I itched to move around their camp and set a few more traps. I had only gone so far, not wanting to predict the Caterri’s route, just to be wrong and waste valuable time and resources. Dana had to be safe, and doing things haphazardly and without thinking was not the best way to do that.
Instead, I focused on what I could do. I did wish I had some of the metal the Caterri were so fond of, but I was also glad I didn’t at the same time, as perplexing as that seemed. It would have helped defeat the Caterri, but I also did not want to be them, not when they were terrible. Using their weapons, their tactics, would make me not much different than them, and I didn’t think I could fathom that.
The grass rustled as one of the bigger Caterri dragged Dana to the metal beast by her arm, Dana still talking away, just loud enough to hear.
“What the fuck, B? Didn’t your mother teach you any manners?” Dana grumbled.
A pang of affection threatened to destroy my impartial detachment, not that I had really managed that when it came to that human in the first place. But I couldn’t think about it, not now. I needed to be careful, to assess things without allowing emotions to get involved, because when they did, things went wrong.
I watched as Dana was chained to the metal beast with the circles, her shouting lowered to the occasional grumble I could not hear. This time the chains were longer to give her some freedom, meaning she didn’t have to sleep quite so close. The Caterri said something to her too quiet for me to hear, then tossed a rag at her and stormed off.
Holding my breath, I had just taken a step in her direction when another Caterri appeared. This was the smaller one from before, the one who had brought Dana a bedroll and some food and water. True to what he had done the day before, he laid out the sack for her and gave her a water skin and something that looked good to eat, like fruit.
When we got back to N’Akkar, I was going to make sure that Dana had enough fruit she could feast upon it if she wished. There was more than enough, and my people rarely grew tired of them.
Then Dana stood, saying something to the Caterri before turning her back to it. Then she pulled down her pants carefully, trying not to hurt either her wrists or the strange cloth with the metal squares. Her under-layer was next, and she pulled a rag out of them and then inserted the new one.
My tongue flickered out, my brow ridges furrowed in confusion. The burning from whatever they had put in the air still made it difficult to scent, but I could have sworn…
The thought hit me like a dohli on rampage. The blood was hers. The scent I had smelled the night before? It was hers. I didn’t want to think about what that meant, but my mind could not help it. Dana had not mentioned they had violated her, but was there really any other answer? It was the burns I had suffered to my tongue that had stopped me from figuring it out yesterday.
My heart shattered, and I crouched down low in the grass, my brow ridges to my knee. When had it happened? Had they violated her again after I had seen her yesterday, when I was off setting traps and working on lowering their defenses? She hadn’t acted any differently, but my Dana was strong, and I knew that. Instead of doing what I should have done and acting as the war chief who knew how to disable many Caterri, I enjoyed time as a soldier, working to weaken them before I attacked. The fact that the odds were heavily stacked against me shouldn’t have factored into my decision.
I never should have returned to the tribe. The guilt threatened to swamp me, but I shoved it back as I lifted my head and watched my mate. I had let duty come before her, and because of that, I had failed her. Instead of pushing yesterday to save her, I had let myself be defeated by strange metal circles, and all the while she had been abused by the Caterri.
The thoughts tried to overwhelm me, but I couldn’t let them. No matter what happened, I needed to save my Dana. My mind flashed to her promise the day prior, her hand on my cock, her taste on my lips. I had failed her, and the price would be never doing such a thing with her again, I was certain. But that was a sacrifice I would make. My Dana deserved the best, far better than someone who would put duty before her.
I allowed myself a deep breath and a taste of the air before I moved through the shadows, targeting one of the lazy sentries at the edge of camp. They were clearly dozing where they sat, their spear carelessly placed in front of them. This Caterri seemed to lack the weapons available to the others, which was interesting. What decided whether or not the Caterri got access to the distance-weapons? Not that I had time to think about it at the moment.
My height and bulk made it difficult to sneak, but I made it close to the sentry before I paused. The Caterri didn’t have the same tongue-tasting we did, and their sense of smell was far worse, so I did not fear being detected that way. I picked through the dirt until I found a small rock and tossed it far enough away there would be distance, but close enough I could sneak up behind him.
The sentry snorted himself awake, and my disgust lingered. A N’Akron caught guarding a camp in such a way would have
