Chapter 10 Anything
TEN
ANYTHING
Krellix
The pearlescent glow of dawn fills the sky by the time we leave the ship wreckage behind.
From there, I lead them further down the mountain and toward the lake, taking it even slower than before for the new humans.
A tense silence fills the air between the ragged group that’s only occasionally broken by a strained, hushed whisper.
The males show their fear of the trees, bushes, and bugs, tripping over logs, and stumbling over rocks. They show their fear of me.
But their gazes are numb beneath it all. Because of that, they do not complain. I do not worry about them.
I shift Olivia in my arms, hoping she does not wake. The smell of her blood coats the inside of my nose. She has lost much and I have not seen her wound like Julia has. Covered in the bandages Julia wrapped around her, all I can see are bunches of mostly bloody cloth, tied haphazardly at her sides.
She was awake when we began our descent but has since either fallen asleep or is unconscious. I try not to move her too much as I tentatively barrel through the forest’s overgrowth. Her face is shuttered from me, pressing into my chest, covered thickly in a mask of Julia’s making.
After we travel enough distance away from the ship, I find a place to make a temporary camp between a clearing of trees where the overgrowth is not as thick.
Lying Olivia on the flattened ground I have made with my tail, Julia comes to my side to start checking her wound.
The younger female stirs awake with a sharp intake of breath.
I turn away to give them their privacy and to watch the two males find a spot on the ground nearby. Their bodies sink to the forest floor, deflated. They lean against their packs and wearily look around.
Meanwhile, and for the entirety of our trek so far, more ships continue to arrive, some of them making their abrupt landings in a nose-dive fashion. Explosions have gone off and those explosions have made the humans and myself jumpy.
The noises come from all directions.
Moving and waiting briefly at the edge of our camp to make sure everyone settles, I turn from the exhausted males to watch Julia rebandage the girl. Helpless to do anything about it, my attention drifts to Julia’s quick acceptance of our agreement.
‘Anything he wanted.’
Julia pulls her water out of her pack and gently pours it into Olivia’s mouth before taking a swig herself, her throat bobbing when she swallows it down. Once she’s done, she uses one of the remaining clean strips of cloth to wipe her hands.
Caught by her beauty, the colors of her dark hair gleam in the airy light of the rising sun.
Taking her in, my gaze hovers briefly over her messy, long strands, which remain partially held back with a tie at the nape of her neck.
Some of her hair has slipped out to fall over her shoulders, adding to the single, silky lank I gripped earlier.
It falls across her chest in waves to rest along the seams of her jacket.
Mesmerized by the golden shadow shifting over her rich brown flesh, and over the dusky pout of her lips, my own tongue drifts across my fangs.
Taller, curvier than the other females, her hair longer and thicker too, I ache to see her locks free again, tumbling down her back and swaying across the divot of her waist. My fingers twitching, I curl them into my palms until my claws dig into my skin and the pain shifts my attention.
‘Anything he wanted.’
When I first saw Julia, emerging from the bushes she had been sleeping in with the other humans she was with…
I had not expected to be confronted with the most beautiful female I have ever seen. But seeing how emaciated and fearful she was, I did not want to add to her distress, despite the abject need to draw her into my arms and tell her it would all be okay.
My teeth grit, knowing now as I did then that I have no nest to take my female. I have no safe place to call my own. I am not a risk-taker like Azsote is, so eager for his female to be his bride and to stay with him that he convinces her even though he lost his nest in the process.
If I take Julia like Azsote took his bride, the only place I have for us to go is back to Zaku’s, or to the old, crumbling observatory I sometimes hole up in, in the mountains north of here.
Everywhere else is the forest, the mountains, the lakes, the wastes.
.. I have no hides to cover her in, no shelter to place her under…
I have nothing.
I have been homeless for over a year and have gained nothing since.
Julia looks over her shoulder at the two males, only turning to face me when her eyes slip over the rest of the clearing. When her gaze lands on mine, I see the exhaustion in her expression. I do not like seeing her this way.
I rise and leave the camp, beckoning for her to join me. Waiting for her outside the clearing the others are in, she locks her eyes with mine as she walks towards me, grass and pine needles crunching under her boots as she comes nearer.
Bunching my hands at my sides, I know she is not the one for me even if I want her to be. She is going to return to those I despise, to those that destroyed and took my home. She still wears their uniform.
Coming to a stop outside my reach, she eyes me with an unreadable, tired expression. A breeze courses through the trees to flutter her loose strands across her face. One of them catches on her lips and she reaches up to swipe it off. My mouth waters and I swallow thickly.
“Come here,” I say, testing her when she stops just outside the ring of my tail, and holding out my hand to her.
Without hesitation, she steps over my tail and closes the distance until she is directly before me. Scenting her flesh, her sweat, her stress as I look down at her, excitement strikes me, zinging down the length of my tail.
She came.
‘Anything he wanted.’
I will not get to keep her.
I will be leaving her with the other humans at the encampment.
But I will always have my memories.
“Is something wrong?” she asks as I stare at her lips, jawline, and neck, taking in the supple curves of her face and the way her lovely hair frames all of it. “What do you want?” She frowns when I continue to stare at her.
Want?
I want to know what it feels like when lips touch, to feel your hair slip through my fingers.
I want you to take off your clothes and show me your body.
I want to see you. A human female. I want to see what all of you looks like.
I want to know what it is that makes all of the others covet their females. I want to know you.
This is why I have stayed away from Zaku’s home these last few months. I fear my instincts.
“I want you to get some sleep,” I tell her instead, clasping her wrist and closing the distance between us. She briefly stiffens before letting me tug her to a shadowy spot under a nearby tree. Coiling my tail around her and lowering to the ground, I draw her loosely within and settle her there.
“Sleep? Now? Are we planning on stopping that long?” She places her palms on my tail to push away from me while the other hand grabs the neck of her shirt and lifts it over her nose.
The pressure of her hands, the sensation of her palms has me regretting pulling her into my coil, already wanting more.
“Only long enough for you to get some rest. I was trying to let you sleep before.”
She sighs and rubs her face. “I didn’t mean to doze off earlier. I didn’t sleep the night before last. It’s catching up to me. All of this is…”
Noticing the rings under her eyes, I frown. “I can tell. You need your strength traversing the forest. Rest will help you.”
She sits back, eyeing me warily. “What about the others?”
I stop myself from reaching up and swiping her hair behind her ear. “They are in need of rest too. I can hear them from here. They are not as far away as you think. A lot has happened and I want you to be your besssst.” It will be safer. You will be safer.
She looks back in the direction of Olivia and the two males, before eyeing the short distance between us. With her gaze flicking over my chest and tail, I stiffen, feeling her eyes on me, her consideration.
If she lies against me, will I stop her? Eager for her to do just that, my thoughts go to war with each other. Though I should not remain stationary for long… I need to scout our perimeter and make certain the area around us is safe.
A sigh leaves her lips, and easing further down in her spot, she pulls off her pack and places it next to my tail before lowering her head on it. “No funny business while I sleep,” she mumbles, watching me with hooded eyes.
I shake my head and push my long hair over my shoulder. “I do not know what funny business issss.”
“Leaving without me while I’m asleep.” Her voice is muffled behind her shirt. “Or touching me in any way.”
Contemplative as I ponder her request, I nod. “I will not be funny.”
She lets out a small laugh. “Strangely enough, I know that.”
Silence descends as Julia pulls her legs towards her, still making sure she does not accidentally touch me. I sense her tension, noticing the concerned curiosity in her hooding gaze.
“Will the girl be okay?” I ask after a moment, trying to ease the sudden, stifling quiet between us.
Julia blinks, her eyes widening then softening. At half-mast, her stress and exhaustion is beyond evident now that I am looking closely at her.
“I don’t know,” she says, reaching up and rubbing her eyes. “Her wound is pretty deep. We need to get her someplace she can get treatment. I wish I could do more for her but my knowledge is limited.” Her voice lowers. “Do you think Zaku will let her use the Yulen?”
“The supplies for it are limited,” I remind her.
“I know…”
“After all he has been through with Daisy, I do not think he will be keen to let a stranger in his home to use it. He asked me to take you with me.”
She is silent for a moment. “I’m not surprised. Not with the Boa showing up and all.”
“We can try Laura if you prefer,” I suggest. Laura is in the opposite direction of the closest human encampment I know about. It would add days to my journey north but I can at least speak with Azsote, Syasku and the others.
“She’s in the opposite direction of the encampment.
” Julia yawns, warning me about something I already know.
“And might not know how to treat her without the Yulen to begin with. She’s a tech operator and psychiatrist. She might be able to sew Olivia’s wounds shut but then, so can I, if I had the right supplies. ”
“We continue on to the encampment then…”
Julia burrows her cheek deeper into her pack, nudging it with her head until she is comfortable. I want to coil my tail closer around her and pull her into me but I do not.
She yawns again. “Yeah. Just give me thirty minutes first…”
“Ssssleep,” I whisper with a purring hiss.
“I will ask you no more.” Humans, especially females, are frail.
And despite how strong Julia tries to make herself out to be, I see the stress gleaming in her deep brown eyes, and the uncertainty of emotions playing out in her expression.
She will wear herself out if I am not careful.
As she nuzzles further into her pack and tentatively closes her eyes, I also realize I can no longer trust that she will not leave when I ask her not to.
If I do not keep a close eye on her, she might try to save more humans without me.
Settling back against the tree trunk, I watch as her breathing slows and her inhales deepen.
Seeing slumber take over her expression, the worry lines between her brows straighten out and her pursed lips part.
Once she is asleep, I cross my arms over my chest, feeling, and not for the first time, a building pressure deep within. It frightens me…
Hearing her shallow breaths, I close my eyes but do not let sleep take me, instead, listening to the very distant sounds of gunfire and shouting.
There is a lot more to worry about than just soldiers or amorous nagas now.
There are more humans, desperate ones. And if I know anything about desperation, it does not make a situation, any situation, safe.
I will have to be doubly vigilant despite my hope that with all the new activity, we will be able to journey to the encampment unnoticed.
It is also my hope that with the arrival of so many new humans, the nagas at Zaku’s will not come after us.
That they and the Boa will be distracted by all the chaos and never come across our trail to begin with.
It will only take us a couple of days to get to the encampment, even with the extra humans in tow. I will not have to worry about the nagas for long.
A couple of days…
Tearing my eyes off of Julia and her peacefully slumbering form, I peer out over the trees that are now brightening with middle morning sunlight. Ready for anything, I am also beginning to understand that the remainder of our time together will soon come to an end.