Page 7 of Howling Eve (Ragoru Origins #2)
Chapter Seven
S kal smirked humorously at the small female as he lifted a large gourd—a pumpkin Eve called it—onto his shoulder while she struggled with one a fraction of its size. This harvest thing that she was so worried over was ridiculously easy and actually quite enjoyable, too.
Over the past several days, he dug up thick tubers with his claws, snapped off and carried back gourds, and hauled in the bushels of apples that they had collected during the sunnier parts of the days when the mist was the thinnest. Bit by bit, he’d steadily loaded everything into the wagon. In between all of that, he hunted, sometimes going far outside the valley to search for bigger game that lingered in the outer woods so that he had their thick pelts to drag home.
It was a good life, with plenty to see and do to keep him well fed and active. He could feel his health improving by the day. In fact, his cocks had come fully to life again, aching as if he was preparing to rut. His seed sac was swollen and sensitive, and his cocks felt as if they were partially engorged at all times within their sheath. It was uncomfortable but strangely invigorating, making him feel young and strong again. And that wasn’t the only thing making him feel that way. He woke up every morning, eager to not only to enjoy the simple pleasures of his new territory but more so the company of a particular human.
Eve was a surprise for him. Not only was she kind and surprisingly generous, but she was also turning out to be an interesting and amusing companion. He had not imagined that after everything he’d suffered that he would want anyone to spend his days with, but he enjoyed having her there with him. She was… fun.
He blinked, paused with his head cocking, and repeated the word in his mind—tasting it. The idea of an adult engaging in fun felt entirely alien to him. His entire life since reaching maturity had been one of struggle and survival. Of mating and providing. But Eve simply brightened his day just by being herself and made him smile even at times when he wanted to sink into the depths of his own self-imposed misery. But even when he snapped or growled at her in his lowest moments, she took it in stride while pointedly telling him exactly what she thought of the way he was behaving. He would push, and she would stubbornly push back in return with surprising tenacity. And yet, she never held a grudge. She always had a smile for him, a thoughtful action, or a kind word. She was also full of laughter, which slowly began to draw him from the bleak isolation he had sentenced himself to.
His gaze slid over to her, and she looked up at that moment, a tired grin stretching her lips that made her cheeks bunch adorably and the corners of her eyes slightly crinkle. As he watched, she straightened, her hands flattening against her lower back and stretched as she looked around them with a pleased smile.
“Wow, this is going really fast! A few more pumpkins and I think we will be done loading up. That means we can head out tomorrow—or do you need a day to rest after all this back-breaking work?” she asked as she glanced over at him uncertainly.
Skal snorted in amusement and her grin widened, turning lopsided as her cheeks went pink with embarrassment.
“Ok, yeah, I’m the puny one. I know,” she chuckled. “Well, it’s back breaking work to me. So, we leave in the morning then? We will still need to be prepared to spend one night in the woods each way so it’s best to get an early to start to make the most of the daylight hours.;”
He inclined his head in agreement. “This is the best plan. I can see well in even faint light so we can leave before sunrise.”
A look of surprise crossed her face. “Oh! That would be wonderful. That means that we might even have time to set up when we arrive in town rather than having to wait until the next day. We might even be able to sell a little to get a few credits for a bed.” Her face suddenly darkened an alarming shade of red and she hastily waved toward the pumpkins. “Okay, I’m going to cut a few more for you to haul to the wagon and then we’ll be done. Let’s get this finished up and I’ll get supper going.”
He watched her for a moment longer as she moved a little further through the pumpkin patch and crouched once more to hack at the vine with the blade in her hand. A hatchet she called it. Although it didn’t cut quite as effectively or efficiently as his claws, it seemed to be very useful for a clawless species. Human ingenuity was truly remarkable.
His gaze remained fixed on her as he carried his pumpkin past, admiring the way her teats swayed rhythmically beneath her upper covering and the rosy tint to her skin as she worked. His cocks pressed uncomfortably against the seam of his sheath, and he bit back a growl. Efru take him! The sweet scent of her sweat and the fresh scent of earth and vegetation emanated from her was making him want to rub his body against hers so that their scents would mingle, too. Because she made his life feel full and he clung to it. Skal frowned as he set the pumpkin in the wagon at the edge of the tree line. If he were honest with himself that was part of the reason that he hadn’t wished for her to go to town without him. As much as he feared for her being out there alone, some small part of him had also panicked at the idea of suddenly being alone again. Not just alone physically but with all of the despair and loneliness that he’d felt before. It would have been as if he’d lost his mate and family all over again.
Oh . His ears twitched in shock. That was unexpected. Although the male Ragoru’s ability to bond quickly to a female they denned with was part of what allowed them bond deeply with a female who had chosen them, he had not believed it would happen. He had not believed that his instincts had recovered enough from his loss to lock onto another female. He shook his head in wry amusement. He should have recognized the signs. His desire to nest should have been his first warning. But even if he had missed that he still managed to ignore the fact that he had instinctively endeavored to keep her within range of his senses whenever she was not in the den.
He groaned softly to himself as he stalked over to the next pumpkin and snapped it off its vine. He had mated himself to a female with whom he was not mated. Even without the physical mating to tie them together, he was feeling all of the effects of being a mated male. It was no wonder that his cocks were priming for her and his seed sack swelling. His body was recognizing all the signs of being a dominant alpha denning with a fertile female who accepted him in her company. Now how was he to explain it to Eve? It was clear that she had no idea either what they had done, either.
He had not wished to be mated again but now that it was done… any human who wanted to take her from him would quickly become a very dead human. Eve was his but he was lost as to how to go forward from that. He had not paid attention at all when it came to the instructions on human courting rituals for mating and had no idea of how to even convince his mate to accept him. Bayda, the dark father of desire, assuredly hated him.