50. Chapter 50
Chapter fifty
~Kitari~
A fter everything that had happened to me, I should not have been able to move at all. But one thought kept my legs moving as I ran down the side of the mountain, tripping and falling and tumbling my way down.
He is still alive.
He is still alive.
Although the bond was muddled with pain and swirling emotion, although he felt hazy and only half-conscious, he was still there. And that meant there was still hope.
Why in the stars did my mate feel the need to be the savior in every situation and forsake his own? Why the need to fling himself from so many dangerous heights?
I knew the answer though, it was because he was who he was. My Bryce. My mate. My fierce, fearless warrior, with a wild heart and caring eyes.
I was halfway there when the bond faded, and I almost collapsed from the panic, but it was not completely gone; he had only fallen unconscious. The bond was still there, hazy and dark.
It carried me down the mountain and I moved as if in a dream, only half aware of my shattered body and the rough ground. I did not know how many times I fell, or how long it took me to reach him. But against all probability, I did.
I found him lying splayed out on the ground in the shadow of a huge tree. His arms were outstretched as if he had passed out while dragging himself across the ground.
I scooped him up into my arms.
“I have you, Bryce. You are safe.”
He murmured something and his eyelids moved, but he did not wake.
***
I lay on a hard bed in a pod next to Bryce.
His humans had found us eventually, my body curled protectively around his. It had taken a great deal of coaxing to get me to let go so they could help him. Now we were back at the humans’ camp, where he was being treated.
I feared that they might try to separate us again, but they did not. I had linked our hands together when we were first brought in and had not let go since. Not even when their human healer had come in to tend to us and wrap bandages around my body.
I shifted, baring my teeth. I was stiff, like my body had been covered in a layer of hard-baked earth. Human medicine was inferior. Aldarian healers would have done a far better and swifter job, but the humans would not let Bryce from their sight. They were still unsure of us. Having Aldar enter their camp seemed to be an acceptable compromise though, and Arcay had sent for healers to come swiftly from Amalya.
They said there was no trace of the human chief, apart from a pair of torn boots and a mangled weapon some distance from where I had found Bryce. Blood stained the ground in a wide area around them.
I could not think of a more fitting fate for him. If humans had a punishment in their afterlife, I hoped he was there for everything he had done to my Bryce.
Bryce had been severely hurt in the fall. Not just from falling off the cliff side, but—as I learned from Arcay—when he had thrown himself out of a moving ship. Second or not, I had given Arcay a few choice words for letting Bryce do it.
And as for my mate himself, half of me wanted to tell him off for being so stupid and reckless, and the other wanted to praise him. His bright, adventurous soul was brave, willing to throw himself in harm’s way to protect others, not afraid to take a fall and get straight back up again. Many of the dreary Aldarian elders could take a lesson or two from him, and everything would be a lot more exciting. Still, I was going to have to give him a talk about his self-preservation.
The moment I felt the bond focus, I turned to him. His eyelids fluttered, once, twice, before opening slowly. His eyes drifted around the pod and then settled on me.
“Hey,” he croaked.
“Hello,” I said.
His fingers twitched in my grip.
“So, we’re both still alive then?”
“It would appear so, against all common sense.”
“I’ve never been a huge fan of common sense.”
“That is a relief. Although maybe you should not throw yourself from a height for some time.”
He smiled. “Ok. If you insist.”
I rolled from my own bed and managed the short distance to his. He shifted with a barely concealed grunt, allowing room for me, and I lay down next to him. The cot was small as it was, and I had to balance precariously on the very edge as I wrapped myself around him. I pressed my face into his neck and breathed in deeply. For the first time since he was attacked by the kapion, my body relaxed from its permanent state of readiness.
In my arms, I felt him relax, too, and a wonderful feeling of home wrapped around us.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
“Never better,” he said. “In fact, I could go for a run right about now.”
“Sar-kasm ,“ I said, sagely.
“Aw, that’s right, you’re getting it. Well done!”
“I also know the meaning of ‘patronizing.’”
He laughed, but stopped when pain bloomed. “Sorry.”
“How are your wounds?” I asked. “And do not use sar-kasm this time.”
He sighed. “Painful. I feel like a gorilla used me as a punching bag. How are yours?”
“I do not know what that is. But mine are also painful.”
“We’re always so in sync,” he laughed.
Arcay entered the pod and we both looked up as a healer followed him in. They unslung a satchel from their shoulder and quickly unpacked it on the empty bed.
“How are you feeling?” They asked.
I glanced at Bryce and said, “I am feeling incredibly fit and healthy.”
I must have done the sar-kasm correctly, because Bryce laughed. I grinned.
Arcay frowned, confused by the clear contradiction before him. “But…oh,” he stopped and rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “I see you have been learning human humor. I am sure Jursin will be very pleased.”
“You are doing it too,” I said.
Arcay pursed his lips, but the corner of his mouth curved upwards. “The healers got here as quickly as they could, I hope you have not been in too much pain. They will see to you swiftly.”
The healer took a white jar of salve from their pack. Finally, some proper treatment. They peeled back the bandages on my leg. I hissed at the pull of congealed blood and raw flesh beneath. It was replaced with a cool sensation a moment later, as the healer spread salve onto the wound. I sighed.
They moved efficiently, switching to Bryce and lifting his dirty top to spread some salve onto his torso. Bryce’s eyes widened.
“Woah, this stuff is amazing!”
I had to admit I was smug. “We have many advances in medicine. Not that it is a competition.”
Once the healer was finished, they left with Arcay and we were left to ourselves, now with the pain dulled to a manageable level. I tightened my grip on Bryce, but we were interrupted almost instantly by several humans entering. A sensation of unease came from Bryce, and I disentangled our limbs carefully so he could push himself up and face them.
“Gunner, it’s good to see you alive, lad,” said an older human, who I recognised from before.
“Thanks, it’s good to be alive.” Bryce glanced at me uncertainly and cleared his throat. “So, I should probably make some formal introductions,” he said. “This is Clyde, he’s like the granddad of the group.”
Clyde frowned, making the creases on this face deepen. “Watch it lad. You’re not too hurt that I can’t give you a wallop around the earhole.”
“I do not understand what this one says,” I said.
A young human stepped out from behind Clyde and smiled awkwardly, half-raising his hand. He had a bandage wrapped around his head and one eye was black and swollen.
Bryce brightened at the sight of him. “O’Neill, thank god your ok.”
“Yeah,” he pointed to the bandage, “I just got a bang on the head.”
Bryce turned back to me. “This is O’Neill, the new kid.” O’Neill smiled at me sheepishly before Bryce went on, indicating the third human. “And this is Rand, he’s an asshole.”
“Pfft.” Rand frowned. “So why is it that I mention hot alien chicks, like, one time and everyone gets their panties in a twist, but you actually bang one and we’re all cool with that? How is that fair?”
“You want me to see if Kitari has any friends you can hook up with?” Bryce said.
“Oh, ha ha.”
At that moment, the light was blocked as Koum stepped into the pod. Rand started as he bumped against his chest and spun to see Koum towering over him. Rand made a high-pitched noise and turned an interesting shade of red that clashed with the pink of his armor.
Koum studied him with confusion. “Why is this small human changing color? “ he asked.
“Perhaps it is a display of a human mating ritual? “ I said.
Koum arched a brow, leaned down, and sniffed Rand. Koum wrinkled his nose and looked disgusted. Rand made another noise and hurried away, much to everyone’s amusement and Koum’s disdain.
“I wanted to ensure you are well with my own eyes,” Koum said to me. “These humans cannot be trusted.”
“Thank you for your concern,” I said lightly.
He hesitated. “And I would not have been able to forgive myself if…something had happened to you. If you had died.”
“I am fine, Koum, and if something had happened it would not have been your fault, but mine.”
Koum sighed and regarded Bryce. “So, you have chosen this human, of your own free will?”
“Yes.”
He nodded, although I still sensed his disapproval. “Then I wish you happiness together.”
Then he turned on his heel and left.
“What was that about?” Bryce asked.
“To be honest, I am not sure.”
The humans went back to talking to Bryce, but I was tired and could not find the effort to follow. They spoke too quickly, and it required too much concentration. Other humans came in, too, and while Bryce introduced them to me, I quickly forgot all of their names—humans looked extremely similar, except for my Bryce. Eventually, when Bryce started yawning wider and wider, the old human ushered the others out and we were left alone.
I settled back down and wrapped myself around Bryce once more, feeling the way his body moved when he breathed, and enjoying his warmth.
My own warmth rose in me, but I restrained myself. I would let him rest now.
I closed my eyes. There would be plenty of time for pleasure later, we had the rest of our lives.