VEXAROKA whipping wind jostled my branch, but I remained fixed and steady. My cws dug into the bark, and my tail wrapped securely around the swaying perch. I was hidden amongst the leaves, near the center of the canopy.

  The dakmu had resumed their hunt, but were unable to sniff out our cliffside hold. We had left very few physical tracks, since I had kept almost always to the trees. More than once, I had seen them double back, trying to pick up where they had lost us. Yet they never came near our hollow.

  Soon, the omega's trail would be completely gone, and the dakmu would have nothing left to chase.

  It was something I took great satisfaction in.

  They had thought they could force him back, but Rolec had slipped through their fingers like so much sand. And after another day or two, the dakmu would surely move on. When they did, we would also be able to leave.

  My head was filled with possibilities. I would first show him my vilge, my home. I would offer him everything that the dakmu had taken and denied. He would have a real bed in which to sleep. He would have all the warmest of furs and bnkets. I would give him clothes and his favorite oolma fruit.

  The omega had made it clear that he preferred the fruit over the ekta that I had brought for him. But was it the ekta he disliked, or did his aversion run deeper than that? Perhaps his life with the dakmu had turned his stomach away from meat entirely. If Rolec had been witness to the dakmu consuming other gakh...

  My expression grew clouded, lip curling back in disgust. I had tried not to consider it a possibility.

  Reminding the omega of the dakmu was not something I wished to do. I wanted to be better, to keep him safe. At times, that desire became overwhelming. Instinct demanded I act, that I cement our bond. Already, I could feel its pull, urging me forward. I needed to quickly return to him.

  I was uncertain if Rolec felt the same compulsions.

  I could sense every shift in his pheromones. When I had st taken him into my arms, Rolec had not quite smelled of fear, although the scent had been simir.

  Racking my mind, I tried to put a word to what I had scented from him.

  Doubt?

  Did Rolec doubt my intentions? My ability to protect him from the dakmu? To provide for him? Or was it the hollow? Did he believe the hollow was our home, with only its meager fur and bnket? If he thought that, I understood why the omega was so filled with hesitation. At the hollow, he could not even relieve himself without my aid; I had to bring him into the branches each time.

  One hand came loose from the branch, and I looked at my palm. I could still feel the smoothness of his skin and the fullness of his backside. The severing of his tail had been clean and had healed impressively well. I had felt no lingering scar. Rolec was fortunate that the injury had not killed him, so it was a further miracle that he did not carry the marks of their torture.

  My eyes dropped to the jungle floor.

  I was a great distance from Rolec, the ache to return to his side growing with every passing minute. Yet the omega liked oolma, and I was determined to bring him more. That was not something I could do near the cave. I could leave no sign that we were still in the area while the dakmu hunted for him.

  Dropping from my branch, I slid down the trunk and to the ground.

  I had to prove to the omega that I could be the perfect bondmate, and that I could provide him with whatever he might need. It did not matter that there were no other alphas vying for his attention. I would court Rolec as he deserved and hope he found me worthy.

  Determined now, I focused on my task.

  I picked through the low lying undergrowth and began to fill my travel pouch. The vines of the oolma were plenty, and the fruit grew in heavy clusters. There would be no time to dry them, but I thought Rolec might enjoy them more as they were now. They would not dry out his mouth, as the previous oolma had.

  I had never held such worries for myself, but the omega was very weak. He ate so little, and when he stood, he often held one hand to the wall and another to his head. Without a tail, his bance seemed poorly. More than once, I had reached out to stabilize him. When I had further insisted he return to the bed, he would shake his head from side to side and make a little noise. I had taken the sound to mean stop. His shaking too. It was as if the omega sought a means to express himself despite his stolen ears and tail.

  Thankfully, Rolec never dared to venture near the hollow's vine-wall, but he did pace restlessly and stretch his limbs. The tter he did a lot, regardless of sitting, standing, or even ying.

  Was stretching an indulgence? How had the dakmu kept him? Shackled to one spot? Locked in a cage?

  My motions grew stiff, disgust rising in my veins. I did not notice that I had crushed the oolma I was picking until juice ran between my fingers. I flicked my hand, dropping the ruined fruit into the dirt. Then I wiped my hand across the leg of my trousers.

  If only I could crush the dakmu like fruit.

  I had fought them before, but it was always a danger. They were easier to manage alone, but the dakmu rarely traveled that way. Their scouting parties were made of twos and their hunting parties even more. Oftentimes, it was better to run than it was to engage them. They could not keep up with me, even with the omega in tow. Yet if it came to blows, I would take up my sword. So long as I stood, Rolec would not be confined again. I had promised him that much.

  Focus.

  Snatching a final cluster of oolma, I stuffed it into my pouch and moved on.

  Water came next. Yet as I climbed into the trees, my eyes caught on a distant wink of color. Yellow flowers and spade-shaped leaves were a sign; hidden beneath them, tubers grew.

  In a matter of minutes, I had them dug out and brushed off. They were stuffed into my swelling pack. As an added measure, I made sure to keep a few of the flowers, hoping Rolec would like them as much as the food. I recalled my om-father having grown different varieties in the pots outside our home. Unlike the other pnts he nurtured, the flowers served no purpose beyond looking pretty.

  No more distractions.

  In a beat, I had leapt back into the trees and sped through the jungle toward the neighboring stream. It was the closest source to the hollow, and the one from which I had been refilling my waterskin regurly.

  The nearer I drew, the slower my progress became. I caught whiff of them on the wind long before I saw them. Their wretched stink was everywhere.

  I tucked myself away in the branches and leaves, growing motionless as I waited. Then I spied them; the dakmu stalked the stream's edge. They seemed not to care to drink. Rather, they were patrolling. Bristling, I suppressed the rumble in my chest. They knew we had need of water. Their hope must have been that we would stumble to the stream and into their waiting clutches.

  I was thankful Rolec remained safe in the hollow.

  For a long while, I did nothing but watch. Eventually, the dakmu moved on, trudging farther up the stream. They seemed never to catch my scent.

  Yet still I lurked.

  I remained hidden until their grumbling grew silent, and their stomping no longer pricked my sensitive ears. Only then did I slip from the tree and to the water's edge. I stayed on the ground only long enough to refill the waterskin, holding the mouth away from the water's flow so no silt or dirt got into the bdder. The omega deserved better than muddy water.

  When it was full to bursting, I corked it and was back in the trees in nearly the same breath.

  Now I had only to return to Rolec, but knowing the dakmu were still near, I took my time. I had to ensure that they were not skulking somewhere behind, waiting for me to lead them straight to the omega. I picked my path carefully, though to any dakmu that tailed me, it would seem meandering and without course. Only after hours of serpentining through the jungle did I approach our tree and make my way up toward the cliffside.

  I parted the curtain of vines, stepping inside the hollow. Immediately, I was struck by Rolec's pheromones. The luscious scent wrapped him like a cloak, though in reality he wore only the top I had left for him. It had seemingly dried during the time I was gathering food and leading the dakmu astray.

  The omega did not stir at my appearance, completely unaware that I had returned to him. I was reminded once more of just how helpless he was. Had his senses been dulled by his life in captivity?

  Approaching, I settled onto the dirt beside the furs. I pulled my belongings from my belt, making as little noise as possible. The food pouch was set aside neatly, and the waterskin was id adjacent.

  For a time, I simply watched him sleep. Yet there was no hint that he sensed my presence, even from so close beside him. It left me unsettled. Had I not roused the omega on that first night, would he have even realized that the dakmu were closing in? Or would they have been upon him before he had the time to even scream?

  It had been so easy for me to grab him. It would have been no challenge for them either.

  I brushed the backs of my fingers over the omega's cheek. Still Rolec did not stir. His expression twitched faintly, but he remained deep in sleep.

  My chest ached. For so many years, I had endured alone; solitude had been my only companionship. Yet now that I had him, it frightened me. He was so vulnerable, utterly defenseless. If I faltered for even a moment... I did not want to think of the consequences.

  In all of my memories, I could not recall my own om-father having been so frail. He had been smaller than my al-father, yes, but not as small as Rolec. When he stood full, the top of his head came only to rest beneath my chest. I was certain I could break him with one hand if I had such a mind.

  Which meant the dakmu could do so much worse.

  I knew they already had.

  I removed my touch from his cheek, brushing aside the dark strands of hair that had fallen into his face.

  He made a chirpy sound, then rolled over to continue his dreams.

  For a moment longer, I watched. When Rolec made no further motion, I reached for the bnket and pulled it up and over his small frame, then settled in to sleep beside him. I curled, wrapping him with my arms in a protective cage.

  I would give him the flowers come morning.