Gab-bae shook her head. “Not yet.”
The females solemnly nodded their heads and filed out of the den. Brexl led a very anxious young female with very pale skin as well as a female closer to his age who carried herself as one would if they had slain a boar all on their own.
Rhaz led two females to his burrow; one was shy and hid behind her curly hair the other was the young huntress. Axon led two females to the nearby tree fort. One was pale and cautious and the other was tan-skinned and assessed each of my hunters with a discerning eye. Lumod and Drovo stayed in the den with two females who looked more tired than the rest.
I held out my hand to Gab-bae, “Come, we will go to the northern fort before it gets any darker.”
I was eager to be alone with Gab-bae again. I wanted more than anything for her to show me all the ways in which I could pleasure her and for her to kiss me again.
Chapter 13
Tarak
The fort wasn’t far from Orsu’s den but I still kept my guard up, watching out for any predators that might attack us.
We got to the base of the tree and I realized the only way that Gab-bae would be able to climb the tree would be on my back. There were no hand holds with which to climb. Everyone in my dekes had claws, so there’d never been a need to carve out hand holds to climb trees.
“How do you get up there? There’s no ladder.”
I slid my long claws out, which gleamed in the moonlight.
“Oh.” Realization dawned on her face.
“Climb on my back and I will get us both up the tree.”
She put one hand on my shoulder and a foot on my thigh and climbed onto my back. I loved feeling the warmth of her body against mine, there was a rightness to it. I hoped to feel more of her warmth once we were alone together.
“Wow it’s much bigger than it looks from down below. It’s like a cross between a treehouse and a deer blind.”
I grunted in response, not knowing what either of those things were. I rolled out the furs I had packed and sat down. I motioned for Gab-bae to do the same. She did so, and as she sat the moonlight illuminated her face, giving her a breathtaking glow. My heart ached to see Gab-bae glow for me, but it was too much to hope for luminescence.
Thinking of the moon reminded me that the big moon would be full tomorrow and I’d have to leave Gab-bae almost as soon as we returned to the mountain.
Her face was turned away from me as she took in the sight of the forest under the moonlight. I tucked some hair behind her rounded ear, causing Gab-bae to turn around and give me a smile that filled my soul with joy.
“I will miss seeing your smiles tomorrow night when I will have to part from you.”
Gab-bae’s smile turned into a frown. “Why do you have to leave?”
I pointed up to the sky. “The big moon will be full tomorrow night. Every shifter in my dekes will go off to a private place away from the mountain.”
Gab-bae’s brows furrowed in a cute annoyed expression. “Why?”
“We cannot control our shifting when the big moon is full. When the elders first brought us to the home mountain, there were only seven of them and nine of us. We were young and unable to control our beasts. So for everyone’s safety, we agreed to leave the mountain when the moon was full.”
“But that was when you were young, do you still struggle to control your beast?”
I hadn’t until I met Gab-bae. Now my beast yearned to be let loose to protect her, to keep this precious female safe.
I shook my head. “We are in control of ourselves now, but many of my hunters still feel shame about their shifting abilities. I think many of them have grown comfortable with being alone during the full moon.”
“That’s understandable,” Gab-bae was quiet for a moment as she looked down at the furs and ran her fingers along the soft hide. “Would you consider staying in the mountain tomorrow night?”
I lifted her chin so her gaze would meet mine. “I will go wherever you want me to.”
The corner of her mouth turned up in a smile and I longed to touch those soft lips.
“May I kiss you, Gab-bae? I want to feel your lips pressed against mine. I want to taste you and hear you moan.”
