Chapter
Eight
E mbarrassing blunder aside, Noelle didn’t hesitate to take Gwum up on his offer. He made the small proviso that they would need to stop by his home first to fulfill his responsibilities but then he would be free to accompany her every step of the way until she reached the supply cargo. Considering what she now knew of the swamp, that made her feel better about striking out once more.
She did notice that he had been acting a bit differently since then. More… intense. His gaze seemed to linger on her longer, though often with a faint look of confusion. Some of those looks, however, lit a hot throb deep within her that she was determined to ignore. She certainly didn’t need to embarrass herself further. And she had spoken truthfully in the heat of the moment, though she had completely misinterpreted his gesture.
United Earth had its laws, and the one regarding interspecies fraternization was in place to protect everyone. Orientation into the exploratory program had stressed the importance of this. Alien genitals could potentially harm their human partners, and that wasn’t even taking into account the social aspects that could potentially endanger a human who attempted to leave their alien lover. Although her protests had been a knee jerk reaction, it had been both humbling and humiliating to realize that he was not even interested.
That had unexpectedly stung.
“Nice going, Noelle,” she muttered to herself as she shoved the collapsed filtration unit next to the few supplies from the trailer in a rucksack. “What did you think this was, an Aturian drama involving illicit cross-species romances?”
A sound from the doorway drew her attention and she glanced up as Gwum slowly entered, his head swiveling as he looked around curiously.
“This place… it was left here by others like you?” he asked.
She bit her lip and glanced around the abandoned trailer. “Yeah. I wish I knew what happened to them. They’ve been presumed dead since they disappeared and yet my translator—the thing that helps me understand and speak your language—produced your language too quickly. It had to be updating from one of them, which would have only been possible if they were alive… somewhere.”
He turned his head toward her as she spoke, his brows rising with interest. He hummed thoughtfully once she fell silent and her breath caught. Could it be possible that he knew what had happened to them?
“It is possible they are with the Warderoon clan whose territory encompasses your little pond here,” he said slowly. “It is not unheard of for Bia clans to adopt those who are lost or injured, but it is more typical if it is a child or a female of breeding age who can establish a new lineage branch for their clan. Adult males are not usually accepted unless they are among those chosen by their own clans to cross into neighboring ally clans’ territories to woo females who are accepting mates. It keeps the lines strong,” he added with a small smile.
She nodded. Genetic diversification was a matter of survival.
“Do you think that’s what happened? We aren’t of the same species.”
He lifted his hands in an approximation of a shrug. “Males among my species are very adaptive and highly fertile. In past generations there were occasions of female Gwyr becoming injured and abandoned within the swamps and breeding successfully with a Bia mate. Naturally, such would be considered an abomination by the Gwyr and the mother and offspring would have been destroyed, so they were always hidden deep within the clan territories where they would never be found.”
Noelle bit her lip. “There might have been a woman in the last exploratory team.” She brightened and looked to Gwum hopefully. “Do you think we could go ask? If I could find?—”
She fell silent when he grimly shook his head. “I am Shoowilp, not Warderoon. To even attempt to do so would be a death sentence for me. It is only by good fortune that none of the clan guardians have noticed my presence this deep in their territory, but that may be a blessing of the cazka deterring them from venturing in this direction while it makes its home here. If I were discovered here outside of the selecting season, I could be immediately executed on sight as a trespasser.”
Noelle felt lightheaded as the blood drained from her face. She had not realized just what he was risking following her to camp and lingering so long for her sake. Hell, for all she knew the Warderoon forcibly “took in” the other team to establish them as breeders. She definitely wasn’t signing on for the fate of a captive breeder dressed up to resemble some kind of clan adoption. Any lingering reluctance she had released as a new urgency to get far as possible from the Warderoon territory took its place. She forced a nervous smile to her face and tried to appear casual, and she took one last glance around to make sure she wasn’t forgetting anything.
“Well, that’s that then. I think I have everything I will need,” she murmured. “Let’s get out of here.”
Gwum hummed in agreement and with one fluid motion turned and preceded her out the door. Despite his fascination with the trailer, it was clear that his interest didn’t extend beyond the surface. He was eager to be on his way, and she couldn’t fault him for that even if part of her wished that he were as curious about her and her species as she was about him. She bit back a sigh at her own foolishness and followed out the door behind him.
He walked over the root system with a casual grace she envied, his head tilting back as he scanned the trees above. She tipped her head back as well, curious as to what he was looking at, but after several heartbeats she slowly became aware that he was watching her. Her head turned toward him, and she arched an eyebrow at him, to which he offered her a wry smile.
“Your species is not arboreal,” he observed.
“Not in the least,” she agreed. “Some of us go through tree climbing stages as kids but breaking my arm falling from one when I was young quickly cured me of that. Why?”
The corner of his mouth hitched a little higher and he chuckled. “I did not think of it. All that time following you through the swamp, it only occurred to me now that you would not be able to move through the trees like a Bia.” He reached for her hand, his claws lightly skimming over her fingertips, sending tiny electric tingles up her arm. “It is no wonder that you fell when you do not have strong claws to cling to the trees.”
“I wouldn’t have made that association. Although you seem to jump through the trees easily enough, I thought the Bia were aquatic,” she replied, and he nodded in agreement.
“The Bia are aquatic. When we are within our home territory, we spend much of our time on the ground and within the water. Our homes are a far safer place to retreat than the dwellings your people make but we may also escape into the trees. For traveling purposes, it is far safer to remain above.”
“I see,” she mumbled and glanced uncertainly up into the trees.
Her throat worked as she swallowed nervously. They were really high up there. Fuck, that made for a long drop. Her arm throbbed sympathetically in remembered pain. She didn’t know if she could do this.
“It will not work,” he mused, his voice intruding on her mini panic attack. “We will have to walk along the root systems as you were.” His head turned toward her, his smile replaced with a grim look as he regarded her seriously. “ But if there is danger, you must trust me to carry you up into the trees. There is no alternative when we are out in the open swamplands, and this cannot be any point of argument between us. Safety is the first priority.”
Noelle nodded eagerly. She would happily agree to anything if it meant that she didn’t have to climb the fucking tree. She was not proud of the relief that she immediately felt. Call her a coward, but it was worth not having to maneuver dozens of feet off the ground. “I have absolutely no problem. If there is any chance that we might be in danger, by all means whisk me away. I will try not to scream too loudly… and keep the whimpering as minimal as possible,” she added with a tiny wince.
His mouth twitched in a gentle smile, and she was startled when he tangled his fingers with hers, his large claws overlapping her hand in a fashion that she found surprisingly soothing. Her hand warmed and the rest of her seemed to warm and grow heavy as contentment spread through her. Whoa, this was something dangerous!
“Come then,” he said quietly, his voice pitched so sweetly that her heart seemed to gallop all in its own accord in reaction. “I will protect you, jymlina.”
“Okay,” she whispered and willingly followed him out into the vast swamplands stretched out ahead of them.