I can feel the warmth of this day’s first sun start to creep into our hut and I stretch, blindly reaching out for my mate in our nest. My hands find nothing, and it is enough to force my sleep-heavy eyes open and suck in a breath to find the nest empty.
“I don’t know what you did, Ricky, but you better hope you canundoit.”
Chaz-Titi steps into my hut without invitation, standing before me with her hands on her hips.
“What-?” I have barely gotten my waking wits about me, and now this female is here, giving me an accusatory look first thing this morning. “Where is Polly?” I ask, squinting at my friend. I assume she left to find nourishment to break her fast, leaving me to rest alone. I do not like the thought, but if she was hungry and I was asleep, I will not begrudge my female for leaving to find food.
Chaz-Titi crosses her arms over her chest. “She’s gone with Zarriko’s guys. Did y’all have a fight or something? She said you agreed for her to go, but looking at you now, that was obviously a lie.”
The suddenness of the way my heart plummets painfully almost leaves me gasping for air.
I am up and out of my hut instantly, running forward before turning back around and stalking back to Chaz-Titi again. “What do you mean she has gone with Zarriko’s males?” My mind cannot comprehend such a thing. Surely I misheard the female?
My friend shakes her head and shrugs, and it is not getting the answer out of her mouth fast enough. I grab the tops of both her arms and jostle the female a little, as if this will make her words fall loose. “Chaz-Titi,” I growl, holding her tighter - perhaps even too tight, but I have no time to care for that. “Where… Is… My… Mate?”
“Protector Aloryk!” my High Spear’s voice booms, cutting through my rising anger like a life-stone blade. “Leave the female alone.”
I drop my tight grip from Chaz-Titi’s arms and turn to High Spear Rynn as he approaches, flanked by his mate and Second Spear Mavyx. “But-…” I start, feeling my chest tighten painfully. I can barely breathe. “Polly-”
“She has gone to Zarriko’s tribe, yes,” Rynn says, coming to a stop before me, his expression stern, but concerned.
I shake my head. “I do not understand. Why did no one stop them from taking her from me? She is my mate!”
It is then that my High Spear’s eyes drop to my chest, a terrible look of pity crossing his face.
They didn’t stop her, because to anyone else, she is not mine.
Butsheknew. Polly knew she is everything to me, my female, my mate, and everything I am is hers in turn. Heart-stars or not, I wear her name over my heart because it is hers alone, she knew this… did she not?
I catch myself from sinking into that feeling of despair. There has been some kind of horrible mistake. I need to see my female. “I need someone to take me to Zarriko’s tribe,” I say, my voice hard as I stare at my High Spear.
Rynn sighs, a muscle in his jaw ticking as he works it. And it is then that I know he cannot help in this matter. As far as everyone else is concerned, I have no heart-stars, I have no claim, and Polly has chosen to leave this tribe.
Turning back inside, I retrieve my spear and an extra dagger.
I may be a broken male unable to take to the skies for my female, but I have working legs to take me.By the Goddesses!Even if I were broken in that regard too, I willcrawlthe length of all lands to reach my Polly.
Chapter 30 - Polly
You know that ‘oh shit, should I really be doing this?’ feeling? Yeah, that kicked in pretty much as soon as I saw just how much jungle we were soaring over to reach the other tribe.
But then I remembered Aloryk’s lie.
And yes, maybe I should have stayed and confronted him on it. Maybe I should have gotten to the bottom of all this mess. If he really has been dreaming of Delphi now instead of me, if she is the one who is meant to be his ‘forever mate’ then it probably would be better to just rip the band-aid off and face it. Hell, I probably would have still asked to come along with these guys because I couldn’t stick around and watchthatromance unfold. It would feel like torture.
But I wouldn’t have been a coward about it all - sneaking out at daybreak and making up lies about Aloryk and I not being mates after all.
Well… maybe they’re not lies? Maybe he only thought that when he met me by some kind of genetic proxy? Maybe it was a Jacob-Bella-Renesmee deal… except a little less fucked up.
Only a little.
Because mistaking someone for the love of your life because they share some genetics with your actual lover is still messy as fuck.
I glance down at the semi-permanent tattoo I’d given myself - the one I was meant to give Aloryk to match.Finders-Keepers.God, I want to hurl. No one ever wants to ‘keep’ me. And why would they, if they can have someone like Delphi? I can’t even hate her at this point. Her and Aloryk will look so good together - like they were made for each other.
I’m not at the point that I can wish them well as a couple yet.
Maybe one day.
