Page 38 of Sweet Giant

“I cannot read your language, Liv. I can only speak it. Now, go back inside, sweet one.Please.” I said, striving to keep my voice calm. The thought of any harm coming to her filled me with madness. My fists clenched at my sides as the urge to pummel the nearest male rushed through me.

“Mastorr, please, listen to me. These men are video comm installers. Remember the general I told you about? He must have sent them. I didn’t expect them so soon, but I’m glad they’re here.”

I spun around to glare at the short man. “Is it true? Did the general send you?” I had a vague idea what a video comm was. Brutus’s mate, Hailey, had spoken of using one to communicate with her friend who lived in the stars, though I’d never used such a device myself, nor had I ever seen one. The video comm Hailey used was located in a cabin I’d never visited. Sometimes other human females from my tribe would travel to the cabin with her so they could speak with friends and family members who lived far away.

The short man started trembling. “A man called us last week. Didn’t give us a name, but he wired us a large amount of credits and asked us to come to this address as soon as we could to install a video comm. He said a woman lived here and said as long as we were polite and did a good job, he would wire us a nice tip. That’s all I know. I-I don’t know anything about a general.”

Liv appeared at my side and placed a hand on my arm. “It’s all right, Mastorr. They mean us no harm. Like I said, I’m glad they’re here. They can install the video comm, and then if you want, you can do that thing Montikaans do where you make humans forget they ever encountered you.”

Shock rippled through me. “How do you know about that?” I searched my memory but couldn’t recall having told Liv about my people’s abilities to confuse and alter the memories of humans we encountered.

She grinned. “I’ll tell you about it later. How about we invite these gentlemen inside so they can get to work?”

“Are you really a Sasquatch?” the short man asked. “Or are you some kind of alien we haven’t heard about yet? I swear every time I turn on the news, Earth has made contact with a new race of aliens.”

I growled at the short man, but finally stepped aside when Liv gestured for him to come inside. It took some convincing to get the tall man to join him, but eventually they carried the large box into the cabin.

Liv grabbed my hand and led me toward the door. “It’s okay, Mastorr, I promise. The current video comm in the cabin is busted, so I’m eager to get this new one installed.”

My gut tightened with worry. “Why? Who do you plan to contact?” Would she call someone to come get her? Would she go back on our deal? My heart squeezed with sadness at the prospect.

“I’d like to contact the general and tell him about Mountain coming here. Well, actually, Mountain didn’t come directly to the cabin,” she said with a shudder. “He slipped into the backseat of my hover truck while I was in town that day, and I didn’t know he was in the vehicle until I got back here, and you know how the rest of that story goes. But someone must’ve tipped him off that I was in the area, which means the general has a traitor among his ranks. Considering he helped me escape Mountain and war-torn Seattle, I feel it’s my duty to inform him of a possible traitor. Also… I’d like to ask him about the Murder Cabin.”

She tugged at my hand, but I paused on the porch, forcing her to remain outside with me.

“Will you ask the general to help you now?” I asked, the words tasting bitter. “Will you ask him to rescue you from…me?”

Her mouth dropped open with a gasp. Then she glanced toward the hovercraft before returning her gaze to me. “I’ll be honest with you, Mastorr. A week ago, I might’ve asked the general to come get me. But not anymore. I can’t promise I’ll eventually ask you to claim me as your mate, but… we made a deal, and I’m not ready to part with you yet.”

Cautious relief built inside me. Summer. She would stay with me until summer, even if the opportunity to leave my side presented itself.

I leaned my forehead to hers and breathed in her scent.

“I would be a good mate to you, Liv.”

She stepped back. “I know you would,” she said softly. “I know.”

Chapter32

LIV

I watchedwith great interest as Mastorr grasped both men by their arms just before they reached the hovercraft. The men jolted at first but quickly grew still, and a faraway look entered their eyes.

“You came to this cabin and installed a video comm today. You were greeted by a human female and no one else. You will leave and never come back.” He let go of their arms and stepped away, and a few seconds later, the men snapped out of their trance and boarded the hovercraft without a backward glance.

“Wow, Mastorr. That’s it?” I asked as he approached me. “You just touch them and tell them what you want them to remember?”

He came to stand beside me and wrapped an arm around me, giving me his warmth. “Yes. That is how Montikaans alter the memory of humans who trespass on our lands. If too many humans remember seeing us, more of them might come to search for us. This is how we have kept our existence a secret for thousands of years.”

A secret? I thought about the clerk from the general store and all his Bigfoot paraphernalia. Too bad I didn’t buy a t-shirt or another souvenir. I would’ve liked to show off someGone Squatchin’apparel to Mastorr so I could better explain the fandom surrounding the possible existence of his people and let him know their existence wasn’t so secret after all.

We watched as the hovercraft lifted into the sky and zipped away over the trees, disappearing in the direction of Newhalem.

It suddenly hit me that I could’ve tried to hitch a ride back to civilization with the video comm installers. If I would’ve tried to leave with them, how would Mastorr have reacted? Would he have allowed me to go, or would he have physically prevented me from breaking our deal?

Maybe it wasn’t worth worrying about. After all, I didn’t want to leave. Not yet. The very idea of parting from Mastorr filled me with grief and panic. I needed to figure out what I felt for him. Was itthe calling? Or was I falling head over heels in love with him just because he was the sweetest, most thoughtful guy on the planet?

My stomach dropped when the ‘L’ word flitted through my mind.

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