Lost_Mate of the Cave Bear

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Chapter One - Haran

  Chapter Two - Jenna

  Chapter Three - Haran

  Chapter Four - Jenna

  Chapter Five - Haran

  Chapter Six - Jenna

  Chapter Seven - Haran

  Chapter Eight - Jenna

  Chapter Nine - Haran

  Chapter Ten - Jenna

  Chapter Eleven - Haran

  Chapter Twelve - Jenna

  Chapter Thirteen - Haran

  Chapter Fourteen - Jenna

  Other Books By Harmony Raines

  Lost

  Mate of the Cave Bear

  (The Dualis)

  (Book Two)

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  Note from the author: My books are written, produced and edited in the UK where spellings and word usage can vary from U.S. English. The use of quotes in dialogue and other punctuation can also differ.

  ***

  All rights reserved. This book, or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written consent of the author or publisher.

  This is a work of fiction and is intended for mature audiences only. All characters within are eighteen years of age or older. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, actual events or places is purely coincidental.

  © 2015 Harmony Raines

  Silver Moon Erotica

  Kindle Edition

  Chapter One - Haran

  What was she doing? He reached out for her, but then he saw the face of a Masu. If they found him, they would kill him and probably Jenna too. He was no match for so many, even in his bear form. So, feeling like a coward, he let them take her. He watched while they touched her with their stinking Masu hands. But she was one of them.

  He swept that aside. She was his. She said she would come back to him, and he would follow them and watch for a way of helping her escape. These tribes were nomadic, so they were probably only moving through his territory. The river had drawn them; the waterfall and pool would be used by them to clean their stinking bodies and wash their stinking clothes.

  His rage built inside him and his bear clawed to be freed. But it would be futile, all that would happen was he would die with a spear in his heart and they would burn his body. Then they would cut the child from Jenna. His child, the child they had made with their love.

  So Haran made himself lie low to the ground, closed his eyes, and tried to shut out all thoughts of what would happen to his mate in the hands of the Masu.

  Chapter Two - Jenna

  She tried to look pleased to see them, but she was so scared, more than she had been since she had arrived here. These Masu reminded her of the Celts; instead of blue woad on their faces, they had bright red. Making them look almost as if their faces were bleeding from a thousand cuts. And they looked fierce: their voices, their gestures, everything about them screamed hunter. Especially their long, sharp spears.

  “Why were you hiding?” one asked, stepping so close to her, she was scared that if he looked down he would see Haran.

  “I didn’t know who you were.”

  “Did you think we were the Dualis, come to eat your heart in their animal shapes?”

  “I … yes.” She hoped Haran would forgive her.

  “Come with us, female, and we will protect you. Our people are in the valley below. There you can join the women.”

  Jenna didn’t know if she liked that sound of that. These Masu seemed to so different to Haran, aggressive and self-assured. She could see why he would fear them. And wondered if she should too.

  Before she had chance to question them she was placed between two men and escorted off the hill. Only a brief glance back told her that not everyone followed, and she felt a deep sense of dread inside her. What if they carried on searching and found Haran? But she couldn’t help him and reminded herself that he had survived all of his life hiding from these men. He would be alright. For now, she was better to worry about herself.

  As they descended lower, she caught glimpses of makeshift shelters put up to keep off the worst of the sun. Out here, the heat was climbing, becoming more and more uncomfortable. She hoped they would move off soon so that the men would come down from the hill. It still worried her that they might find Haran.

  “This way,” one of her captors said, and to Jenna they were her captors, because she didn’t want to be here. She wanted to be swimming in the pool with Haran and making love in the shade. Trying to hide her tears, she turned her head to count how many other Masu there were in this group.

  Apart from the five men that had been on the hill, there appeared to be about ten other males. Ranging from the relatively old, about fifty, to young boys running about. Some youths were standing, possibly on guard, but they were more interested in flirting with the young women that were drifting about. Some of the women had water carriers in their hands, full by the look of it, but none of the males was noble enough to offer to carry them. To Jenna it looked as though the men did the guarding and possibly hunting, while the women did the fetching and carrying.

  Crossing to one of the shelters, she was taken into the shade, to an older man. He was seated with a cup of water and some fruit, which he was eating while others about him worked. This was their leader.

  “A stranger,” he said looking up at her.

  “Hello,” she said and suddenly realised she had better come up with some plan. Not for escape, but for survival. It was obvious that she spoke differently to these men, that her mannerisms were different and that she did not know their customs. It would make the story she had planned to tell of how she had lost her own people not entirely plausible. Unless she could explain why they were different, but without knowing where these men came from that would be hard.

  He got up; she had already piqued his curiosity. Coming to her, he walked around her, his fingers stroking her flesh. “So round, so lush.” His finger trailed over the swell of her breasts.

  “I would thank you for finding me. I have lost my own people.”

  “They are dead?” he asked a little too eagerly.

  “No. I foolishly thought that I would go north to see the great ice sheets. I had not realised that north is a long way to walk.”

  A snigger went up around her. Encouraging, perhaps she would be better to play herself as a fool, unable to look after herself. But then she might well be given to one of the men for her own protection. And other, less pleasant, things.

  “Indeed, we go to the north and it is cold and harsh. You would walk a good many days and freeze before you got there. Or be eaten, there are hungry beasts in the north.”

  His manner made her skin crawl. “Then I should return to my people and let them tell me how stupid I am to have tried.”

  “And where are your people?” he asked.

  She knew that he would ask, and this is when she had to hope she guessed correctly. That she had picked a direction other than where these nomads had come from. Jenna was also depending on her own geographical knowledge of how the land was in this time. The only problem was, she didn’t exactly know when this was or where exactly she had landed. But from talking to Haran, she had a good idea.

  “They are from the southeast. We came down from the mountains when food grew scarce in the cold. Then we stayed on a vast plain and hunted before moving to the forests in search of a home.”

  “And did you find a home?” he asked.

  “No. My people missed the mountain air, and moved back to the foothills. They plan to spend the summer in the mountains and move down for the co
ld winter.”

  “Would you be able to find that plain again?”

  “Yes.” And here she saw a possible way to escape these Masu. “If you would spare me some food and water, I would like to see my people again.”

  “As would I. It is always good to meet up with new tribes and exchange news and trade. We have an abundance of furs, which your people might trade for tools and knowledge. We have never been to the mountains in the south.”

  “My people are sometimes scared of outsiders. They had not come into contact with many, there are seldom visitors high up on the mountain plateaus.”

  “Then we will do our very best to be the first to extend a hand of friendship. We must learn to work together. I would also be grateful if they have news of any Dualis in their territory.”

  “Dualis?” Here she knew she was perhaps on dangerous ground. Did all Masu know of the Dualis?

  “There are none of the two-natured in your mountains?”

  “Two-natured?” She frowned, trying to look as if she was trying to reconcile what he said with anything she had seen. Jenna had never been good at acting. She had no idea if she had the correct expression, or if he would think she was hiding something. Her guilt was probably written clearly on her face.

  “Those that can change into creatures,” he said, coming one step closer.

  If he was trying to intimidate her, it worked. Or at least she let him believe it worked; she took a step back from him and put her arms across her chest. “Only in the stories my cousin tells me at night to scare me so that I won’t sleep. They are not real among us. Not anymore.”

  His eyes raked her body, resting on her breasts, and then he moved away from her and said, “Enough rest. Take the shelters down; we go south east to the mountains.”

  The small camp erupted in activity. The shelters were pulled down and the short poles and thin hides that had been stitched together were split down into small parcels. Each individual was given a piece to carry, strapped to their back. It didn’t take them long to have everything stowed away and the ground left with nothing but their footprints.

  During this activity, Jenna had taken the time to assess the rest of the tribe. More women than men, and the age ranged mixed, but no one looked older than the man she had spoken to, who she assumed was their chief. He now led them forward, heading away from the hills where Haran lived in his cave. Jenna took one last look and etched it into her memory. If she ever escaped these Masu, she would need to be able to retrace her steps back here or be lost to him forever.

  Unless he followed them, and her thoughts were mixed on that score. If he followed then he would be able to bring her back here, maybe even help in her escape. Yet at the same time it put him in danger, they might catch him, and the repercussions of that didn’t bear thinking about. She would rather live here amongst the Masu and know he was safe than to have anything happen to him.

  However, she had put herself in some danger with her lies. If the chief expected her to guide them, he would be disappointed. For now, he seemed content to lead the way and she hoped she had guessed their whereabouts correctly. Or at least close enough that it made sense to him.

  Two guards flanked her, the packs on their back in no way hindering them. If Haran tried to attack, he would be beaten by them; their spears were long-reaching and sharp. With each step, the day grew hotter and the distance from the cool pool, where she should have been swimming with him, grew longer. Her heart ached for him. Only with this distance between them did she understand how much she had grown to care for him. He was her family. With the death of her mother, she had been left alone in her own world. Here, he had filled that gap, and when their baby was born, she would be part of a complete family once more.

  Her stomach lurched and she felt the intense need to put her hand protectively over the place where their baby grew inside her. Of course, she was on a deadline. There was no way the Masu would allow the baby to live if it looked anything like Haran. She needed to get away before the Masu found out she was pregnant. Her lies would mount up against her if she wasn’t careful, and the fall would be deadly.

  Chapter Three - Haran

  He had huddled like coward under the scrub bush until he knew they had left the plain below. The shouts signalling the camp was to be dismantled had reached his ears, but still he had stayed. Now with the sun way past the horizon, he crept out like a rat. It took him a great deal of courage to stand and look down on the plain, not because he was afraid they would see him. No. His fear was that he would see Jenna’s body there, tortured and dismembered for the birds to feed on.

  His relief nearly brought him back to his knees. The plain was empty. They had taken her with them. What he did next was a choice he had never thought he would have to make. It was the reason he had never sought out his mate and had never wanted a child. But when he had found Jenna and claimed her, she had become his responsibility, as was the child she carried in her womb.

  His choice was simple. Did he put all his fears behind him and face up to his nightmares? Or did he leave his mate to her fate? She was one of them; he doubted they would kill her or harm her. Breed with her, yes. Kill his child, most certainly. Masu did not take on the children of others, especially if they showed any sign of being Dualis.

  While his mind ran around in circles, he accepted his fate. There had never been a choice. She was his, his true mate, and he had to go and help her. Rescue her, even if it meant risking his own death. He could not live without her. His bear had made up his mind to track down the Masu and reclaim her. And his bear could not be denied.

  With the Masu in front of him, their tracks clearly marked on the ground. He could have followed them as a man, but a bear had better senses. Letting his other self take hold of his consciousness, he allowed the rush of energy to pass through him. Energy as old as the very dawn of time. He split apart, atoms merging, changing, until the cave bear, big, bulky, and angry, was complete. It was time this cave bear faced up to his past. It was time he buried his intense fear of the Masu. He was not the same cub that had watched them tear his parents apart, his hands over his ears no barrier to their screams of pain.

  He was too young to save his family then. But he could save his family now.

  Chapter Four - Jenna

  They walked for a couple of hours or more. Her feet hurt; she was so unused to walking like this without proper shoes. The other Masu seemed to have feet of leather. But then if she had been walking with the tribe of nomads all her life, no doubt hers would be tough too. As it was, every stone seemed to bruise the soles of her feet, the dust rubbing between her toes.

  What exacerbated the problem were the looks the other women gave her. It was becoming obvious that she was not used to walking like this, and no doubt it would get back to the chief. As her tiredness grew, her mood worsened and she began to feel more and more sorry for herself. She was thirsty and hungry, having never had the picnic breakfast they had packed. Her heart became heavy, she missed Haran so much.

  Then they stopped. One word from the chief and the tribe began to set up camp. To try to blend in, Jenna tried to help. Approaching a young woman of her own age, she aided her with her pack.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “What’s your name?” Jenna asked, while they spread the hides out.

  “Renu.” The woman eyed her a little suspiciously. “You are not from the flat lands.”

  “No. I am from the mountains.”

  “Do you wear skins on your feet in the mountains?”

  Jenna smiled. “Yes. I am not used to walking on the ground with bare feet.”

  “I noticed,” Renu said. “You have feet like a baby’s. Soft and useless. But they will harden soon.”

  “I’m sure they will. My name is Jenna. Can I stay with you? Help you with your work?”

  “Work?”

  “You know, putting up the shelters.”

  “Work.” She nodded. “I have not heard that word before.”

&nbs
p; Jenna hid her face from Renu, a shiver going down her spine. With that one word, she had perhaps changed a thing about the past. Given them a new word that might never have existed if she had not come here. All of those people that go about their work every day, might only do so because of her. What was the saying about the beat of a butterfly’s wings?

  One simple change could bring chaos. Was that what Jenna represented? Chaos?

  Helping Renu to lift the hides, they slid the poles into round holes to keep the makeshift tent straight. Then they helped other women to lay their furs down on the ground. This, Jenna assumed, was where they slept.

  “You can share with me tonight,” Renu said.

  “I don’t want to impose,” Jenna answered. Renu frowned and Jenna rephrased her words. She would have to be more careful with what she said, or she would stand out as being too different. She could now see why Haran had accepted her language as being different; he thought she was one of the Masu. Of course, it was much more self-explanatory than the truth: that she came through a wormhole from another time. “I don’t want to take all of your space, under the hide.”

  Renu smiled, and led her to where the women were now preparing food, while the men collected firewood and generally stood around watching the perimeter of the camp. “You would be doing me good.”

  “Good? Why, is it cold out here at night?” Jenna had spent every night since she came here in the cave. She knew the temperature dropped but didn’t think it would be that cold.

  “That, and it would stop any gara thinking I wanted them as a companion for the night.”

  “Gara?”

  She looked at Jenna as though she were foolish and then nodded in the direction of a group of men. “Gara. Those with a stiff stick.” The other women laughed.