Chapter Thirty-One
Taryn
The kennels had become my favorite place in Korvashan.
Well, perhaps my second favorite, since bathing with Rhydek in the River Caverns had become us getting dirtier first, and then washing each other. It was when he showed a softer side of himself that he seemed to keep buried any other time, even when we were alone.
The thought that Rhydek cared more than he showed still felt strange even though I had the proof anchored in my chest.
But besides being with him, the kennels were where I enjoyed spending my time. Even as I stood in the dim corridor with the scent of blood, sand, and heat filling my lungs, drenched in sweat, I wouldn’t have chosen to be anywhere else.
It wasn’t always pleasant, but I was making a difference. I didn’t feel like I was just existing, I was doing something that mattered.
Zharrek hissed as I dragged the grooming brush along the thick ridge of his neck, the coarse strands of his mane catching between the teeth. His eyes were half-lidded, the constant tension in his massive frame eased in a way I never would have believed possible when I first saw him.
“You’re getting spoiled. Hand fed. Groomed daily.”
I reached through the bars with my other hand, tapping his jaw in the signal I’d taught him to open.
I inserted the vial of serum behind his last tooth and poured it into his mouth, rewarding him with another chunk of meat once he’d swallowed.
He’d improved with the serum fed to him in his meat, but the past few doses given to him directly seemed to have stamped out the last of the infection.
Dorash said he shouldn’t need any more medicine.
It was a relief. For me, at least. Rhydek still thought I was in danger anytime I got near the varku. I could feel it even though he tried to keep it under control.
He was doing his best. Trying not to hover or flinch every time Zharrek moved. Not watching every second like I might be devoured if he blinked.
The thought sent a flood of warmth through my chest, and I cast a glance to the side. Rhydek leaned in his usual place, pretending to work on his datapad even though I knew he was more focused on me.
I grabbed another chunk of meat and Zharrek’s tongue flicked out, catching a smear of blood on my hand. His tongue was rougher than Rhydek’s, uncomfortably so on my bare skin, but I didn’t pull away.
“Good boy. That’s it. Gentle.”
The word felt ridiculous applied to something that could tear me apart in seconds, but he responded to it.
To me.
Getting close to him for the first time had been exhilarating.
There were so many features I hadn’t noticed from a distance, like the way his irises whirled with his moods, or how smooth the plates on his chest and legs were compared to the coarseness of the skin beneath the wiry hair covering his neck and shoulders.
Or how despite his head looking like a blend between a drake and a wolf, he acted more like a cat.
I continued brushing him, flaking off the dried skin stuck in his mane while he chewed. It had become our routine for me to groom him as he ate as his reward for following commands. Each day he listened better, responded faster, and showed more trust.
Footsteps echoed behind me, fast and loud, and I glanced over my shoulder just as a warrior came running around the corner. I pulled my arms from the cage, unsure how Zharrek would respond to the break in routine as a stranger came into his line of sight.
“Torashkar!”
Rhydek straightened, snapping into duty mode, and surprisingly, trusting Zharrek enough to look away from us.
“Dradel!”
Rhydek’s voice was a harsh bark, anger already boiling through the bond, but I knew it was because of the disruption and what it might do to Zharrek.
“Dravakh. Veyrhk’kor.”
Morraki was a very direct language that I’d learned used no connecting words the way English and Common did. I was having trouble picking it up since they tended to smash root words together, but I knew veyr meant blood.
My stomach tightened as I waited, but I kept my attention on Zharrek. He had stilled, his focus locked on the intruder, but he was doing far better than I might have expected since his only response was a low growl.
Rhydek’s kethra flared at the corner of my eye, some of his anger morphing into concern. He looked toward me, reluctance and conflict clear on his face as he glanced between me and Zharrek.
“You should—”
He stopped, as if he wasn’t sure what I should do.
His gaze flicked from Zharrek to the brush in my hand and then the bucket of meat on the ground in front of me.
I didn’t want to leave and cut Zharrek’s reward short, especially since he was showing incredible restraint at the unexpected interruption and leaving would be viewed as negative reinforcement by him.
And even though the bond wasn’t leashing us as tight as it had right after my heat, it was still uncomfortable to separate for long.
“I have to check on the warriors. It… might not be safe for you to come.”
For a moment I didn’t understand what he was saying, too caught up in his emotions through the bond. It pulsed with worry, and I knew he wasn’t happy with what he was choosing to do.
“Stay here until I return. I’ll be quick.”
His eyes bore into mine as my lips parted, shock rendering me speechless.
“Stay safe.”
The words were rough, revealing how hard it was for him to trust, but they had warmth surging through my chest, and I pushed it towards him, unable to show my appreciation any other way.
“I will.”
He hesitated a moment longer before making a decisive nod and turning away. He didn’t run, but his strides ate up the distance to the end of the corridor, the warrior falling into step beside him as they disappeared around the corner.
I stared, still trying to process the fact that he’d left me alone with Zharrek. The distance between us was pulling tight in my chest, but it wasn’t painful the way it had been in the beginning. My stomach twisted and a dull throb began at the base of my skull, but I could ignore it.
Exhaling, I forced myself to focus as I turned back to Zharrek.
“It’s fine. You did so good. Yes, you were a good boy.”
He eyed me as if he wasn’t convinced, and I popped more meat into his mouth to reassure him. I wasn’t sure I believed everything was fine, and I knew my tone betrayed me, but brushing him again was enough to reinforce that he’d done good.
Each moment Rhydek was gone, unease crept beneath my skin. It was like a whisper at the back of my mind, nothing concrete, but something felt wrong.
Looking around, I spotted another handler down the corridor but tried to shake off the unease.
I kept grooming Zharrek, talking to him as I fed him the rest of his meat, but without Rhydek there, I couldn’t get the blood to him.
The bucket was too heavy for me to lift high enough to pour into Zharrek’s trough and I’d spilled a lot of it the time I had tried.
I glanced at the other handler again. He was closer and I considered asking for help, but Zharrek had already had his routine disrupted and another stranger coming up to his enclosure might be too much. I didn’t want to risk ruining a good session.
Zharrek usually leaned into my grooming, enjoying it as long as I was willing to keep going, but I realized he seemed tenser than before. He was looking down the corridor, and I followed his gaze, but the other handler still walking our way was all I saw.
Dorash had warned everyone to stay away from Zharrek, and the enclosure next to his was empty to be sure there were no issues. I didn’t recognize the male, but I knew I hadn’t met all the handlers, so I tried to brush off my growing worry as leaking from Rhydek.
Still, the hairs on the back of my neck lifted as another Morraki came around the corner from the main pathway.
“It’s okay, Zharrek. Maybe they’re working with one of the others. They won’t bother us.”
The words felt thin and Zharrek’s sides began to vibrate. Not with the soft content hiss I had grown used to, but something deeper.
I pulled back, both to show that growling was unacceptable, and because I wasn’t sure how far he was going to escalate. With a second disruption I couldn’t blame him, and I was turning to tell the approaching handlers to stop and back away when I spotted a third unknown male.
My heart stuttered, growing fear making me step back. I opened my mouth, torn between asking what they were doing or warning them away, when the nearest one launched himself with a growl.
There was a blur of movement and then the air was driven from my lungs as the male slammed into me. I was on my back in the sand before my brain could catch up, blinking into a snarling face as I gasped.
A tickle had my hand moving to my stomach, wetness drawing my gaze. A handle protruded from a dark spot on my shirt, the Morraki’s hand wrapped around it. I hadn’t felt the blade go in, only the impact, but pain bloomed when the stranger pulled it out.
My lips parted but no sound escaped, just the whisper of a gasp. The world rocked, my stomach burning white hot as tears filled my eyes.
The Morraki loomed over me, violet kethra flaring as he snarled.
“Abomination.”
The blade flashed as he raised it, a fresh wave of fear and panic building in my chest. I tried to move, to wiggle from beneath him, but his weight held me in place.
One hand pressed instinctively against my stomach, sticky with blood, I raised the other as if I had a chance to stop the coming blow. Bracing for it, I flinched as a roar shook the ground beneath me.
For a moment I thought it was Rhydek, somehow closer than the stretch of the bond made him feel. I knew he was coming, felt the way he was pushing himself as hard as he could to reach me as fear and fury poured through the bond, but it wasn’t him.