I follow the arrow, moving behind the waterfall, and take a few more steps. I brush a few more leaves aside, looking for a panel of some kind. There’s a nook back here, but I don’t see anything—
The floor opens up beneath my feet and I go tumbling into the darkness.
CHAPTER 15
O’JEK
The fruit cave is awfully quiet.
I sit up, tossing aside the tunic I had over my eyes. It belongs to D’see and her scent disappears the moment it leaves contact with my skin. I immediately pick it up again as I get to my feet, drinking in her scent, and then look around. She is not here at the bottom of the cave. I imagine her climbing back to the top in a huff, still angry at me, her cheeks flushed. I imagine her climbing naked and wish I had seen that sight. I would have liked to watch her pert bottom flex as she climbed.
Perhaps I was too uncompromising in my dismissal of her wants. D’see clearly thought we would be approaching the healer sooner since we are mating. There will be plenty of time for her to learn hunting before she becomes too heavy with kit to go out of camp. And having her full of my child would make me feel…extremely satisfied. The thought of her scent mingling with mine? Of her belly heavy with our kit? It calls to that possessive side of me that needs to mark her as mine. To show the others that O’jek is not last among all things. To prove to the tribe that I am worthy of a beautiful, desirable mate.
I should apologize, I decide. We will discuss things, and then I will tongue her soft, sweet cunt until she is no longer angry, and we will return to the tribe united. It is a good plan, and one that will satisfy even I’rec, who will be the first to complain if D’see does not do enough.
My cock is getting hard at the thought of confronting D’see and apologizing—and what comes next—and I climb the vines to the top of the cave, ready to pull my mate into my arms and run my nose over her soft skin until she talks to me.
But when I climb to the top of the wall, a smile on my face to greet my mate…
She is not there.
Panic thrums in my chest. I immediately lean over the ledge, scanning the greenery for D’see’s pale skin and yellow mane. Did she fall? I would have heard if she had fallen, would I not? I skim my gaze over the deep blue of the pool as well, but see nothing.
“D’see?” I call out. When there is no response, I cup both hands to my mouth and shout her name. “D’SEE. ANSWER.”
My voice rings and echoes off of the fruit cave’s walls, but no one answers me.
My heart pounds. Upset, I race to the front of the cave, where the narrow entrance leads back out to the icy valley. Surely she did not leave without me, did she? She could not have been that mad. I squeeze through the rocky tunnel, bracing myself for the blast of cold air that hits me. It is even more bitterly cold than usual—a snowstorm has started and thick white flakes drift from the sky.
No. No.
I cup my hands to my face again. “D’see!”
There is no response.
I panic, staggering out into the snow. It is bitter cold against my bare feet, and I know it would make hers hurt. She would not ignore that, would she? Even in boots, she complains that her feet are too cold. Yet as I call and call again, she is not out here, either.
Either she has journeyed out while I was asleep or she is back inside the cave.
I race back inside again, desperate to find the answer. I tug on leathers as I do, scanning rocky ledges and eyeing leaves, looking for signs that she has been here recently. Nothing looks as if it has been eaten. There are no fruit cores, no rinds, no broken leaves to mark her passing. At the top of the cave, her clothing is still in my pack, her boots where she left them.
I do not understand.
There is nowhere for her to go.
“D’SEE!” I shout her name inside the cave until I am hoarse, but there is no answer. She must be out in the snows, then. Naked? Or did she somehow find leathers to wear that I have overlooked? Others leave items here at the cave all the time. Perhaps she found clothing and decided to leave me behind because I would not give her a baby. Perhaps she thinks to catch up to R’kh and R’khar.
As long as she is not hurt, I tell myself, I will not be upset. I just need her alive and healthy.