Katherine was on top of him.

  Sitting on his hips, knees pnted on either side of his waist, staring down at him without blinking. Her hair fell forward, brushing his chest with every small breath she let out. Kai felt the faint tickle on his skin each time a strand slid across him.

  Her ears stood straight up. Too straight.

  "Hi Kat..." Kai sighed, tilting his head just slightly. "What are you doing...?"

  "I want a little more."

  Kai blinked slowly.

  Has she completely changed?

  Or was she always like this?

  He had no way of knowing.

  He only saw her hands resting on his chest. Fingers pressing lightly into his skin as if searching for bance. The way her tail moved behind her in slow, small arcs.

  "I don't think we can stay like this all day, Kat."

  "Ah..." She let out a sigh and lowered her gaze a little. "Well..."

  Katherine slid slowly off his waist. First she pced one hand on his abdomen, then shifted one leg to the side until her knee touched the straw on the floor. The other followed.

  "I didn't want to get off yet," Katherine said.

  Kai propped himself up on his elbows. He felt stiffness in his side when he tensed his torso.

  "Why?"

  Katherine gnced toward the stone door. Her ears tilted back just a fraction.

  "Because I don't know if the orc will do something bad. I don't trust him much."

  I get it.

  Kai rubbed his face with both hands, dragging them from his forehead down to his jaw.

  "Well, it's time to put our clothes on. And his name is Ivark."

  "Okay... Ivark."

  They dressed in silence.

  Kai noticed how Katherine avoided looking directly at him while she put on her blouse. Her fingers took longer than necessary to find the ces. Her tail flicked softly against her own leg once before going still.

  The fabric of his pants scraped his skin as he pulled them up. Still rough. He stood up.

  "Let's see if the orc turned out good," Kai said.

  He pushed the door open. The smell hit him first.

  Meat.

  Ivark was sitting near the improvised fire. One leg folded under his body, the other stretched out in front, holding a short spear with a piece of meat skewered on the tip.

  He turned it slowly.

  Fat dripped onto the fmes with small pops.

  Crack.

  Crack.

  Smoke rose in thin spirals toward the stone ceiling.

  "Hi Ivark, how are you?"

  The orc looked up. His eyes fixed first on Kai, then shifted just slightly toward Katherine before returning.

  "Good, master. Cooking meat for us."

  Kai felt something brush his arm.

  Katherine had moved a little closer to his side.

  "Is that... human meat...?" she asked in a low voice.

  Ivark nodded.

  "Yes, I hunted one while you were sleeping."

  Kai froze for a second.

  Well.

  That's what an orc eats.

  But I have to make sure he doesn't get near Kat.

  "No lies." Ivark smiled, showing just his tusks. "It's deer. I hunted it recently."

  Kai exhaled through his nose.

  "Thank goodness, Ivark. That would have made coexistence a bit complicated."

  Ivark turned the meat again.

  "Coexistence..." he repeated quietly while watching the fire. "I think you didn't sleep much. I heard a lot of sounds at night, master."

  Kai felt heat rise up his neck.

  Beside him, Katherine spoke quickly.

  "No, nothing, nothing... in particur."

  Ivark tilted his head just a little.

  "Yes, of course... I can reason too, miss."

  Katherine lowered her gaze to the ground.

  "Well, if you want to eat, master and your dy."

  Kai felt a small tug on the fabric of his shirt.

  "Yes, we're going to eat. Thank you very much, Ivark," Kai said.

  "Yes," Katherine said.

  They sat near the fire. The stone still held some cold beneath their legs.

  Ivark passed the pte to Kai first.

  "Here, master."

  Then he turned his torso toward Katherine.

  "Miss, receive the food."

  Kai took a piece with his fingers.

  The meat was hot.

  He bit into it.

  Good.

  Katherine did the same a few seconds ter.

  It seemed she hadn't eaten in a long time.

  "What do you know about this pce? Are there more people?" Kai asked while chewing.

  Ivark took a bite.

  "Yes, master. I've seen some catgirls like the miss, master."

  Kai noticed Katherine's tail stop moving behind her. It went completely still.

  "And normal humans like me?"

  "Very few. They pass by with their horses but I don't know any settlements. I don't move very far from my cave, master."

  Interesting.

  "Tell me more about the catgirls."

  Ivark looked up at Katherine.

  "Master, I think the miss knows more about them and their cn."

  Kai turned his head.

  "Is it your cn?"

  Katherine took a moment to answer. Her fingers tightened slightly on the edge of the pte.

  "Yes..."

  Kai remembered.

  The blood.

  The way she had been breathing.

  The trembling in her hands.

  "When I found you, you were really hurt. Was it them?"

  "Yes... it was them..." Katherine said with a certain sadness.

  Kai clenched his jaw slightly.

  It's time to conquer.

  "Kat, can you tell me where your cn is?"

  Katherine looked to the side. Not fully.

  "Master, I don't remember where the vilge is," she replied sadly.

  How could she not know?

  Did they do that to her?

  "When I found you, you were very hurt and injured. It was them."

  "Yes..." Her voice dropped lower. "They blindfolded me and dragged me and beat me. I don't know this pce very well."

  So she really doesn't know.

  Kai set the pte aside.

  "Well, we'll have to search."

  "Now, master?" Ivark asked.

  "No, I don't want you to go..." Katherine said, shaking her head just a little.

  "Yes, we have to go take revenge for Kat. With an orc and a human warrior, I doubt they'll be able to hurt us."

  Katherine looked at him.

  Kai didn't know exactly what that look meant.

  But he held it anyway.