. “I’m afraid.”
“This from the girl I saw dumping one of my people into a well? Killing him?” I snorted. “How do you think I felt coming up to you after that?”
She drew her head back so that her chin doubled: the surprise that crossed her face evident.
“You were watching us?” she breathed out carefully.
“You’re not hard to watch,” I said lowly.
She looked puzzled and shrugged helplessly. She looked absolutely perfect.
“I don’t know anything about you,” she said.
With a huff, I closed my eyes and said, “You’re really pushing it.”
She was lucky I was even trying to make her feel better. I didn’t even know why I was bothered.
“My name is Oron. I am a fourteenth-cycle Vithohn. I was forced off my planet Udrenahine by a rival clan.”
She pursed her lips at the comment and tilted her beautiful face to the side to better inspect me.
“You have… rivals?” she asked.
“What?” I made a noise close to a ‘humph’ and shrugged, saying, “Did you think we came to Earth because it looked like fun? Fought for this planet on a whim?”
She shook her head, processing something. “I never really thought about it, I guess. Though I’m not really sure you could classify what we did as putting up a fight.”
“If your father really did fight against us,” I began with a breath, “then he was a brave human. Because that was one D’shu’na of a fight.”
I swore in my native tongue, and she squinted her eyes at me. “Hell of a fight?” she offered, and I shrugged with a smile.
“Sure,” I said and repeated, “One hell of a fight.”
I didn't know why I said it. Why I was oversharing. I wanted to rip her clothes off: to fulfill this animal desire rising up in me. Yet, at the same time, all I wanted to do was make her feel better. Make her feel like she had something to be proud of with her people.
“Is that right?” she said with a grin forming on her thin, pink lips.
My legs drew together as I sat up, meeting her upright posture. “See this?” I said, bringing my limp spire in front of me and putting her hands on it. My spire was a deep black and yellow, but a white scar was sliced from the back of my neck down a third of the tentacle.
“That was from a human,” I offered.
“They slit you open?” she gasped.
She ran her hands along the tentacle, and I felt a rush of adrenaline through my body: a lusty tingle that intensified as her fingertips barely grazed my skin.
“Please!” I winced. “Not so graphic. But, yeah. They got me.”
She looked down at the scar and then looked up at me, shocked that her people could have put up a fight. I hoped it brought her comfort knowing how hard they fought.
“Huh,” she said in a concluding tone. “I still don’t like you,” she said with a shrug and then lay back down, pulling me to the blankets and curving her backside into my warmth.
I knew part of what she was saying must have been true, yet her smile stayed firmly curved at her lips. I looked across her beautiful face, her smooth skin and angled jaw, and it made me feel sick to my stomach.