Rebel Pax (Shifters of the Primus Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

him, and in such a short period of time.
    I feel guilt creeping into my mind as well. After all, am I just using him? If all he wants is my safety, the right thing to do would be to choose the safest path. But I can’t bring myself to do it. He was willing to take me back to the Umani and I refused. And why? Because I didn’t want everyone back at the human settlement to think I was as weak as they say. I didn’t want Liandra or Kato to think I am a coward. Instead, I’ve made Pax, who has done nothing but risk himself to protect me, take another risk. I nearly ask him to stop and take me to the Umani, but I don’t. And I hate myself for it.
    I promise myself that I will make it up to him. I don’t know when or how long it will take. But Pax deserves better than to be a tool.
    We reach a portion of the jungle where the bridges formed by branches are relatively flat. It’s as if we’re walking along a wooden road that floats miles above the planet’s surface. I can’t help appreciating the beauty of Markul and its jungles. Greens, purples, and yellows glow in the sparse rays of sunlight that penetrate the canopy above. There are ant-like creatures that Pax says will burrow beneath the skin and lay eggs if you make camp too close to their nests. Once, we see a bird about five times Pax’s size. It has one leg that dangles below its thick torso. Pax says it picks up its victims and slams them into trees at top speeds. I breathe a sigh of relief when it veers away from us.
    Pax moves through the trees with a fluid grace I can’t help but envy. It’s strange though, not quite the way a dancer might move. Instead, he moves as if each twitch of his muscles is precisely calibrated to be as efficient as possible. There is no wasted energy—no wasted space. Liandra said these Primus males have no lifespan. Their bodies are so strong that they just keep living until something manages to kill them. And because something always seems to be trying to kill Primus males, age is a statement of power. I wonder how old Pax is. . .
    He kneels a few times, inspecting strange marks on the trees and branches. At the last mark, he pauses for a while, looking into the distance while he twirls a broken twig in his hands.
    “What is it?” I ask.
    “It’s strange. As if someone has been through here recently.”
    “Is that so unusual?”
    He regards me. “Yes. Even the Primus do not stray into the wilds alone. And this is not a known hunting area. The beasts that frequent this stretch of jungle are too deadly to make hunting work the risk.
    “Yet. . . Here we are,” I say nervously.
    “I am not most Primus. You are safe with me.”
    Coming from most men, I would take the words as false bravado. Coming from him, I believe it. I really do. And that same fact makes it hurt all the more when I think of how I’m using him. I put the thought from my mind. I will make it up to him, even if it kills me.
    “We will follow these trails and see where they lead. Perhaps the same Primus who shot down your shuttle are still hunting for you.”
    I laugh. “I’m not that important.”
    He meets my eye. For that moment, I feel as if I am his world, that nothing else could ever draw his attention away. I don’t want it to end. He seems about to speak but closes his mouth and continues forward.
    Though he didn’t say it, I feel what he wanted to say. Yes you are. But why am I so certain that was on his mind? Probably because the look on his face said it all. No man or alien has ever looked at me that way. . . After his gaze left me, I felt like crying out and clutching myself from the sudden cold. To be in his mind and in his eyes, that was warmth and happiness. Did I really just think that? After only knowing Pax for a few hours? I need to get a grip and stop letting the hormones do the thinking.
    The image of Pax dripping his blood over my wounds returns to me and I can’t help wondering if something more than fluid passed between us. I