Page 3 of Rhaz’s Redemption (Shifters of Valo Prime #6)

Rhaz

“And Rhaz, I’m going to put you right here,” Ashley coordinated the dekes into groups. The last of the wheat harvest had come in and been dried. Now we were shaking the grain from the stalks and storing it in barrels.

“I’d rather stand somewhere else,” I informed the yellow-haired human.

She’d put me next to Beatrice and I needed to keep my distance from her.

It was already hard enough for me to stay away from the female who looked at me with eyes I could get lost in.

It would not be a good idea for me to stand next to her for the entire afternoon.

“Well, I’d rather have you right here.” Ashley was quick to answer and even quicker to walk away. All the other spots had been filled, which left me with no choice but to stay where she’d placed me.

“Good afternoon,” I greeted Beatrice. I couldn’t help myself. If I was going to be forced to be near her I would at least be plesant to be around.

“Good afternoon, Rhaz,” the way she said my name sent a shiver down my spine.

It dripped from her lips like honey. Her tone was deep and her voice strong, but she was so shy that she spoke the least of all the females.

It felt like a loss knowing that such a soothing voice existed and yet it was barely heard above the rest.

We stood side by side as we shook out the stalks into the barrels. Beatrice was strong and did not need my assistance but I wanted to offer it nonetheless.

“If you need help or want to take a break, I’d be happy to assist you.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that,” she lifted her eyes to mine and gave me a shy smile. I cherished her smiles. So few of them were for me, and I preferred it that way. But the one’s I did receive I held locked away in my memory only to be let out at night when I felt the most lonely.

“Um, Rhaz,” she began again. “May I ask you something that might make you uncomfortable?”

I stopped shaking the wheat from the stalks and met her gaze.

It was easy to assume she’d want to ask why I’d been avoiding her. I would not cower like a sietling. I would face her questions like the adult hunter I was.

“You may,” I nodded.

“Do you think we could be friends?” she asked.

I hadn’t expected that. I thought she might curse me for not attending to her needs during luminescence. I certainly wanted to curse myself for that.

“I, uh-” I began but she cut me off.

“It’s just that we seem to have a connection that’s outside of our control.”

She was right about that. If I had any control at all, I would have left the dekes moons ago, but I couldn’t. The need to know that Beatrice is protected and well cared for has kept me rooted to this place. Maybe if I had left we would have never luminesced.

“Friends?” I asked and my voice came out more harsh than I’d intended. I wanted to be more than friends. I wanted to be her everything.

“Yeah, would that be so bad?” She looked crestfallen and defeated.

“It would not be bad,” I corrected her, but I was careful not to say more.

“Lumod should be getting close to the valley by now.” I overheard Tarak say to Gabby. “Hopefully it won’t be long until he returns with Holey.”

“Did he leave last night?” I asked doing my best to avoid my conversation with Beatrice. The valley was more than a day’s journey away.

“Yes, he said he was going to swim down river. It's much faster than walking on land.”

“It is for him,” I huffed. I’d always admired the speed at which Lumod could travel through water.

“That’s true,” Tarak laughed.

“Was he always a good swimmer?” Beatrice asked.

“Yes,” I replied. “No one could keep him away from the water. His mother would tease him saying he learned to swim before he could crawl.”

Mother . That word cast a dark shadow over our cheerful conversation.

His mother had died just like mine had. My mother was the kindest person I’d ever met.

She was also my protector. As my father grew more unstable she did more and more to shield me from him and for what?

So she could die from a mysterious disease?

It wasn’t fair. If anyone deserved to die it was my sire, and yet he still lives and breathes.

“Which of these barrels will we keep and which ones will go to the offering?” Fatima asked.

A frown spread across Tarak’s face as he admitted, “Almost all of the barrels will have to go in the offering.”

“UGH!” Axon stood and let out a frustrated growl. “We don’t have to do this.” He threw the wheat he’d been working on to the ground. “The goddess might not even be real. We do not need to participate in the offering and we certainly don’t have to give all of our food to them .”

His meaning was clear. All of the food we gave in the offering would go to the other dekes.

It had been like this for many years, but no one had fought against it.

We’d all been so desperate for the goddess to lift this shifter curse from us, that we were blinded to the gift that it is, but now that the humans are here and have explained that we probably didn’t cause the disease, many of us have begun to question our need for the goddess altogether.

Sensing the tension in our group Tarak suggested, “If the goddess isn’t real, then how is it that I’ve been blessed with a mate?”

“That proves nothing,” Axon shot back. “What of the adult males in our dekes who do not have mates? What of Lumod? Has the goddess found him unworthy? Is that why he doesn’t have a mate?

And what of us? What did we do as children that angered the goddess so much that she would kill our mothers and sisters? ”

“Axon,” Tarak said his name in a soothing tone.

“No! I will not be silent! None of this makes any sense. We do not and should not be giving our food away. We need it. Your daughter needs it,” Axon pointed to Tabby who was asleep in the basket Neelu had woven for the new parents.

“That is enough!” Tarak commanded. “Whether we participate in the offering or not is a decision we must make as a group, not one male. I think we need to give everyone time to process this possibility and perhaps seeing the ship for ourselves will bring us the clarity we need.”

Tarak was wise and I was glad he was our leader.

I would not have handled that situation as calmly as he did.

It was a low blow for Axon to bring up Tabby in this debate, but I also saw his point of view.

If Beatrice were to go hungry this winter I would never forgive myself.

I will not rest until she is well fed and I know the others feel the same.

But what are we to do when the animals have all gone underground and there are no plants to harvest?

We put the wheat away in storage and took a break. I watched as Beatrice made her way back into our mountain home and then I left to go hunting. We were running low on remirie meat, which was her favorite and I’d be damned if we were going to run out this early into the winter season.