Page 13

Juk

Day 11

T he next morning my hearts feel heavy. Leesa’s angry words echo in my head throughout the night, and sleep eludes me. I take Tabros’s guard shift since I am awake anyway.

By the time the sun rises, the clouds are thick and cover the sky in a dark grey shroud. The sun is nowhere to be seen as the wind whips through our encampment. The fire flickers endlessly, threatening to blow out with every gust that comes through.

Its flickering flame wavers uncertainly, much like my intuition. Something gnaws at it, twisting with unease in my stomach. It makes my shoulders tense and my senses alert. Nothing feels off in the scent of the wind, but something is coming. Something I cannot see.

“Juk.”

I turn away from the sled I am packing, securing the rescue items within. Kalpa is careless with his pulling, jostling the supplies around while he runs. It is nothing to fuss over, but I find my hands need to be kept busy to keep my mind clear.

My alpha comes towards me. His white hair flickers in the wind, whipping around his face as the gusts grow angrier. “Are you alright? Tabros says you did not sleep.”

“I am fine, alpha,” I say. Axyll’s eyes narrow at me, his Seeker’s ability able to see my unease clouding my aura. “Something does not feel right, but I cannot place what it is.”

“The storm perhaps?” Axyll asks as he gestures to the growing winds around us. Small flurries of snow start to fall, and the nip in the air picks up. It will be cold for the females on this day, colder than the one before. We will need to move swiftly.

My lips purse into a thin line. It could be the storm, that is true. “Perhaps. It is unclear to me. I do not like it.”

Axyll nods and claps a hand on my shoulder. “It will not make for a good day of travel, that is for sure. The females will be frozen in the sled. We’d better start our journey now, before the snowflakes grow fatter.”

We are fast to pack up the camp and females, and start our journey. Our next planned stop is quite far away. With good weather, we would get there just after sunset. But in this weather, I fear we will not even make it halfway.

The pack moves as fast as possible. Wind whips through my fur, pushing it in every direction as the icy flakes stick to each end. The cold bites through to the skin, something that is rare for a Celetan.

I glance back at the females huddled in the large sled. They are nothing but blurs through the white whirl of the storm. The sled is right behind me, and yet it takes my Seeker to ensure that they are alright, as my eyes struggle to see through the snow. It pierces through the blinding wind and makes note of each female. The three of them are huddled together. Snow and ice cling to them as it does our fur, but they are not in distress. Not yet.

We press on a bit longer. It is not until it is just past noon that Axyll lets out a howl, the signal that we must find shelter. We will not make it to our planned destination today, not in this storm. The flurries are so thick now I can barely make out the alpha in front of me.

Tabros runs up to Axyll, and the two shortly converse. It’s a series of growls and snarls that I barely hear over the wind, and then we’re off.

Baz runs close to the sled by my side, likely checking on the females as we race through the wind. My nerves spike as my intuition incessantly tells me something is wrong—or will be—and for a moment, I worry for the females in the sled. Perhaps they were more frozen than I thought, than my Seeker could see.

Baz would stop us if something was wrong, I remind myself. And yet, I cannot help but picture the females back there, frozen as icicles.

Soon, I see where we are headed. There is a small hunter shelter tucked into one of the mountain’s faces up ahead. However, it is tiny. One of the smallest caves we have claimed as a shelter for our pack. I wonder how we will all fit in there, what the alpha’s plan is, but I understand it is the closest cave to us. The females will not last much longer in this storm.

Tabros is in his ancestral form by the time I arrive with the larger sled. Naked, as the supplies are with Kalpa next to me. He is quick to help the females out, and usher them into the cave.

I watch them carefully. They are frozen, moving with slow, stiff movements, and I can hear the chatter of their teeth over the wind. My eyes watch Leesa until she disappears into the shelter of the cave and out of the harsh wind.

Kalpa and I hesitate with the sleds. There is nowhere for us to store them safely. They will be buried under the snow by the time the storm passes. It is a matter for us to figure out in the morning, lest we be buried with them.

We shift quickly outside. I do not worry about Leesa hearing the snap of our bones, for the wind is so loud. The sound still bothers her and I wish I knew why. I hate that something so natural to us causes her discomfort.

Inside the cramped cave, Kalpa hands out loincloths to the waiting Celetans. Modesty, for the females’ sake. Though they look too frozen to care or glance at our icy cocks.

The three of them are huddled together in one corner. Axyll murmurs angrily under his breath. He tries to build a fire, but it is useless. This cave is a so small, only meant for emergencies, such as this, but not for so many people. And it is meant to be used in our celestial form.

There is no firepit here. Tabros has grabbed some of the fuel starters we packed in the supply sled, and the two of them have made a small spot in the centre of the floor. But the wood is damp from the storm and will not stay alight.

“I-it won’t k-k-k-keep?” Ee-vee asks Axyll as she breaks away from Leesa and Kay-tee.

Axyll shakes his head. “They are too damp from the storm, and there is a wind current that comes in from down that narrow path,” the alpha says. He points to a small pit of blackness near the other end of the short cave, which leads into a narrow, darkened path that we do not use. It is too small. “It keeps extinguishing anything we get started.”

Ee-vee’s already pale face blanches. The scent of her fear permeates, and she glances towards the other two women. “What are we to do then?”

The alpha sighs and glances towards me. The wind screams against the main entrance behind me. It echoes inside, the sound like an angry spirit haunting the cave. I shiver, but not from the cold—from my intuition.

“What do you feel?” Axyll murmurs to me. Ee-vee watches us closely, leaning in to hear, but I shake my head.

“Same as before. I cannot say what.”

Axyll looks back at his mate. He brings her into his arms and hugs her close. They squeeze close together, and she is buried by his height and the blue of his skin. A ripple of envy skitters under my skin as I glance towards Leesa and her small form. Her arm is around Kay-tee, who shakes violently from the cold.

“We will need to huddle together for warmth,” the alpha says at last. He looks down at his mate, who meets his eyes. “This cave is meant for use in our celestial form. We will need to shift back if we wish for any sort of warmth. The weather is too dangerous to move to the next cave.”

“So...” Ee-vee starts. She looks over at the other two hoo-mans again.

“They can choose who they wish to huddle with,” Axyll says at last. “They will be warmest that way. The other two Celetans will crowd the entrance to block out the wind.”

Ee-vee chews on her lip and nods. “I’ll tell the others.”

Axyll nods. He presses his lips to her head, and again, that need, that longing runs through me. Not to press my lips against Ee-vee’s brown hair, but to black, silky strands instead. “We will bring in some rations for you to eat. Then we will need to hunker down until the storm passes, or until morning. Whichever comes first.”

I watch Ee-vee’s movements as she walks over to the other two females. Their heads huddle close together as she explains the situation to them. Suddenly Leesa’s head snaps up and her eyes meet mine. I hold my breath as an unreadable expression crosses her face. Kay-tee surveys the other Celetans, but her eyes linger on Hazen.

Soon the alpha’s mate comes back to us. Axyll still tries to light a fire, but it is fruitless. He pauses his efforts as she relays the decisions back to him.

“Katie will huddle with Hazen, and Lisa with Juk,” she says.

My hearts start to race. They beat out of control as every part of me itches to turn and look over at Leesa. But I fight it. I will not show how it excites me. Not when she is not welcoming yet of our union. Not when she does not understand we are meant to be mates. Not when she spits angry words at me that nothing good has come from being here.

“It is decided then,” Axyll says. “We will go and shift. Tabros will bring you some rations before shifting himself.”

Without another word, I rush back out into the storm and shift the fastest I have ever done.

LISA

I thought I’d felt cold before. Once back home, when we were stuck in a shaft well below the allotted limit, before Chelsea came on board as our Holder, and one of our beams broke due to a code malfunction. It was nearly seventeen hours before we were dug out from that pit. No sunlight, nothing but pitch black as we waited and shivered, Delphine praying quietly the whole time for our rescue.

With a glance over to Katie beside me, I know she’s thinking the same thing: this is worse than that. While the seven of us had huddled together that night, holding one another through the endless darkness and the shaking from the cavern threatening to collapse on us completely, we were no near as cold as we are now.

My teeth cannot stop chattering. It is impossible. Icicles coat my eyelashes and drip from my nose, despite that it is covered over three times with a scarf-like fur that wraps around my face. Any bit of skin exposed feels raw and sore, bitten to death by the raw bite of the unforgiving cold.

Katie shakes uncontrollably beside me. Her eyes don’t leave the alpha’s fruitless attempts to light a fire. No matter how hard he tries, the flames will not stay. And when I see Kalpa shiver from the cold? That’s when I know it is dire.

So, when Evie tells me there’s a way to keep warm, hope floods me. We won’t freeze here tonight. We’ll make it through this storm, find the others, and I’ll be the leader my crew deserves. I won’t fail them as I failed Chunhua and Delphine.

But then she tells us how we will keep warm. And my heart stops. From anticipation or dread, I’m unsure. I swallow thickly before answering, trying to make it seem as though I need to think about my options before I decide on Juk. But in honesty, his name is instantly on the tip of my tongue. I nearly breathe it out, and that alone, scares me.

I am not staying on this planet. Regardless of what may be building inside me.

Minutes tick by, the longest of my life. Longer than when Chunhua’s neck snapped and the Skulchers took us onto their ship. Longer than the ship breaking apart and crashing into the snow.

Soon through the howling winds that scream at the entrance to the cave, three large forms appear. The largest one catches my eye immediately, and my stomach flips.

I hold my breath, my body still shaking from cold, as two of the large wolves approach us. It is easy to discern Hazen from Juk. While still frightening and large, his size is nothing compared to Juk. Even the alpha looks small compared to the giant wolf that looks as though he could eat me whole with one snap of his jaws.

Hazen huffs something at Katie, his disturbing third eye never leaving her face. He shepherds her towards the end of the cave. There, he circles a moment before settling into the ground against a seam in the rock that looks like a narrow path.

Katie does not hesitate to lie down against him. He lays his two tails over her like a blanket, and she nestles in close, too cold to be shy. I must do the same.

Juk is taller than me, even as a wolf. The bottom of his muzzle meets my forehead as I look up at him. He stares down his nose at me, his Seeker looking at me over the end of his snout. It sends a shiver over my body, as though it can see through me. Like it can see my secrets, see the grief that has taken over my heart, the fear that runs through my veins, and see the blush that tries to creep down my chest if it wasn’t so cold. Like it knows how I feel and what I am trying to fight.

Juk herds me over closer to where Hazen and Katie lay. Already with the two of them settled, the cave feels cramped. I don’t know how we expect to fit another couple in here.. and then there is still Kalpa and Baz.

I settle down on the ground near Katie, and wait for Juk to join me. He fumbles a bit with his size, trying to configure himself in a way that leaves enough space for his alpha and Evie.

Once he is settled on the ground, I try to be bold like Katie. But I hesitate. I know this is necessary, but it feels like a line that once crossed, I can’t move back. Am I really debating between huddling with a guy or freezing to death?

White fur greets me as I hold my breath and nestle next to him. The snow sticking to the white strands is melting. Which means, despite how I feel, it is warmer in here than out there.

Juk shifts slightly, and I nestle closer. Before I can think, I rub my face into the fur, the droplets from the melting ice running on my face. I can feel the warmth radiating from his enormous body. It bellows out with each of his breaths, and there, beneath the fur and flesh, I can hear the erratic sound of his hearts.

Somewhere, I recall, it was mentioned they have two hearts. Juk’s beat rapidly. I chalk it up to a normal rate, refusing to think it might be because of me. Just because my heart rate may be elevated due to our forced proximity, doesn’t mean his is the same. Doesn’t mean this means anything more to him than survival.

Two large tails wrap themselves over me. They’re incredibly soft, different than the thick wiry hairs springing from the rest of his body. Their heavy weight comforts me, grounding me to this moment as warmth ebbs back into my body, and my limbs stop shaking. My teeth stop chattering. Something heavy lifts off my shoulders, and it’s not his tails, but the journey itself. The fear and purpose that drives me forward is quiet for a moment, replaced with the whipping of the wind outside, and the two heartbeats hammering in Juk’s chest.

And as my eyes fall heavy, I find myself trying to make sense of the heartbeats, to see if there is a distinguishable pattern between the two, as I drift off into a deep, dead sleep.