Mari's Mistake - Ruby Dixon Page 0,39

with another female. All of Strong Arm has settled in so easily here on this cold beach, I realize as I walk past. L'ren and K'thar are with the others for the “marching madness,” and J'shel sits on a rock while his mate weaves his long braid for him by the fire. N'dek is on the shore, and Z'hren has a new mother. Shadow Cat clan has been less lucky—not one of them has resonated as of yet, and I feel a small, spiteful surge of pride that at least some of Tall Horn have acquired mates. Both M'tok and S'bren recently resonated, and of course, there is myself and Mari.

I do not know if we count amongst the lucky.

I look for R'jaal, my friend and our leader, and the only one in our small clan who has not yet resonated. He is with the others on the beach, talking to a dark-maned female. I know his fondest hope is for a mate of his own. He is lonely, and I think of how excited he was when he found Mari, only for her to resonate to me.

Sometimes I wonder if my mate was unlucky to resonate to me, if she should have been R'jaal's instead…but the thought fills me with so much jealousy that I quickly staunch it.

Mari is mine. She will always be mine, khui song or not.

I find Mari in the work cave where M'dok obsesses over his projects. She sits alone near one of the strange artificial lights, a basket of small, sand-covered bits on a table in front of her. In the back of the cave, M'dok raises a hand in greeting to me. I nod and he turns back to his mate, who is carefully piecing something together, her tongue sticking out as she concentrates. I do not know what anything in this cave is or what it does, but it is important to Mari, and she spends a lot of her time here.

Far too much time, if it is up to me, but I never say so. It already feels as if Mari is drifting away from me. I do not want to give her excuses to drift further.

As I move to my mate's side, I watch as she carefully brushes grit off of a tiny metal square with a bit of fur. She examines her work, holding it up to the light, and then purses her lips to blow on it. I watch, hungry, and think of her soft mouth, and how she used to melt under my kisses. Now, our kisses are few and far between, and she never, ever melts.

Mari frowns, turning to look over her shoulder. Her expression brightens at the sight of me. "You're standing in the light, T'chai." She pats the empty stool next to her. "Come and sit."

I do, watching her work. I love hearing her talk, love the look of concentration on her delicate face. I sit down next to her, pulling my stool closer.

Her smile fades a little, and I notice she leans away. My heart sinks.

"We found another batch of parts this morning," Mari says in her soft voice. "They were buried in the sand, so they're filthy, but Mardok thinks he can get them to work. There's a lot to do and everyone's distracted by the games, so I thought I'd come and get a jump on things." She gently blows on the piece she's holding, her lips pursing. Then, she glances over at me. "Are you taking part in the games?"

"Not if you will not watch me."

"Oh." She pauses and looks over at M'dok, but the male is leaning close to his mate and I suspect they will not get much work done. "I'm not sure. There's so much that needs to be tackled—"

"Come and walk with me," I say, getting to my feet and holding my hand out. "We will walk for a bit and then I will leave you alone to work. This I promise."

I grit my teeth as she looks over at M'dok and F'rli.

"Please," I add.

Mari nods and then gets to her feet. She seems reluctant and sad, and more than anything, I want to see her smile again. She puts aside the parts she is working on and looks over at M'dok, but he is now kissing his mate and will not notice that Mari is gone.

Is everyone kissing this morning, I wonder, irritated.

She puts her hand in mine as we leave the cave together, and