Chapter 4
Piper
The joy shining from Katem is nearly blinding. He has to be mistaken. Confused. There’s no such thing as fated mates. And if there is, surely whatever gods or goddesses are in charge of those decisions wouldn’t do something so cruel to either of us. Would they?
I stare at the lines that appeared out of nowhere on his body and watch as their progress slows.
They’re a purplish color, but turn faintly darker—more black—with every passing second.
Who knows how dark they’ll end up. Until Katem had clasped my hand, his skin was a solid lavender with a textured pattern along his shoulders, upper chest, and arms. Now, though, his flesh resembles that of his friends with its similar, but different dark lines splashed across it.
Didn’t Rojtar say he and Evren were both mated? To humans?
“Piper?” Katem says my name so gently that I blink and lift my gaze to meet his. “I know it is difficult to understand, but my words are true. These marks only appear on a Tavikhi when he touches the female who is his fated mate. My soul light also shines, but only for you.”
“Soul light?”
Katem takes my hand and places it in the center of his chest. Warmth emanates from the spot.
No, not warmth. Heat. As if behind the rigid bones is a burning flame.
I stare up at him and for a brief moment, I could swear I see a light reflecting back at me within the vertical pupils that are so alien and yet… not.
“When you look into my eyes, can you see a bright light? Even a flicker of light?” The hopefulness in Katem’s voice makes my heart ache.
“I’m…I’m not sure.” It has to be my imagination. Fated mates and soul lights don’t exist. They can’t.
He smiles, but there’s a sadness to it. “That is all right. Not every keeshla sees it at first. It will take time, I think.”
“Katem.” My mind goes blank. I don’t know what to say. What to do.
“Do not say anything just yet,” he rushes out the words. “Please.”
I swallow, because I hate that I’ve made him beg. “Okay.”
His eyes close briefly, and his sigh of relief is heavy. “Thank you.”
I try to smile, but it’s painfully forced. “What happens next?”
For the first time since Katem touched my hand and those marks showed up, he appears uncertain. “I know what I wish to happen, but our mating is not only about me. I will do whatever makes you happy. That is all I care about.”
An ache begins in my chest, because what I wish for most in this world, Katem can’t give me. Of course, this only makes the tears well. Why is life so fucking unfair?
“Piper, what is wrong?” He cradles my cheeks gently and it takes everything I have not to lean into his touch. Into his strength.
I can’t though. My problems aren’t his burden to bear.
“Sorry, it’s okay. I’m fine.” I step back, trying to put some much needed distance between us.
“Is this the same “fine” females use when they do not want to talk about something?”
I burst out a wet laugh and wipe my face. “Did one of Rojtar or Evren’s mates teach you that?”
Katem nods. “Abby. She is Rojtar’s mate. Prickly like the leaves of the lulebore bush, but they care greatly for each other. She is a wonderful mate to him as well as nene to Carter.”
“Ne—ne?”
“The female who birthed him.”
My confusion clears. “His mother.” Carter is a human name, but I don’t want to be rude and ask. “No, I really am fine.”
Or as fine as I will ever be.
“I will take this as truth, but know that you now have a mate who will be here whenever you are not fine and need someone to speak with or to merely hold you and lend you my strength.”
Damn it. Tears threaten to fall again. “Thank you, Katem.” His words are a reminder of why I was walking through the forest in the first place. “Actually, there was something I wanted to talk to you about.”
He straightens and a hint of excitement and anticipation surrounds him. “I am happy to speak with you about anything.”
Now that the opportunity is here, I’m hesitant. Especially after this whole fated mate thing, which I’m still trying to digest and process.
“I have learned it is easiest to just speak your mind, whatever that might be,” he says.
“You’re right.” I bite at my bottom lip and Katem’s gaze drops to it.
A familiar throbbing hits my center and the reminder of how I touched myself last night while thinking of him makes my cheeks hot. I clear my throat.
“Um, I made sort of a list of things I want to do while I’m on Tavikh, and I was hoping you might be able to help me check them off.”
Katem cants his head. “What sort of things?”
“Some are silly and may not even be possible.” I shrug.
“Nothing you might wish to accomplish is silly, and almost nothing is impossible.”
I chuckle. “You make it sound so easy.”
“I did not say it would be easy.” He smiles. “Only that nearly everything is possible.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
Katem gestures for me to continue.
I clear my throat again, if only to buy another second or two, and to think of one of the least ridiculous items on my mental list. “I’d love to see the ocean, which may not exist here.”
Katem doesn’t say anything for a minute. “My translator tells me an ocean is a body of water, made with a spice, that is so large, one cannot see across the length of it.”
His description makes me laugh. “Salt.”
“I do not understand.”
“The spice that makes up an ocean is salt.”
Katem nods.
“But like I said, that one is kind of silly since I doubt there’s an ocean here.” I should have started with one that was at least remotely possible.
“I believe there is a body of water that is similar to this ocean you wish to see, but it is a half-turn’s walk away. Still, I would be happy to take you there and let you decide if it matches your idea.”
A budding excitement fills me. Is it actually possible? But that flare of excitement slowly fizzles. How am I supposed to walk for an entire day? I’m not sure I’d be able to make it.
“Piper?” Katem says my name quietly.
I shake off my dismay. “Sorry. I was just thinking. I’m not very athletic. I worry I won’t be able to walk that far and back. I know you have things to do anyway.”
“Do not worry about me or being able to reach the place. If you get tired, I will carry you.”
“Oh, n—no.” I stutter. “I couldn’t ask you to do that.”
He closes the distance between us, and my heart skips a beat. When he palms my jaw, it stops completely.
“You do not need to ask, because I have offered. I will do whatever is necessary to take care of you, and I wish for nothing more than to be able to help you accomplish all the tasks on this list of yours. If that means I must carry you the entire way, then that is what I will do.”
Any willpower I have to resist leaning into his touch this time dissolves entirely. I’ve been alone so long and maybe I’m a little touch-starved. Okay, a lot touch-starved. Why is it only now that a guy like Katem comes into my life?
“Thank you.”
“It is my pleasure.” The deepening of his voice sends a shiver running down my spine. “It is too late to go this turn, but perhaps we can plan for the next?”
My brain stutters back online and translates his words. Tomorrow’s as good a day as any. “Tomorrow—the next turn—is perfect.”
“Wonderful.” Katem grins broadly, but slowly his mouth flattens. “As much as I would love to continue discussing your list, I really must return to hunting. May I escort you back to the settlement?”
Since I already know he’s going to press the issue, I don’t argue, even though I’m not ready to go back so soon. “I’d like that.”
I’m also a little surprised Katem isn’t asking me to come to the Tavikhi village.
“Perhaps during our travels to see the ujera, we can discuss how we wish to move forward as mates,” he says, as if reading my mind.
“All right.”
To my surprise, Katem takes my hand in his and threads our fingers together. “Do not look so worried, keeshla. We will do whatever works for the both of us.”
“I trust you.” Unbelievably, I do. It doesn’t matter that I just met him yesterday.
He gently squeezes my fingers. “On my honor, I will continue to do everything I can to remain worthy of that trust.”
Katem’s so earnest that I have no doubt he will.
We walk hand-in-hand toward the settlement, and not once am I tempted to ask him to release his hold. The simple gesture of affection feels too good, and I want to savor it for as long as I can.
“What was that animal Evren was carrying?” I’ve seen ones like it before but don’t know their name.
“A dreri.”
“Dreri.” I repeat the word slowly to make sure I have it right.
“That is perfect.”
My cheeks grow warm from the praise. It’s been a long time since I’ve had it. Maybe my whole life. Which is kind of sad when I think about it.
While we walk through the forest, Katem points out some other wildlife including a couple adorable critters called leburin, which look like alien rabbits to some degree, and ketri, which remind me of some rodent that used to exist on Earth, but the name of which I can’t recall.
A pair of yellow birds fly over us as well.
“What about those?”
“Mellenje.”
Through a break in the trees, I can spot the long field that leads right up to the settlement.
There’s a wave of disappointment to have reached it already.
I guess I’m not quite ready to say goodbye to Katem yet.
So, instead of telling him I’d be fine the rest of the way like I had yesterday, I let him walk me all the way up to the entrance.
I stop at the closed doors and face him. “Thank you for the escort.”
He fists his chest. “It was my pleasure.”
“So, I guess I’ll see you in the morning then?” I nudge a clump of grass with my toe.
Katem lifts my chin with a finger so he is able to look me in the eyes. “All will be well, keeshla. Remember that.”
I nod.
“Then yes, I will be here just after the sun crests the horizon.”
“I’ll make sure I’m awake and ready.”
His gaze intensifies, and for a second, I think he’s about to kiss me. Instead, Katem drops his finger from my face and fists his chest. “Until then.”
My heart doesn’t stop racing until he crosses the field and is swallowed up by the forest. Only when he’s no longer visible do I let out a loud sigh.