Note: I do not own or have anything to do with the Predator franchise. I have only wrote this fanfiction for entertainment purposes and no profit will be made from it in any way, shape or form

Chapter Thirty-Five

"What do you mean that he is watching over her?" Marion asked, softly. She made sure to keep her voice at a soft level as to not alert the others since she was just entering the rain forest with Cohra with her pack on her back. While she was trying to remain calm about his statement, she couldn't hide her confusion that was trying to rise to the surface. She watched him turn his attention to her with his mask on his face will and she started to understand what he was meaning with his words. Bringing herself to a stopping point, her shock exuded out into her voice as she spoke to him. "You mean as in that he is possibly thinking of claiming her as his mate, don't you?"

Although she had an idea that she knew the answer to the question that she proposed to him, Marion didn't really want to believe that it was possible for one of his brothers to already have chosen one of the females out of her group to be their mate after having only been around them for just a brief span of moments. She had a feeling earlier on when Raven, Ragar and Drexel made their appearance at their camp that Raven was interested in her friend, Bridget. The way that he seemed to be keeping his attention on her and how she was curious of him led her to believe that he would be taking her as his mate in the near future. Her intuition told her that she was right when she found Cohra to be giving a nod of his head as he responded back to her question.

"I believe it is a real strong possibility that your friend is going to become the mate to my brother before your group's trip is done and over with."

The news didn't settle well with her out of a unspoken fear that she had for her independent companion back at the camp. If she had an issue with what she was doing with submitting to Cohra, she was pretty sure that Bridget wouldn't be able to do the same thing for his brother Raven. Her nervousness about the whole idea rose to new heights in her voice as she desperately voiced her concerns.

"C-Cohra, Bridget has a hard time with the idea of me agreeing to go with you back to your home like I am, and she is not really in favor of you commanding me to go off with you back to your home to stay for good. If your brother tries to claim her as his mate-"

"She will have to become accustomed to the ways of my people as you are, and she will have to become accustomed to what is expected of mates to yautjas like you currently are."

She still was having some issues with the thought of Bridget and his brother, Raven, becoming involved with one another before her class's trip was over with in the coming weeks. A large part of her feelings was due from the fact that she wasn't sure on if Bridget would be able to get herself out of the mindset that she always kept herself in as being a feminist and focus on that of what was expected of a mate to a yautja male, and it made her a little nervous for her friend.

Her nervousness for Bridget seemed to exude outward and alert Cohra that she felt a little worried for her friend due to feeling him coming up to her and placing one of his palms against a side of her head. She focused on him from where she stood with him on the path while his voice spoke to her, attempting to sooth her worries from her mind as he had done before.

"You have no reason to be worried about your friend, Marion." He whispered. "Raven is the more understanding of my brothers when it comes to matters like this. He won't try to hurt your friend if she resists him or attempts to stand up to him as Ragar probably would."

"Is Ragar more aggressive in his views?"

"You could say that he has always had a bit of a short-fuse as what your kind calls it."

Well, that is good that it is Raven that seems to be interested in Bridget and not Ragar.

She nodded towards him, indicating that she understood what he was getting at. Her hands went to shift her pack on her shoulders some for it to be more comfortable to pack through the jungle. They had a little walk ahead of them and she wanted to try and have her gear on her to where it wouldn't weigh her down as much as it did when she first came through the jungle with her group on their first day in the area. To her surprise, Marion found Cohra removing her backpack from her with one of his hands and holding it by just a couple of his fingers of the hand as he brought it over. She looked to what he was doing and went to speak when she found him cutting her off before she could get any words out.

"I will carry this for you back to our home. You don't need to hurt yourself."

"It wasn't going to hurt me, Cohra."

"I wish to do this, Marion."

Marion could tell that Cohra wished to help her and make her feel more relaxed, but she didn't see it at first. She was still caught up in the frustration of having to leave her companions to join him at his residence permanently. It didn't dawn on her that wished to do something nice for her until just then. He was wanting to help her but she was being so blind to his gesture that she ignored his own feelings, and the earlier annoyances she had towards him started to vanish. Taking in a breath of air, she released it out with her response as she gave a nod of her head to him.

"I would really appreciate that, Cohra."

She watched him give a nod of his head towards her before he motioned to keep walking on since they had a walk ahead of them and limited daylight left. Nodding her head in response, Marion proceeded to move with him a little ways more down the path. Her eyes trailed down to one of his hands that was at her side, hanging loosely, as they moved with one another. She found herself reaching to it with one of her hands, and making the move to hold onto it of a need to show him a gesture of kindness for what he was doing. Marion glanced at his face to see him looking to her and she wasn't sure if he would tell her to let go of his hand or not. It took the sensation of his fingers to be wrapping around her hand in response for her to know that what she had done was welcomed. A smile danced across her face towards him as she started to move down the path with him in the direction of where the waterfall was located as early evening was falling across the area.