Page 94 of Citrine

As has become my reality, there are questions and there are no answers. No matter how many times I ask the same ones.

It looks different, but her skin feels just like mine now. She hasn't realized it yet, but I hope that when she wakes up, she likes it.

Hope. I never do that. I never hope for anything. It has always been something for the weak.

I don't know what to make of this new experience. Thinking of her constantly may dull my teeth as a hunter. I will no longer hear other heartbeats like I used to before because I will always search for hers.

I will no longer spend hours patiently waiting in the dark to catch masterful prey because I want to get back to her. I'll be stuck with easy kills.

"Mhmmm…"

Her sudden groaning startles me. I know she is still asleep because her heartbeat remains unchanged. I look at her and caress her skin. Her skin is now my skin. Her body is now my body.

What would happen if the females of my species were more like her? If they didn't want to bite the male's head off? If they stayed together after mating?

Is that the start to thiscommunityshe won't stop talking about?

Through her endless words, I understand that her species depends on one another to survive. Do I need to depend on her now? But she is weak and her ability to provide for herself is… terrible.

Depending on her seems unwise.

It is much better for her to depend on me. That, I can accept.

Yes. It is just that simple. I don't know why it took so long to occur to me. All she has to do is continue to depend on me and she will always give me herkindhands.

In return, I will protect and provide for her. I understand her point now. It isn't adeal, it is… something else I don't have a word for.

This is why thinking is so exhausting, but now that I've started, I cannot stop.

The best thing to do right now is control it.

The night is long and while my eyes grow weary of watching, I cannot bring myself to sleep. Not while she still resists her changes. I don't want to wake up and find that she's no longer in my limbs.

The morning comes and my eyes are still open. I wait for her to awaken and for the pain in her eyes to no longer remain.

She looks disoriented when she wakes but doesn't struggle against my hold. Just lays there and looks at me. She can talk underwater, but I don't want to acknowledge it.

I have food ready for her, but I know better than to force her.

She doesn't resist and feeds herself, and my limbs relax. She is watching me, too, more than she has. She wants to know something, but she doesn't speak, and neither do I.

I release her from my hold, but she doesn't swim away immediately. She looks at me, surveys the cave and keepsmoving around. Her limbs are more streamlined and she's moving more smoothly in the water.

She's learning now, instead of resisting.

She has yet to notice her skin, so I don't tell her. The only thing that hasn't changed is her teeth and that desire in her yellow eyes to express her thoughts faster than should ever be possible.

"You can hear me, can't you, Wroahk?"

I don't reply, but she doesn't stop talking this time.

"You can pretend not to be listening, but that doesn't mean I'll stop talking. You should give me morecredit. I'm not stupid."

I refuse to respond. She can't know I can hear her. It will only make it worse.

"Oh, do be prepared, my tentacledalienman. I have many questions to ask you."

There's now rage burning behind those eyes. I have seen her rage before, but this one is unlike the others. It's controlled and channeled. She's focused now, just like she should be if she wants to be a hunter.

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