BEK.

It is a mild day of good weather, but the new humans squeal and s.h.i.+ver and whine as if it is the coldest of days in the brutal season. I remind myself that they have no khui to warm them. I remind myself that they have spent their time in the too-warm cave-s.h.i.+p with cowardly Trakan and Cap-tan. That is why they do not like the cold and act as if it is killing them.

But it is still annoying to hear their complaints.

The one in my arms is silent. She is the only one. Even Chail, their leader, has complained to Vaza about the cold. The one in my arms is so quiet that only the constant s.h.i.+vering of her small form tells me she is alive. She, of all of the females, has the right to complain, but she says nothing, keeping her words to herself. Perhaps she is mad about the collar.

She should be. I am still furious. The fire of my anger still burns deep in my belly. It will take many moons for it to leave me. A female should never, ever be harmed. Ever.

That is why I do not care when the big s.h.i.+p leaves again without a goodbye. I watch it go with a cold pit in my stomach and a mixture of anger and gladness in my heart. I do not care if I ever see Trakan or Cap-tan again. I watch the s.h.i.+p rise out of the snow and lift into the sky like no bird flies and then disappear into the skies.

And I am glad for it. The humans are here, and they are mine.

I study the silent one as I walk. The filthy cloud of her mane makes her head look larger than it truly is. Whenever she peeps out from under the fall of it, I see nothing but eyes. She is too thin, I think, her figure more spindly than Farli in her younger years, and so light that I wonder if Erevair weighs more.

She is fierce, though. I remember how she clawed and kicked when I grabbed her. It did not matter that she was hurting-she still attacked. I feel a grudging respect for this small human...even if she smells so terrible my eyes water from the scent of her. She glances up at me, and her expression is blank, but I think she does not like me. I sense it. Sometimes a look flashes in her strange human eyes, as if she would take my knife from my belt and gut me if given the chance.

And I find this...amusing. It is much better than crying.

By the time we make it to the valley, the others are walking slowly, complaining about the cold, the wind, the air, the snow, everything. Vaza is endlessly patient, but I grit my teeth with every new word. I do not have the patience for this. I am a patient hunter...but not when it comes to whining.

So I am relieved when the long shadow of the gorge comes into sight, and the pulley at the lip of it that we use for going up and down.

I am less relieved when it moves and up comes Leezh and her mate, Raahosh. They have their bows slung over their shoulders, and their kits are not with them. Hunting, then. I curse the timing of it, because Leezh has a big mouth. I wanted to go straight to the chief first, to explain myself. Now I will not get that chance.

So be it. I straighten my spine, ready for Leezh's blistering words.

But she only gasps and stares at each human face. Then she turns to me, her eyes wide. "Oh G.o.d, Bek. What have you done?"

4.

BEK.

I will not apologize. I am not sorry for what I have done. I am disappointed I did not resonate to one of the females, but if nothing else, I have given my fellow hunters a chance at happiness.

So when my chief rages at me, I endure it in silence. When his mate just gives me shocked looks of horror, I ignore them. When they ask me, over and over again, "How could you?" I do not change my answer.

I know exactly what I have done.

I have traded s.h.i.+ny bits of metal to a male I will never see again in exchange for mates for my friends. I have brought new people into our tribe. I can see no wrong in this, even if my methods were not what Shors.h.i.+e and Vektal approve of. How else are we to get mates for the other hunters?

It is easy for Vektal to sit and judge me with his pretty mate at his side, his kits at his feet. He has everything he has ever wanted. He has not had to stare down seasons of loneliness, wondering if he will ever have a mate, a family. If he will ever be complete.

"You are not listening to me," Vektal snarls, a hand-span away from my face. "I tell you how disappointed I am and you gaze at me with that blank expression on your face."

"Vektal, honey," Shors.h.i.+e says in a low voice. "Calm down." She gets to her feet and hands him his smallest daughter, Vekka. "Hold the baby."

He scowls at his mate but takes his little daughter from her, clearly not done raging. The moment she is put in his arms, she sucks her thumb, gazing at him with big, worried eyes. He sighs and hugs her close, patting her back. "Calm. I am calm."

Shors.h.i.+e shoots me an angry look, but her voice is calm. "I just don't understand what you're thinking, Bek. You can't steal people and bring them here."

"I did not steal them," I tell her. "Trakan did."

"He stole them for you. That's just as bad! Why would he do such a thing?"

"We became friends," I tell her, though now the words feel sour on my tongue. I think of him using the collar on the small, dirty female and feel shame. If he does not know that hurting females is wrong, how can I trust his other decisions? "And the females will be happy here."

"You don't know that," Shors.h.i.+e exclaims, and she is so loud that her daughter jumps. With a frustrated sigh, she takes little Vekka back from Vektal and hugs her close, trying to calm herself down. "You don't know that," she repeats in a lower, calmer voice. "They might have families at home. Jobs. Things they care about. Or hey, here's a thought-they might not want to spend the rest of their lives on an ice planet making blue babies."

"But you are happy here. The others are happy here."

"Because we fell in love," she hisses, stroking her daughter's hair. "That's different."

"They will fall in love as well," I tell her. "Once they receive their khuis, they will take mates and be happy. It will be as it should."

She stares at me, as if my words shock her. "You're delusional. These things take time. You bought slaves and brought them here, Bek. How can you not understand how wrong that is?" She shakes her head again and then pinches her brow. "This is not the same as when Maddie and Lila were found. I can't believe you don't realize that."

"I have broken no rules," I tell them.

"Why would we have rules against buying slaves? This is a peaceful place!" Shors.h.i.+e hisses again, then collects herself, pressing a kiss to her daughter's cheek. "Maybe you'd better see Papa again, Vekka."

"I think perhaps her mother needs to keep holding her," Vektal says. "My temper is fine."

Shors.h.i.+e shoots him an angry look as well and then turns back to me, still holding her daughter close. "You haven't broken a rule, only because it's not something anyone ever thought would come up. That'd be like us having rules for not murdering, or stealing children. It is s.h.i.+t you do not do." She punctuates each word with angry enunciation, patting her infant daughter's back as she does. "I just...I just can't believe you, Bek. I really can't."

"My mate and I will discuss punishment," Vektal tells me in a sour voice. His other daughter, Talie, rushes up to his legs and holds out a piece of leather to show to him. He absently picks her up, pulling her against his side, and she begins to braid his hair with the leather. "I do not know what we can do that will make you understand the severity of your actions, but do not think you will get away with this."

I nod slowly, expecting this. "Of course, my chief. I am prepared for whatever you decide."

Shors.h.i.+e does not look pleased, though. Perhaps because the last few times that Vektal disciplined tribesmates, it ended up not being as harsh as it could have been. She tilts her head and studies me. "I have to ask. You got five women, right?"

"Yes."

"And did you resonate to any of them?"

I see where she is going with this, and I scowl. "Not yet."

"Good." The vehemence in her tone surprises me. Shors.h.i.+e has always been pleasant. "I hope you don't resonate at all, because that's the worst punishment I can imagine for you-to know that you stole women and then you have to give them to everyone else."

My jaw clenches. I say nothing, because she is not wrong. If none of the females here resonate to me-ever-it will be the worst possible thing I can endure. She knows how badly I want this, and her words cut like a knife. I have been burying my disappointment so far, but it is difficult to see the females standing in front of me and know my khui wants none of them. Once again, I worry I will be left with nothing while the others around me celebrate their happiness.

Shors.h.i.+e gives me a tight smile, as if she knows her words have found their mark. "If you'll excuse me, I have some human women to welcome to Croatoan." And she marches away with Vekka in her arms, her back straight.

I watch her go and then turn to Vektal. Even he seems surprised at his mate's vicious words, a rueful smile on his face. "She is protective of her people, my mate."

I grunt.

"I would ask that you stay away from the females until they are settled in. You being around them will upset the other humans, because they will think that we approve of you stealing females."

He is not wrong...but I do not want to stay away, either. How can I resonate to one if I am hiding away on the hunting trails? Even though it pains me to think it, I also feel protective of the small, filthy one. She has been abused under my watch, and I should be there to guard her and ensure she remains safe until she resonates to a male that will protect her. "They will need khuis very soon," I tell him. "They do not handle the cold well."

"I know this," he grits out, his voice dangerous even as his daughter plaits his hair from her perch in his arms, oblivious to her father's mood. "It will be soon."

"I am a good hunter. You will need me with you."

"We will take all of the unmated males with us on the sa-kohtsk hunt. We have no choice, thanks to you. The more I hide them away, the more tension it will create. Better to see who they resonate to and handle it as it happens." He shakes his head.

"Stop moving, Papa," Talie tells him in a piping voice, putting a small hand to his cheek. "I am making your hair pretty."

"Apologies, little one." He goes still and just glares at me while his daughter begins her braiding again.

And I am filled with a keen, bitter yearning at the sight. That Vektal, who is such a fierce hunter, has a little daughter to hold close, a daughter that is the same deep blue as him, has the same eyes and her mother's strange curly hair. I want daughters. I want sons. I want a mate.

I want a family. I am so tired of being alone.

"I know you are angry," I tell him, clenching my fists at my side so I do not speak loud enough to scare Talie. "But there is nothing I want more than what you have. I want a mate and kits at my own hearth. I-"

"I understand," Vektal interrupts.

He does not. He will never understand. "You do not," I say fiercely. "You mated the first human female you saw. And then Pashov mated, and Zennek, and Raahosh, and everyone else. And then more females came, and again, I watched others get their heart's desire and received nothing for myself. So until you know what it is like to watch female after female mate to other hunters while you are alone, you do not understand."

Vektal just shakes his head at me, pity in his eyes. "And it might be happening all over again."

The sick clench in my gut tells me he is right. Once again, others will get their mates while I stand to the side, watching.

Alone.

ELLY.

"I know it's cold," Georgie says briskly, setting her daughter down on the stone floor. "But I promise you it gets better over time. And when you get your cootie, you won't even notice the cold." She pauses, thinking. "Much."

I take the thick fur she hands me and wrap it tight around my s.h.i.+vering body. It doesn't feel as if it's making much of a difference, so I move back closer to the roaring fire.

The other four women and I are in a stone hut in the strange little village that these people live in. When I'd heard the word 'hut' I'd expected something extremely primitive and made with mud. This isn't quite that, but it's not exactly a Ritz, either. The walls are made of stone, the ceiling something like a teepee to let the smoke from the fire out. The interior's bigger than I imagined, about the size of an Earth bedroom, and the floor is stone. There's a nook with a toilet, a long bar along the back wall that serves as a counter, and beds of furs on the floors. It actually isn't all that bad. Considering I've lived in cages for the last several years, I like it. The air is fresh, and I can stand completely upright, so I'm happy.

The others aren't quite as happy as me. There are still some tears and lots of worry, no matter how much Georgie and the other females rea.s.sure us that we're safe and no one's going to own us. I can tell Gail is skeptical, especially because every woman that comes in has a blue baby in her arms.

It's not something you accept right away.

One of the women says her name is Stacy, and she sets up a little tripod over our fire and begins to add chopped vegetables and meat to a hanging pouch. A waterskin is pa.s.sed around, and everyone drinks thirstily-except me, because I don't know these people. I don't trust them not to drug the water. I'll wait and see how the others react to it. As Stacy fixes the stew, Georgie keeps handing us furs, and another woman by the name of Kira sits with us and tells us what she can about this place.

The story of how these humans got here is awfully familiar. The stories of the small green aliens that stole them from their beds, waking up to find your world is gone and you're now someone's property-it's like what happened to me. Except these women were adults when they were taken, and I was thirteen. These women were left behind on this planet instead of sent off to the slave markets. We weren't quite so lucky.

Kira's calm voice is soothing as Georgie laces a tunic over Summer's dainty form. She tells us about being rescued by the sa-khui-the big blue guys-and how their ancestors were stranded here many, many generations ago. They have lived here happily despite the cold, and continue to do so despite an offer to return to their homeworld. The humans elected to stay with them, happy with their mates and families.

"What about home?" Kate asks. "Can we go home?"

"The only s.h.i.+p capable of going back to Earth is the one you came here on," Kira explains, her small daughter sitting in her lap. The child watches us with big eyes, as quiet and thoughtful as her mother. "I'm afraid that we're hunter-gatherers here, with very little technology like you're used to in the past. No television, no phones, no internet, not even running water."

"Oh lord," Gail says, shaking her head. "And you guys are happy here?"

Kira shrugs. "We weren't given much of a choice in the beginning, just like you, but we came to love it here. The sa-khui are wonderful people." She thinks for a moment and then adds, "I know it's hard to believe, considering Bek's actions, but we're all very upset at him."

"Don't forget Vaza," Georgie calls out, handing Summer a boot. "He's not getting off scot-free either."

"But the s.h.i.+p," Kate persists, leaning forward. "The s.h.i.+p can come back and get us, right? Take us back to Earth? What if we offer to pay them?"

"Earth isn't considered an 'allowed' planet," Kira says gently. "No one will go there. Even if the s.h.i.+p came to get you, they'd just turn you over to the nearest alien authority. That's one reason why none of us wanted to leave-we couldn't guarantee we'd ever see our families again. Humans are forbidden because our planet is considered too primitive by most alien cultures."

"But, but, but," Kate protests, and gestures at the stone walls of the hut. "What do you call this?"

Kira gives her a faint, sad smile. "Generations of survivors doing their best with what they've got."

"I want to go home," Brooke says. "Can't you make them understand that? We don't want to be here."

"Unless Bek has a deal with The Tranquil Lady that I don't know about, I doubt they're coming back. I'm afraid you're going to be with us."

Summer sniffs, and Brooke starts weeping into Gail's fur-covered shoulder. The other women look awkward, and Stacy grabs a stack of small bowls and starts ladling food out. "You girls need to eat something. You'll feel better with a full stomach."

Bowls are pa.s.sed around, and Stacy hands one to me. I shrink back and turn my head away, declining it. I'm hungry, but I've been served bad things from a smiling face before. I need to trust before I can relax enough to eat.

She looks surprised at my refusal and glances over at Georgie.