Page 7 of Savage Giant

She lived in a nearby cabin, having shown up two moon cycles ago. Since then, I’d kept an eye on her from afar, making sure no violent human males crossed her path. I also prevented other Montikaans from going anywhere near her, creating markers in a wide perimeter around her cabin as well as the area of the forest where she took her morning walks.

Who was she? Why had she come here?

She was entirely alone. No one ever visited her, and I never heard her use a communication device to call anyone. Not even when I lingered outside her windows with my ear pressed to the chilled glass.

Thus far, Brutus was the only male of our tribe who’d mated with a human female, a woman he’d found alone in a cabin thatrested on our lands. His mate, Hailey, had come to the Cascades for safety reasons. Because she’d wished to flee the violent city where she’d lived.

Did the golden-haired woman have similar reasons for shunning human civilization? Had something bad happened to her? Was she hiding?

There were mornings when I awoke resolved to finally approach her in the forest, but every time I saw her and contemplated claiming her as my mate, my thoughts would inevitably stray to Sashona. Then I would become wracked with guilt, and I would resume my habit of spying on the stunningly gorgeous human female from a careful distance.

I watched as she approached one of the markers I’d created. Montikaan markers consisted of thick branches, usually still attached to a tree, that our males twisted in at least two places. We also coated the twisted branches in our urine.

The female glanced around the forest then walked closer to the marker. She sniffed audibly before taking a quick step back and covering her nose. When she turned and headed in the direction of the cabin, I quickly crouched behind some bushes.

She trekked so close to my hiding spot that I could’ve reached out and grabbed her. If I’d wanted to. Great Spirit, how her scent affected me. I couldn’t get enough of her floral aroma.

The emotions that rolled off her also left me increasingly curious about her past. Grief, loneliness, and the echoes of fear. But despite the negative feelings I sensed from her, I also detected hopefulness and gratitude.

I wished I could tell her that she had nothing to fear. As long as she remained on this mountain, I would keep her safe. I would continue to maintain the markers around her cabin and keep other males away, human and Montikaan.

I shadowed her back to the cabin, then walked around the structure, peering into the windows as I watched her go abouther morning. She stuck to a schedule each day. A walk, followed by breakfast, then she curled up with a book until it was time for her midday meal. She ate so very little that I worried for her health, and I sometimes caught her gazing longingly at the food in the kitchen cabinets only to shut the door and walk away.

A thought struck me as I watched her sip a hot beverage.

Perhaps she was rationing her food so she wouldn’t have to return to human civilization anytime soon to obtain more. Was the red vehicle she’d parked beside the cabin broken? Or did she have another reason for not wanting to visit a human town?

Sometimes she caught fish in the river, but she didn’t seem to realize there were plenty of other edible creatures in the forest. I’d never seen her foraging for slugs or worms, let alone nuts or roots.

I resolved that I would start obtaining food for her on a regular basis. I would leave it on her doorstep and perhaps she wouldn’t have to ration her food any longer.

And suddenly it hit me—what I was doing.

I was making plans to court the beautiful female. Never mind that I’d yet to reveal myself to her.

When a Montikaan male feltcalledto a specific female, he would spend time with her and bring her small gifts over a period of time that rarely lasted more than two or three moon cycles. After that, the female would usually decide she accepted the male as her lifemate. Then she would turn on all fours and offer her mating hole to the male, and they would join their bodies as one. If they were lucky, a heart-bond would develop between them. Eternal love.

My throat burned as I felt torn between the memory of Sashona and my growing desires for the golden-haired human woman who was humming a song under her breath.

Would I always live in the past, mourning the sweet Montikaan female for whom I would’ve gladly surrendered my life, or would I manage to move on and take a human mate?

I recalled the words my late father had spoken to Brutus in a vision, words my eldest brother had repeated back to our entire tribe. Words he’d personally recited tomeat least a dozen times, no doubt because he’d sensed my reluctance to accept the truth of his vision.

Your mate is coming soon. She is not from the Starblessed tribe, nor is she Montikaan. Brutus, your mate is a human female. Your brothers and many other males from the Starblessed tribe will take human females as well. It is the only path forward.

The only path forward.

Our tribe was small. Losing twenty-one females in the fire was a wound that would never heal. And if some of our males didn’t take human mates, it would be difficult for us to maintain our numbers. If our population didn’t keep growing steadily, it would be difficult for us to protect our lands from humans and pullshannas.

To remain strong, we must mate with and breed human females. It was a fact I couldn’t deny.

Perhaps I ought to claim the woman in the cabin despite my lingering grief and guilt concerning Sashona. I believed in protecting my tribe. Breeding with a human would help me do that, especially if we produced at least one strong son. Though the idea of sharing a daughter with the pretty human female also filled me with longing.

A vision of us walking through the forest with a throng of children drew a gasp from me. A family. All at once, I could think of nothing I wanted more than to build a family with the woman who was still humming a melodic tune.

Gifts. I would bring her gifts first. Food, mostly.

Then I would approach her and declare my intention to take her as my lifemate.

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