Here's another chapter. Don't expect chapters every day like this, but hey, I like to write. I usually update Monday through Thursday though.

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I sneak quietly through the house, getting the various things I will need today. Alex has had another mood swing, only this time she does not cry. If I could actually apply the word to the soft and small female, I would say that she is actually being violent. I have heard words that I'm sure is considered highly insulting, and she has told me to do something to myself that I believe is physically impossible.

I will rip the tongue out of whoever taught her such foul language.

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I come home at midday to check on Alex. She has made lunch, and is a little more sullen than violent. At the moment. She lets me eat, but she does not speak to me and she keeps shooting me glances that I can't decipher.

"Alright! That's it!"

I loop a finger under her collar and drag her from the house.

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I release my slave and gesture before me.

"Release your violence so that I may have peace!" I tell her.

The unblooded look at us curiously. Alex rolls her shoulders and grins maliciously.

"With pleasure."

Barely two hours pass before all unblooded are sprawled out on the ground of the training arena. Alex stands among them, covered in sweat and black splotches where the younglings got lucky hits on her. Her lip is busted again.

When no other unblooded step up to her, she skips across the field to stand at my side.

I lead her back home and ignore the fascinated grumbling from the unblooded. One catches my attention though.

"…put her in the army…"

I dismiss the idea. She is female.

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She has calmed, but this eve she fidgets nervously and hovers near me. When I catch her eye, she blushes and disappears, only to reappear moments later.

"Alex, do you need something?" I finally ask.

She flushes deeply. "Uh, will you do something for me?"

"What?"

"I need pads."

"What are pads?"

"I use them when I…while I'm…"

She swallows. Suspicion overcomes me and I gesture for her to step closer. She obeys, but she is not as close as I want her and I pull her closer. I sniff cautiously at her skin.

"You are in heat."

"No, that was last week."

"Yet you bleed now."

"It's a cycle thing."

"Explain."

She huffs.

"The week before the bleeding starts is called ovulation. It's the time of the month when I'm most likely to get pregnant. Technically, it's the same as being in heat."

"I see. So you require wrappings now?"

"Yes."

I release her and continue to polish my spear. She hovers still, expectant.

"You require wrappings right now?" I ask.

"Yes."

I grumble, but I put away my equipment and stand to leave the house. Er'ha won't be happy I'm seeking her at her house, but at least my female with stop pestering me.

I jolt to a stop. Did I really just refer to her as my female? Has she come that close to me so soon?

I bang my head into the wall. Alex jumps, startled. Much as I want to continue to bang my head on the wall, I leave the house with disturbed thoughts.

I shall also be visiting the records office. Perhaps some time off world will quell these disturbances.

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Being off world has not helped in the slightest. I still think of her. Constantly. To the point where I am now lying on my back with teeth in my face and no Alex to get me out. Curse all women!

I barely manage to hit the button that releases my wrist blades. They sink into the animal's throat, and I watch it gurgle for a moment. I toss it to the side and lay on my back for a moment, staring up at the two moons in the sky.

Damn her. She did this. I can't think straight. Worry is always gnawing at my gut. I just left her there. There's no telling if anything has happened to her. I keep checking the tracker. She hasn't left the house for more than an hour in the three moons I've been gone. I've watched her dot pace through the house. Often times I watch her settle in my room for a length of time.

I sigh. Screw this. I'm going home. I won't rest until I know she's okay.

Besides, I have skulls to polish.

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I struggle to breath. I did not realize that she has the strength to squeeze the air out of me. She is trying to talk, but I can't understand her blubbering. I take a moment to run my fingers through her hair. It's gotten longer.

I finally untangle her from me and she manages to wipe the tears from her eyes and lead me to the kitchen. She couldn't have known I was coming home today, but the table is set for two. After supper, she insists on reading. She manages only a couple of books before she nods off. I pick her up and lay her in her pallet.

It's late, but I need to get to my skulls.

When I open the door that leads to my trophy room, my heart nearly stops.

Instead of finding three moons of dust on the skulls, they all gleam from a recent polishing.

Alex.

I realize that the unusual feelings I have are solidifying.

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Hey, is this written okay? I realize I'm doing it differently than in my other stories. Just let me know if anything starts getting too difficult to understand.