Page 14 of Rhaz’s Redemption (Shifters of Valo Prime #6)

Beatrice

Two weeks later

“I’d love a tropical vacation right about now.” Fatima sighed. “I’m so tired of the cold and the winter season just started.”

Anusha, Fatima, and I all sat on cushions near the cookfire as we knitted sweaters from the yarn Drondia made for us.

I did my best to keep myself from looking at the entrance to the main cavern, but I couldn’t help glancing in that direction every time someone entered the room. Each time, I was sorely disappointed when it wasn’t Rhaz returning home.

It’d been two weeks since he left for the other dekes.

Two weeks and no sign of the grumpy badger shifter.

Don’t send anyone after me . His words rang through my head.

Tarak had replied by saying that was his decision as the Savrix, but I was getting nervous that he might not send anyone to check in on Rhaz.

I knew I shouldn’t care about the male who’d rejected our bond, but the fact that he hadn’t returned yet, gnawed at me.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you went south for long enough that you’d find a place with more tropical weather than they’ve got here,” Anusha added. “I’d be interested to see if all the water on this planet has that same purple algae or if it's just limited to this region.”

“Well if I ever get to travel down south, I’ll let you know,” Fatima laughed.

“I bet if you ask some of the guys they might be up for traveling with you,” I suggested, but Fatima shook her head. “I’d like to wait until I’ve luminesced with someone. I think it’d be a nice honeymoon type trip.”

Anusha and I exchanged a look. Fatima had a hard shell on the outside and liked to mother everyone in an eldest daughter kind of way, but deep down she was terrified of living life for herself.

I think she was terrified to fall in love too.

She sincerely believed luminescence would solve all her problems, and it was my fear that she would discover that wasn’t the case.

“I’ve given it some thought, and I don’t think I want to lumines at all,” Anusha admitted.

“Why not?” Fatima looked shocked by our botanist friend’s confession.

“I… I haven’t had a lot of luck with love, and I just don’t trust myself to pick a good person.”

“But that’s the beauty of luminescence, fate picks for you.” Fatima argued.

“Luminescence is only one piece of the puzzle. It’s still up to the two people to build a solid relationship,” Anusha replied.

“Dameron had a fated mate too,” I couldn’t help but add.

“See it’s not always perfect,” Anusha emphasized her point.

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” Fatima turned her back to us and focused on her knitting.

Anusha opened her mouth to say more but I gently laid a hand on her shoulder and shook my head. No one was as stubborn as Fatima. Once her mind was made up, there was no changing it. Anything Anusha had to say would only piss her off more.

Anusha sighed and started knitting again as well. She was probably the most talented of all of us humans. The pattern she was knitting into her sweater was simple, but elegant.

Drondia approached us with a smile on her face and bent down to inspect our work.

“You all have impressed me so much with how far you’ve come with your knitting skills,” the elder woman beamed at us. She was as sweet as honey. Drondia reminded me of my grandma Gloria who had an encouraging word for every situation.

Her gaze shifted to Anusha’s work and the elder woman stopped short.

“Oh my,” her eyes turned glossy with unshed tears.

“What is it?” Anusha asked. “Did I do something wrong?”

“Oh no, it’s just that I haven’t seen anyone make that pattern for quite some time. May I?”

Drondia reached out for the half finished garment and Anusha lifted it to her. She gently ran her fingers along the woven fibers and a tear-filled smile spread across her face.

“My friend used to knit this pattern into her sweaters too. The last time I saw it was when she was making baby clothes for her unborn child.”

“Did she die in the stiffness?” I asked.

“No,” Drondia shook her head and reluctantly handed the cloth back to Anusha. “She left after she had her baby. You see, she was a few years older than me and so very excited to give birth to her first child. The birth was surprisingly easy, but once the child was here,” Drondia shook her head.

“What happened? Was the baby sick?” Anusha asked.

“No, he was… different. He had four arms instead of two. Looking back now, I believe he was the first shifter to be born in this generation. Kahina saw the child and encouraged my friend and her mate to flee before Dameron could see him.” Drondia shook her head again.

“That vile male would have had him killed.”

She looked up at the three of us and a tear streamed down her face as she told us the conclusion of what happened to her friend. “She left that night with her son and mate and I never saw her or heard from her again.”

“She never came back?”

“No,” she looked down at her trembling hands. “I’ve asked Axon to look for them a few times over the years. He can hear things from great distances, but even he has never found a trace of my friend’s existence.”

“Then they’re truly gone,” Anusha whispered in a somber tone.

“I’m afraid so,” Drondia nodded. The elder woman turned away from us and began to walk back through the cavern. Karo, her mate, spotted her wiping tears from her face and jumped to his feet.

“Are you unwell?” He asked as he wrapped an arm around her.

“I’d like to rest in our cave for a little while,” Drondia replied.

“Of course,” he nodded. They whispered in hushed tones as he led her back to their private cave.

Anusha looked down at her half-knitted sweater and frowned. “I hate Dameron. So much suffering could have been avoided if he weren’t their leader.”

“I just don’t understand,” I confessed. “He only has power as long as his people give it to him. Why hasn’t anyone stood up to him?”

“They believe their goddess appointed him as their leader. To go against Dameron is to admit their sovereign was either wrong or doesn’t exist at all,” Fatima replied.

“Still, someone should take him down,” Anusha commented.

“Agreed,” I replied.

Anusha looked down at her knitting project again and frowned. “I think I’m going to take a walk.” She got up, grabbed her coat, then headed for the entrance.

Fatima watched her go but her gaze lingered on Zander who was talking with Neelu and her mate, Gogron.

“I’ll be headed back to the valley tomorrow,” he told the older couple.

“You’re leaving so soon?” Neelu looked disappointed to hear about the hunter’s departure.

“I’m afraid I have no choice. Trivix agreed to keep an eye on my sister for me, but she’s an adult now with a mind of her own. I fear she’s far too capable of getting into mischief when the elder isn’t looking.”

“Viana’s an adult already?” Neelu shook her head in disbelief. “It feels like just yesterday she was learning to walk.”

“Well now she can walk, run, and do many other things that make me worry for her safety.”

“If she’s eighteen seasons old that would make her Favalor’s age would it not?” The usually quiet Gogron interjected.

Zander’s jaw clenched at the mention of Drovo’s younger brother. “Unfortunately, yes.”

“Unfortunately? How so?” Neelu inquired.

“I don’t like him,” Zander said flatly.

“Why not? Has he started working with Dameron like Scaron and the others?” Gogron asked, concern lacing his voice. “I always thought he was such an honorable young hunter.”

“No it’s not that,” Zander stroked his chin. “He…he looks at Viana too much. I don’t like it.”

A knowing smile spread across Neelu’s face. “Young adults will do that, you know? It’s not a bad thing for your sister to have a suitor.”

Zander crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. “I don’t know that he’s worthy of her.”

“Why not?” Neelu asked.

“If he was an honorable male, why hasn’t he left the valley to come live here? There’s no honor in staying under Dameron’s command.”

“But you live under his command,” Gogron argued.

“I don’t have a choice. I promised my sire I’d do my best to raise Viana after he died, and Viana insisted on staying in the valley. I have a suspicion it’s because Favalor is there.”

“Ah I see,” the elder male nodded.

“Perhaps, Favalor has his reasons to stay. His sire is growing old. He might need his son by his side.”

“His sire has two sons living in the valley. He doesn’t need Favalor,” the grizzly looking hunter huffed.

Neelu and Gogron glanced at each other and communicated something with their eyes, a secret message that only two people who’d known each other for a long time could share.

“Well, I’m sure everything will work out in the end,” Neelu assured Zander and patted him on the shoulder.

“I hope so,” he sighed and quickly glanced over at Fatima who blushed the moment their eyes met.

My normally confident friend, averted her gaze and suddenly stood up. “I…I’m going to go…somewhere.”

“Alright,” I replied with a questioning tone. “I’ll see you later then,” I assured her, I doubt Fatima heard me. It was almost as if she were locked in a trance. Zander might not be able to lumines to anyone, but he certainly seemed to have some sort of mystical connection to my friend nonetheless.

Now that I was alone, and wholly unmotivated to knit, I looked toward the entrance again and willed for Rhaz to be there, but just like the past two weeks, he never arrived. The more time that passed the deeper the sinking feeling went. Something was wrong. I could feel it.

I rose to my feet and headed toward Tarak who was burping Tabby on his shoulder.

“Can I talk to you?” I asked abruptly.

Tarak looked up at me with surprise. “Of course, if you have a concern I wish to hear it.”

Concern, demand, same difference right? Because I wasn’t here to voice a concern, I was here to ask permission to do something dangerous, maybe stupid even.

“I worried about Rhaz. I feel like he should have returned already,” I said with as much resolve as I could muster.

“His goal wasn’t an easy one,” Tarak replied. “Convincing Dameron to do anything would be nearly impossible, even for Rhaz.”

“I understand that, but I uh….” I chewed my bottom lip as I thought about how to put into words what I was feeling. “I just have a sense that something is wrong.”

That wasn’t the most eloquent way to put it, but it was the truth.

Tarak nodded in understanding. “I see.”

“I would like to go check on him,” I admitted with my chin up. I wanted to look as capable and confident as possible.

The Savrix looked me up and down and immediately said, “No.”

“But-”

Tarak held up his hand to silence me and continued. “I will ask for volunteers this afternoon. I agree someone should check on him, but that person will not be you. It’s too dangerous.”

“Thank you,” relief flooded through me. Someone was going to check on Rhaz.

I was kind of hoping Tarak would offer to let me join whoever he sent, but it didn’t look like that would be the case.

That was fine. I didn’t need to check on him myself.

He didn’t want me, and I didn’t need him.

This was good, great even. But even so, I was annoyed that I wasn’t allowed to go.

That evening, Tarak stayed true to his word and asked the hunters at dinner if anyone would like to volunteer to check on the badger shifter who’d been gone for too long.

“I’ll go,” Zander volunteered. “I need to go back and check on my sister anyway. If Rhaz is in any trouble, I’ll make sure to get him out of it.” His tone was somber and resolute. Zander was from the other dekes and knew just how serious of a promise he was making.

I should be relieved. Zander was a capable male, able to hold his own, but did I trust him? I didn’t even really know him. What if he went back and found his sister needed his help. Would he be delayed in helping Rhaz? Would that delay cost Rhaz his life?

Maybe I should go too? I know Tarak told me no, but what if I snuck out and trailed far behind Zander?

He wouldn’t notice I was there until the very end, then he wouldn’t be able to send me away, right?

I just needed to know that Rhaz was alright.

After that I could go home. I didn’t need to speak with him, or even touch him.

I just needed to see with my own eyes that he was fine.

I was a librarian back on earth. I’d read plenty of books on nature and camping. I’d be able to handle myself in the woods, and if any animals tried to attack me, I’d just cry out for help. What could possibly go wrong?

Decision made, I went to the shared cave I slept in and packed a bag with food rations, a fur to sleep on, extra clothes, and some dried leaves to write on, just in case.

Once I’d packed my things I carried my bag under a fur blanket. Then I sat down near the entrance and used the blanket to cover my legs.

Zander disappeared into the private cave he’d been using and came out with his pack slung over his shoulder. He said his goodbyes then passed me on his way out.

Now it was my turn to make an exit. I sat with my bag under my blanket for what felt like an eternity until everyone’s attention turned away from the door.

Once I felt like I could leave without anyone noticing, I slowly got up and headed down the corridor that led to the clearing.

I waited in the dimly lit hallway to see if anyone would follow me out and thankfully no one came. I was in the clear.

I opened the wooden door that Drovo had installed, then silently closed it behind me. Once outside I put on my fur coat and wrapped the blanket I’d been carrying around my shoulders for good measure.

I’d done it. I’d made it outside with my pack, now I just needed to find Zander and follow him to the valley.