The three feet of space that she put between them did no good. Ak easily reached out and placed the massive canvases that were his palms on her shoulders, saturating her with the paint of sweat.

He looked defeated, his hazel eyes frantically scanning her face in search of a portal that would teleport him out of his dilemma.

Kira shuddered. Seeing such a powerful being in the throes of helplessness was disturbing.

"I will help you," she promised.

She needed to play her cards right. She couldn't cave into pity and take Ak out of his misery by letting him know that Nebula was perfectly healthy. If she wanted to see Nebula again, then she needed to manipulate the alien.

Ak nodded, looking over his shoulder. He had left Nebula in a safe area, but her brow was slick with sweat, her lips trembling, and her thighs bloody.

"I will carry you. We will travel faster this way."

She raised her palms, resting them on his chest to keep some distance between them.

"Wait. Before we leave, I need to tell Vrox that–"

"That is out of the question!" Ak boomed, rattling a reminder of his dominance into her bones.

"But I can't just disappear!" she argued.

Vrox loses his mind whenever she so as much requests to start a campfire. If she disappeared like this, the sweet giant would sour with panic. She couldn't do that to him.

"I will not leave Neyla alone any longer. We are going now!"

He tugged her forward like a rag doll, throwing her over a shoulder. She pressed her palms against his scaled back to sit up and considered her options.

If she told Ak that Nebula was fine, then she would probably never see Nebula again. If she let him take her to Nebula, then Vrox would worry about her disappearance.

Ak began running, and she made her decision.

Just wait a few hours for me, Vrox. I'll be back. I promise.

She laid her cheek against Ak's back and wrapped her arms around his chest to fight her bouncing.

– • –

"No. I will not hold you," Vrox grumbled as he tried to shoo Vee away. The little critter had gotten used to getting held. It particularly liked to nestle itself against Kira's breasts. Vrox couldn't blame Vee. He knew how heavenly it was to have those swells of femininity against his chest.

"You are fed, Vee. Leave me alone. Go piss on Kyros' leg."

Vee nipped at his ankles, looking for attention.

With a sigh, Vrox dropped to his knees and pet the animal's coat. "Kira spoils you too much," he chuckled before scanning the horizon for the Terran. She was nowhere to be seen.

"The short-ling is probably fighting the tree for the furs. Come on, let us go help her."

Vrox rose and began to walk to the edge of camp with a lazy grin on his face. Kira could never reach the tree they hung furs on, but she always tried. He had this ritual where he would watch her bottom jiggle as she fought gravity, before patting it and hanging the furs for her.

Since he and his brothers were flat with muscle, he was obsessed with the parts of her body that were soft with fat.

His hand fisted, ready to caress the areas that enchanted him.

Shock weighed his feet to a stop when he found the furs still draped over the branches, drag marks on the soil, and a hole in the perimeter.

No.

Fates and mothers, not this. Anything but this.

He ran to the evidence of distress.

Kira's short footprints had punched a story into the dirt. Other obnoxious footprints surrounded her smaller ones.

First, his mother vanished, and now Kira.

"No!"

Birds scattered into the sky, their wings fluttering as they sought protection within the fates.

His flower had been ripped from his side, de-rooted, snatched. The weeds of sadness grew, trying to replace his flower, to corrupt the garden that was to be.

He turned around and thundered his way into camp. He wouldn't let the weeds bloom. He would get his flower back.

"Vrox?" one of his brothers called out.

Without bothering to look up, he threw, "They took her! She's gone!"

He ravaged his wall, pulling out a scabbard and sliding it over a shoulder. He stocked it with two daggers and a bloodthirsty broadsword.

"We will come with you," Ni'ev said from the outside. "Kyros will stay behind to watch camp."

Vrox didn't care if he went alone. All he knew was that he wouldn't be kept from Kira even if Ezron split down the middle.

He ran outside, not caring to check if the others were ready. Enough time had gone to waste already.

He rammed through the hole on the perimeter wall, hearing Ni'ev and Rokan behind him. His muscles tensed with every jog, and his scales seemed to have become rougher.

He stared at the three directions that stood between himself and his female– north, east, west. Where was she? In which direction had she been taken?

"Kira!"

His breath ravished the wind

She would have rolled her eyes if she was with him, told him to lower his tone of voice, and called him a "neanderthal." He didn't know what that word meant. He didn't understand much of the foreign words that came out of her lips, but he never minded. He loved everything those lush lips of hers produced, from her English words to her soft smiles, to the playful tongue she stuck out at times.

"Kira!"

The forest stirred, seeming to crawl away from his rage.

Picking a direction, he signaled his brothers to take the two others.

Kira was waiting for him, and Vee was waiting for her to come back home. He wouldn't let any of them down.

– • –

Kira felt just about ready to rain vomit on Ak's scaled back. The man had been running non-stop. He kept one hand around her thighs and another on a hilt of his blade. His raging footfalls grabbed the attention of many beasts, but Ak always met them head-on. His blade would shwing with a war cry as he slew beasts with a single stroke. Kira remained propped on his shoulder as he hacked every suicidal creature tried to cross him.

She was sure that if a tornado fell upon them, he would swing his mighty arm and send the natural disaster running.

Was Vrox this relentless? Was he mowing down Ezron as he hunted her down? It wouldn't surprise her. Both of the princes were possessive.

Ak ran until she considered throwing herself off his shoulder– willing to take the seven-foot fall if it meant getting rest.

Eventually, the thickness of the jungle receded, exposing them to the baldness of rocks. Ak carried her to a collection of caves, setting her down by an entrance and steadying her when she swooned.

She clenched her teeth, waiting for her headache to clear.

Once she could stand freely, Ak rushed inside. Kira stumbled after him, only to find a sight that sent another headache her way.

Ak was on his knees, holding Nebula to his chest with one arm and wiping her brow with his free hand.

"Kira? Is that you?" Nebula wheezed.

Kira ran to her side and tried to pull her friend into an embrace. Ak refused to release her, so Kira had to settle with holding her hand.

"I thought I'd never see you again. Are you okay?" she stopped to throw an accusive glance at Ak. "Did he hurt you? You can tell me. I'll castrate him myself."

"No," Nebula replied, wincing when her abdomen clenched painfully. "He tried to, yeah. He... he tried to force me."

"What is she saying?" Ak demanded, unable to keep up with their rapid-fire English.

"She said you tried to rape her," Kira seethed.

"Our history is none of your concern," Ak glared. "You are here to stop her bleeding, and that is all."

Fury crawled up from her chest and burned her tongue. "You have no right to make demands. Unlike you, I would never try to hurt her."

"What the hell? You can talk to him?" Nebula interjected.

Kira nodded, keeping her eyes on Ak. "It's a long story."

Ak's hand shot out for her, gripping her forearm sternly. With gritted teeth that blocked her defiance, he gritted, "stop talking, and start healing her."

"No!" Nebula shot out, gripping Ak's wrist and separating it from Kira.

"It's okay," Kira promised, rubbing the area he clutched. "He wasn't hurting me. He just wants me to stop your bleeding. He thinks you're dying."

Nebula stared at him before getting lost under another red wave of pain. Her senses dulled, and she gargled out her distress. With a shaky breath, she planted Ak's palm on her abdomen. He took the hint and began to massage her stomach.

With hooded eyes, Nebula asked, "You wouldn't happen to have any ibuprofen, right? Or wine?"

Kira shook her head, giving Ak glance-over. He seemed concentrated as if massaging Nebula was a critical mission.

"What is going on here?" she dared to ask. "Between you two, I mean."

Nebula held Ak's stare, which was hotter than the fire in her belly.

"When he first tried to... you know, he held me down for a few seconds before stopping. He didn't try again, and he became um... more careful with me. He would do this thing every day where he would fall to his knees and bow his head to me. His hold became softer, too. I think he feels guilty or ashamed? Fuck, I don't know what's going through his head, but I want nothing do to with him. Nothing. He's unpredictable, and I'll never forgive him."

Kira nodded. "That's your decision to make. I'm just here to take you home and try my best to keep you safe."