Chapter Two
The path narrowed, and Akervel put his hand on her back. “You mentioned you were hungry.”
“Yes.” She kept walking.
“You don’t need to eat?”
“I do, but I can go months without drinking, and usually, that is what I am doing.” She shrugged. “I am used to it.”
“The first time you saw me?”
“I was starving, and there was mate hunger mixing in with abject terror.”
He swallowed. “Terror?”
“You are bigger, stronger, probably faster. I have been kept weak by males before, and you did not look happy to see me.”
“I was stunned. I also felt the draw of a mating match, and I had just been in my larger form, so I was working using his expressions and instincts.”
“Hence the mating run.”
“Yes. I believe that his species developed it because if he were chasing a female, she would be terrified.”
She chuckled. “Or very, very fast.”
He laughed. “Correct. He wants to be caught. He wants it desperately.”
“Ah, but what do I do with him if I catch him?” She looked. “I honestly don’t know. I was always held down. I don’t understand how touch could be involved.”
The most astonishing thing happened. Crimson washed through him in a wave and lit lines under his skin. She smiled and touched his shoulder. “Pretty.”
“Usually the last thing that prey sees. How are you so... you?”
“I don’t let people touch me, and it sort of forms a forcefield around me. Alphas like to have something soft to cuddle, and I am very soft. They offer me blood for the ability to wrap around me for a few hours.”
The colours flared and flashed.
She traced some of the lines with her finger. “Why do they do that?”
He chuckled and politely took her hand away, kissing her fingertips before releasing her. “I am trying to scare off other predators.”
She giggled, and they kept walking, listening to the cheering and the crashing of the teams of three that were heading to the finish line after several hours.
“Why did they do this run twice?”
“Well, on the first run, there were a few folks who were professional sportsmen, and some elves who thought teleporting to the end was funny, and several women went missing during the event, causing a huge search and rescue effort that they managed to keep out of the news. This time, all local ladies were together in the town and under guard with dozens of drones watching the shoreline.”
“Well, I understand the do-over. It was necessary to set minds at ease.”
“Correct.”
“Wait, were you involved in the search?”
“Of course. I found the little fuckers ten minutes from shore. I cut the engines, sent the signal, and went underwater to hide until they go there.”
He smiled. “So, you like search and rescue.”
“I am very good at it. I get high, and then I get very low.” She smiled. “And then I get distracted and ask local oysters to give me pearls.”
“And they do it?”
“They do. No damage, no cracking. I take the pearls and give them a little more sand to work on. Sometimes, for fun, I find a lost raw emerald and put that in there.”
He laughed and kept his hand on her lower back. They continued for half an hour and then were out in the bustling walkway on the other side of the finish line.
She smiled at the dazzled look in his eyes as he was suddenly confronted by over two hundred people in a space that normally contained fifty.
She slid her arm around his waist and steered him through the crowd and out to the merchant laneways. She walked into one of the shops and smiled at the alpha behind the counter. “Ahheel, I need cuffs.”
The alpha grinned. “I knew you couldn’t be that cute with no sex drive.”
“Oh, I have a sex drive, I just usually plow it into the wall.” She looked at the desk in the corner. “Hey, Mini.”
Minutia smiled, and when she looked at Akervel, she blinked. “Wow.” She bent her head and started typing.
Meeda leaned away and looked Akervel up and down. “Okay, I can see it.”
He grinned.
Ahheel looked at them. “So, you two haven’t...”
Meeda shrugged. “A few years ago, or months, I am not good at math. I met him when I was hungry and tried to take a bite. We got our wires crossed, so now we are looking for assistance. We need the fancy cuffs.”
Ahheel grinned. “Right. I happen to have fancy cuffs.” She reached under the counter and brought out two boxes, one in white and one in black.
Meeda sighed. “Since this was my idea, I should probably pay, right?”
Akervel chuckled. “I have a chip from Emerald. It works here.”
Ahheel smiled and presented the pay pad. Akervel extended his hand over it, and the chirp was cheerful.
He took the black cuff and snapped it on his wrist before opening the box with the white cuff, and he lifted Meeda’s hand, kissed her wrist, and then snapped the cuff onto it. The cuffs went through calibration, and then they chirped that they were ready.
He smiled, held his cuff next to hers, and raised his brows at the assessment. “Meeda, you are pricey.”
She looked at the number on her cuff for him. “You are way out of my budget, Akervel.”
“What is the compatibility rating?”
He smiled. “Nearly perfect.”
“What’s missing?” Meeda asked.
He moved her screen on her cuff, and the sexual experience icon indicated differing skill levels.
“Oh. Yeah. That makes sense.” She looked up at him. “Vine taught me to bottle my heats so that it isn’t a rush.”
He blinked. “What?”
“I spent so long a time without—uh—you know, that my body has started fast cycling. It was important to get control of it. There is nothing worse than your body out of your control. I would know.”
He sighed and pulled her into a hug, and at that point, she realized that there was a lot of naked elf pressed against her. The wrap barely covered anything.
She looked up at him and said, “I think we are interfering with commerce.”
A soft and cheerful voice said, “Naw, Meeda. We can wait.”
Meeda froze and turned toward her. “Faline. You... you made it.”
The woman with heterochromia and white hair smiled. “I was stuck as a kitten for a while, but a nice lady here on Wonder took pity on me and took the collar off, so this was my time. I disappeared from Emerald six months ago and returned as a fucking kitten.”
A tanned man with artfully tousled black hair walked up behind her and hugged her, rubbing his face against her neck.
Faline smiled. “Hey, Ever. Where’s your handler?”
“Getting us some juice to celebrate our being the first over the finish line. Those dark elves were pissed.”
“Yeah, well, tough.”
Akervel asked, “Which elves?”
Faline smiled. “Two sets. One set with aquatic markings, and then a giant spider and scorpion with their mate in tow, sometimes tucked against the spider.”
Akervel blinked. “You can see them that clearly?”
Faline looked at him, and her eyes glowed silver. “Of course, sea monster.”
There was a soft sound in the corner, and Meeda looked to see that Mini’s expression was undecipherable. She walked over. “Mini, what is it?”
The whisper was hoarse. “What’s her last name?”
The voice sounded from across the room. “Faline Koshkin, but I write as Faline Kario.”
Ahheel hesitated, unsure of how to soothe her mate. “Mini, is something wrong?”
Mini was crying. “She’s one of the reasons I started writing.
She spoke at a convention back home and told me that while everybody had a story, telling tales that made people feel like they had been in the room with friends was what a lot of people needed.
So, instead of the fancy stuff, I started writing that, and then I could make my own rent and pay for my brother’s wedding prep.
Of course, the wedding didn’t happen, but that was all because someone actually saw me and saw what I could do.
And then I came here, and now I am so happy. ”
Faline smiled. “Your stories were really clear, but you were trying to be something you weren’t. I am very glad you found the song your voice needs to sing.”
Mini ran for her, and Faline hugged her tight. Ahheel blinked and fidgeted.
Ever chuckled. “You can hug them both, alpha.”
She laughed and lunged to hug Faline and Mini.
Akervel asked, “How do you know Faline?”
“We met in shadows.”
“Oh.”
“They forced her into her kitten form and put a jagged collar around her throat, under her skin so that she couldn’t shift. She was gone when we made our escape. We thought she was dead. Vine will be ecstatic.” She brought out her phone and started tapping away.
Faline raised her head from the hug. “Vine is here?”
“She is.” Meeda grinned. “She is on her way with her mate. My sister Mia is coming as well.”
Ahheel grinned. “I will book a table for the ladies at the hotel restaurant. Your guys can do things elsewhere while they chat.”
Mini smiled. “I can hug Faline another time. Are you staying on the island?”
“Yes, I am working for Moira’s design company. I am very good at testing for snags and softness.” Faline smiled. “I am also hell on wheels with a sewing machine and attaching jewels and trims. Oh, and I write for recreation, still.”
Mini exhaled. “Can we have coffee sometime?”
“Does Ahheel let you out of her sight?”
“Sometimes. If I go to the hotel, for sure.”
“Good. I will come by and sweep you away tomorrow.”
Mini grinned and cuddled up against Ahheel. Meeda smiled. The alphas in Mini’s pack were going to have a good night. That was one happy beta.
Meeda looked at Faline and smiled. “You are a little thin, but very wiry. I had no idea that it was you when I was overhead.”
“Ah, big bird. I saw you flying and just hoped you weren’t into kittens.”
Meeda chuckled and grinned. “I have cuddled one a time or two but would like to try it without crying.”
Faline walked up to her and hugged her, and she felt better as a human than she did as a kitten.
The strength and comfort of the contact was the same comfort that Faline had radiated as a kitten, even wounded as she was.
This was miles better. Meeda felt the tears falling, and Faline lifted her head and brushed her cheeks.