Raven's Return - Ruby Dixon Page 0,40

bringing down my prey when the Great Smoking Mountain had its first death. The entire island shook and trees tumbled to the ground. There was smoke everywhere, and all of the sky-claw flew away." He shakes his head. "I never had my kill, and never got to become a true hunter. We returned to the proving grounds to look for the Keeper of the Spears, but he was dead. We returned to our home cave and found…" He shakes his head. "Nothing."

"Oh, U'dron," I say softly. "What a horrible thing to happen." I put my free hand on his knee, trying to comfort him. "It's an awful thing, and I'm so sorry you had to go through that."

"I have never completed the proving," he states again with a shake of his head. "In the eyes of my people, I am not an adult. I cannot take a mate, because I am not an adult." He gives me a miserable look. "Now do you understand why I cannot have you? No matter how badly I wish for you to be mine?"

I leave my hand on his knee, because I want to keep touching him. "Those are old rules," I say. "That world is gone, isn't it? You hunt right now. You're just as big and strong—if not stronger—than anyone else on the beach. I don't know why you think you can't have a mate."

"My clan knows the truth of what I am," U'dron points out. "They would not approve…and they are all that I have left."

My heart breaks for him. His coming-of-age ceremony was interrupted by an awful tragedy and now he feels like he has to pay the price for the rest of his days? That sucks. I can tell it weighs on him, just from the slump of his shoulders and the dejected flick of his tail. He acts like he's not worthy for some reason. Like I would flinch away from him because he's not a “true” adult.

Please. "I don't care about any of that, U'dron. In my eyes, you're just as much a man as anyone else on that beach. More so, actually." I lean over and touch his cheek, skimming over the scruff there. "You're the only one who found me, after all. You fought Juth for me. You carried me out of the water with a bunch of sea creatures attacking you. And you're here right now, admitting something you don't want to, because you're brave."

He takes my hand and presses it to his chest, right over his heart. "I wish I would resonate to you right now, R'ven. If I resonated, no one could stop us from being together."

"Heck, I wish that, too." No one would be able to boot me, no matter how bad of a person I am, if I was resonating to U'dron. They'd be stuck with me. "But as far as secrets go, that one's not so terrible, truly. I mean, I can see how frustrating you find it, but it doesn't change the way I look at you." I stroke my thumb over his lips. "I find you just as sexy and powerful as I did an hour ago. You're still the guy that came and rescued me, and more than that, you're my friend and my music partner and my star-watching partner. None of that has changed in the slightest."

"But now you understand why I cannot touch you?" The look on his face is pure agony.

I want to tell him that no, I don't understand. In my mind, it's a ridiculous custom that's being held against him. That he's proven himself a dozen times over with his actions and deeds ever since they arrived. He fishes for long, tireless hours. He goes on hunt after hunt. If a volunteer is needed, U'dron is there to offer a hand. I just thought he was super into helping out, but now I suspect a lot of it is over-compensation, making up for whatever he thinks he lacks. I know how that is. Haven't I been in super-friendly mode ever since I arrived, trying to pretend to be someone that I'm not? "I understand that I'rec and your people might not approve, but…maybe they don't have to know?"

U'dron gives me a sweet smile. "But I would want them to know. I would want them to see how proud I am of such a wonderful female in my furs."

My heart sinks, because I'm not wonderful, and now that he's shared his secret,