Meanwhile Eva addressed the crowd. “Behold the Tryb’s great warriors! Mighty hunters, virile stallions — with caring, compassionate hearts. We salute you, every one!” She led the assembly in a chant that rang through the huge cavern while Nadina helped Lexi off the platform.
She could still hear the chanting of the crowd as they made their way back to her quarters. Even through the haze clouding her mind, Lexi realized the old lady was a consummate politician. She’d managed to twist Ayron’s scathing remarks, as though his outburst had been part of her plan to demonstrate all the attributes of the Tryb’s most powerful warriors.
Maybe it was the effects of the liquor. Maybe complete sensory overload. Whatever the reason, when they got to the room where she’d been held, Lexi collapsed into the cozy fur nest, closed her eyes, and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
***
“You are a vile old crone. Someday you’ll go too far.”
Eva chuckled, not the least bit chastised. “Nonsense, child. The female suffered no harm. She wasn’t a virgin. I made sure of that in advance. So it was not the first time she’d aroused the appetite of a brawny male. Besides, the Tryb has been restless lately. They needed some amusement.”
“Captive or not, it was wrong to parade her in front of the entire Tryb, let Nazery strip her naked. Did you not see the fear and shame in her eyes?”
He paced back and forth as he ranted. Eva sighed and shook her head. He stopped, arms crossed, and glared at her. She stretched out a hand and caressed his cheek. “Ayron, my love. You are a fierce warrior — with the kindest, most gentle heart I’ve ever seen. You have always been my favorite grandchild. But don’t tell the others,” she cautioned with a wink.
“It seems the female has caught your eye. I’m happy about that,” she confided. “You’ve been alone too long. Maybe wrestling a feisty young female is just what you need to find your way back to life. Put the fire back in your belly. You’ve been lost to all of us in your grief.”
Despite the soft tone in her voice, the gaze she fixed him with was piercing. “You do realize I planned all along for her to be yours, don’t you? But I can’t show favoritism to a family member and simply give her to you. Even though everyone knows you’re the best, the other hunters would sulk and gripe about me behind my back. You’ll have to win the competition to claim her. The others — especially Eli and Khan — they’ll fight dirty if that’s what it takes to win. Will you swear to give it your all, do whatever it takes to bring her back with you?”
“You’re a wicked, wicked old woman.” Ayron’s words were stern, but his voice held a trace of amusement. He suspected her decision not to simply give him the female was only partially due to the jealousy it might awaken in the other hunters. She’d been worried about him for months. The crafty old lady probably hoped the competition would reawaken his vigor, break through the deep depression he’d been in since that horrible night.
Eva had raised him after his mother died. He knew she’d felt helpless watching him grieve the death of his beloved Naia and their son. Naia’s heart was never strong, and Judah’s birth had weakened it even more. She’d collapsed on the way home from the farms one night. When she hadn’t returned by dawn, search parties went out in shifts, staying in the sun as long as they dared.
Judah was still nursing, and she’d taken him with her. By the time rescuers found them the next day, it was too late. They’d spent too much time in the Outlands. He carried them back to the caves himself. Refused to allow anyone to touch her. Ayron laid her in the healing waters, their child nestled in her arms, though he knew she was already gone. His son lived only a few hours longer.
Ayron blamed himself. Weary from two nights of hunting, he hadn’t gone with her. He’d asked her to wait a day until he rested, but she wouldn’t hear of it.
“Don’t fuss over me, Ayron,” she’d chided in her soft voice. “I feel fine. Besides, we haven’t had fresh vegetables in days, and you need a good meal. I’ll tend to our crops, pick a basket of juicy ripe penalas, and be back before you know it.”
“At least leave Judah with me.”
Naia slipped out of bed and kissed him softly on the forehead. “Your son will be a mighty hunter one day, just like you are. I can tell by how hearty his cry is when he’s hungry.” She picked the child up and nuzzled him in her arms. “That cry can become very demanding when mama isn’t around to feed him every few hours. You’d grow weary of hearing it long before I returned.”
Ayron rolled over, snoring before she left the room.
He hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep since.
Eva had been there by his side through it all. She could see into his tattered soul, knew he’d lost the will to live after that night. She’d been matriarch of the Tryb longer than any other. And for good reason. She knew when to be a loving mother to all of them and when to be tough as narliphant hide.
Eva waited silently, allowing him to make his own decision. He wasn’t surprised. She knew he needed time to think things through from every angle. Even as a child, he’d never rushed into action impulsively.
He looked down at her hair, no longer the flowing dark mane he remembered so well. As a child, he’d sat on her lap and played with the glowing crystals in her headdress as she sang him to sleep. Eva still held her head high, but he was saddened to see her shoulders droop wearily when she thought no one was watching.
Eva had given him everything, taught him what it meant to be a man, a leader of the Tryb. Ayron sighed. He could never refuse her, even though he hated the idea. Going on Eva’s hunt would be like going to war. Not only did he have to stalk his prey, he’d have to evade the other hunters, most likely engage in combat with them to get his prize safely home and claim her in front of the Tryb, as custom demanded.
Despite her scheming, Ayron couldn’t be angry with her for long. He planted a kiss on the top of her head then bowed formally as tradition decreed. “Yes, Mother Eva. I will join in the competition. And I will bring the female back. But I do not promise to claim her as my mate. Since you seem so taken with her, perhaps I will give her to you instead. As a tribute. She has the spark of intelligence in her eyes. Nadina and Mara could train her to be your servant.”
Eva smiled sweetly. “What a lovely thought! I shall accept your gift with great pleasure. Go now, my child. And may the gods be with you.”
Ayron strode from the room, heading to his home on the topmost level of the city. He wasn’t fooled. The old woman wasn’t above waving a delicious morsel of female flesh in front of a healthy male to stir him into action. She probably thought he’d change his mind about taking the female as his own once he spent some time staring at those creamy white breasts with their red nipples and that patch of golden curls peeking out between her thighs.
He caught himself picturing those soft curls, so different from the dense dark nests of the women in his Tryb, and cursed the old lady out loud. She’d set up the whole game to get his hormones raging. She knew his pride would never allow any of the others to claim her, even if he didn’t want her himself.
Ayron couldn’t bear the thought of any living thing being treated badly. Even on the hunt. It pained him to see the suffering in the eyes of the beasts he failed to bring down with a single thrust of his spear. He’d been injured more than once getting too close to a dying animal as it thrashed around, trying to slit its throat and put it out of its misery.
Eva had left him no options. He had to track down the female first. The others would treat her like a wild beast. Especially Eli. She’d be forced to service him whenever and however he chose or risk a beating. Or worse, punishment before the whole Tryb.
Eli would be a formidable opponent with the most to gain. He had no mate. It wasn’t surprising. Ayron had seen the way the man treated the females he lay with. Caring only for his own pleasure, never seeing to theirs first as a real man would do. No wonder none of the women of the Tryb wanted to mate with him. Eli would relish the idea of owning the female, a piece of property he could do with as he wished. One with no standing in the Tryb. No one to step forward on her behalf.
