Page 6 of Koha’vek (Cyborg Guardians Spinoff)

Ava

The smell of roasting grouse filled the air of every room in the small cabin. It was the first real change from venison in days, and I was more than ready.

Koha’vek knelt beside the flames, turning the bird slowly on a makeshift spit, his massive frame hunched with casual grace. The firelight caught the metallic sheen in his skin and cast gold along the ridges of his face. He looked otherworldly in the quiet dusk—dangerous, beautiful.

I sat wrapped in a thick blanket on the couch, boots off, toes warm by the fire in a precious pair of woolen socks.

The cold of the trail still clung to me, but here, here, with him, it felt warm and cozy.

Spring had been trying to break through for the last week, but the temperature dropped quickly when the sun began to set.

Looking at my handmade socks and then at him, I smiled, remembering a couple of days ago when he had returned from his hunt with my lost belongings. I could have kissed him, and I almost did.

“You’re really going to make me wait, aren’t you?” I asked, chin resting on my knees as I watched.

“If you want it cooked properly,” he said, deadpan. “Unless you prefer your food half-raw and full of microbes.”

“Uh, no thanks. But it smells done, and I am so hungry.”

A faint flicker of amusement crossed his expression.

When the bird was finally ready, he sliced a piece free and handed it to me on one of his carved wooden plates.

I bit into it—and nearly groaned aloud. “Okay, wow. This is amazing.”

Koha’vek looked pleased. “Better than deer?”

“Better than anything I’ve eaten in weeks.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You should. I’ve been starving for something that wasn’t deer.” I paused, then glanced up at him. “This… this is nice.” Sometimes, it was fun to poke at him, but in the weeks, I’d spent with him, I’d come to ap preciate the way he took care of me.

His gaze held mine across the fire, and I realized I needed to let him know what it meant to me.

“I don’t remember the last time I felt like this,” I said. “Warm. Fed. Not looking over my shoulder.”

He watched me silently, the fire casting long shadows across his cheekbones.

“I haven’t felt safe in a long time,” I added, voice barely above a whisper. “Not since before Jenkins. Not since I had a home.”

“You have one now,” he said, quiet but confident.

My chest tightened. “You don’t even know me. Not really.”

“I know what it means to be hunted. To wake up, waiting for the worst.”

He set down the knife and crossed the fire to sit beside me, just close enough for his presence to be felt like heat, steady, grounding.

“And I know,” he said softly, “that you haven’t screamed once since waking up in a cabin with a seven-foot alien.”

I let out a small laugh. “Not out loud , anyway.”

Koha’vek let a rare smile tug at the corner of his mouth.

I stared into the fire for a long moment before turning to him again .

“I was always the one holding it together. After my mother died, after my brother disappeared. I was the strong one. I couldn’t fall apart because there was no one left to pick up the pieces.”

Koha’vek was silent.

I looked at him, searching. “But you… You don’t expect anything from me. You just let me be . I didn’t realize how much I needed that.”

He reached out, slowly, as if unsure I would allow it, and rested his hand over mine.

“I don’t want anything from you,” he said. “Except the truth.”

I met his eyes.

“I feel safe with you.”

The words hung there, fragile and bright.

His hand closed gently around mine. No words. Just warmth. Just understanding.

And for the first time in months, maybe years, I didn’t brace for the world to fall apart again.

“You are safe now,” Koha’vek said, staring into the fire.

“You don’t know what kind of people are out there. Jenkins isn’t the only one willing to hurt someone to get what he wants.” I don’t know why I said that, because I now felt safe with Koha’vek, having gotten to know him.

“I know what humans are capable of,” he said. “I’ve seen what they do when they think no one is watching.”

“And you still saved me.” I looked at him, my hand still encased in his.

The flames danced between us, shadows rippling across his face and the ridged lines of his chest. He didn’t wear a shirt indoors—he didn’t seem to feel the cold—and I tried not to notice the way his skin glinted slightly, like faintly polished obsidian.

“I saved you,” he said softly, “because I couldn’t leave you to die. Even if it meant being found. I don’t know if my people are looking for me, but your cyborgs have been searching for our base northwest of here.”

“I heard about the cyborgs, but why would your people be hunting you?” I asked, though I suspected. “Because you ran?”

He nodded once. “Because I refused to follow orders. Orders to torture, enslave, and break people like you.”

I’d heard those stories, too. “Why are you telling me?”

“Because you should know who I am.”

He met my gaze then, and the look in his eyes was so open, so honest, that my breath caught. He was telling his truth—raw truth and quiet sorrow .

And something else.

Longing.

Looking into Koha’vek’s eyes, I no longer saw a monster.

I saw a compassionate person who had saved my life and cared for me all this time.

I don’t know when it started. I just realized the attraction growing between us when he lifted me off the horse.

I was terrified and exhilarated at the same time.

Koha’vek looked conflicted yet hungry. Maybe he thought I would be repulsed, and somehow, I understood that he wouldn’t make the first move.

“You’ve done more for me than anyone in months.” I reached up and stroked his ridged cheeks with my fingers. “I’m not afraid of you.’ I rose off the couch on my good ankle and faced him, leaning in to brush his lips with mine. It was soft and tentative, a simple offer for him to accept or refuse.

His whole body tensed at first, and he didn’t move. Then his hands came up, cradling my waist, gently as if I might break. Lifting me onto his lap, straddling him, he kissed me back. I closed my eyes and savored the light pressure of his lips against mine.

I opened my mouth to deepen the kiss and felt his growl vibrate softly against my chest. Yet he held me with a careful reverence as though I were precious to him.

When we finally ended the kiss, my breathing was shaky. Koha’vek was more controlled, but his eyes burned. He was no longer the monster I screamed at the first time I woke.

I wanted to kiss him again, but I thought we both needed some time to ponder whether to pursue this obvious attraction between us.

Heart pounding, I lifted myself off his lap and the bulge I felt pressing against me. “It’s been a long day. I should sleep.”

His voice was rough when he answered. “Yes.”

As he rose slowly, I touched his hand. “Thank you for today. Sleep well.