K’THAR

I am up before my mate the next morning, and set about making her a fresh loincloth and a cover for her teats while she sleeps. I watch her as I do, pleased at her soft little sighs. Does she dream of me and the way we touched last night?

I have never known such pleasure as what she did with her mouth. Just thinking about it now makes my khui rumble, and I want nothing more than to push between her thighs and lick her cunt until she cries out with her release. I do not, though, because the day will be a long one and she will need her strength. She cannot camouflage, so our travel must be through the branches of the tall trees. Too many kaari stalk the ferns and bushes, as hungry as we are for game that can no longer be found. The canopy will protect us from skyclaw, so it must be the trees. My L’ren only has two arms, and weak ones at that, so our travel will be slow. If I were by myself, I could make it to the rocky cliffs of the Tall Horn camp, but I will not leave my L’ren, not even for a moment.

An earthshake wakes her up, but it is a small one and gone as quickly as it arrives. She dresses in silence, obviously worried, and I cannot resist pressing my mouth to hers in this ks she likes so much. That brings a smile to her face.

We eat a few quick bites and then say our goodbyes to the others. N’dek has Z’hren this day so J’shel can hunt for them. His color is good and he sits up, his bedding fresh. He still has not left his platform, but hopefully in time he will find a way to walk or move about without his leg. Others have done so in the past. It is encouraging to see him being active in our small tribe once more, and I know that L’ren’s presence gives him hope.

N’dek and J’shel have both wanted mates for as long as I have, and I suspect they have high hopes for L’ren’s friend. We shall see.

I am not entirely surprised to see that Fat One stays behind with N’dek and Z’hren. The nightflyer enjoys perching on my shoulder, but lately he has been hovering around the kit, probably because of all the crumbs and bits Z’hren drops when he is chewing on a root or a bit of smoked meat. Even now, the flyer watches the kit suck on his egg hungrily.

I cannot blame him. The kit is the only well-fed one in the tribe. I pretend to eat my dried meat, but slide most of it in into my leather carrying pouch for later, when L’ren will need more food. I have been hungry before and I do not mind being so again. She will need her strength today…and she will need it when she carries my kit.

Just the thought fills me with intense pride.

* * *

My little mate is as fierce in her own way as any sakh female. She is not a good climber, not by any means. But she tries, and she tries hard. She does not complain even though the day grows hot and the jungle is so steamy I can see plumes of mist in the air. Her hands sometimes slip on the branches, but I am there to help her, and when the space between trees is too great for her to leap, I carry her on my back.

That does not make the journey easy for either of us, though. By the time we make it to the curve of the island and the cliffs that belong to Tall Horn, we are both exhausted. I am glad to see the old stone ruins of the ancestors, where R’jaal’s clan retreated to when their lands sank into the sea with the Great Smoking Mountain. I see the walls of their strange homes when we approach, and the leafy, browned thatches of their roofs. It is nothing like our open, airy platforms amidst the trees, but they are close to the water and spend much of their time fishing in the shallows as they did in their old territory.

L’ren makes an exclamation of surprise at the sight of their huts. “Rdosehowsis?”

“That is where the clan of the Tall Horn lives,” I tell her, gesturing at my own normal-sized horns.

She nods, recognizing my words. “Tall Horn,” she repeats, and then adds, “Mrsl?”

“Yes. Come.” I put a hand to the small of her back and guide her forward along the shore.

The camp is deathly quiet. My senses prickle because there should be more noise. Someone repairing flint tools, someone tanning a hide, or fishing with nets. No one comes out to greet us, and there are no fires lit. The woven covers over each flap of the small dwellings are down, and it would be sweltering inside at this time of day. It makes no sense. Either they are all out hunting at once…

Or they are hiding from us.

I growl low in my throat, angry.

L’ren immediately grabs my arm and moves behind me. “Wht? Wtizzit? K’thar?”

“It is all right,” I tell her. My frustration is not at her. It is at R’jaal and his tribe, who have guessed that we would be coming and have hidden themselves. They do not want to give up their female. Unsurprising. Would I not do the same in their situation?

Of course, just thinking about my L’ren in the arms of another makes my temper spike. I put an arm in front of her, shielding her from their view. “Come out,” I call out to them. “I come to talk, not to thieve.”

Not unless the female wants to be stolen, of course. That is another matter entirely.

There is no response. Now they are just being ridiculous. “Tall Horn,” I bellow, cupping a hand to my mouth and yelling so loud that my L’ren jumps in surprise behind me. “My mate and I have journeyed all day to speak with you. Come out.”

I wait, but there is still nothing.

“Yes?” my mate asks in a quiet voice. “Mrsl yes?”

“No,” I say heavily, beyond frustration. I wanted this for my mate. She has traveled long and hard this day, and to be met with such a response makes me want to grab the nearest tree and rip the branches off. “They hide from us.”

I am not sure if she understands, but she makes an indignant noise in her throat and pushes past my arm. “MARRRRSOOOOOL,” she yells out, so loud and piercing that it makes my ears hurt. “YAAAARRRYUUUU.”

Her voice sounds desperate and unhappy, and I feel as if I have failed her. I want this for her, but to storm into the closed huts of the others violates clan laws. I have come to their home. If they will not welcome me, I cannot enter. “Come, my mate. I know you are disappointed. I—”

“LOOOORN?” There’s a shrill cry from the tidal caves in the distance, just beyond the huts. “SATCHOO?”

My L’ren gasps with delight, clasping her hands against her teats and giving a little hop of joy. “YS!” she cries out. “SMEE!”

There is movement in the shadows of the cave. As I watch, a Tall Horn hunter steps forward, only to be shoved aside by the dark-haired human female that races past him. Then both females are making happy cries and racing toward each other on the long, sandy beach.

They reunite, arms locked around each other and hopping. The other members of Tall Horn slowly emerge from the tidal caves, one by one.

None of them look happy to see us.

LAUREN

In between laughing and crying with sheer joy, I notice Marisol is buck-ass naked. She’s burned a slightly deeper brown from the sun, and her dark curls are a mess, but the smile on her face is brilliant and she seems happier than she has been in a long time.

It feels like an enormous weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.

“I wasn’t sure if you were okay,” she says, squeezing me tightly again before stepping back to study me. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine! It’s you I’ve been worried about. I didn’t know what happened to you because when I woke up, I was alone with K’thar. But he told me the other tribe had you and I wanted to come and see for myself.”

She glances over my shoulder and her eyes widen. “He…he doesn’t look like the others.” She edges a little closer to me, as if alarmed.

“He doesn’t?” I frown at her reaction.

“Is that…four arms?” she whispers as he moves closer to me. She immediately backs away a step.

“Um, yeah. Everyone has four arms, don’t they? I thought all the aliens on the island did.” Though now I’m wondering.

Someone approaches from behind her, and I pause, because now I see what she meant. This guy looks similar to K’thar in many ways, but he’s got two arms and he’s not as bulky with muscle as my guy. Instead, he’s got an enormous set of horns jutting outward from his brow and sloping back. They remind me of an antelope’s horns with their enormity and I turn to look at K’thar. His horns are small, finger-length, and easily lost in the wild waves of his hair. There’s no losing these horns. “Okay, this is weird. Do your guys all have horns like that?”

She nods slowly. “And I guess all of yours have four arms?”

“Right down to the baby,” I agree.

“There’s a baby?” Marisol looks surprised. “There are only four guys here. I think their tribe has been wiped out. I get the impression there used to be a lot more people here.”

K’thar’s as well. The uneasy feeling prickles over my skin. “I know. K’thar’s people live in a big tree home, but it’s nearly empty.”

Marisol looks worried. She moves forward and grabs my hands again, speaking in a low voice. “Lauren, we have to get out of here. Do you know what this island is?”

“A volcano caldera,” I tell her, nodding. “And we’re right on the edge of what’s left.”

“It’s not dormant, though. It can’t be. There are parts of it that are still smoking,” she hisses, worry lining her face. “And the ground shakes every day. It’s like this thing is just waiting to explode again and go all Krakatoa on us.”

“Kraka-what?” It sounds familiar, but I can’t place it.

“Do you remember your history? Krakatoa was a volcano that was so big that when it exploded back in the nineteenth century it could be heard from thousands of miles away.” Her hands tighten on mine. “And it took the entire island and all its inhabitants out with it.”

I feel faint. “Oh. That’s really, really not good.”

“We have to get back to the others on the mainland,” she tells me. “I’m trying to talk to T’chai about it, but he won’t listen to me.”

“Is he the one that kidnapped you?” I get angry on her behalf. “We’re here now, Mari. Let us help protect you. K’thar is a good guy, I promise.”

But she shakes her head, growing impatient with me. I’m surprised at her reaction, especially when she pulls her hands from mine. “R’jaal is the one that took me here. When I met the others, though, things changed.” She puts a hand to her naked breastbone. “I resonated, Lauren. Can you believe that?”

“Yes, actually,” I say dryly. “I did the same.”

Her eyes widen. “You did?”

I nod. “To K’thar. And you did to R’jaal? The one that stole you?”

She bites her lip and winces. “Actually, no. I didn’t resonate to him. He brought me back to the group and I resonated to his buddy. It’s been…an interesting few days.”

I eye her nakedness. “Is that why you’re going nude? Did we interrupt something?”

She laughs and her cheeks turn dusky. “No. Everyone here goes naked. It just seemed weird to demand clothing and they wouldn’t have understood it anyhow.” She moves forward and takes my hand again, smiling. “You want to come eat lunch? It’s like a constant sushi buffet around here. Lots of raw, fresh fish.”

Even as she leads me forward, a big, lean guy with massive horns comes forward and stands behind Marisol protectively. She ignores him, beaming at me, and a moment later, K’thar comes to my side. “I’m not sure we’re welcome, Mari. They don’t seem thrilled to see us.” I eye the guy behind her. He crosses his arms over his chest and scowls at us, his gaze flicking to Mari and then back to myself and K’thar.

Mari glances behind her and then shakes her head, dismissing him. “That’s just T’chai. Ignore him. He follows me like an angry puppy ever since we resonated.”

“Angry puppy” is not how I would describe the glowering man, but I’m just glad Marisol has found her courage. For the first time since we got to this place, she doesn’t seem utterly terrified. I’m not sure what caused the transformation, but I welcome it. It’s one less thing to worry about. Seeing her happy and healthy makes me feel so relieved I could drop to the ground right here and just cry with exhaustion. I didn’t realize until just now how much the stress of her fate was weighing on me. “So you resonated to him,” I say slowly, trying to think my words out. “Are you…happy?”

“I’ll be happy once we get off this death trap of an island,” she says to me, taking my hand and leading me towards the other rather irritated-looking members of the small tribe. They all have the enormous horns, I notice, and don’t look thrilled to see K’thar…though they’re all staring at me with unabashed interest.

K’thar notices this too and moves to my side, putting a proprietary hand on my shoulder. I should be annoyed, I guess, but I’m actually pretty happy about that possessive touch. It reminds me that he’s here and he’s watching over me, and it sends a warning to them.

One of the others comes forward and says something short and harsh sounding to K’thar. My guy replies with a cool retort and someone else calls something angry sounding.

I pause, and so does Mari. This doesn’t sound like a very welcoming situation, and I’m not entirely sure what to do. I’m tired from the day’s travel and I’m hungry, but I also don’t want to stay here if it’s not safe. Worried, I look over to K’thar.

He steps in front of me and angrily points at one of the others striding forward. I notice that Mari’s mate moves in front of her, and then the beach is filled with arguing aliens, all making their displeasure known in harsh tones. I figured that because of K’thar’s reluctance that we wouldn’t be welcomed with open arms, but I never expected this. I can tell Mari’s shocked, too.

“What’s going on?” she whispers.

“If I knew, I’d tell you,” I murmur back. I don’t know why these guys don’t seem to like each other much, but it’s clear that this visit isn’t a super-friendly one. All of the men are practically bristling with anger as we stand here on the beach and they snarl at each other. I look at the faces of each one of them—there are four all told, and Mari. Not many. Is this little group as small as ours? I can’t help but feel that we should all be working together, considering that there’s not much food to eat. If there’s as much fish here as Mari says, why doesn’t everyone move here? Why—

A shadow flies overhead, momentarily darkening the sands.

Immediately, all of the men camouflage, changing colors to match the dark sands. Before I can wonder at what’s going on, a loud, inhuman scream pierces the air.

In the next moment, I’m tackled to the ground, the breath slamming out of me. My head spins. Through a haze, I hear Marisol screaming and someone else shouting in the alien language.

The animalistic screech rings in my ears again and I try to lift my head, but K’thar’s body covers mine. “No!” he shouts, so loud that it makes my head hurt. “No, L’ren.”

No moving? I stare at him, wide-eyed, and he covers my mouth with a hand, his weight pressing down over me. I’m caged under his arms and I want to protest, but the wildness in his eyes makes me stop. He flattens his body even harder atop mine and I want to protest that I can’t breathe, but a shadow falls over his shoulder and the head of a massive lizard-bird peers down at the sands, then screams again.

If that thing’s head isn’t the size of a car, I’ll eat my shirt. Terrified, I shrink under him. I realize what he’s doing now—he’s hiding me with his camouflage since I have none.

I hold my breath and the thing stalks a short distance away, nosing at the sand.

If Godzilla had wings, I think he’d look like this bird. No, I mentally correct myself. I love birds. I hate this thing. It’s not a bird—not really. It’s closer to a dinosaur, with a pointed, long snout and tufts of foul-looking fur on its throat and body. The wings are thin membrane like a pterodactyl, but the sharp, jagged teeth that catch my eye are like something out of a nightmare. The thing is perched on long, taloned feet and his body seems impossibly long. I’ve seen city buses smaller than this thing, and it’s all joint and sinew and fang attached to a barrel body. There’s nothing graceful about it…or the fact that it wants to eat us.

Off to one side I can barely make out Mari’s hair and her terrified eyes, her body covered by her camouflaged alien. The monster wanders closer to them, nosing at the sand once more. It’s like it knows we’re here but it can’t see us, and the thought is terrifying. What if it doesn’t go away?

One of K’thar’s hands slides between our bodies, and I see him grab his stone knife. It’s about the length of one of his big hands and that doesn’t seem like much of a weapon against such a great creature. His body tenses over mine as the thing swings its head back in our direction.

“No,” I whisper to him, grabbing a long length of his hair before he can get up. “Don’t leave me.”

His attention isn’t on me, though. It’s locked squarely on the menacing creature nearby. I know he’s just waiting for the right moment to attack. And that terrifies me. Am I going to lose him now?

I’ve just gotten him. It feels like my life, however crazy it’s been lately, started the moment my cootie began to purr. The realization hits me like a brick and I gasp aloud.

The creature starts, lifting its head at my noise.

Fuck.

K’thar flings himself off of me, yelling. Before I can scream a protest, he’s launched himself at the monster and swings one knife at it, then another. As I watch in horror, he manages to grab all four of his knives with speed and swings at the creature, drawing its attention. He brandishes his blades, arms spread, fierce and ready to attack. He looks like he could be eaten in one gulp by the beast, and I’m terrified.

Then the thing glances over at me, still sprawled in the sand, and I feel a different kind of terror. I sit up and skitter backward a half-step, the breath gone from my lungs.

K’thar gives a war cry and launches himself at the thing’s head a moment before it lunges toward me. As I watch, frozen, three other aliens fling themselves at the thing, armed with spears, and the fight becomes a strange, warp-speed dance of men flying at the creature with weapons, being flung backward, and then lunging in once more.

It looks like it’s going pretty well until a second one flies low and joins in. Mari’s scream alerts all of us to the newcomer, and then blood flies as one of the horned warriors is raked across the back. He falls to the ground, and the new monster—slightly smaller than the other—lands on him and begins to attack him with beak and teeth. I can’t look away. He’s handspans away from me but all the others are battling the bigger one. It’s too horrifying, and Mari’s screaming goes on and on, and I realize that the alien trapped under the thing’s feet is her new mate.

Someone has to help him.

I get to my feet, grab a handful of sand, and fling it at the second bird’s face. “Shoo!”

Mari follows my lead, grabbing sand and flinging it at the thing’s face. “Go away,” she sobs as I fling another handful.

The thing looks up and hisses at us. That’s the only warning we get before it snaps its beak at us and lunges forward. I pull Mari backward, out of reach, but it abandons its prey and comes after us, snapping again.

Oh, fuck. I look around for a weapon, but there’s nothing. I push Mari behind me, trying to protect her as the thing advances on us, shaking its head to clear the sand from its eyes.

My life’s about to flash before me, and I watch as the thing recoils, ready to snap again—when K’thar leaps on its beak, pinning it shut with his arms. One knife saws at the creature’s eye and he yells something at me.

I don’t need to be told twice. “Run, Mari! To the trees!” I point at the distant canopy. “We’ll be safe there!”

“I’m not leaving T’chai,” she sobs, breaking free from my grip and trying to steal toward him.

Of course, getting toward him means getting past the creatures on the blood-spattered sands. I grab her arm again and haul her backward with all my strength. “You can help him a lot more if you’re alive!”

She twists in my arms and then reaches up and slaps me across the face, furious. “No!”

It feels like my lip explodes and I can feel blood gush from my mouth and trickle down my chin. I ignore it, though, and dig my fingers into her arm, dragging her with me. After a moment, she relents and moves with me, sobbing the entire time.

We make it to the edge of the trees and move behind the trunk of a large one and wait. I can’t hear much over the sound of Mari’s crying, and I’d shake her with frustration if I didn’t feel like crying myself. I can’t stop shaking. Those things were so large. They could have eaten us in one gulp. I think of the alien pinned beneath the thing’s claws and shudder. “Please, be safe, K’thar,” I murmur under my breath.

My cootie starts revving up, the purr growing loud and throbbing in my chest. I put a hand to my breast and turn to peer out from behind the tree.

K’thar stalks toward me, bloody knives still gripped in his hands, the expression on his sand-and-blood-spattered face fierce. As I watch, his color slowly melts back to its normal ice blue. He’s scratched and gouged on his skin, upraised welts on his arms, and his leaf loincloth is long gone—

But he’s alive and whole.

With a cry of joy, I race out from behind the tree and stumble toward him across the sand.

He hauls me into his arms and holds me close, and I don’t care that his skin is sticky and sandy and he smells like sweat and god knows what else. He’s alive. I can’t stop weeping with pure joy and relief.

Those things didn’t eat him.

“L’ren,” he says in a low voice as he sets me back down on the ground. One hand cups my cheek and he brushes his thumb across my stinging cheek. “Es ket?”

He’s asking if I’m all right. I nod. “Just a bit of hysterical punching between girls. It’s okay.” I touch his arm, where blood has scored across his skin and wince. “You? Es ket?”

He nods and caresses my cheek again, looking far more worried over me than his own wounds. Sweet man.

There’s a broken sob behind me and then Mari races past, heading for the churned-up sand. I notice that there’s not a lot of movement on the beach. The corpses of the two monsters are massive, and as I watch, one man limps out from behind one of them. Another slits one creature’s gut and then holds a hand to his side as if it pains him. I don’t see the others.

“T’chai!” Mari screams, pushing forward.

“I have to go to her,” I tell K’thar, worried. If her mate is dead, she’s going to be a wreck, and she’ll need a friend to lean on. I gesture at my friend.

He checks me over one more time, as if my safety matters more than anything else, and then reluctantly lets me out of his arms. “Yes.”