Chapter 4
Faruk and Emily stood on a hill overlooking a trickle of stream. “That’s it? That’s the dreaded border?”
Faruk nodded. “That’s it. Lycaon territory is on the other side.”
“How do we contact them?” she asked.
“We don’t contact them,” he replied. “I can’t go near the border. If you want to contact the Lycaon, you have to cross it yourself. I can’t help you.”
She took a step forward, but he stopped her. “Don’t do this.”
“Why not?” she asked. “I’m not Ursidrean. I’m not an enemy of the Lycaon.”
“But they don’t know that,” he replied. “They’ll see someone crossing their border, and they’ll assume you’re hostile. They might shoot you on sight.”
“How would they see us?” she asked. “There’s no one here.”
He narrowed his eyes. “They’re watching us right now. They never leave the border unguarded.”
She took another step. “I have to try. It’s the only way I can find my sisters.”
She strode down the hill and paused at the edge of the water. Nothing but trees and bushes and chirping insects stretched away into the woods on the other side. She took another step. A series of rocks poked up out of the stream bed to give her a path to the other side.
All at once, a creature with short hair running down the back of his head jumped out from behind a bush. He crouched on the other side of the river and pulled back his lips in a snarl at Emily. He wasn’t burly enough or hairy enough to be Ursidrean, and pointed ears stuck up out of his hair. He crouched on the bank and growled and hissed at Emily. She jumped back in surprise.
In a heartbeat, Faruk leapt down the hill and planted his legs in the grass at her side. He bared his teeth and bellowed at the stranger, and he raised his reciprocator to fire. The two men faced off in deadly confrontation, but neither crossed the stream.
Then another figure pushed back the branches and approached the border. Emily’s eyes widened in amazement when she recognized a human woman. Animal skins covered her for clothes, and dozens of braids hung down her back. She carried a thick staff in one hand and a short, curved blade in the other. She took a wide stance next to the pointed-eared man and glared across the border at Emily and Faruk.
“Stand down!” the woman shouted. “Step back from the border or we’ll attack.”
Faruk let out a deafening roar, and he surged toward the stream, but Emily jumped into his path and faced the woman. “I crashed here on a Romarie ship. It broke up in the atmosphere before it crashed in Lycaon territory, and I fell out in Ursidrean territory. Do you know the ship I mean?”
The woman frowned. “I was on that ship.”
Emily’s spirits soared, and she couldn’t stop herself from taking a step forward. “Two of my sisters and my cousin were on that ship. They crashed in Lycaon territory. I have to find them and make sure they’re safe. Can you help me?”
The woman glared at her. Then she muttered something under her breath to the man at her side. He growled back, but he didn’t attack. The woman lifted her staff and pointed it at Faruk. “Stand down. Back away from the border.”
Faruk didn’t move. The couple across the stream waited. No one moved a muscle. Emily took a deep breath. “Move back, Faruk.”
He pulled his lips back from his teeth in a menacing snarl, and the pointed-eared man growled back at him.
“Move back, Faruk,” Emily repeated. “We can’t negotiate with you two standing off. Move back, and they will move back, too.”
“They could attack the border,” Faruk argued.
Emily kept her eyes fixed on the woman and shook her head. “These people won’t harm us, and I can’t talk to the woman with you threatening each other like this. Step back.”
Faruk didn’t move, but the hair on the back of his neck laid down. Emily laid her hand on his arm. She didn’t say anything, but a light pressure of her hand was all she needed to move him back toward the hill. He stepped back and lowered his reciprocator.
The pointed-eared man stopped growling. The woman moved her staff in front of him and guided him back from the border. The two men retreated several paces and stopped. The woman pointed down the stream with her staff. “Follow me.”
She strode down the bank, and Emily matched her stride for stride. They passed out of sight of Faruk and his opponent to where the trees parted. A gravel bar extended through the middle of the stream with rivulets of water on either side of it.
The woman hooked her blade through her belt and shouldered her staff. She splashed through the water to the bar, and Emily copied her so they met in the middle of the stream. The woman smiled. “I’m Chris Sebastiani. It’s good to meet you.”
Emily extended her hand. “I’m Emily Allen. I’m glad it was you watching the border and not someone else. Our factions could be at war right now if you hadn’t been here.”
Chris waved her hand. “Don’t pay any attention to Turk. He’s all bark and no bite.”
Emily laughed. “You’re not in any danger from Faruk, either. He doesn’t want to fight anybody, but he takes his job of defending the border very seriously.”
“Never mind.” Chris waved her hand. “We can talk here. This bar isn’t in anybody’s territory, and we don’t belong to any faction. We’re human. We have a right to talk to each other.”
Emily laughed out loud. “I am so glad I found you! No one could understand why I need to cross the border but another woman. I guess that’s why Aria was so understanding.”
Chris cocked her head. “You know Aria?”
Emily started. “Do you know Aria?”
“I don’t know her,” Chris replied. “I’ve only heard of her. One of the women she landed with is mated to our Alpha.”
“Caleb?” Emily asked.
Chris nodded. “And another one, Carmen, is mated to the Felsite Alpha, Renier.”
Emily’s eyes widened. “Wow. They’re everywhere.”
“Not only them,” Chris replied. “Penelope Ann is mated to Aquilla, the Avitras Alpha.”
Emily glanced up the stream bed. “And you’re mated to that border guard, Turk.”
“Turk’s not a border guard,” Chris replied. “He’s Caleb’s twin brother.”
“What’s he doing out here guarding the border, then?” Emily asked.
“He isn’t guarding the border,” Chris replied. “We’ve been living in the wilderness for over a year. We’ve only been back to the village twice in all that time. We only came down to the border to have a look. Turk says there’s a special type of moss growing down here that we might use for something.”
“Where have you been living, if not in the village?” Emily asked.
Chris pointed to the mountain peak looming over them. “Up there.”
Emily lifted her face to the skies. “Why do you live up there? Don’t you want to live with your people?”
Chris chuckled. “Don’t ask me why. It just worked out that way. We... well, we just wanted to spend some time alone—alone with each other. We never went back. Don’t ask me why it just worked out that way.”
Emily studied her. “I think I understand.”
“So you want me to find your sisters and cousin for you?” Chris asked. “Tell me their names, and I’ll let them know where you are.”
Emily shook her head. “I have to see them for myself.”
Chris frowned. “You’ll have to come alone. You’ll have to leave your Ursidrean friends behind.”
Emily looked back over her shoulder. “I’ll ask Faruk. He took responsibility for me by bringing me out here. I wouldn’t want to ditch him now.”
Chris nodded. “Do it, then.”
Emily started to turn away. Then she paused. “Your mate, Turk... he won’t refuse to let me cross the border, will he? He might think an Ursidrean is invading his territory.”
Chris laughed. “Don’t worry about Turk. He’s a pussycat—or I should say a puppy dog. You aren’t Ursidrean. You’re human, and you’re looking for your human relatives—nothing more. How could he think you’re invading?”
Emily shrugged. “As long as you’re sure he’ll be okay, I trust you.”
“We were on our way back to the village anyway,” Chris went on.
“What for?” Emily asked. “Don’t you want to live on the mountain anymore?”
“I never want to leave the mountain,” Chris replied. “But we have some unfinished family business in the village. Turk wants to live near his family, and he was Caleb’s right hand man before he left. We have to go back, at least for a little while.”
Emily nodded and turned away. “I better go talk to Faruk.”
“I hope he’s not mad about you leaving,” Chris remarked.
“As a matter of fact,” Emily replied, “I think he’ll be relieved to get rid of me.”