Page 10 of Healing His Mate
These females have more hope than I can muster. They are kind for staying with me and reminding me to practice patience. I wish I could.
They guide me up to the second and third levels of my home, which are separate structures entirely. They are connected by a set of wooden steps carved into the thick tree that rests against the backside of my home. The second level is smaller than the first with a square structure made of wood that includes my bedroom and a small washroom. The bed is large and unmade. Given the state of the shop, I should not be surprised by this. There are clothes all over the floor and towels tossed about inside the washroom.
The third level is the smallest, about ten steps above the second level, and contains only one room that is filled with written materials: instructional manuals, historical texts, and copious notes I took from working alongside Yignnuf. Books fill the shelves along each wall, the only break in shelves is the single window that looks out over the second level and the main path of the village.
I ask Aye-vah and Cloh-ee to leave me after a few moments of being inside the book room. If there is a key to the time I have spent on Oluura, I assume it is here, and I wish to discover it alone. These are texts that comforted me on Trovilia, which is why I brought them here. Touching them, scanning through the pages, holding them in my hands––I expect to uncover memories of reading them here in my new home. But the only memories that come are ones from Trovilia.
After flipping through roughly thirteen titles, I find no tangible clues of the person I have been. There is no record of the creations I have been working on, or what I have been doing.
With each I check, my movements become more desperate, my heart picking up speed. “No,” I mumble to myself as I toss another aside. I start looking between pages, behind stacks, and on the highest shelves in the room for even a single page of my scribbles from the last five years.
Nothing.
I race down to the second level and rip my bed apart, checking for hidden books beneath pillows, between thick furs, or beneath dirty tunics all over the floor.
Again, nothing.
My ears burn hot with frustration. Beads of sweat form at my temples as I run back to the third floor and check every manuscript again to ensure I missed nothing on the first pass.
“Uhrrahh!” I scream at the ceiling, torn pages crumpled inside my clenched fists.
If I cannot determine how I have spent my time here, how will I continue my work? And if I cannot work, what will I become?Whowill I become?
CHAPTER 5
WALDRIC
“We have been at this for six days now, and nothing has worked,” I say, trying to conceal my agitation from the clan in the food hall as they step in front of me with empty plates in hand, waiting to be served second meal. I scoop a large spoonful ofrinahtunhimash onto each plate with a smile as they move through the line. Most days, I enjoy serving my clan in this way. But that is not how I feel today.
“I mean, she is going through a bit of a crisis at the moment. Did you try complimenting her eyes?” Elle-noor asks from the dish station next to me.
“Yes,” I reply through gritted teeth. The line in front of me has cleared, so I have a moment to share my honest and obvious vexation. “I hand-deliver each meal to Nalba at her shop. She barely acknowledges my presence, and the times that she has, I get but a moment alone with her before someone interrupts. The most I have gotten is a smile.”
Elle-noor sighs. Her small hands are submerged in the soapy dishwater as she scrubs the dishes the clan drops in her bin as they finish eating. “And you’ve tried shirtless delivery?”
My brow furrows. “Shirtless delivery? You mean, presenting her food with my chest exposed?”
“Yeah.”
“No, I have not,” I reply as a gust of wind rips through the air and ruffles the loose strands of my mane.
“Ugh, why not?” Elle-noor demands as she stomps her foot.
I shoot her a sideways glance. “Because it is not proper. I do not want her to assume I have just prepared her meal in a state of nakedness.”
Elle-noor barks out a laugh. “That’s considerate of you, Waldric, but I don’t think she’d care. Like, at all. If a hot guy hands me a plate of food, hygiene is not going to be my first thought.”
“What would your first thought be then?”
“Hmm,” she murmurs as she tilts her head to the side. “Depends on how hungry I am, I guess. But I’d probably be thinking, ‘How can I inhale that tasty dish while simultaneously climbing Bruvix like a tree?’”
That causes me to snicker.
“If Nalba showed up at your place topless with a plate of food, what wouldyourfirst thought be?” she asks.
I feel the blood rush to my cheeks, then quickly back down to my cock as my pants tighten around it. I turn slightly to tug at the waistband of my pants, adjusting myself, away from Elle-noor’s gaze. When I turn back around, Elle-noor shoots me a knowing smirk. Clearing my throat, I reply, “I would not notice the food at all.”
“Exactly,” she adds. “I say you give it a go. We’ve tried everything else at this point.”