Page 5 of Koha'vek
I was alive and not entirely alone. Injured as I was, there was nothing I could do to change my situation. Soon, I drifted back to sleep.
The next time I woke, the fire was lower. The pain in my ankle had lessened to a dull throb instead of a scream if I moved it. My head still ached, not surprising since I had hit my head hard enough to knock me out.
The alien was still here. He was sitting cross-legged in the corner by the hearth with his eyes closed, either resting or meditating. The silence seemed oppressive.
I sat up slowly, adjusting the blanket around my shoulders, watching him. He didn’t move or open his eyes. Was he sleeping or pretending?
Then he opened his eyes and caught me staring at him. He stared back, and I looked away.
Silence stretched between us. He didn’t ask me any morequestions—not yet—but I could feel them hovering in the air. What was I doing out here alone? What was I running from?
I exhaled slowly, glancing at him. “I can’t go back,” I admitted. The words felt heavy, final.
Koha’vek studied me for a long moment. “Why?”
I hesitated. Telling the truth to an alien—a stranger—felt dangerous. But what did it matter? “Because I don’t have a home anymore,” I said finally. “It was stolen from me.”
His eyes darkened, but he said nothing, waiting for me to continue.
I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “I lived on my father’s ranch outside of town. He built it up from nothing, and when he died, it should’ve been mine. But Mayor Jenkins had other plans. He claimed I forfeited it because of some made-up debt. Sold it off to one of his men, and just like that, everything I had was gone.”
Koha’vek’s expression remained unreadable, but I thought I saw a flicker of understanding there. Maybe even sympathy.
I clenched my hands into fists. “If I go back, they’ll take me too. Jenkins wants more than just the property. He wants me.” My stomach churned at the thought. “Jenkins madeit clear that my only option is to become his woman or disappear like so many others who’ve crossed him.”
Koha’vek’s nostrils flared slightly. “That is why you were alone in the mountains?”
I nodded. “My horse spooked when we ran into a grizzly. Threw me, and—well, you know the rest.”
He was silent for a long moment, his gaze sharp, considering. “You were willing to risk death rather than submit.”
I met his eyes, my jaw tightening. “Yes.”
He exhaled slowly, his expression shifting—less distant, more thoughtful. “You cannot leave.”
My stomach twisted. “But you said---?”
“I will not risk you revealing my presence.”
I stiffened. “I wouldn’t—”
He cut me off with a look. “You cannot promise that.”
I swallowed hard. He had a point. If Jenkins or his men found out an alien was hiding in the mountains, they’d come for him. And they wouldn’t stop until he was dead or captured.
Still, the thought of being trapped here, of not having achoice, sent a wave of panic through me. “So what? I’m your prisoner now?”
Koha’vek’s expression didn’t change. “You are my guest.”
I let out a sharp, humorless laugh. “A guest who can’t leave?”
He didn’t answer.
Frustration bubbled up inside me. “What do you plan to do with me, then?”
Again, he hesitated. “Nothing.”
I blinked, caught off guard. “Nothing?”
