Raven's Return - Ruby Dixon Page 0,23

that I can't take it anymore. Some days it isn't so bad.

Sometimes though, like tonight, it hurts me down to my core.

U'dron and Juth keep arguing, and I lie down next to the fire, curl up in the blankets, and put my back to it—and them. Eventually, their voices fade out, and I fall into an exhausted sleep.

I wake up a short time later to someone lifting the blankets off of my side, only to have a big, warm body lie down on the sand next to me. I jerk awake, only to see U'dron's face.

"Go back to sleep," he murmurs. "We will wake early and begin the journey back to the beach camp."

"Why are you stealing my blankets?"

"Juth has the other and he is sharing with his son. We must share…unless you would rather share with them?"

Reluctantly, I let him take an edge of the blanket. Even though I'm hurt at his words, I'd still rather share furs with U'dron than anyone else. I'm not allowed to have a crush on the big guy, even though my brain doesn't seem to be paying attention to that. He rescued me, and my heart has gone into full pitter-pat mode around him. I want him to pull me close and wrap an arm around me, holding me tight like he did when he pulled me from the water.

Instead, he just lies on his back and gazes up at the sky, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Well, if I wasn't wide awake before, I'm wide awake now. U'dron being that close has that effect on me. I'm very aware of the nearness of his form, his warmth, and the sheer size of him. I roll onto my side and try to get comfortable, but my brain is racing with a million thoughts and I can't quite seem to go back to sleep. Would he be lying so peacefully next to me if he knew I was just as bad—maybe worse—than Juth?

U'dron grunts, low in his throat.

I crack open an eye. "What?"

He shrugs his shoulders and nods at the sky above. "I do not see pictures in the stars here, either."

That melts some of my defensiveness. It almost feels like an apology, bringing up the stars. "The sky hasn't changed because we're a few miles away," I point out, unable to resist teasing him. "If you can't see them on the beach there, you won't be able to see them here."

"I am starting to think it is all a lie to get us to stare up at the sky like fools," he grumbles.

Ha. "It's a real thing, I promise you. Maybe we just don't have the right mindsets." Something skitters over my foot—probably a small crab—and I jerk away, kicking him in the shin in the process. "Sorry."

He grunts again. "I hate that you must sleep on sand tonight. You deserve better."

That makes me melt. No matter how I feel about his stance on past transgressions, that's still one of the sweetest things anyone's ever said to me. I reach over and touch his shoulder, just a little. "Thank you for coming after me."

"The entire tribe on the beach has hunted for you for two days."

"They did?" I don't know why that surprises me. I'm female—I'm sure it's because I'm an eligible mate for someone. Well, given that they don't know my past, that is. "That's very sweet. Are they out looking right now?"

"No." U'dron sounds disgruntled. "There was no sign of your trail, and no one knew where you had gone, so R'hosh and the others assumed you left of your own accord. I knew—" He hesitates and then continues. "I knew better, so I continued to look for you."

I don't know if that hurts my feelings, hearing that the others gave up on me. I mean, Callie and Penny both disappeared with the guys and no one looked very hard for them because they knew they were being wooed. Willa and Gren disappeared together, and apparently it's tradition to just pack up a bag and run off for a few days. I'm grateful that anyone looked for me at all, honestly. No one's ever cared in the past. I remember leaving home for a week to shack up with one of my boyfriends when I was thirteen, only to come home full of indignant outrage, expecting my mother to be furious at me, or worried, or something. Instead, she gave me five bucks and asked me to get her a pack