“I’ve never heard of a phone.”
Ohhhhhh shit.What kind of backwards world did I land myself in? No phones meant likely no technology at all. Their clothing does have a medieval quality to it. I know I wasn’t sent back in time, but it seems like this realm is like the human one was hundreds of years ago. We are in even more danger than I thought. How would we ever get off this mountain alive?
“Shit, Penny, you’re freezing!” I look up at Ryker and see him looking at me in alarm.
“Y-you must be t-too,” I say through chattering teeth.
“I think I might be used to colder temperatures than you. Besides, your lips are turning blue. Hell, I’m the worst date ever, come here.” He doesn’t wait for me to turn to him, instead he steps in front of me and picks me up. I immediately wrap my body around him like a spider monkey and bury myface in his neck.
He places one arm under my butt while his other wraps around my back. He turns and starts walking again.
I just cling to him for a few minutes, too cold to speak. After a little while, my chattering teeth have stopped and my body feels warm where it’s pressed to him. I can’t help but like him even more. Carrying me and helping to keep me warm shows me he seems to genuinely care about me. It drives me want to know more about him.
“Ryker?” I whisper, tilting my head up to see his face.
“Yes, Penny?” he whispers back.
“Tell me about yourself.”
He’s quiet for a moment before he replies. “What do you want to know?”
“Everything.”
He chuckles. “Okay, how about we take turns asking questions, I want to know about you too?”He does?My insides warm at the thought of him wanting to know more about me. I try to scooch my body a little closer, but considering how I’m already pressed to him, it’s really more of a wiggle.
“Okay, I’ll start. What do you do for a living?”
“I take care of the skyreachers. I train them, care for them. Today I was taking care of the skyreachers for anyone at the mating hunt.”
“Oh no! I hope I won’t get you in trouble for leaving in the middle of it?” I ask, worried.
“Nah, I’ll be able to get another job. They won’t be happy that I’m not there to get their birds ready for their departure, but they can all do it themselves if they have to.”
“Whose bird did I… borrow? Will they be upset?”
He chuckles. “You mean stole? I can’t actually remember the man’s name. But don’t worry, Harriet will find her way back to them. Skyreachers are smart like that.
“Skyreachers, that’s a good name for them.”
“I suppose it is.”
I smile into his neck while he asks his question. “Why were you in the cave? Why were you at the mating hunt? Why were you alone?”
“Alright, birdman, that’s three questions. And the answer is a little… complicated.”
Before I continue, a loud roar fills the air, making Ryker jump back a step. I loosen my grip and turn to see a giant white beast in front of us. It looks similar to a saber-tooth tiger with two giant canine teeth extending below its jaw.
Ryker turns and drops me on my feet, spinning back around to put himself between me and the beast.Dammit, just when I found the perfect guy, he was going to be killed by a giant prehistoric cat!
Before my life flashes before my eyes, a large fur coveredthingjumps out between us and the beast, letting out an ungodly roar in its direction. The beast quickly tucks its tail and runsaway from us.
As the new creature turns to us, I peek out from behind Ryker. My wide eyes take him in as I whisper in awe, “Wow, a yeti!”
CHAPTER FIVE
BRAXTON
The roar of the snowprowler has me running in its direction. The beast should know better than to hunt in my territory. Any animals it finds are mine. He has his own hunting grounds that I don’t cross, and he knows not to cross mine. It must be something really enticing to make him come this far North.
