Barbarian’s Taming by Ruby Dixon

6

HASSEN

Areall human females this stubborn?

I gaze down at my mate—because I do not accept otherwise—and she looks up at me with determination in her eyes, a defiant tilt to her small chin. It would be adorable if she were not so frustrating.

As it is, I am tempted to grab her and drag her into the snow and show her how good I can make her feel. Our mating yesterday is branded into my mind. I cannot forget it and relive each moment. Last night at my lonely fire, I took myself in hand and stroked off to the thought of her. Over and over again.

Two days ago, I would have questioned what was motivating me to continue. I was defeated. Alone.

Now, I have purpose, and my purpose is Mah-dee.

She speaks of independence, of not wanting a mate, but when I touch her, she leans in to my caress. She gazes up at me with hunger, and I know she thinks of what we did in the storage room. It is all I can think of.

So…I must convince her that I am the right mate for her. That a pleasure-mating with me will be just as satisfying as resonance. That I want nothing but her for the rest of my days. That I would wake up every morning with Mah-dee’s yellow head resting on my chest and cherish her because she is mine.

She has crept into my heart like a bolt of lightning and left scorch marks wherever she has touched down.

I curse the day that I saw Li-lah, because she was tiny and frail and scared, and I thought she was what I wanted. I thought that she needed someone to take care of her and that I could be that male. I thought when I saw her this morning that she was coming to me. To tell me she’d changed her mind.

Seeing her here, her expression stubborn? It has just convinced me that she is the mate for me. I do not need a mate that wilts and cries. I need a strong, capable female who will challenge me and push me to be better.

Mah-dee needs to let me love her.

But if she must be convinced, then I must convince her. I must coax her into realizing that I am the male she wants. If another so much as looks at her, I will tear his throat out like a crazed metlak. But I cannot think like that. I must find a way to return to the tribe, if only so I can provide a proper cave for Mah-dee. I must make it difficult for her to turn me down…starting now.

I look at the spear in her hands. “You wish to learn how to hunt, still?”

The look she gives me is wary. “Yes? You’re not going to go all cray-cray on me, though, are you?”

“Cray…cray?”

She waves a hand in the air. “Nuts. Crazy. Whatever. I need to know if we’re good.”

“Are we?” I want to touch her soft cheek again, feel her skin against mine.

Mah-dee puts a hand to her chest. “I want to be friends. I really, really need friends here.” Her voice catches in a way that makes my heart hurt. “And I was hoping we could be friends that also had sex. But if we can’t, then I really just need a regular friend, okay? A hunting partner and a friend that will talk to me.”

“I can be those things to you.” I can be so much more, but I will settle for that for now. And I can convince her, with time, that I can be the best mate possible.

She is mine.

Her smile returns, and her features grow soft with relief. “All right, then. Let’s just forget all about the sex and scratching itches and go back to being buds, all right?”

“Buhds,” I agree, though I am not entirely certain what I am agreeing to. I think she means friends, and I will be hers.

“Then can you teach me to hunt?” She bounces a little, hugging her spear close in a way no hunter would. “I’m so damn bored. Please, Hassen. Help me get a useful skill so I’m not a big fat leech.”

I cannot resist her, especially when she pleads with me. I nod. “It shall be as you wish.” And if I am to woo her into being my mate, it works perfectly for me to be around her every day. “I must continue to hunt and bring in food, but you can accompany me when I am doing my rounds near the tribal cave. You cannot accompany me when I venture farther out.”

“That’s fine!” The delight and eagerness on her face makes my cock ache with need.

“It will not be easy.”

“I’m tired of sitting on my big ass anyhow.”

Her ass is magnificent, but I do not tell her such, since we are buhds. For now. “I will not go easy on you.”

“Fine.”

“If you hinder my ability to hunt for the tribe, I must leave you behind.”

“I won’t!”

“And if I tell you to do something, you must do it.”

“Not a problem.” Mah-dee beams up at me. “Can we start today, or is this a bad time?”

“We can start today,” I agree, glancing up at the sky. The weather is holding and there are no clouds on the horizon, which means no incoming snow. This is a good thing; Mah-dee is dressed lightly and I do not want her to be caught in a storm. “No one is expecting you in the cave?”

She snorts. “They’ll probably be glad I’m gone. I think I make the other women uncomfortable.”

I smile to myself. I have heard complaints about Mah-dee’s throwing of things while her sister was with me. “If anyone asks, tell them you were with Asha. They will not like you spending time with me.”

“Because you’re the dick that kidnapped my sister?” Her words are harsh, but there is a teasing smile on her face.

“Because I am exiled,” I say, refusing to take the bait. I take her spear and check to ensure that the head is tightly fitted and wrapped. One of the elders is forgetful and tends to put his broken weapons in with the good ones. “Part of my punishment is that I am to be alone.”

“I won’t say anything,” Mah-dee tells me. “Are you sorry?”

“Sorry?”

“That you did it?”

My answer would have been very different two days ago. Two days ago, I would have said yes. But now there is Mah-dee, and all I can think of is that if I was not in exile, I would not be here with her. I would be hunting the sa-kohtsk for Maylak’s new son. I do not regret my actions, because they placed my feet on this path and brought me Mah-dee. “No.”

“No? Seriously?” Her jaw hangs open.

“I cannot change the past. But I also do not miss your sister.” I reach out and tap her mouth, indicating she should close it. “I do not look back because I cannot change the past. You should not, either. That is one of the first things you must learn as a hunter—do not regret what you do not have. Make use of what you do.”

Her brows furrow together. “I’m not entirely sure that all ties together, big guy.”

“It does,” I tell her confidently. “Now come. Today I will show you how to follow trails as I check my traps.” I turn and start to walk away.

“When do I get to use my spear?” She huffs, trying to keep up with me. After a few steps, she reaches out and touches my arm. “Slow down a bit. It’s hard to walk fast in snowshoes.”

Her fingers feel like ice. I stop, and she nearly skids into me, losing her balance. I catch her before she can tumble to the snow. “Where are your gloves?”

Mah-dee shrugs. “The big furry mittens I have? Those suck. I can’t hold anything tightly with those, and I thought I might need a good grip with some spear hunting.”

I take her smaller hand in mine and press it between my palms to warm it. She does not pull away, which tells me she is colder than she would like to admit. “You do not wear gloves at all times, but much of a hunter’s day is spent walking.”

“Oh. I’ll remember for next time.” Her hand curls into a fist, and she shrugs her cloak down over her exposed hands, covering them from the elements. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

I grunt. “There is a hunter cave along the path we will take today. We will stop there and get you hand coverings.”

“Sweet.”

“Until then, however, you must keep up.” And I turn and start walking again.

MADDIE

He wasn’t lying when he said he wouldn’t take it easy on me.

I wheeze a few steps behind him as we hike through the endless snow-covered valleys and hills that seem to make up the entire fricking planet. I can’t complain, because I said I wanted to hunt. I’m just out of shape and not used to trekking across so much snow. He’s right, though; my fingers do feel like ice. I keep tucking them into my sleeves, but that only works for a little while.

I wish he’d hold my hand again, but I suppose it’s my own fault that he won’t. Instead, he stalks along, avoiding anything that looks like a path. Occasionally he’ll squat down next to a set of footprints and then will indicate I should join him. When I do, he tells me about what creature passed through, how long ago, and anything else he can tell me. Some marks are crisp, which he says belong to snow-cats that lift their paws with every step. Others are more of a smear through the snow, which means a creature is dragging its belly. He points out each one and explains patiently, and when I’ve absorbed everything, he’s off again, power-walking to the next ridge.

And I have no choice but to follow.

Despite it being a little too athletic for me to handle, I’m enjoying the ‘hunting.’ The day is nice, and even though it’s cold, there’s a lot to see and I feel like I’m doing something useful. I didn’t realize how much my uselessness was bothering me until now. I guess I’m worried that when winter comes, no one’s going to want a fat, unmated human around eating all their food. If I can find my own, I can survive on my own. I won’t be dependent on anyone.

We head toward a sheer gray cliff, and as we approach, Hassen points at something. “Do you see that?”

I push my sweaty hair off my brow before it crystallizes and freezes there, and scan the snow. “What am I looking for?”

“The cave. It is a hunter cave. The cliffs have small caves in them, and there are many hunter caves set up. You should always be on the lookout for one in case you need supplies or a place to rest.”

“And do you know where all of them are?”

He nods. “I have visited them all many times. Hunters spend much of their time out in the wild.”

“It’s not all that wild out here, is it? We’re still pretty close to the home cave, aren’t we?” A few hours’ walk, maybe, but to these guys, that’s nothing.

Hassen glances at me. “It is an easy walk today, when the weather is good. On a stormy day? When the snow flies from the skies, even a short trip can be a dangerous one.”

He has a point. “So are we going in?”

“We are. We will check if it needs to be resupplied, and get you gloves.”

“All righty then. Lead the way.” I could use a break and a chance to rest my feet, though I would never tell him that. Hassen hasn’t been treating me like an incompetent fat chick and I’ll be forever grateful. Thinking about my sister and the fact that she’s out on a trip without me still stings.

When we arrive at the cave, I see there’s a weather-beaten privacy screen pushed in front of the door. “Should we not go in? Is someone here?”

He pushes the screen aside, answering that question. “A screen does not matter in the wild. It is only in the tribal cave.”

“When someone might walk in on you boning your man? Gotcha.” I guess if you have a walk-in out in the wild, it can’t really be unwelcome, because it’s all about survival.

Hassen grunts acknowledgment of my words and pushes the screen aside, then waits. I assume he’s waiting for me, so I move forward to go inside and he plants a hand over my chest, stopping me. Then he jerks his hand away as if scalded, realizing just what he was clutching. “Do not go in yet.”

“No? Is someone in there after all?”

He shakes his head and squats near the entrance, so I do the same, hunching down next to him. “You must check for predators before entering a dark cave, Mah-dee. Use your senses.”

Oh. Damn it. I hate that he’s right, and I hate that it didn’t even occur to me to check. Back on Earth, I wouldn’t trip into a dark cave without checking my surroundings. It shouldn’t be any different here. It just reminds me how pathetic my survival skills actually are. “So how do we check? I’m guessing that throwing a burning torch in probably isn’t the most practical of responses.”

His mouth crooks up on one side as he glances over at me. “Do you have a burning torch on you?”

“Nope, or else it’d probably already be in the cave.”

He chuckles, and the sound makes my insides squeeze. I feel like it’s rare that I hear him laugh, and when I do it’s…nice. Real nice. He should laugh more often. “Then we cannot send in a burning torch,” he tells me. “What do you do, then?”

What do I do? Other than have many regrets over the fact that he doesn’t want to fool around just for fun? I chew on my lip, trying to concentrate. “I…don’t hear anything?”

He nods, gesturing at his eyes. “Use your senses before all else. Look for tracks in the snow.” He gestures at the fresh powder at our feet, then gestures at his nose. “Look for smells. Metlaks have a foul scent to them. A creature that makes his home here that is not frightened by the sa-khui smell is usually a scavenger, and they will leave spoor in their home.” He reaches out and brushes a finger over my cold ear. “And listening. Always listening for trouble.”

I nod. In a nutshell, I need to be more observant. I have to think about my surroundings instead of just mindlessly stumbling around and hoping for the best. I think about all the days I spent back on Earth with my head bent over my cellphone. I imagine how horrified Hassen would be at that, and it makes me grin. “Got it.”

I check everything, and when I don’t find any problems, I turn to him again. He nods, and I venture into the small cave, spear in hand. It’s a small cave, little bigger than a closet, and just barely tall enough for Hassen to stand up in. Everything is quiet, and even though there’s sunlight outside, there’s not a lot in the cave itself. I can still make out neatly stored baskets tucked against a rocky shelf, and several bundles of furs alongside them. “Cute place.”

“Every hunter looks out for another on the trails,” he says, moving into the cave behind me. His body is so big—and yummy—that he’s blotting out most of the sunlight. “We must check the supplies to ensure they are well-stocked. It would not be fair of us to use what is here and not replace it, but sometimes there is a reason to rush home. And sometimes scavengers come in and upset what is left behind for others. So we must check everything first. If something must be restocked, we will add that to our list of duties. Understand?”

I do. There’s a lot more to being a hunter than just wandering out with a spear and stabbing at things. It’s about taking care of others—not just other hunters, but the tribe. For a moment, I’m overwhelmed at what a selfless task it is. Hassen and any of the other single hunters could survive on their own, but they choose to work tirelessly to bring home food for the tribe. In turn, the tribe cares for them when they are injured or sick, gives them a place to sleep, and people to socialize with. It’s all very ‘circle of life,’ and I’m fascinated by how different it feels from my old life back on Earth. Then, I felt like I had to work to pay bills. I dreamed about quitting on a regular basis. But there’s no paycheck for these guys, and there’s no quitting.

And for Hassen, especially, there’s no reward. There’s no one to come home to after a long day. I feel a twinge of guilt for his situation. He shouldn’t have stolen my sister, but…I’m starting to understand why he did.

I gaze up at him, his features nearly hidden in shadow except for his glowing eyes. No wonder he wants to grab me and declare me as his mate. He’s desperately lonely, and I’m positive that being exiled is only making things worse. Maybe I shouldn’t have slept with him. Maybe that was selfish of me.

But…we both enjoyed it. And I can’t change what’s happened. All I can do is focus on right now. “Okay, so what should I do now? Build a fire?”

“Do you need a fire?” he asks. “Are you warm enough? Do you need to cook? Can you see?”

“I’m fine.”

“Then we do not build a fire,” he says. “Because if we build a fire, then we must go and replenish the fuel supplies for the next person who will stay here.”

“Gotcha.” Survival seems like a never-ending job. But in a way, I’m kinda motivated by that. You take, you give back. It just makes sense. “I guess I can see well enough…if you move out of the doorway.”

He moves forward a bit, and our bodies brush against one another. Everything feels like it stops, and I’m acutely aware of his presence and just how alone we are. And I think about yesterday all over again because how can I not? But he moves past me with a flick of his tail and goes to sit on the far side of the cave, and I’m left feeling all achy and sad that we’re not going to experience round two of storage cave seduction.

“We will check the supplies here,” he says. “Come.”

So I go to his side, and for the next while, he goes through the contents of each basket and each rolled-up fur, explaining what is stored here, what it is used for, and if anything is running low. Apparently we need more dung (a phrase I never thought I’d say in my life) and dried trail rations, which we’ll bring by in the morning. As we unroll one of the bundles of furs, there’s a gentle thud outside.

I jump to my feet at the same time Hassen does, and I move near the front of the cave, peeking out. There is another thud, and in the distance, I see a fur-covered form standing near a pair of the pink, bendy trees. He’s muttering to himself and digging in the snow, a pair of carcasses at his feet.

A moment later, I feel Hassen’s hand tighten on my shoulder. “Taushen.”

“I see that,” I whisper. He’s probably about a hundred feet away, but I still feel completely conspicuous, given that we’re standing in the entrance of the nearest hunter cave. If he comes by here, he’ll see us. “Are we in trouble?”

“No,” he tells me, and I feel his thumb move against the furs covering my body, like he wants to stroke my skin. “He will not come here. He is burying his kills in the cache nearby.”

“Pretty sure if he sees us, that will be bad,” I say to Hassen. He’s in exile and not supposed to be hanging out. And me? I’m pretty sure if they find out I’m here with him, I’ll be assigned a watchdog back at the cave that won’t let me go anywhere without asking permission. Fuck that.

“Then be quiet,” Hassen murmurs. His hand slides to my waist, and I shiver. I can feel the heat of his big body pressing against mine. We’re a few feet inside the doorway, hiding in the shadows, and I have one hand gripping the hard bone edge of the privacy screen. I tell myself it’s so I can quickly fling it up in case Taushen looks in this direction, but I’m probably lying. With Hassen’s closeness, have a feeling that if I let go of this thing, I’ll just melt to the ground in a puddle of goo. Needy, needy goo.

“What should we do?” I whisper.

“We put the screen up and we wait for him to leave.” His voice is soft and low, and I’m pretty sure I just felt him brush my hair off of one shoulder. I’m pretty sure that’s making me all hot and bothered, too.

I force my fingers to unclench off of the screen and put it up. It’s not a perfect fit and I can still see out into the snow, where Taushen is digging, completely oblivious to the fact that Hassen and I are hiding a short distance away.

I hear Hassen take in a deep breath.

No wait, he’s sniffing.

Is he sniffing my hair?

Oh, god, why is that so freaking hot? His hand is still on my waist, and I’m acutely aware of its presence. He’s not moving it, and I really, really wish he would. But he’s not moving at all. He’s just standing with his front pressed to my back, like a big, sexy shadow.

Then, as if he can hear my thoughts, his hand on my hip moves. I feel him pull up my fur coverings, and in the next moment, his warm fingers brush over my belly.

I suck in a breath when his hand immediately goes to the waistband of my leggings and he pushes into the front of it. And I whimper when he presses his head against mine and nips at my ear. “Silence, Mah-dee.”

Right. Silence. “I’ll be quiet.”

“We do not want him to hear us,” Hassen murmurs, and his tongue brushes against the shell of my ear, sending shivers through my body. His big hand cups my pussy and I have to stifle my groan. Silence. Right. Must be silent. “You would not want him to watch.”

For some reason, those words make me look out across the snow, to where Taushen is. He’s standing with his hands on his hips, his back to us, tail moving. Maybe he’s taking a break from digging, or maybe he’s about to turn around and come over here.

If he did, he’d find me with Hassen’s hand down my pants.

And that hand, coupled with the fact that we might get caught?

It makes me so incredibly wet.

I bite down on my lower lip when Hassen’s big fingers glide through my slick folds. “Quiet,” Hassen tells me again, though his voice is strained. “You will be quiet when I touch you?”

“T-totally s-silent,” I manage, even though I feel like I’m about to climb out of my own skin. I’m frozen in place, staring at Taushen, half-daring him to turn around, half-horrified that he might.

Hassen’s other arm goes under my furs, and then he’s pushing down my leather bra-band and cupping my breast. I bite back my moan and sag against him as his fingers stroke my pussy. God, this isn’t fair…and I don’t want it to be. I should be pissed that he’s taking advantage of the situation, but all I can think is that this is exactly what I wanted, with a tease of voyeurism thrown in to boot.

I never thought I’d be so turned on at the sight of a guy digging a hole.

“So wet,” Hassen breathes into my hair. “Is your cunt always this slick around me?”

Oh, god, he said ‘cunt.’ Oh, god, that’s so freaking hot that I’m pretty sure I juice just at the sound of his deep voice. “I…maybe.”

“I should pull your pants off and lick you until you scream my name,” he tells me. “But then you would not be quiet, would you?”

I shake my head. I would totally be noisy and love every moment of it. And then Taushen would see, and for some reason, that just turns me on even more. “You need to be q-quiet, too,” I tell him, voice stuttering when one rough fingertip moves over my clit. “Oh, fuck, that felt good.”

“Do you want me to make you come like this?” he asks, rubbing his finger against the hood of my clit as if he’s been doing this sort of thing for ages. “Or do you want me inside you when you come?”

“Oh sweet Jesus, is that on the table? I want the dick.” Do I ever.

He continues to pet my slippery pussy even as he pulls a layer of furs off of me, tossing them to the ground. “Then you must be very quiet, Mah-dee.”

Taushen’s digging again. There’s no chance of him coming over here…which is good, because I’m starting to breathe so loud I can hear it echoing in the cave around me, and I don’t even care. I brace one hand on the cave wall as Hassen rips another layer of furs from my clothing, and then he’s tugging my leggings down around my knees.

A second later, I feel something hard and hot press against my back. Hassen’s cock. I moan, reaching backward because I want to touch him. He doesn’t let me, though. He grabs my hand and holds it to the wall, then bends me forward. I brace my hands on the cave and spread my legs as wide as I can with the pool of my leggings at my feet.

Hassen’s big body presses against mine once more, and then I feel his cock push at the entrance to my core. I whimper encouragement, arching my back and pushing my hips out. A moment later, he thrusts into me, so big and so good that it nearly blows my mind.

Or maybe the thing that’s blowing my mind is the spur that’s prodding at my ass. I’ve never been into that sort of thing before, but feeling it there makes me all squirmy and that much more turned on. Dear god, these alien men have such naughty equipment. God must definitely be a woman, because this is a gift from heaven if there ever was one.

“Quieter,” Hassen rasps, his body against mine. He’s so huge it feels like he’s covering me from head to toe as he presses into me from behind. “He will hear.”

I didn’t even realize I was making noise. I’m too lost in sensation. I wriggle against Hassen, a silent demand for more, and his hand skims down my front, caressing my breast before returning to my clit and massaging it.

Oh, god, he’s trying to kill me, isn’t he?

I groan his name even as he anchors a hand to my hip, thrusting again. It feels like I’m being pierced twice—once by his cock and once by his spur, and it feels like sensory overload. I’m panting as he pauses to rub my clit again and bites gently at my shoulder through my tunic.

Everything in me explodes. I come so quick and so hard that it’s shocking, even to me. Ripples of pleasure turn into an avalanche, and every muscle in my body locks up in response. I can’t move, can’t breathe, can’t speak—all I can do is sit here and silently vibrate with ecstasy.

He hisses my name and then he’s pumping into me again, and his fingers rest on my clit as he begins to drill into me from behind. And did I think I was orgasming before? Clearly I didn’t know the meaning of the word, because I’m coming all over again, and it feels harder and more intense than before. Wave after wave of pleasure pounds through me as Hassen fucks me with quick, rough strokes. I’m lost in the endless orgasm, unable to form coherent thoughts. I’ve never come so hard or so long, and it doesn’t seem to be stopping.

But then Hassen’s groaning against me, and he grinds his hips—and spur—into me with one last hard stroke, and my toes curl as the newest orgasm pulses through my body. He holds me close, catching his breath, and then pulls out of me.

And I practically stumble. It’s a good thing I’m clinging to the rock, because I don’t know that I have any strength left in me. It’s all been (happily) dicked away. I drop to my knees and press my cheek to the cold floor of the cave, not caring how ridiculous I look. The world is spinning and I’m pretty sure it’s going to take me days to come down off of this endorphin high. Totally worth it.

“Mah-dee?” Hassen’s hand touches my backside, which is raised up in the air. “Are you well?”

I think your dick broke me.“I’m fabulous,” I say in a breathless voice. “Boneless but fabulous.”

He rubs his hand on my ass. “This is going to get cold. I do not want it to freeze—I like watching it move when I take you.”

With any other guy, I’d probably be insulted at him telling me my big ass is jiggling when we have sex. But the way Hassen says it—like a caress—tells me that he likes my ass. “I’ll move in just a minute. I need to get my strength up.”

He taps my butt cheek. “Rest, and then we will go out onto the trails again. Taushen is gone.”

Wait, he expects me to hunt after that? Moreover, he expects me to be able to walk? I roll onto my back and stare up at him. “I think you are overestimating my recovery. I’m gonna need a few more minutes.”

He chuckles. “I do not understand many of your words, but I will let you rest if you need to rest.” He adjusts his pants, retying them, and looks quite pleased with himself.

“Yeah, so while I let my lower half recover, maybe we should talk about what we just did.”

Ever graceful despite his enormous size, Hassen folds his legs under him and sits on the floor next to me. He reaches out and smooths some of my sweaty hair back off of my face, and just that small caress makes everything tingle in response. “What do you wish to say?”

“I thought you didn’t want to do the whole ‘casual sex’ thing.” And I mentally brace myself for another round of chest-beating man proclamations about how I’m now his woman.

But he only shrugs. “I have given thought about what you said.”

“Oh?”

He nods. “If you wish to use me to scratch an itch, as you say, it is only fair that I use you to scratch mine.”

Er, okay. So that isn’t what I expected to hear. Instead of talking about how I should be his and we should set up a happy little cave together, we’ve moved on to ‘using’ each other. Is it weird that I feel a little wounded by that? I shouldn’t, because it’s what I wanted…but damn. The guy sure moves on fast. “You’re not going to ask me to marry you again?”

His face is blank. “As an exile, I can offer nothing to a mate. I realize that now. You were right to turn me down.”

Oh. “That wasn’t why—”

“It does not matter. If this is what you want, this is what we shall do. It means pleasure for both of us. I do not see a problem with this.” He caresses my cheek.

I smile and can’t help but feel like this is a lot easier than I expected. He’s caving in to what I want just like that? “What made you change your mind?”

“Your nearness,” he says bluntly. “I could smell your hair and feel your body against mine and I wanted you. So I took you.”

I shiver. “Yes, yes you did.”

HASSEN

Mah-dee is smiling at me. She is pleased with my declaration that I wish nothing more than to mate with her.

It feels as if I am deceiving her, yet I will go along with it. The truth is, I have not changed my mind. In my mind, Mah-dee is mine. She is my mate. But being close to her and not being able to touch her is torture. I will not choose that. I will choose another route.

Let her think I have given up on my quest to claim her as my own. I have slept on my anger, and I now have a plan. I will not blindly rush forward. I will enjoy these few days with Mah-dee while the weather is pleasant and she learns to hunt. And when the heavier snows come, I will endure the brutal season as an exile, and hunt harder than ever before. When it is over, I will talk with Vektal about rejoining the tribe as a hunter. Then and only then can I claim Mah-dee as a mate. By then, Li-lah will be carrying Rokan’s kit and all will have forgotten that I stole the weak, crying sister when I should have stolen the fierce one.

Today was a risk. Not because Taushen might have seen us, but because Mah-dee might have decided that she did not want to be touched by me again. The fact that she craves my touch as much as I hunger for hers makes me weak with relief. Mah-dee initiated mating with me yesterday. I was not sure she would welcome me today.

The fact that she has means I can show her how much I need her. I plan on taking Mah-dee out on many ‘hunting’ excursions.

And I will claim her every chance I get. I want her to need me as much as I need her.