Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 68478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
The male stops pulling the guts out and pauses to talk to the female. I study them and determine this must be his mother, not his mate. She is much older, and his manner reminds me of my brothers with my mother—affectionate but impatient. I am curiously relieved, and watch as they continue to talk. My gaze always strays back to the male. From this distance I cannot make out his features, but I like the way he moves, strong and sure. My heart flutters in my chest when he flicks his tail and turns his back on the female, returning to his project. He pulls a few more parts out, and the female returns to the ship, shivering like the humans do, even on a pleasant day. I wait for her to leave, and then when I know the male is alone, I emerge from my hiding spot.
I am excited to talk to him. I have so many questions to ask. Did he come here with humans? Is he bringing mates to the others? Is he…looking for a mate? The thought makes my entire body flush with excitement. I pick my steps carefully in the snow, moving silently as any good hunter does.
As I venture closer, I get a better look at his face. He is turned to the side, but I can see that he has proud features and a noble nose. He is handsome, too, just like I knew he would be, and the line of his jaw is proud and unyielding. His eyes are shielded by heavy brows, and plated like my own. I cannot get over how different—but similar—he is to the males in my tribe. He is so like us, and yet…so much handsomer. I could stare at this appealing face for days and never grow bored. The differences are fascinating—like his tail. He has a tail, but for some reason it is blunted, half the length of my own. Has it always been like that, or did he lose it in an accident? His horns with the strange shiny tips fascinate me, as does the fact that his mane is gone. I can see dark stubble on his scalp, and it highlights the strong lines of his skull. Fascinating. He turns to the side, studying one of the parts he has pulled from the underbelly of the cave, and I realize that the dark shadows I thought were from the ship are something else entirely. He has…designs on his face. Celebration designs, like the ones I paint on the others when we have a feast. One entire side of his face is marked with them.
I gasp at the sight, because it is beautiful and surprising all at once. Is he celebrating something today?
He straightens, turning toward me. His eyes go wide at the sight of me, and he looks me up and down, as if unable to believe that I am here.
“Greetings to you,” I call out.
“Kzzv si metalsivak?”
His eyes are dark, I realize. There is no glow of a khui inside them. It is like when the humans first arrived and their eyes were dead. Creepy. I hold back a shiver.
He stares at me expectantly. I do not know his words, and the way he watches me fills me with a new feeling—worry. Is…is he not here to visit, then? I feel shy under the weight of his gaze, which is strange. I am not normally flustered, but this is also the first time I have ever talked to a male not in my tribe. I pick up one of the pieces of the cave and hold it out to him. “Do you need this?”
He squints, and it is clear he does not understand my words. His gaze moves over my body again, and I feel a tingle of excitement and pleasure as he studies me. He is looking at me like the other males regard their mates. It makes my nipples tighten with excitement, and I feel a warm pulsing between my thighs. He looks at me the way I want to be looked at by a male, I realize. Not like Sessah with his silly devotion, or Taushen with his impatient courting. He devours me with his eyes and I…I like it.
The male says something again, and I frown, because I want to understand his words. I offer him the cave part I hold in my hand, curious if that is what he wants. As I get nearer to him, I start to tremble in my belly. It’s strange, because I do not feel fear. If anything, I am excited and aroused by the sight of this male. I take another step closer to him…and then it hits me.
Resonance.
The tremble in my belly is not trembling, after all.
It is my khui, singing with such force that it is making my entire body shake. The song rises in my throat, and I stare at this male in wonder. This stranger, this handsome hunter with paint on his face and strange shiny horns is to be my mate. We will make kits together and he will hold me in his arms and we will be a family.