Mating Rights by Jaide Fox Read Free Book Online

out your hair.”
    “If we’re lucky,” Mali
mumbled, dragging her fingers through her tangled tresses. “I’ve never felt it
like this before.”
    Mali changed into the
simple white blouse and the sky blue skirt that flared around her legs and
hugged her hips. She thought the ruffles made her small chest look fuller. At
the least, she didn’t look like a muddy drowned rat.
    They sat on the back of
the wagon. Mali’s legs dangled off the end and Kimber sat behind her on a bench
to the side. She winced when Kimber began dragging the comb through her hair
and caught on a tangle.
    “Ouch,” she said.
    “Sorry. It is bad. You
can do more with it when we get to the festival. I can braid it by sections and
keep it from getting tangled again. They won’t be pretty, but we’re limited
with supplies now. None of these other girls know what it’s like to have curly
hair like ours,” Kimber said.
    “No, I wouldn’t imagine
they would,” Mali agreed. Her mother had always taken care of this chore for
her before. She felt a sudden, heart wrenching need to see her mother and
father again. Tears stung her eyes. Even knowing that she’d stopped running and
fighting if only to draw attention away from her parents—it didn’t help with
the knowledge that they were too far away to offer her any help if she needed
it.
    “Are you okay?” Kimber
asked.
    Mali wanted to return
home, not carry on with this masquerade. But she had to pretend nothing was
wrong. She gave a watery laugh. “I’m fine. Just a little homesick. I’ve never
been away from home before.”
    “Me either. They had to
pry me out the door,” Kimber said. “I’m terrified at the thought of letting a
man bed me let alone the things that happen at festival. Don’t tell the others.
I feel like we have a connection. Can I…trust you?” she whispered.
    Mali was good at
keeping secrets. She looked over her shoulder at Kimber. “Of course. I won’t
say a word. I feel much the same about choosing a mate.”
    ***
    Jaxon, Torolf, and
Ranger returned to camp. With a glance, Jaxon could see there was no security
in the arrangement of tents. His guts twisted with the realization that if the
ursine were close by and so inclined, they could ravage through the camp and
kill everyone. The women couldn’t be counted upon to mount a defense. Adolpho
was old and out of shape. Torolf and Ranger had never even seen one of the bear
clan.
    A sense of urgency
swept through Jaxon. He wanted to tell everyone to pack up their belongings and
leave right then, but that would create a panic. He wasn’t even sure they had
anything to worry about.It was nearly dark, as
well, and the horses would have difficulty navigating the hillside leading up
to the festival in the night.Much as he hated
it, their best bet was to keep watch through the night, taking shifts, and hope
like hell that the rogue ursine didn’t come their way.
    “Check the area
discreetly. We’ll take watch in shifts tonight. Don’t let the others know.
We’ll move fast tomorrow,” Jaxon said.
    “Aye,” Torolf and
Ranger agreed.
    Jaxon walked to Adolpho
to give him the news. The old man took it in stride. Behind the big man,
Jaxon’s gaze caught on Mali.She’d changed out
of her dirty clothes and braided her hair into thick braids.
    Had he even looked at
her before—as anything more than a scraggly female? He remembered feeling her
soft warm body beneath him and her heavily fringed eyes wildly looking for some
way to escape. His suspicions about her had not been waylaid, even by her
change in attitude. Knowing women, he suspected she was merely biding her time
until she had an opportunity to return home.
    But now, with that
white blouse and the skirt that hugged her curvy hips, he felt stricken by a
feeling he hadn’t experienced in years. Heat. Need.Was
he addled? She was too young, too sheltered and inexperienced to consider for
anything but dumping off on another, misinformed clan member.The faster he