Chapter Sixteen #2
Her skin was thinner than mine as well as paler, and the elements were a valid concern after her first experience when we arrived.
I rarely bothered with protection unless I was on the surface during the worst times or beyond the walls, but our arrival had shown me she would need cover for even minor exposure.
“I will get you a thavren to wear on the surface. You can come see where I train the warriors.”
Her nose crinkled and her expression turned doubtful.
“You want me to watch people marching, or beating each other?”
My lips twitched at the disgust in her voice. If the thought of watching warriors practice was distasteful, then she would hate the Veyr’vokkar.
“You will have to eventually.”
She looked like she didn’t think it was worth getting dressed, but she moved her legs off the side of the bed.
“How long will we be there?”
I considered telling her that it was the primary place I spent my waking hours, but I was coming to realize that might have to change. I had new responsibilities that were just as important.
“I train new warriors and make sure the experienced ones maintain conditioning. I go to the training grounds every morning, and once we are bonded, we won’t be able to be far apart for long. I understand you may not enjoy watching it, but it’s part of who I am.”
She studied me for a long moment, and for some reason I couldn’t breathe until she nodded and pushed away the blankets so she could stand.
“Okay.”
Relief was not something I was accustomed to feeling, but I recognized it as it flooded my veins. I turned away before she noticed, pretending to give her privacy to dress.
“Wear something easy to move in that covers your flesh. I will get the thavren.”
It wasn’t long before she emerged in her Human garments.
It was a practical choice since most of what I had bought her were wraps that wouldn’t protect her legs since the wind would slip beneath it.
While the winds were at their worst at night, there was a reason my people believed in Shaevrin, the Eternal Wind, as the cause behind everything.
Even with the sun not yet at its peak, heat prickled along my ridges as we stopped at the edge of the entrance to Korvashan.
Taryn hesitated beside me, looking through the arch at the red landscape revealed beyond the towering walls of the citadel.
Her breathing shifted, her posture tightening, and her scent laced with fear.
I adjusted my stance without thinking, angling my body to block the worst of the wind and limit her view. She noticed, turning her gaze to me, but remained silent.
“We are better prepared this time. I regret your first experience of Morrakan was harsh.”
Her blue eyes held mine, so different than a Morraki’s, but fitting for an omega. Her expression was still tight, but she drew a breath and shook out her limbs as if trying to shake away her worries.
“I will wrap the thavren for you until your hands learn what to do. Watch.”
I shook out the light fabric, the square I’d carried unfolding into a sheet large enough for me. Folding one corner over to shorten it so it wouldn’t drag the ground, I reached around her, the sharp sweetness of her scent growing stronger so close to the source.
For a moment I froze, caught between instincts and thought.
My arms yearned to close around her, pull her to my chest where I could feel her heart beating and taste the sweat already glistening on her neck.
I couldn’t stop my tail from looping behind her thighs as if to prevent her from pulling away.
Her tongue slipped out, pink and rounded, dragging her bottom lip into her mouth, and my breathing stuttered. Blood rushed to places that had already been stiff from her nearness, making my pants painfully tight.
Chin lifting, she leaned a fraction closer, nostrils flaring as her instincts drove her to test my scent.
The action broke my focus, reminding me so much of how Shaira had done the same before her last battle, that guilt slammed into me like a veyr’karin, tiny razors of memory ripping flesh from bone the way the storm did.
Clearing my throat, I forced my muscles to move, talking through the motions to stop any other thoughts.
“It lays like this, and then you pull this part across.”
It took a bit of adjustment to get it draped properly to protect her exposed arms, and then we were moving out of the shelter of the tunnel.
The wind whipped us, the familiar sting of sand driven against me something I welcomed. It anchored me, a daily occurrence I barely took note of anymore.
The citadel doors were open, and we passed into the shadow of the walls, bringing relief from the incessant tugging.
I spared a glance at Taryn, checking her thavren, but she was keeping pace and looking around, the tension she’d displayed at the arch evaporating once she realized this trip would not be like the first.
It wasn’t long before we were walking across the training grounds. Groups of warriors were sparring and running drills, a sight that was rarely unavailable. The clash of bodies and weapons echoed within the walls, and Taryn’s gaze tracked everything, curious despite her stated distaste.
She was studying us. Learning.
My chest tightened again. She was not weak, despite what I and others had thought of Humans. She was just strong in a different way.
“They do this every day?”
I’d been watching her instead of the males around us, but I didn’t need to see them to know she’d drawn attention.
Most warriors were alphas, our dynamic was naturally drawn to physical activity and competition, and a female alpha was unheard of.
Some betas chose to train with the warriors, and there were sometimes females amongst them, and even more rarely an omega would choose the warrior path to earn honor for herself.
Even if they couldn’t see her flesh, her voice revealed her sex.
“Yes.”
She was still looking around, only a thin strip of pale skin visible around her eyes, but it was enough for me to read her concern.
“In this heat?”
I laughed, holding my arms out at my sides.
“Yes. This is good weather.”
She shook her head, scoffing as she crossed her arms over her chest. Even beneath the thavren I saw the way it pushed the swell of her breasts higher, and my mouth went dry in a way that had nothing to do with the temperature,
“You’re all insane.”
I couldn’t stop my grin, and that drew even more attention from those around us.
I was Torashkar.
I didn’t laugh or smile.
And I certainly didn’t bring unmated omegas to the training grounds.
“We are Morrak. We endure.”
When her face tilted up towards me I wished I could see more of her face. There was an odd look in her eyes, but her gaze shifted back to the warriors before I could interpret it.
“I noticed.”
Bringing her out was better, but I wasn’t sure it was going to be enough to keep her mood up. I could still sense an underlying unease in her. Still see a hint of tightness around her eyes. Exploring was good, but watching the warriors fight was not what she needed to keep away worries.
My mind shifted again, reassessing. Trying to remember what she had shown interest in. She had been ill for most of the trip to Morrakan, but we had talked while she was awake.
The memory of her prior profession surfaced.
She hadn’t worked with warriors, but she had cared for the war animals of her world.
Some of the questions she had asked about me were related to how we had evolved and the features we had, which would have fallen under the realm of a Kethral, but her specialty had been animals, not people.
I straightened, turning over a new idea.
I could take her to the kennels, show her the Morrakan version of her “war dogs”, but it could be dangerous.
The Varkuun were not pets. They couldn’t even be called tame by anyone other than the warrior they formed a rakhul with, the bond between them similar to what formed when an omega was claimed by an alpha.
Despite the risk, it felt right, so the decision was simple.
“Let’s go.”
She turned to me with brows lifted, her surprise clear.
“Already?”
I lifted one shoulder and decided to pretend I’d had the plan beforehand.
“This was not the destination.”
She stared as if she could see through me, her eyes narrowing, but I held my kethra steady and froze my tail so it wouldn’t give me away.
“Okay…”
There was a hint of suspicion in her tone, but curiosity too. Curiosity was good. Anything was better than the muted hollowness she’d shown before, but curiosity meant interest, and the more interest she showed in this new life, the more likely she’d find enjoyment in it.
I turned toward the arch leading back to the gates. To the path that would bring us to the kennels even most warriors avoided. It was a risk, but it felt worth it to see if the Varkuun were the key to Taryn feeling at home here.