Addie’s world tilted. She gaped at Zoark, not knowing what to say. Not knowing what to think.
He didn’t seem to notice her horrified silence.
“I took her body to the plains and left the city the next day. Eventually, Oh’nil and I crossed paths and I came to stay with the tribe.” Finally, he looked at Addie. “You must’ve arrived in the city soon thereafter.”
Addie rubbed her face as so many things suddenly became clear to her.
Rising to her feet with a lot less grace than Zoark, she came to stand in front of him. Taking his hands into her cold shaky ones, she peered into his desolate face.
“You’ve told me yourself that I am not like Samantha. I’m not. I want this baby.”
Hope and mistrust warred in him. He wanted to believe her, but his past experiences held him back. There was nothing to do but prove, over time, that Addie meant business.
“Listen to me, Zoark. You will never have to come back and take my lifeless body off some rack. I won’t ever eat poisonous berries or stick a needle in myself.”
He listened attentively, hanging to her every word. “You truly want to have this baby?”
“Very much! Until recently, I had no hope of ever having one. I still don’t know what to expect from a baby that’s half-human and half-For. I don’t know what the birth will bring, but I’m not afraid. I swear to you, I’m prepared to fight for it. Whatever it takes.”
He tugged at her hands and murmured, “Come, sit down with me.”
She did. And he did. They didn’t get up for a long time.
???
Zoark helped Addie into her sweater. “It is too cold out here.” They kissed and cuddled before he reluctantly pulled away, giving her one more hot look. They had made love twice more, and the time was growing late.
“If the High Counselor knows about us, what will he do?”
Zoark frowned, and his new ‘do emphasized the thunderous expression. He was truly magnificent, in a scary, monster way.
“He won’t like it,” he said flatly.
“Do you think he will accept us? What about Net’ok?”
He took her hand, and Addie marveled at the difference in their sizes. “For them to accept us, they have to accept me. And for them to accept me, I have to have value in the eyes of the tribe.”
“They value strength, and you’re strong, Zoark. Can’t they see it?”
Zoark absently rubbed her hand in circular motions with the pads of his clawed finger. “No.”
“How can they not? I don’t understand.”
“I’ve never shown them.”
“Why?”
“Didn’t want to upset the balance.” He smiled thinly. “They never asked me to fight. They never invited me to train. They simply assumed I couldn't do it, and I was fine with it. Easier all around.”
“And you allowed them to go on thinking you’re useless,” Addie looked at him with reproach.
He looked back at her, his eyes direct and honest. “I had nothing to prove, Addie-woman. And I didn’t care.”
“I see.”
“It all may work out in the end. I’m free to leave the tribe if I have to.”
Addie looked at him in surprise. Suddenly, she got it.He had always known. Bad leg be damned, he had always had the potential to take on Net’ok and every other large asshole like Vuskas and Hunlath. He hadn’t wanted to.
