Free Ruth's Bonded (Ruth & Gron Book 1) by V.C. Lancaster

strange. She
did not ask anything of him, she had stopped trying to touch him, but still she
came to sit near him and speak to him. It seemed to be important to her that
they eat together, at the same time, near each other, so he tried to comply. It
was difficult because normally the Queens would eat first, and only when they
had had their fill would the males eat. He remembered how she had insisted he
eat from her food, which would have had him punished in his own tribe. He was
so often torn between following the traditions of his people and obeying the
Queen in front of him. He supposed to defy her would have been the worst thing
he could do. And the way she bared her teeth at him. It had a dangerously
captivating effect, which he supposed was her intention. Another of her
seductions. He had not meant anything by it when he copied her, was merely
trying to gage her reaction, which did not appear to be positive. It was
confusing.
    She had been in the cell with him for
such a short time, but he already felt life returning to him, his mind being
stimulated again and elevated past the animal level he had sunk to through
isolation and violence. He knew that even if he did not Bind himself to her, he
could not go back to being alone.  He could not allow her to be taken from him.
He would not. He wished he could say it was for her sake, and undoubtedly if he
let his captors take her away it would not be pleasant for her, but his main
concern was selfish.
    But then he had failed. He had been
so scared, but so determined to fight. He was going to make them regret
entering their cell. But they had got to her anyway, while he was on the floor,
as useless as a child. When she had armed herself with one of their sticks, he
knew he had failed as her protector. She thought him too weak, she knew he
would lose. Her cry when they finally caught her felt like the last thing he would
ever hear. He would have given away the rest of his life to have been able to
save her then. They had hurt her and he had been unable to stand for her.
    The pain of the four sticks buried in
him kept him on the floor. Even now, the memory was like a ringing in his
nerves. He had watched as her two attackers drew blades and knelt beside where
she lay, unable to move from the stings she had received. They cut through her
coverings and he was sure he would watch them eat her, kill her, remove some
part of her. But they had not. They had only taken the fabric and disappeared.
    That confused him, but he did not
question it. He only thanked the Mother Goddess from the bottom of his heart
for hearing his prayers and preserving her. She had been hurt by the sticks,
but he knew from experience that that was only temporary. She would live. She
would be as she always had. Whole.
    He still had hope, then. He had hope
that they would recover from the attack, and the damage would not be much. He
looked to her, trying to struggle himself to her, so he could check her wounds
and rub his pelt against her skin, so she would know she had a male. But she
was not looking at him. She was struggling to move, but she would not look at
him. She would not acknowledge him when he spoke to her, not even when he
called her name. She recovered more motion than he did and removed herself,
away from him to the side of the cell that had become hers. The message was
clear: she wanted nothing more to do with him. He had failed. He had proven himself
to be weak and unable to protect her and as a result she had been touched by
those creatures. She had discovered he was not worthy.
    He moaned as he fought his body
across to the wall. He had wanted to save her. He had wanted her to look at him
and bare her teeth in that strange way, to try to touch him again. He couldn’t
let the Bond form, but the selfish parts of him liked it that she tried. 
Perhaps he would have let her fingers brush his skin for a moment before
stopping them. He liked the way her voice sounded when she bared her teeth,
like