Page 31 of 20% Stud 80% Muffin
“This way,” I shouted, breaking the Rock Dwellers’ trance and capturing the enforcers’ attention. “This is Makir’s trapline. We need to follow it.”
An enforcer bent to collect the beaver from the snare. “Leave it,” I commanded, my voice shockingly deep, “we’ll collect it on the way back.”
JayJay’s long legs caught up with me in no time. He wove effortlessly through the jagged boulders beside me like a trained soldier. “Slow down, Geo.” JayJay grabbed my shoulder and placed leather gloves on my tattered hands. Tino and Sully were nearly invisible they trailed so far behind.
The enforcers’ voices rose and fell as they grumbled about the terrain cutting up their boots and exclaimed over the white beavers caught in the snares of the trapline we followed.
I leaped over boulders and stumbled over shale-like shards of rock. All force and no finesse, I battled against the final grains of sand as they dropped through the hourglass.
JayJay grabbed the back of my belt, jolting me. “Stop,” he rumbled.
I gasped, searching for an elusive full breath. We stood at the edge of a sheer drop-off, a vast plateau spread as far as the eye could see. Early morning mist parted, revealing a patchwork of wispy brown clouds intermixed with green grass.
JayJay’s brow ridges relaxed and almost disappeared into his forehead. “It’s beautiful.” A chorus of awe-filled breaths followed closely behind.
“Let’s go,” I grunted.
Panic consumed me. The bond rattled like a prison chain, and the fiery itch spread to my pulsing forearms. My internal GPS told me the most direct route would be straight off the cliff edge. I was tempted to jump and hope for the best, but the rational part of my brain took control, aided by JayJay’s quick save, and logic prevailed.
Tino lurched to a stop beside us overlooking the cliff, shading his eyes with a giant hand. “There! I see movement. Four bodies.”
My heart soared as I sped toward the blue fuzzy one. Rocks skidded out from under my feet as I descended—the curves of the winding path brought me closer with each expansion of my rib cage. Yet, my senses still warned of danger.
“Hello there, is all well?” Behind me, Sully’s baritone carried down the cliff to the plateau below as I surged forward.
“They’re waving us down.” Sisip’s voice grew distant as she directed everyone to continue along the same path.
A rock shot out from under my foot as I sprinted, nearly faceplanting and I slowed for a second to catch my breath and wipe the sweat from my brow.
Finally, my boots sank into short grass. “Makir?” I shouted.
I rounded a boulder and my gaze landed on him, desperately assessing. Bent over with my hands on my knees, panting, I swallowed around the lump in my throat.
His arms dripped with blood, yet even amid the gore, my heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. His glorious blue mane framed his face in a messy knot, highlighting the sharp angles of his cheekbones and square jaw. Deep shadows darkened his eyes, but he appeared fine. Crouched on his haunches, he butchered what must have been a mantu. Long and shaggy, its coat wouldn’t have looked out of place on a highland cow.
“Geo,” he groaned. His lavender eyes swirled and locked on mine, tail erect.
“You can’t be here! Blant this temporary bond,” Makir muttered.
My head spun. It felt as if I’d been shoved over the cliff’s edge. He didn’t want me here?
12
The smell of warmsummer fields assaulted my senses. “Geo.” I inhaled deeply, unable to fight against my instincts any longer. Heat swamped me. Every nerve tingled and needed to be soothed by my mate.
My mate?
No! Geo was not my mate. The bond was incomplete. I wrestled against my omega’s base needs, struggling to regain control of my body. With the rag tucked in my pocket, I wiped my arms and hands clean of mantu blood.
Last night’s gruesome feeding frenzy had left the grassy plateau soaked with blood and strewn with bodies. In the safety of the daylight, the four of us butchered as efficiently as we could, but with so much waste,my heart hurt.
The tether snapped and settled. When Geo approached, hesitant step by hesitant step, mind-numbing heat spread low in my groin, and my passage relaxed and grew slick with wax. “You can’t be here.” I moaned and clamped my hand over my nose to block his scent. That never worked.
The need to get Geo somewhere alone before my omega instincts completely took over consumed me. With my heat near its peak, it left no room for playing shy. We needed privacy. “D’irk,” I called out, “Me and Geo are mapping out the cave we found earlier.”
With only minutes of clear brain function remaining, I no longer cared how much sense I made. D’irk tipped his head deeply to the side. Geo’s hands spread palms up in front of him as he inched toward me. He appeared equally confused at my words. D’irk’s expression morphed into relief as reinforcements flooded onto the plateau. So many more animals could be preserved now with all the extra hands.
“Hope you boys and girls are ready to get dirty.” D’irk chuckled in the distance, but I only had eyes for Geo.
