Page 38 of Tavarr's Mate
It’s not Tavarr.No no no.
I collapse on the branch. This can’t be happening. I tremble in my grief and try to keep ahold of the branch I’m seated on.
My world has gone dark. There is no light without Tavarr.
Tears coat my face and heaving sobs rack my shoulders. I can’t breathe. I can’t imagine ever climbing down this tree and joining a world that doesn’t include Tavarr.
He’s my heart. He’s my whole life.
Another scream carries over the trees, but I’m so deep in my sorrow that I don’t quite hear it, and I vaguely wonder if it’s only an animal.
The tree starts shaking, and the branches below are swaying. Someone is climbing it. The Urulian Brother who killed him, no doubt. I sniffle and brace myself for a fight. Maybe I can push the murderer to his death.
I seethe with rage and heartache. A scream tears from my throat and I kick at the hand that touches my legs.
Standing up on the branch, I yell and give another harsh kick, only to be grabbed and taken over the Kleaxian’s shoulder. I dig my nails into his back as he navigates down the tree. Blood rushes my head, and with my eyes still filled with tears, I can’t see anything but a blur of colors.
My flailing and fighting doesn’t have any effect on the outlaw. Sooner than I would like, we reach the forest floor.
I’m placed on my feet and immediately form a fighting stance, ready to punch the male who took my beloved mate from this world.
But kind purple eyes stare down at me, set in a handsome face framed in long black locks.
I gasp.
“Tavarr! It’s you.” My voice cracks. “You-you’re al-alive. Oh, thank God.” I throw myself at him and he wraps me in his arms. He’s covered in blood, but I don’t care.
He’s alive.
Pulling back, he cups my face and gazes into my eyes.
“Are you all right, my sweet human?”
I give a slight nod. “I am fine. What about you?” I inspect him from head to toe, but don’t see any wounds. Of course, that doesn’t mean he’s not in pain. The other aliens got some hard hits in before he ended their lives.
“I am not injured.”
“I-I didn’t know there were organized groups of Kleaxians that don’t like humans. Are there many like them left?”
Tavarr shakes his head from side to side. Though his gaze is gentle, his muscles are still tensed and his nostrils flared. “Almost all of the members of the Urulian Brotherhood are gone. We have a sophisticated planetary scanner that has located most of them, however a few of them figured out a way to elude our technology. It’s said only a dozen are left on all of Tallia. Less than a dozen now. The king has all Urulian Brothers on his royal kill list, and Kleaxian Warriors are charged to extinguish any they come across.”
Relief fills me, knowing their numbers are small. Slowly, my nerves calm and I stop shaking. The animal noises in the forest return, the critters rustling in the underbrush and the birds singing and flitting through the trees. A sudden warm breeze prompts thevoices of the treesto commence their singing, a sound that reminds me of violins.
“Come,” he says, leading me through the underbrush and around the fallen tree. I spy the fallen Kleaxian on the stones, the one I’d thought had killed Tavarr. His head is twisted at an odd angle. I shut my eyes and lean against my mate, taking deep breaths in an effort to calm myself further.
“Why do you think these men came here?”
“Dennian Mountain is a secluded place. They likely thought they could remain well hidden. I will contact Prince Kenan at once, and we will increase patrols in the area. However, even if there are any more Urulian Brothers around here, they will likely relocate to another mountain immediately for fear of being caught.”
“Do you know if they’ve killed any other human women recently?”
“They have not killed anyone recently, my mate. Don’t worry, your human friends are all right. If there would have been a murder, Prince Kenan would have called all his warriors to arms to search for the lawbreakers.”
I sigh with relief, the last remnants of tension leaving my body.
We come upon a stream, and Tavarr strips off his shirt and wades into the water. He motions for me to remain on the bank, and I watch as he cleans the blood off his body and clothes. I glance down at myself. Somehow, he managed not to get more than a small smearing of blood on the waist of my gown when he embraced me, and none of it has touched my skin.
His muscles gleam under a sheen of water as he emerges from the stream. He wrings his shirt out and throws it over his shoulder, his gaze glued to mine. Despite the violence I’d just witnessed, my mouth goes dry and my heart skips a beat.
