I find Aehako and Vektal talking near the entrance to the cave. They’re up on a rise, just far enough away not to be overheard. Georgie squats nearby in the snow, dry heaving as Vektal strokes her hair.
I cram my root-cake into my mouth and chew rapidly. Probably a bad idea to eat around the pregnant lady with morning sickness. Poor Georgie. She’s been barfing ever since she got knocked up.
Of course, I’d gladly trade places with her. I’d barf every day for three years in a row if it meant I could have Aehako’s child.
My mate looks up at that moment and sees me approaching, and a smile crosses his broad face. I bask in the warmth of his approval, so happy I could burst. The aliens are gone, my translator’s removed, and I have the love of a sexy, delicious alien. Oh, it is so tough to be me.
Aehako kisses me on the mouth as I move to his side and then swipes at the corner of my lip. “You have grease on your face.”
I scrub at my cheek, blushing. “I was trying to eat fast so I wouldn’t bother Georgie.” I look over at my fellow human sympathetically. “How are you today?”
“Not bad, actually,” she says, and stands up, wiping her own mouth. She looks pale and tired, but gives Vektal a small smile of thanks as he hands her a waterskin. She rinses her mouth and then spits off to the side.
Vektal studies me, arms crossed. His tail flicks once. “I did not recognize you without your shell,” he says, and gestures at one ear.
“I had the translator removed,” I tell him, feeling awkward. Am I truly so forgettable? But as I watch, his gaze devours Georgie, and my hurt feelings dissipate. I’m probably just another human to him, when Georgie’s the only one that matters. It’s clear that Vektal is obsessed and utterly in love with his human mate. I think it’s cute, even if he still intimidates me a little.
Georgie leans against Vektal and his arm goes around her waist. “It’s good that you arrived,” she says. “We were just discussing things.”
“How is Haeden?” I ask.
“Recovering,” Aehako tells me. He takes my hand in his and twines his fingers with mine. “Maylak has worn herself out working on healing him, so I will stay wounded for a bit longer.” He pats his stomach, at the bandaged spot. “I guess you will have to be gentle with me in the furs, my Sad-Eyes.”
I see Flirty Aehako is back in full force. I snort and ignore his overt words. “And Harlow? Any sign of her?”
Georgie shakes her head. “I hate that she’s just completely disappeared. Something about it stinks. She didn’t strike me as the type to recklessly throw her life away.” Then, she’s silent again, and I know we’re both thinking of Dominique. Dominique was another redhead who was captured and thrown into the hold with Georgie and I on the alien spaceship. The guards had raped her, and it had broken something in Dominique’s mind. She’d survived the crash, but the moment she had the chance, she’d ran away into the frigid snow wearing only a nightgown. She’d frozen to death.
The loss of her still hit hard, even after everything we’d been through.
“Harlow’s smart,” I offer, thinking of her quick mind as she’d pieced together parts for the rock cutter. “Maybe she’ll find her way back.”
“I think we should send hunters after her,” Georgie says.
Vektal shakes his head. “The brutal season is coming on fast, and we have twelve—“
“Eleven,” Georgie quietly corrects.
“Eleven new mouths to feed. And several of those are bearing young. We must think of the good of all of the tribe, and the hunters are needed every spare moment. If they are not leaving to hunt food, we cannot spare them.” He touches her stomach. “I will not put you and our kit – or all of the other new lives to be born – in danger for one foolish human girl.”
I don’t like his answer, but as I look at Aehako, he’s nodding. They know the weather of this place better than we do. If they’re worried about not having enough food for the winter, then we need to worry too, I suppose.
I can tell Georgie’s not happy, either, but she shoots me a helpless look.
“She’ll turn up,” I say, determined.
We discuss the second spaceship and its demise. Georgie agrees with Vektal on this one – they don’t want to tell the others. No one but us – and Liz and Raahosh, who were out hunting and saw the craft – will know about it. Georgie doesn’t want the others to panic, not when they’re just now settling in.