I caught two. Killed them cleanly. Brought them back to the cave and prepared them: skinned, gutted, cut into portions she could actually eat. I couldn't cook them, no fire source that wouldn't damage the caves, but I could make them safe for human consumption. Slice the meat thin enough that her teeth could handle it.
She woke while I was working.
"What are you doing?" Her voice was hoarse from screaming.
"Courtship ritual." I kept my focus on the meat. "I should have done this before breeding you. But I lost control. This is how I fix that."
"Courtship ritual?"
"I hunt. I provide. I offer you my kill." I finished preparing the meat and arranged it on a flat stone. Carried it to her. Knelt. "Will you accept my offering?"
She looked at the meat. Then at me. Her eyes were softer than I'd ever seen them. "Yes."
I should have felt relief. Instead I felt something bigger. Something that made my chest tighten in ways I didn't have words for.
She ate. Not much, her stomach couldn't handle more after days of minimal food. But she ate what I'd brought. Accepted my provision.
When she finished, she wiped her hands on a scrap of cloth and moved to the cave wall. Found her chalk. Started drawing.
I watched her work. She drew quickly, confidently. The images appeared: tall buildings, underground tunnels, factories. A woman with her face shape, older and tired. Her mother. Then smaller images: container stacks she'd climbed, narrow spaces, the careful routes she'd mapped.
"This is where I came from," she said. Not looking at me. Still drawing. "This is what I'm giving up to stay here. My past. My mother. Everything I was before." She finished the last drawing and turned to face me. "It's yours now. All of it. Part of the bond."
Smart female. She understood. The courtship required exchange: my provision for her trust. My protection for her vulnerability. My future for her past.
I moved to kneel in front of her.
"Will you bear my young?" The formal words. The ones required by tradition. "Will you transform? Will you bond with me permanently?"
She didn't hesitate. "Yes."
"The bond will make you dependent. You'll need daily breeding for the rest of your life. Miss even one day and you'll go into withdrawal. Your body will crave mine specifically. No one else will satisfy you."
"Good."
That made me pause. "Good?"
"I don't want anyone else to satisfy me." She reached out, touched my face. "Just you."
The tightness in my chest got worse.
The bite had to be placed carefully.
Traditionally, it went on the throat. Visible mark. Clear signal to other males. But throat bites were dangerous. Onewrong angle and I could damage her windpipe, her voice, her ability to breathe.
I hesitated. Hands on her shoulders, studying her neck.
"Shoulder," she said.
"What?"
"Put it on my shoulder. Less visible. Less dangerous." She turned her head, exposing the junction of neck and shoulder. "Here."
Smart female. Always thinking tactically.
I positioned her carefully. Seated in my lap, back against my chest, head tilted to give me access. My mouth found the spot she'd indicated, where shoulder met neck, muscle thick enough to take the bite without damage.
"This is going to hurt," I warned.
