“I will go with you,” he murmured.
“No, rest,” she said, gently pushing him back down when he tried to rise.“I won’t be long.”
Kate slid away from him before he could say more and shrugged on her robe, tying it into place.It would at least provide some protection from the cold as she went about her business.
The morning was crisp and fresh when she emerged from the tent and she couldn’t stop the smile from appearing.Shelovedmornings like this and briefly, she wondered whether the seasons changed on Luxiria, like they did on Earth.Would Luxiria see a winter?Or was it perpetually summer on their mountain?
True to her word, she didn’t venture far.Her bladder was like the size of a pea during her pregnancy, something that amused her mate greatly whenever she went scurrying to the bathroom.Thankfully, Luxirians believed in working plumbing, but whenever Kate and Vaxa left the city, she had to squat to relieve herself.
Once she was done, she emerged from the private little cluster of trees, readjusting her robe.Just as their tent came into view, a plume of smoke rising from the opening at the top, she saw something move out of the corner of her eye.
Kate froze.
At first, she thought the tall Luxirian male that stood just beyond the tree line of their clearing was Vaxa.He looked the same height and build, the same long dark hair, the same proud curling horns.
Except it wasn’t.
This Luxirian wasn’t dressed in the leather pants and soft tunic shirt that most males in the Golden City wore.He was wearing something that resembled a loincloth for one and he was bare-chested.No gold bands circled his arms or wrist, but his nipples were pierced through, just like the warriors that had completed military training.
He was watching her with piercing blue eyes, his hand tight on the spear weapon he grasped.He was wearing a fur throw over his shoulders for warmth, but it shocked her how…primitive he looked.
She opened her mouth but no sound came out and unconsciously, she moved a hand to place over her belly, protecting her child just in case.Her eyes flickered to the tent where her mate slept and she wondered just how long this intruder had been hanging around their tent.Had he been watching them this entire time or had he just come across them that morning?
Kate’s movement drew his hand to her stomach and she saw his eyes widen.He took a step towards her, reaching out a hand, but before she could make a startled sound, she heard Vaxa.Relief crashed through her as he called for her from inside the tent, his voice rough and slightly panicked.
He appeared a moment later, storming from the flaps of the tent, naked as the day he was born, his eyes darting around the clearing.When Kat turned back to where she’d seen the other Luxirian…he was gone.He’d disappeared into thin air it seemed.
“Kat,” Vaxa murmured, hurrying to her, encircling her in his arms as his eyes continued to scan the jungle.
“There…there was a male,” she said quietly, pointing a finger to where she’d seen him.“He was watching me…just there.”
Vaxa was silent and when she looked up at his face, his expression was drawn and intense.
“I thought you said no one knew where this place was,” she said.She was slightly shaken from the encounter.The male hadn’t harmed her…but he could have.Kate had seen the quickness and the strength of Luxirians.And she knew that he had been as puzzled by the sight of her as she had been from him, as if he’d never seen a human before.That was when she knew he wasn’t from the Golden City, or any of the outposts…
“I said that no one outside of my family knows about it,” he said, swallowing, his eyes never leaving the spot from where she pointed.
“Your family?” she whispered, her eyes widening, casting her head about the clearing once more.“Your…you mean…was that yourbrother?”
Vaxa stayed silent, cocking his head to listen.His mouth was drawn down into the deepest frown she had ever seen etched into his face and his body was tight with tension.
“I felt him,” he said quietly.“Just like when we were young…”
Because blood connected Luxirians, she realized.Was it like the blood bond she shared with Vaxa?It made sense.
As if confirming her suspicions, he suddenly yelled, “Jaxor’an!”
He waited, his entire body going still.Kate’s heart pounded in her chest and she knew that Vaxa would be able to feel it.
He tried again.“Jaxor’an!”
There was no response.The jungle remained quiet, except for the breaths of the trees.
SIXTEEN
Vaxa was quiet during the journey home.
Her heart ached for him.He’d told her about his brother briefly and she’d learned more from Keriva…like how the brothers were polar opposites, how Jaxor’an had left the Golden City after their parents’ death in search of the rogue tribe of Luxirians.Even though Vaxa had seemed almost dismissive when he told her these things, the expression on his face told her that he had loved his brother very deeply.It told her that he was still very hurt by his brother’s abandonment.
