Rescued by the Alien Warrior Hope Hart (literature books to read TXT) 📖

“A karja?” I turn to stone. The beast may be a baby, but karja grow incredibly fast.

I glower at Zoey, and she tilts her head as she gazes at the sleeping karja. It opens its eyes to slits and shows me its teeth.

Zoey elbows me in the ribs. “Move out of the way, you big, dumb warrior!”

My mouth twitches at that, but I stay standing between Zoey and the karja.

“It’s dangerous, Zoey.”

“He’s a baby! Look at his little leg. He couldn’t survive in the wild. He’s starving.”

I sigh as I take in the poor creature. It is indeed thin, but I know too well it is the beast with nothing to lose that is the most dangerous.

“Give me the meat.”

Zoey hands it to me wordlessly, but I can feel her annoyance. I crouch, holding out the food, and the karja shows me its teeth again but creeps forward.

It snatches a hunk of meat from my hand before backing away to chew it. But it returns, eventually eating calmly from my hand, and I glance up at Zoey.

“So?” she asks.

“This was a dangerous thing to do, little healer, but I understand you have a soft heart. If you want to treat the karja’s leg, I will help you.”

She gazes at me for a long moment but finally nods. The karja sniffs at my hand, looking for more food, and then backs away, lying back down with a huff.

Zoey’s smile is blinding. “Okay. Wait right here. I’ll get some more food to distract it and stop by the healers’ kradi to get what I need.”

She doesn’t take long, and I spend the time watching the karja, who ignores me. It gets to its feet with a growl as Zoey approaches the kradi but immediately lies back down when Zoey steps back inside.

“Okay.” Zoey smiles at me. “Let’s do this.”

I slowly feed the karja meat, making it last while Zoey examines its back leg.

“Poor thing,” she murmurs. “It’s broken. We need to set it so I can splint it, and it’s going to be painful. I don’t want to give him any of the painkillers we use in the healers’ kradi in case he reacts badly to them.” She glances at me, and I nod.

“Tell me when.”

She takes the karja’s leg between her hands and counts down. I wrap my hand around the karja’s muzzle, and the creature lets out a sound that brings tears to Zoey’s eyes as she sets its leg. The karja attempts to snap at me when I release its muzzle but takes the last of the meat as Zoey splints its leg.

“There, all done now,” Zoey croons to the karja. “You were such a good boy.”

“What will we do now?”

“We need to wait for his leg to heal before we release him back into the wild. Maybe we could set up a small, fenced area for him near the forest.”

The karja sniffs at my empty hand and moves away when it realizes I’m out of food. I tense as it walks toward Zoey, but the creature curls up in her lap, closing his eyes as she gently strokes its fluffy ears.

I sigh. Somehow, I am unsurprised my little healer has tamed a karja.

“We will talk about this.”

Zoey scowls at me but glances back at the sleeping karja and obviously decides she doesn’t want to disturb it because she gently places it on a fur, takes my arm, and leads me out of her kradi.

“Now it’s your turn to eat,” I say, and she rolls her eyes.

“Were you not just with me when I ate lunch? Did I imagine that?”

“You didn’t eat any meat, little healer.”

She scowls at me. “Why am I not surprised you noticed that? I’m honestly not hungry anymore, Tagiz. But I could use a walk, and then I might see if Moni needs help.”

She links her arm through mine, and I smile down at her.

“If you’re sure you’re not hungry, I have something to show you,” I say. I lead her through the camp and behind Rakiz’s tashiv. Our camp is close to the river, and Ivy and Vrex had their mating ceremony in the small clearing close by. But behind that clearing, through the trees, a small stream flows into the river, and it’s quiet. Peaceful.

“Wow,” she says when we arrive. “This is gorgeous.”

I pull her even closer, inhaling her scent. “I used to come here when I was a boy. Our tribe moved much more often then, but whenever we camped in this area, I would sit on one of those flat rocks and watch the water for hours. Just thinking.”

Zoey smiles up at me, and I give in to my urges, cupping her cheek and covering her mouth with mine. She sighs against me, her body softening, and it takes all my self-control to pull back. “You are so very sweet, little healer,” I murmur, brushing her hair behind her ear.

Her cheeks pinken, and I grin as she clears her throat, turning back to the water. Zoey is determined to pretend she is unaffected by me.

“What did you think about?” she asks.

“The usual things young males think about. Becoming a fierce warrior. Bedding females. Protecting the king.”

She bursts out laughing as I knew she would, and the sound draws a smile to my own lips. She said she wanted to check in with Moni, so I guide her back around Rakiz’s tashiv, taking her the long way toward the healers’ kradi, toward my own kradi.

“Where are we going?”

“I have something for you, little healer.”

Her eyes widen, and her hand clutches at my arm. “What kind of something?”

I study her face. My Zoey enjoys surprises. While she was recovering, I would bring her fruit, sweet cakes, and small trinkets, hiding them behind my back as she attempted to guess what I might be concealing from her. No matter how tired she was that day, her eyes would light up.

That time was simpler for us. My father had not yet begun to be threatened