Guest: Don't know if you'll see this, but hey, a review is a review & I ain't mad. Cant love 'em all. But there's always a PM button and I am always open to constructive criticism. Feedback, good or bad, only makes people stronger.

Guest: Same as above. I've ready plenty of books that midway I'm just not loving it. But hey, if you manage to read everything that's out there and then get bored, there will always be more chapters than the last of mine you've read. Who knows? Maybe it'll grow on you. If not, I wont be mad. We cant all love the same thing.

Ally: Thank you so much for the kind review! I am glad you are looking forward to more!

Tenfangirl: can only learn from the best.

tissues: Again, I'm seriously happpppy that you have left another review/comment. Hope chp 14 answers your questions about chip. And as for life giving you lemons, I don't have enough fingers or toes to count the amount of times I've had to work with the lemons. Thank you

write more soon: Wouldn't be the same without your comment gracing each of my chapters.

peachdreams26: thank you so much. Chap 14 is going to be a little more of a filler. I need some more time to craft the ending of chp 14 that I think needs a chap all to itself. So this was a short one, but hope you enjoy all the same!

JunogawaKing: I seriously write Kch'lo thinking of specific people in my life I thought were seriously dubious. And to an extent they were, but they had some undercurrents of nobility in them. Maybe they couldn't be all good, but they certainly werent just straight evil. Like how I paint Hit'tgar. And yeah, Exia needs a big bro in her life. So he's staying put. Chp 14 is a filler, and I prob wont update for a few days as I craft chp 15 and all I need it to accomplish (because I didn't feel like cramming it into 14). But keep posted…and as always, thanks for hanging in there

machtgut: sometimes the obvious should be well, obvious, but then does life ever really work like that? So sometimes it may seem like shes whining or should just snap out of it already and see the big picture, but we (humans) aren't like that. We're always looking for angles. So she needs to be like that too. But I am glad you found my story and I hope it continues to make your reading time worthwhile!

FutureEnchantments: chap 14 will be short, because I need some major time with 15. But I hope to post next before the weekend, or maybe during. Thank you for always reviewing – I like feedback. I seriously need it, good or bad.

Tenjp: She needed a breath of fresh air. I needed it too. I was getting a little claustrophobic on the ship myself. And 'Gik" ( like that nickname?) made a promise, and what's a Yautja that doesn't keep his word?

Disclaimer: I have no rights to the AVP universe and make no profit writing this story. I only own my characters, which you'll either love or hate.

Also, sorry my lovely followers….This chapter is another one of those fillers. Need to spend some time with Chap 15 because there's a lot going on there. Hope to post before or by end of weekend.

I was nosey and Gikvaris was helpless to keep me from poking about his business. I liked him but I didn't like that we were practically strangers. I didn't know anything more about him than he knew about me and so I pestered him until he finally relented. So he took me back to his roots; back to a beginning I could somewhat follow – the names and circumstances he wouldn't have to painstakingly explain. And so I learned that much had happened after Kch'lo abdicated his position as clan leader. The Elders became divided. Kal'ar was young and lacking in experience – not only in politics but in ruling and instructing a faction of Yautja inherently wired to buck the heavy hand of authority: the Un-blooded. Kch'lo had already attained the experience necessary to instruct, rule, and lead the many castes of Yautja. He had also proven his ability to harness the impulsiveness distinctive to the Un-blooded with more than five of Kal'ar's lifetimes behind him. Kal'ar was a seasoned warrior, but his experience began and ended with the hunt. He would remain dependent a very long time upon the Elder's tutelage to guide him in the arena of politics whereas Kch'lo, already an Arbitrator, had little need of their counsel as it was the Elders who sought his counsel, not the other way around.

Gikvaris' training had been entrusted to Kch'lo, then only an Elder, as had Kal'ar's. It was in those days after passing their chiva that Kal'ar and Gikvaris became each other's kv'var mei'hswei – hunt brother. But as Kal'ar went on to train and prepare to take his Sire's position as clan leader, his ambitions turning from the hunt to that of a leader, Gikvaris departed the clanship with a different ambition: the pursuit of d'yeka – the ultimate prey. That calling had been sufficient to appease the Elders' displeasure with his departure, although his leaving had more to do with preferring the peace of isolation to the turbulence that had deepened the divide of the clan.

For years Gikvaris travelled from planet to planet adding more trophies than the walls of his trophy room could accommodate. Years had passed and the memory of the political upheaval that had driven him from his clanship faded, but it had not forgotten him. After returning to his ship with the trophies of his recent kills that no longer had a place on his densely adorned walls, he realized that as he had been hunting, he had also been hunted. But the Yautja that pursued him had not come to deliver the justice due a Bad-blood, but to request that Gikvaris return to the clanship and assist his former kv'var mei-hswei in instructing a potential ooman mate. It was a task not trusted to the Elders as their predilection for another ooman would tarnish their commitment.

Gikvaris openly admitted that had this news been delivered by any Yautja other than Kch'lo he would have considered the request an insult and would have promptly initiated jehdin-jehdin. There was no honor in training a lesser species in the superiority of Yautja combat, but Kch'lo would never have been an Arbitrator if he had not successfully mastered the art of persuasion.

Yes, my mood soured at hearing Gikvaris' first impression of me, but I'd torture him for it later.

Gikvaris knew that returning to the clanship meant that he would be faced with pressure from Kal'ar to remain among the clan. The clan, but most of all Kal'ar, had not forgotten the warrior they lost to the pursuit of The Hunt. In an effort to alleviate Gikvaris' apprehension, Kch'lo would ensure Gikvaris rose in rank from a warrior to Elite. As an Elite, Gikvaris would fulfill the requirement of contributing to his clan's future that he had long been putting off – taking Un-blooded Yautja under his tutelage and preparing them for their chiva. Yes he would become a glorified babysitter, but he wouldn't be chained to the clanship. In fact, since the training of the Un-blooded involved years away from the clanship, hopping from planet to planet, Gikvaris might not step foot on the clanship for several decades at a time.

After a helluva lot of convincing and yes, even begging (or groveling, I won't comment as to which is the more accurate), I sat with Gikvaris at the edge of an endless blue ocean and asked him the only question I had after hearing any of what he had just told me.

"Why would Kch'lo help Kal'ar?"

Gikvaris would have looked rather silly sitting in the sand if he hadn't busied himself with sharpening the jawbone of one of his recent kills. He just loved demonstrating to me that anything, and I mean anything, could be used as a weapon with the right amount of patience.

"Kch'lo ensure Kal'ar produce pups."

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" It didn't make much sense when not long after my training Kch'lo had stated his interest in me. Stated. Not whispered. Like if Kal'ar had heard him it was no big deal.

Gikvaris eyed his newly fashioned weapon with admiration. "Same reason Kch'lo was sure I would accept offer as Elite."

"Is it really that bad? Staying on the ship?"

What the hell am I saying? Of course it is.

But before I could correct myself, Gikvaris replied: "Can do what he pleases."

"Doesn't he anyway?" I rolled my eyes. Luckily Gikvaris was more interested in his new barbaric club than what the hell my mood was doing to my facial expressions.

Gikvaris trilled. "Would it please tiny ooman to know why I propositioned Kal'ar to put you in care of another?"

Boy would I ever. I hadn't forgotten what V told me about Gikvaris 'intervening on my behalf' after Kal'ar intentioned to make me his pet. I wanted to know. So I nodded.

"Elders believed that since tiny ooman could not produce pups, purpose as mate was lost. Purpose not lost, only changed."

I stopped sifting through the pile of stones I had collected for Ayida. Up until that moment I had never viewed my condition or my situation in that light.

"Bearing Yautja clan leader's pup is great honor, but equally great burden. Oomans cannot produce amount of pups clan leader requires. Yautja life not guaranteed. Just as many Yautja will pass chiva, many Yautja will not. Even if Kal'ar desires pair bond, Elders will push for more pups. Is only natural. Would soon be living in shadow of new mate. Tiny ooman is different than oomans in common room. Want more than pups. Kch'lo was good choice for tiny ooman. Has no need of pups."

"He made it clear well before the inadequacy of my womb came into play that he was interested." My mood soured. Real good choice, he was. I didn't even know where he was. "And what do you mean, 'new mate'? That's a first."

"To answer your question as to a new mate, tiny ooman need only look at females in common room. Exia very close with ooman Ayida…Must realize that this is last pup she will bear. Ooman bodies are too frail; Yautja sucklings take much from an already healthy body. The most any ooman among our clan has bore was nine, but during birth of ninth the ooman died and the pup she birthed was very weak. Did not live long outside of womb. Much like oomans among other clans. Exia would have given Kal'ar six or seven before Kal'ar would weigh risk against reward. Elders would then push for more." He slid his left leg back and rested his elbow on his knee. "As for Kch'lo…Tiny ooman Exia was relentless. Not like other oomans. Other oomans have no interest in Yautja ways. No other ooman fight for Yautja as tiny ooman fought for Kal'ar. Kch'lo was not only Yautja interested in tiny ooman. Kch'lo sired many pups. Interest in tiny ooman is more than breeding."

Ignoring what he said about other Yautja being interested because really, I couldn't even go there with him, I huffed. "I'm sure you're right. I mean, it's not like he would…." I searched for that word again. "….pauk me and then just leave, right?"

Gikvaris let out a high trill, my sarcasm never ceasing to amuse him. "Surely tiny ooman does not complain…I shall speak with Kch'lo. Inform him tiny ooman desires Kch'lo to remain on ship and pauk as often as possible."

I glared at him before hurling a fistful of gritty, orange sand at him. "Asshole."

Gikvaris let out another high-pitched trill before getting up. "Come. Have kept tiny ooman from pauk-de long enough."

I didn't have a trophy room of my own, so Kch'lo's would have to do for now. Stealing away into his coveted chamber, I tucked my kurn skull on top of one of his…whatever it was. Afterwards, I went to the common room to bring Ayida the small stones I had painstakingly gathered for her. It was a lot of work, especially after all of the running and jumping and climbing I had been doing for two weeks straight. But the smile on her face would outweigh all the bending and sifting and even all of Gikvaris' complaints. Apparently he didn't like sand. Or water.

As soon as I opened the door Ayida let out a shriek, struggling to get off of the couch to get to me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and squeezed me, her belly poking against mine. She had gotten so big in such a small amount of time, but she was looking healthy again. Whatever she had been doing - or her pup not doing - was working wonders.

When she let go she pulled me down onto the sofa beside her and the rest of the girls gathered around, urging me to tell them all the juicy details of my time on the preserve. I wanted to be alone with Ayida to give her what I had been dying to give her since leaving the second preserve, but I didn't want to hurt the rest of the girls' feelings. So I hid the small pouch between my legs and kept them all busy with the bloody details of my first kill, enjoying every ghastly stare as I recounted how I had peeled the flesh and veins from its skull before polishing it off. I spared them the bit about my eating its flesh. They were pregnant. I wasn't that cruel.

I told them how Gikvaris taught me how to use a Yautja whip, explaining that it wasn't like a leather whip, but made of d'lex links in the shape of a kainde amedha tail. It had been hard circling the whip around over my head on account of its length, creating a rotation before jerking the whip which caused the movement to travel down the whip until it reached the tip. Many attempts, many failures, but when I finally figured out the right momentum the whip needed, Gikvaris was helpless to stop me from cracking it down on anything in sight. Pulling it taut before yanking it back to rip whatever I had in its clutches in half was almost as glorious as the look of surprise – then sheer satisfaction – on Gikvaris' face as I moved from one stage of training to another. He did, however, rumble in displeasure every time I cracked the whip down without regard as to how close he was standing next to the tip of it. I got a little carried away. Who can blame me?

The only trophy I took from the first preserve was the kurn skull. The rest of our time on the preserve was spent sharpening my hunting skills, looking for weaknesses, studying my environment, and familiarizing myself with using weapons on other living creatures besides Gikvaris. I had learned and gained more than just basic hunt skills. Gikvaris had a knack for paralleling everything he did in hunting to everything he did while not hunting. The hell with being an Elite – Gikvaris contained more knowledge in his little finger than all the Elders that gathered in Kal'ar's chamber.

And after I made them terribly jealous recounting my time on 'the beach' the girls filled me in on all the details in my absence. Well, the ones they thought I might like to know. Like how Dalani threw a fucking bitch fit when she found out Gikvaris had taken me to a preserve. And an even bigger bitch fit when Suharek tried to initiate their coupling. It was an ironic justice that the one who wanted to be a warrior and not a bearer was now a bearer and not a warrior. Even more ironic that the one she had made sure would never become a bearer now held that coveted title she schemed relentlessly to attain. It was no wonder I had a smile running from ear to ear.

I also learned that aside from Dalani's fits, Kal'ar had one of his own. Apparently he hadn't been aware that Kch'lo had ordered my tracking device removed. It was obvious after he had given Gikvaris shit before we left he just wasn't happy with my leaving, but I didn't know why that mattered anymore. His position was clear. I wasn't mate material. I hadn't made my peace with it, but he didn't have to make it harder by playing mind games. But more important than trying to uncover the complexity of the motive behind Kal'ar's behavior: I wasn't looking forward to Kch'lo finding out about it. Definitely not looking forward to that family feud. It was bad enough being at the center of attention for most of my time here. I was growing rather fond of my newly found obscurity.

Ayida couldn't make sense of it either and assumed that without Kal'ar providing a reason no one would ever know. But she did know that the tracking device had been implanted not just because it would help detect any physical impairments during my match with Dalani, but because monitoring the health (and whereabouts) of any ooman bearing a Yautja pup was crucial. And the ooman bearing the clan leader's pup even more crucial. They had all received one, and that included Dalani. That I hadn't known, but I was sure glad mine had been removed. Whether or not it was true, I mused that Dalani just didn't have a badass Yautja that didn't need a tracking device to keep his property in check. His eyes just did it naturally.

Before long I decided that Ayida's goody bag would have to wait. I was exhausted and I wanted nothing more than to crawl into a soft bed and sleep like I hadn't slept in weeks. There was too much excitement in the common room and as much as I missed Ayida, I missed my sleep more. After sleeping on a branch fifty feet above ground, waking up every five minutes just to make sure the darkness of my dream wasn't the darkness of the death I had just fallen to, I was ready to curl up in Kch'lo's bed. And yeah, I was kind of hoping Kch'lo would drop by so I could give him a piece of my mind. Then I'd act like I didn't want him to curl up beside me while secretly basking in the heat his body gave off.

Ayida gave me a good pampering on account of the gift I had just given her. Without any holes to slip strands of hair into she would need some time to figure out a way to weave the stones into her hair, but she was more than pleased to have a new project to keep her distracted as her movement became more limited in the coming months. I sat on the floor with a bowl of naxa and let her work her fingers through my hair. She combed out the knots and removed dead ends using a dull piece of bone she had snatched from one of Shunlau's trophies and tediously - and very covertly - sharpened.

"Are you coming to the hall tonight?"

"For what?" I was honestly more interested in getting my bowl of naxa down my throat than anything Ayida was saying. I had my fill of meat and now all I wanted was to satisfy my sweet tooth.

"They pay high honor to Di'ipjo."

I shrugged. I had no interest in being in a room full of Elders. I knew I had to get over my beef with them eventually, but I just wasn't in the mood. I was feeling pretty good about myself post-hunt and I didn't need their pious glares interfering with my zazin.

"Maybe."

"You have better plans?" Ayida laughed lightly.

"Welp, seeing how I'm sans Yautja mate, I guess you could say that. I have the bed all to myself. Don't' know how long that's gonna last so I might as well enjoy it while I can."

Ayida groaned. "What did you do to piss Kch'lo off to make him leave? Maybe I can try it with Shunlau. It is getting more and more difficult to get comfortable at night with a big Yautja on my left and one smack dab in front of me."

I laughed, but I just couldn't imagine. And I really couldn't because that would never be me.

"I really don't know, Ayida. It's been a whirlwind of confusion ever since waking up in the clinic. First I thought Kch'lo was mocking me by what he was doing and then V tells me he's only protecting me. Next I'm spilling my guts out to him and then poof - he's gone. Like, not gone from the room, but gone gone. From the ship. Sometimes I wonder why Vik'var'is didn't just let me die. I mean, it's not like he's very fond of me anyway."

Ayida patted my shoulders to let me know she had finished fussing with my hair. "You are only used to Kal'ar who barely ever leaves the clanship. You are also not in common room enough to see how most of our Yautja treat us. Sometimes they come inside, but most of the time they are content with opening the door, making sure we're keeping their pups well fed, and then closing the door without a word." She took a piece of naxa from my bowl. "You should be pleased. You didn't want Kch'lo anyway."

I scoffed and then handed the bowl to her, having lost my appetite. "Funny, isn't it? I wanted Kal'ar and in the end he pushed me away. Kch'lo wanted me and here I am pushing him away. You would think Kal'ar's rejection would have made me more empathetic to it, huh?"

Ayida clapped out in laughter. "Exia!"

I turned and looked at her crossly. "What?"

"We're talking about Kch'lo, Exia! You think he regards your snubbing him as rejection? You just give him more reason to chase."

She let out another shrill laugh, but I was less than inclined to share in her comical musing.

"Think about it. Seriously, Exia. Kal'ar didn't have to chase you because he is clan leader. I know he appreciated and rewarded your advances, but if you had suddenly decided you could not be bothered anymore, do you think Kal'ar would have pursued you?"

Yeah. I really did.

"We are to Kal'ar as a harem is to a Saudi prince: plenty of ladies vying for a spot. But Kch'lo and all the other Yautja not sitting in that big chair at the head of the table? They had to prove themselves worthy to a potential mate. So there is no longer a need to drop the bones of a highly prized kill at a prospective mate's feet – but give up because said prospective mate gives them the cold shoulder? Only makes their determination more intense. The Yautja do not hear the word 'no', Exia. They say it to us but will not hear it from us."

I frowned. I hadn't forgotten that stint in the washroom and the door that Kal'ar never replaced.

"Well, that may be true, but not voicing my unhappiness sure sends the message that I'm good with the whole switching hands thing."

Ayida waved at me dismissively. "You do what you like, Exia. Either way, you are just plain stuck. You are either going to accept him as your mate because you want to or because you have to. It is your choice on how difficult you are going to make it."

I stood up. "Gee, I'm real glad we had this chat."

"You've been having this chat with everyone but yourself."

"You know, you're supposed to be reminding me how bad Kch'lo is, not trying to convince me that I'm wrong for being angry."

Ayida smiled softly. "I told you to stay away from him, Exia. Because Kch'lo is the type of Yautja that when he sets his sights on something it is not long before it is his. I really believe now that regardless of what His'tgar did to you Kch'lo would have used a few tricks up his sleeve to make you his. And as angry as you are going to be hearing this…I misjudged Kch'lo. Regardless of the purpose you were no longer able to fulfill it did not sway his determination to have you."

But she was wrong: I wasn't angry. Losing to Dalani and confirming the Elders' belief that I was weak wouldn't have swayed him and losing my womb to His'tgar's blade certainly hadn't swayed him either. I was just too busy focusing on the one Yautja both scenarios might sway and to my own misery did sway.

"Come on." Ayida took my hand. "We'll skip the ceremony, get something to eat, and then you can take me the kehrite and show me some of your new moves."

"Uhhh…Ayida…"

"Yes?"

"I don't think Shunlau would like that very much."

Ayida laughed lightly. "What? Where do you think he goes when I am too weary to let him have a go at me? Has to burn off energy somehow."

I smiled and nodded. I doubted my skills would compare to Shunlau's, but I wasn't opposed to burning off a little energy myself.

It was hard walking into the hall after so much had passed between the last time I had stepped out of it until now. My heart was in the throat; I felt like an outcast. Thankfully I had Gikvaris at my side. He took one look at me out in the hallway and just knew if he wasn't at my side I would melt from the blazing heat of their stares. He grumbled that it was something we would have to work on, but under that hard exterior I knew he hated the formality of it all just as much as I did. That's why he would always be a Lone Wolf at heart.

Maybe it was pretty cowardly of me, but I stayed as close to Gikvaris' side and used his shoulder to hide my face from the table of Elders and the one sitting at the head of that table. Like a trusty escort, Gikvaris delivered me to the table teeming with uncomfortable pregnant women and nodded reassuringly to me. It was like he was telling me that I had a right to be here, pregnant or not. That I was just as valuable with my flat stomach as those sitting around me with bellies that barely fit beneath the table.

"Exia." Ayida nudged me.

"What? Why are you whispering?"

"Do you see Dalani?"

"I wasn't planning on looking." I really wasn't. My eyes had no business going in the direction of that table.

"She's sitting behind Suharek."

"And?"

Ayida laughed. "She's sitting behind Suharek. Not beside him. Not at the table at all."

Shit. That's tempting.

But I still didn't look. And after watching Ayida dally with the food on her plate I gently reminded her that the only reason I was presently sitting here was because this was part of her bigger plan. The plan before we wound up in the kehrite - the place I was itching to get out of here for.

Ayida jammed her elbow into my side. "Exia…."

"What?" I crossed my arms. Why the hell couldn't she hurry up and just eat?

"Damn it, Exia!" Ayida practically shoved me out of my chair.

I shot her a wild glare, but she wasn't looking at me anymore. I turned my head and followed the path of her eyes to the door.

A Yautja entered the hall in full armor, but I knew it was Kch'lo by the dark purple cape flowing behind him, nearly blocking the eta trailing his purposeful steps. A momentary fear rendered me paralyzed, believing I had angered him by being in the hall with so many other male Yautja. I forced my feet to move forward to meet him, but when he was finally looming over me the fear that had hijacked my body vanished.

Kch'lo unhooked the tubes connecting his bio-mask but his face was bereft of the hardness I anticipated. It was strange seeing him in full armor; as if he had come straight here after docking his ship with little concern of removing his armor and weapons. He turned his body slightly and the eta behind him stepped forward. Kch'lo took the metal container the eta was holding and turned back to me.

He bent his knee and lowered himself, setting the box down at my feet. When he stood straight again his pale green eyes, almost grey, narrowed. There was a message in them, but I was too overwhelmed with the pace of what was happening to understand.

He nodded before turning to leave. Before I could even utter a single word. But as much as I wanted to chase after him, I couldn't ignore the box he had set down in front of me. And neither could anyone else in the room.