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Gehj made a sympathetic sound and edged a little closer. He nudged Agrel out of the way, much to his amusement, as he picked up her basket and offered it to her.

“It is not,” he agreed. He hesitated and glanced around, as if uncertain how to broach the topic. “Do you not have mates to care for you? Or perhaps your brothers?”

Smart. He inferred nothing but inquired over those things that would concern an Atlavan almost immediately.

No Atlavan male would leave his sisters unprotected any more than he would his mate.

Even if it happened that both of her mates had to attend to something, she would always have a brother, or another male relative, to see to her welfare.

Leaving a flightless female alone and abandoned was punishable by their laws.

Not that there wasn’t the occasional rogue who did so, as Gehj had reminded him, but they were very few and far between.

She gave a small, nervous shake of her head, betraying her discomfort with the intimacy of the question, her earlier ease obviously forgotten at the reminder of being alone with two unknown males and with no male protection. “N... no. No brothers. And my…mate died a long time ago.”

Agrel trilled softly in sympathy. She jumped at the sound, her head whirling toward him, and he smiled apologetically in response. His ahaku had the sense at least to smile apologetically in response.

“W… why are you still here?” she stammered. Despite her fear, her words were starting to come quicker and firmer again, much to his relief. “What do you want?”

“To hunt,” Agrel replied bluntly, and Gehj gave him a sharp look when she immediately winced.

“Wh… what do you eat?” she whispered, dread thick in her voice.

Confusion drew his brows together, but his expression cleared quickly with understanding.

“No, not as you think,” he replied, and immediately lifted the furry mammals strapped to his belt. It just so happened that he had caught it just as he had set out to find her. “Just what animals we may catch. The gods would send a terrible blight if we even considered eating another person.”

Gehj angled his head to meet her eyes and nodded, affirming his words. Her gaze flitted toward the small furbearer and the tension bled from her as she gave a nervous laugh.

“Oh… you bagged a hare.”

“Six actually,” Agrel preened. “I have already taken the others inside.”

Her lips parted, and she craned her head to look around Gehj to the small dwelling just behind him that Agrel gestured to. “You are staying in Mrs. Murguns place? She hasn’t lived there for over a year. I doubt she left many of her belongings behind for you to cook with.”

“She certainly left a hard floor,” Agrel agreed with a faint wince.

“It is better than sleeping outdoors,” Gehj countered, but he followed the direction of her gaze back to the dwelling and shrugged his wings. “We spit and roast what we will eat and smoke the rest. We can make do for the few days that we are here.”

“Mrs. Murgun’s garden should have some herbs growing wild there that you can use,” she said. “They don’t come close enough to the village for me to trap anymore, but that is what I would do.”

Agrel brightened at the opportunity suddenly presented to him. “Then you should definitely have one. As it happens, I have one I just recently caught with me.” Pulling it from his belt, he offered it to her.

She stared at it for a long moment, uncertainly.

“I see. Well, if you are certain then I would be happy to take it, with my thanks, of course,” she acknowledged, her arms coming up to take the hare as he handed it to her. She smiled at it. “It’s very generous. Thank you.”

He returned her smile, his heart softening further.

They should be spending their time hunting and smoking provisions while scouring the village for anything useful they could find for their journey.

This was not a place to linger when they needed to move on as quickly as possible to find new rookery grounds for their people, but at that moment, he could not think of a single place he would rather be.

He knew Gehj thought him ridiculous for following after and tending to a stray, unrelated female, yet he caught his ahaku gathering fruits, berries, and nuts for her as well.

He clearly felt the same undeniable urge.

“You are welcome…” he hesitated, waiting for her to decide whether or not to grant them her name.

“Delilah,” she quietly replied, hugging the hare to her.

He inclined his head in acknowledgement.

“I am Agrel, and this is my ahaku Gehj. If it assists you, we will be happy to continue with this arrangement for the time that we are here,” he murmured, drawing a startled look from Gehj, though the male recovered quickly enough to nod in agreement.

“Would you like me to bring another to you?”

A guarded look crossed her face, and Agrel wondered if she would refuse.

“I wouldn’t mind a second hare, but I can wait here,” she said.

Agrel took it gracefully and inclined his head in agreement. “Of course. I will return,” he replied.

Turning away, the male opened his wings and flew back to the dwelling where they were butchering and preserving their cache of meat.

He circled once, noting that Gehj waited by her side.

His ahaku’s gaze drifted occasionally in the female’s direction while taking care not to look at her directly for too long so as to not make her uncomfortable.

Slowly, then. He smiled to himself as he winged his way toward the dwelling. She was not taking the opportunity to flee, and her fear responses were visibly lessening. Just perhaps they had a chance.