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Even though I know she has to be hungry, Crystal only picks at her food, her gaze rarely leaving Emily. Her mood grows darker and more anxious as the minutes tick by without the other woman waking up.
But then, I notice movement from across the room and I realize it’s the flutter of Emily’s lashes against her cheeks. Her deep inhale of air sounds loud in the too quiet room, and we all sit up in alert. Warrix quickly moves to check his patient’s vital signs, the scanner in his hand.
The scanner beeps after a moment and Warrix’s fangs flash as a smile spreads across his lips as he reads the results displayed on the screen. “I believe she will be all right. Most of Emily’s vital signs are within normal range.”
As the last words leave his mouth, Emily slowly blinks her eyes open and then, she turns her head to take us in. Her voice is low and scratchy when she speaks.
“It wasn’t a dream. The big teal guys are real.”
Chapter 32
Draggar
“These humans are odd beings.” Sorrin mutters as he continues to tend to the fire blazing in the clearing. The usually carefree smile that graces his face is gone and has been replaced with a bewildered scowl.
“The strangest. The female with hair that is so dark it looks like the night sky told me that I smell like cinnamon. I do not know what this cinnamon is, but it must be very bad.” Enosir tosses a small stick into the flames and sniffs in disbelief. “I washed just this morning. I do not understand how I smell bad.”
“Aria.” Maalin speaks softly without looking up from where he is busy sharpening the blade of his hunting knife.
Enosir tosses another stick in the fire and grunts. “What?”
“The one with hair as dark as the night sky is called Aria.” He names off the other females one by one, never once breaking his concentration from his task.
“How do you know that?” Enosir questions, his brow furrowed in annoyance.
“I listen more than I speak. It is why Laediriians were blessed with such capable ears.” A glint twinkles in Maalin’s eyes as he pauses his work and glances up before adding, “It might help to learn the females’ names if you hope to mate with one of them. I do not think they like being called female very much.”
There is a chuckle from the warriors gathered around the fire as we all recall what happened earlier in the day. One of the humans practically snarled at Enosir after he had gone to tell them the midday meal was ready. She had objected to him calling out, ‘Females, it is feeding time.’
Enosir’s face darkens with embarrassment as he sputters that he has no desire to be mated with one of the frail humans. It is patently obvious from the way he quickly glances over to the wrecked ship where the females are that he is not being entirely truthful.
But I must agree with Sorrin and Enosir. The females do seem odd at times, but they are an entirely different species. Differences that might seem strange to us are to be expected, and if they are anything like my beautiful mate, Haley, those differences make them special.
They may not have the physical strength or size our species is known for, but the humans are stronger than even I realized. Their perseverance and courage would put any warrior to shame.
Without my mate’s help in calming the humans’ fears, our meeting would not have gone so well. Blissful pride warms me as I think of her. The urge to seek out Haley is strong, even now, but I push it down, content to know that the echo of her inside me glows with happiness.
My mate needs this time with the other humans to laugh and bask in the relief of being reunited with her friends.
I glance over and see my cousin emerge from the wreckage with one of the humans by his side. They huddle together discussing the object that he holds in his hands. Vrenner and the female, who I think is named Isabella, have spent much of the day tinkering with the tech inside the ship after she declared she was something called a technophile. He was reluctant to accept her assistance until she assured him that she would not get in his way, but now it seems he has overcome his earlier hesitancy.
I know Vrenner planned to strip the ship of much of the valuable technological parts that might be of use and Maalin will recover any of the other materials that the tribe might need. There are already four packs filled full of salvaged goods, mostly scraps of metal, chips, and solar and lunar energy cells, waiting to be transported back to the village.
Hopefully they will finish stripping the vessel of its useable materials by the time Warrix declares the unwell female has recovered enough to travel.
Warrix has been busy tending to his patient all while having his every move watched by the loud female with the spear. He came to the fire earlier to retrieve an evening meal for himself, his patient, and the loud female who has appointed herself as a protector. He said then that he suspected Emily would be well enough to travel in two days’ time, but he cautioned that we will need to travel at an even slower pace during our return to the village and the injured female will need to be carried.
The sound of laughter breaks into my thoughts, and I watch as my mate and some of the other humans emerge from the ship. As she steadily makes her way to me, a wide smile spreads across her face as she responds to something one of her friends says.
I chuckle softly when I notice the warriors sitting around the fire sit up straighter as soon as they notice the females. It is clear they hope to find spirit mates of their own.
Haley’s smile grows when she spots me, and she increases her pace until she reaches me. The other females slow their steps as they grow near and approach much more cautiously, although they no longer seem to watch us as if they expect us to attack them like wild animals. It is a small improvement, but it is a welcome one.
As Haley settles down beside me, she leans over to join her lips with mine in a kiss that is far too short and leaves me wanting more. Her soft gaze twinkles with laughter as she pulls away, before she turns and smiles encouragingly at her friends, motioning for them to join us.
The females look reluctant, but they slowly move closer and take their places near my mate. Frowns line most of their faces, except the two younger ones. The small kitling and the youngling are busy studying us with bright, curious gazes that remind me of the young members of my tribe.
Beng leaves piled high with cooked anuroi meat are passed around to the females. Maalin found a large bed of casae tubers nearby, and he dug them up and roasted them over the fire until they were soft inside. Enosir and Sorrin built a second smaller fire, and they have a portion of the meat drying over it, so that we will have plenty of food reserves for our journey in case we cannot find any fresh game. In addition to the meat and the tubers, the males pass around a bag of bilb berries that I picked earlier in the day.
