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All is quiet, the valley silent for the first time in weeks.

I run. I race as fast as my legs will carry me, moving towards where I will meet up with my mate. My dreams have been full of nightmares—that Aidy and Valmir did not get away. That the snow-people found them escaping and tore them to pieces. That they grew lost in the snows and froze to death. A dozen horriblescenarios had filled my mind, making me run even faster. My legs threatened to give out and my lungs burned and still I ran.

And now she is here in my arms, and the scent of strangers is nearby and I find I cannot care, because Aidy is here and beautiful and laughing and I feel such joy as I hold her close.

Nothing else matters.

"How did it go?" she asks me, breathless. Her gaze is wide, hungry for details.

I lean in and press a kiss to her forehead. "It went as we planned."

"Then we're free?"

"Free," I agree. The word feels…incredible. Like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I am free to do as I choose, free to spend my time with my mate and no one else. There is no army to direct, no game to be forced through. I am…unchained.

It is a glorious feeling.

Aidy pulls back and gazes up at me, her expression uncertain. "There's a stranger in the cave, just so you know."

I stiffen. "Not another metlak?"

Her lips twitch with a hint of amusement. "No, this is a woman. A human woman. She says she traveled looking for Valmir and she was with two others. She knew who I was."

I say nothing. If there is no game, what will they think of the fact that I took Aidy away? Will they think I stole her from them? Valmir was a gladiator. He knows that females are prized and usually kept apart from us.

She squeezes my arm as if to reassure me. "If you don't want to go with them, we won't. I'll go with you wherever you feel most comfortable. We're a team. Always have been."

"Will they try to separate us?" When she shakes her head, I ask a second, equally important question. "Is it true that they have a healer?"

"They do. April—that's the woman—was teasing Valmir about being injured out here." She grimaces comically. "They're resonating and not super cool with it, it seems."

My fears are laid to rest, though. If there is a healer, and they will not separate us, we want to be with these people. Aidy is safer with them, and I am…tired. Tired of fighting alone, tired of having to spend every moment trying to survive. I would like to spend a few hours in bed with Aidy and not worry that our situation will fall apart. "If they will lead us to the village, I am ready to go."

Aidy beams up at me with relief, hugging me once more. "I have a feeling everything's going to be all right."

I hope so.

CHAPTER

THIRTY

CORVAK

Even though Iknow we are meeting up with others, I am unprepared for the first glimpse of them. April had said that they were hunting for Valmir, and I had expected to see another praxiian, or perhaps another human. I expected them to look as tired and worn as Valmir.

I'm unprepared for the bright red, vigorous male that raises an arm and waves us down from across the valley, or for the hulking male a few steps away from him with the thick neck and strange fur patterns. He looks to be a formidable opponent, and I immediately calculate the best way to get him off guard. A leg sweep, perhaps? A thumb dug into the underside of one arm or between the ribs? Is he part praxiian or something else?

"Ho," calls the bright red male—an a'ani. He's covered in tattoos and his dark hair is shorn short, but there's a cockiness to his expression that tells me that he is a gladiator. When he looks at me, he sizes me up at a glance. I recognize that look, and I am determined to show no weakness. Him being a'ani already tells me much—the ancient race is cloned for grunt work, but if he'sa gladiator that means he is crafty and skilled, and one to watch out for.

I don't like it. It immediately sets me on edge, and I instinctively move closer to Aidy, wanting to protect her.

"Looks like we found a few new friends," he calls out, a big grin on his face. There is a smaller female at his side, one with dark skin and fascinatingly beautiful curly hair. She holds a spear and has two long plank-like things tied across her back, as does the a'ani male. "Greetings! I am Thrand and this is my lovely mate, Nadine."

Nadine nods at us, her gaze watchful, as if she is deciding if we are friendly or not.

"And this is U'dron, but his mate is back at camp taking care of the kits." Thrand gestures at the thickly built male with the strange fur pattern.

I indicate myself and then Aidy. "I am called Corvak, and this is my mate, Aidy." I eye U'dron suspiciously and decide to get the biggest question out of the way. "What sort of splice are you? Mesakkah and what else?"