At the new place, Zagros stayed to set up the house. He carried in furniture and changed the temperature settings to her liking. Asha stared at an empty cup as he walked around, stocking supplies. A clawed hand reached out and grabbed her cup. A moment later it was returned full.

She stared at the dark liquid, "Uh'luka said yautjas are incapable of love. Is that true?"

"Of course not. Haven't you seen females with sucklings?"

"What about romantic love?"

"If you're looking for closure with Uh'luka--"

"I just want to know if he was lying. And...I want to know, if I stay on this planet, if I'll always be alone."

Zagros shut the cabinet and turned towards her, "I can tell you from experience that yautjas are capable of the same deep love as oomans."

"So he was lying…"

"Not necessarily."

"What do you mean?"

"As a species, yautjas have avoided love. Shunned it as a weakness, a distraction, an addiction. Many no longer believe they are capable of it, others fight it."

"What about you?"

His eyes dropped to the floor, "I fought it."

"Why?"

"My mate would get worried when I went hunting. I got jealous when other males looked at her. We both wanted to spend every minute with each other--studying, training, hunting, everything fell to the back of our thoughts."

"Why is that so bad?"

"I was content to lay with her and do nothing else. I lost my lust for life, my drive. I'd forgotten The Path, the objective of our species. I wasn't what a yautja should be...She was like a drug. I had to have her."

Asha brought her cup closer, but didn't take a drink, "But how could you give that up?"

"Same reason you are--it started to hurt more than any physical wound ever could."

"The woman you loved, she must have really hurt you?" She glanced over at him, but Zagros's face gave away nothing.

"I hurt her too."

Ain jumped in the conversation then, "Not like you hurt Uh'luka! I grappled with him for a few minutes before he pinned me, but you--you split his head open with one punch!"

Zagros leaned down so that his teeth were in Ain's face and let out a baritone growl.

"What? Asha should be glad to hear Uh'luka finally got what he deserved! If she were one of our females, she would have kicked his ass herself!"

Asha stood up so abruptly her chair tipped backward, "No, because I am not a yautja female, nor do I wish to be one!"

Zagros's hand flew and hit Ain in the back of the head.

"He hurt her. Uh'luka deserved it." Ain grumbled under his breath.

"Getting even is an immature objective. You should know that by now, Ain." Zagros turned to Asha then, "I think it's time to give Ain a ride back to his place. You have my contact."

"Ok."

Ain nodded to her then turned and heading for the door. Before Zagros did the same, Asha stepped forward and threw her arms around him. She would need two of herself to wrap all the way around his torso. He was as thick as a tree trunk. Though the spines on his chest dug into her skin, she squeezed him tighter.

"Thank you for saving me that day, for carrying me away from badblood camp. And for everything else you've done. You're the only one I can talk to. Even Ain doesn't understand."

"Ain is a good friend to you, I've just had more contact with alien species than him. I didn't always understand ooman behavior--I left a young male unattended after a tragedy. I let his memories prey upon him and he took his life."

"I'm sorry."

"That was three hundred years ago. I learned to pay more attention to ooman emotions."

Asha's eyes went to his smooth scales, dotted with peach and yellow coloring, then to his white tusks, "Three hundred years ago?"

"Yes. Is that significant?"

"No, but you look good for an old dude."

Zagros let out an amused grunt, "You won't take your life, you're much too strong for that."

After he left, Asha reached into her hair. There were a few braided strands among her black hair that would hold the Koros beads. Her fingers felt for the one that had the symbol for "strength" etched into it. She pulled it out and held the silver band in front of her eyes. It was the same one Uh'luka had stolen when they were confined together.

Doubt about her decision trickled into her mind. Ain hadn't known how to introduce himself on their first meeting. He hadn't known that the hovercar would make her sick with dizziness. Ain hadn't even known what to do when she was crying.

Was their culture so different? At times, it didn't seem so. However, a yautjas definition of honor compared to hers was vastly different. A skull was not a trophy. Not to her at least. Hunting was only a hobby on Earth, and not a way of life. What if what Uh'luka had done was just a cultural misunderstanding?

Pain wrapped around his skull and throbbed through his jaw. When Uh'luka lifted his head, his skin peeled off the rock. The wound began to bleed again. A line of green blood ran down his forehead, went across his brow, then continued down his cheek. As he pushed himself out of the rubble his head swiveled around for Asha.

She was already gone.

Uh'luka turned and slammed both fists into the wall, cracking the rock down to the floor. He leaned his forehead against the cold stone. The feeling that gripped him was nearly indescribable. Like a hollow candle, melted down to the last of its wick and about to extinguish.

When he heard the hum of a ship, his nails drug down the wall, putting deep scratches in the stone. Uh'luka whirled around and marched outside to see it land on Ain's roof. The two of them stepped out. Asha didn't. His hands balled into fists.

"You took her away from me!" Uh'luka boomed.

Ain snorted, "You drove her away!"

"Where is she? On Earth? Getromira?"

They were both silent.

"Tell me where the ooman is!"

Zagros's voice was calm and collected, "Her whereabouts will not be disclosed to you. She is no longer your concern."

With a growl, Uh'luka stomped forward and climbed the wall to the roof. He stepped up to Ain, "I will find her."

Uh'luka brushed past them both but didn't get far. Zagros stepped in his path with a rumble.

"You were gone hours, and Getromira is the farthest away. That's where you took her, isn't it? I need your ship to go and get her. I need to explain to her."

"They will obliterate you before you even enter their galaxy."

Uh'luka took one step forward, but no more. The male wasn't about to give up his ship. Uh'luka could beat Ain, even with a fractured skull. However, another blow from Zagros would mean death and he wasn't that stupid.

He spun away with a rumble, "I'll find a ship."

"You crave the feeling she gives you, yet you won't admit you love her because you know it's a weakness."

Uh'luka's footsteps slowed.

"Your mind is irrational right now, scrambling for a way to get her back. Your happiness is dependent on her, and it's not good for you. It's an addiction that converts accomplished yautjas into lazy, worthless males."

"That's what I've been told."

"It's true." Zagros gestured to the rank rings in his hair, "It takes cycles of dedication and focus to earn these. Males do not have time to cavort with females or raise pups."

"Asha needs to know I didn't do this on purpose."

"I knew you before your capture--only by name and reputation, but you were well known for your self-discipline. Forget the ooman. Become the revered male you once were."

Uh'luka dropped his head. His dreads slid off his shoulder to hang around his face. After two decades spent as a prisoner, all he wanted was to regain his honor--but in Asha's eyes, not his peers. He'd failed. She had called him a liar and a cheater.