and you must not add fuel to the fire.”
She jerks out of his grip, adjusting her clothing and scowling at him. “Fuel to the fire? He freaking started it! I’m trying to avoid him and he won’t leave me alone!”
“He is not thinking clearly. I will talk to him.” Raahosh crosses his arms over his chest. “Look at things from his perspective. He thought he had a mate when you entered his furs.”
“I thought only resonance could choose,” she retorts. “Isn’t that what you guys have been drumming into our heads since the first day we got here?”
“Resonance chooses,” he agrees, his expression not easing in the slightest. “But they had no females left on their island. He thought he had a mate again in you and now that is being taken away from him. He is angry, and it does not help that his clan-friend will not mate with his female, either.”
Bridget makes an outraged sound. “I’m not Callie’s fucking pimp! I’m not going to tell her to sleep with M’tok just because her parasite told her to! She makes her own decisions.”
“They lost their homes,” Raahosh continues.
“We lost ours,” I say, unable to hide any longer. “Why doesn’t anyone care what we think?”
Bridget whirls around, her eyes wide, and then she shoots a triumphant look at Raahosh, who scowls at me. “She’s right. We have just as much reason to be fussy as they do, but you don’t see me beating my chest and declaring that a man should be mine.”
“I did not say his thinking was right,” Raahosh says with a fierce frown. “Only that I understood it. I have been where he is. He is desperate.”
“Not my problem,” Bridget says.
“It is not, no.” His eyes narrow as he looks over at me, then back to her. “But you cannot deny that some of the females are being unreasonable.”
I sputter. Unreasonable?
Bridget puts her hands on her hips. “In what way? Hannah resonated, so she should fling her legs open in gratitude?”
Raahosh’s jaw clenches. He sighs. “You are being impossible to talk to.”
“Maybe I’m tired of men feeding me bullshit,” Bridget says defensively. “This would never fly back home.”
He stares at her, hard. “You are not home, are you?” With a quick glance at me, Raahosh turns and leaves.
“Goddamn it,” Bridget mutters. She shakes her head, staring at the ground.
There’s an awkward silence.
“He’s being an ass,” I say after a moment. “Thanks for defending me.”
“Oh, I’m mad at you, too,” she says, not turning around to look at me. “If you weren’t hiding from J’shel and Callie wasn’t ignoring M’tok, A’tam wouldn’t be on my ass so much. You’re part of the problem.” She casts me a look and then leaves.
I stare at her retreating back, open-mouthed. It hurts to hear that from her, but I know she’s frustrated. I know that A’tam has been pointing the finger at myself—and Callie—while he chases Bridget. I know everyone looks at me wondering what the hell’s wrong with me because I turn and run the moment I see J’shel.
But they’re not in my shoes. They don’t understand.
I stare down at the skin, full of math and hash marks, and wonder how many meals extra we’ll have if all these arguments make it impossible for me to eat. I’m sure not hungry right now. With a defeated sigh, I pick up my things, roll up my skin, and head out of the tent.
My stomach rumbles as I head back to my bed in one of the small caves. All of the single women camp out in the same cave together, which is sometimes nice and other times really annoying. To my surprise, Callie’s in there, still in her blankets, and she rolls over and pulls them over her head when I come in. Guess she doesn’t want company. That’s fine, I never know what to say to her anyhow. Hey there, how’s avoiding resonance treating you?
Because for me, it’s pretty awful.
I put my things away and hesitate. There’s a real temptation to crawl under the blankets and pretend this horrible, horrible world doesn’t exist, but that won’t solve anything. And I’m hungry, so I head back out, moving towards the main fire. I cut through the camp and see Gail is there with her cute baby in her arms, and she’s talking to Raven. Two men sit next to the fire, but to my relief, neither of them is J’shel, which means it’s safe. I head forward, determined to get a