Page 26 of Rhaz’s Redemption (Shifters of Valo Prime #6)

Rhaz

It was a start. The first step in righting my many wrongs with Beatrice.

The rest of the day went by smoothly. Beatrice kept looking at me as if she didn’t know what to make of my earlier confession, but that was fine. Soon she’d see the depths to which I’d go to make her happy.

That night she put her stones over the fire and placed them in between her furs to keep her warm, and this morning I’d offered to make her breakfast.

“My mother used to make these,” I began.

It felt so unnatural to try and make small talk as the humans called it.

I was so used to remaining at the fringes of our community, being unseen and making myself unwanted, that forcing myself to speak openly was strange.

But it would only be strange and unnatural for a little while.

Eventually this habit of drawing Beatrice into conversation would become more natural.

I longed to hear Beatrice’s voice and her thoughts, and if I needed to make small talk then that was what I was going to do.

“She’d bake the bread then put a fruit jam on top.”

“Oh, on Earth we call that jam and toast,” Beatrice supplied.

“So you’ve had it before, then.”

“Once or twice,” she nodded.

My sire had some milled wheat flour here in the cabin that I used to make the bread, and while that baked I cut up some fruit.

“Is it something you like? If not, I can try to make something else with the supplies we have.”

“No, no, fruit on toast sounds wonderful.” Beatrice glanced my way and gave me a shy smile that put my heart at ease.

One step at a time, I reminded myself. One step at a time.

I thought about Axon’s moon cave and how all the females were amazed at the comfort he’d built there.

The floor was covered in moss and the ceiling in glow worms. I didn’t have glow worms here, but there was plenty of moss.

It would be easy for me to cover the stone floor in the soft moss that surrounded us.

Our stay in the ravine might be temporary, but it would be as comfortable as I could make it for Beatrice.

After breakfast I got to work harvesting the soft green material that covered the ravine walls and blanketed the floor until it was soft enough for a baby to sleep on.

Beatrice came in to get another raka leaf and stopped the moment her booted foot touched the floor.

“Oh,” she looked down and took a tentative step onto the moss. “This is really nice.”

I ran a hand through my hair and looked away as I admitted, “I saw it in Axon’s cave and thought you might like it.”

Beatrice was silent for a long moment and I thought she might leave without saying anything at all, but eventually she confessed, “When we were at Axon’s cave visiting the ruins, I thought you didn’t care about me. I never expected to see the day where you’d think of my comfort.”

“At the time, I was an idiot,” I blurted out.

Beatrice looked up with wide eyes and covered her mouth as a smile spread across her face.

“You’re very bold with your words.”

She sounded amused. I liked that. I wanted to see more of her smiles.

“There’s no point in holding back, especially not from you.”

Beatrice smiled again and looked down at her feet.

“Thank you for covering the floor with moss.” She tucked her hair behind her ear and left with a raka leaf in her hand and a smile on her face. We were getting somewhere. Slowly but surely we’d build a foundation for a strong relationship, one that would last through the sands of time.

Once I was content with how the new moss covered floor looked, I make my way to the stream and catch some fish. They were small, but there were enough of them to make a sufficient meal out of.

Beatrice joined me for dinner and I was pleased when she sat on the same log as me instead of the one farther away.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t make a bigger dinner for us,” I confessed.

“It’s okay. I like fish,” Beatrice replies as she plucked a piece of meat off the bone.

“Did you eat a lot of fish on your homeworld?” I asked between bites.

“No,” she shook her head. “I prefer fresh fish, and I didn’t live near any water source.”

“I see.”

A long silence fell between us, and I didn’t like it. I wanted to hear more of Beatrice’s thoughts. I needed to offer her something to show I was worthy to hear what she had to say.

“When we get back to our mountain home, I will cover the place where you sleep in moss as I’ve done here.”

I was careful not to say “the storage room or my cave.” I wasn’t sure how far our relationship would progress during our time here, and I didn’t want her to feel pressured to live with me after we returned our mountain home.

She would come to me in her own time. Wherever she chose to lay her head, I would make it as comfortable for her as I could.

Beatrice looked up from her dinner with the same peculiar look she’d been giving me all day.

“You don’t have to do that.”

Her words were slow and tentative. Did she not understand the joy it brought me to do such things for her? When she was happy, I was happy. When she’s sad, I am also sad. It’s always been this way from the moment I met her.

“It is my honor to do so,” I assured her, but she still looked at me with a guarded expression on her face. She did not believe my words to be true. That was fine. I would show her with my actions how much she meant to me.