By the time Kael guided Nia back toward the mountain path, the herb bundles in her hands had already started absorbing warmth from her skin. Different scents drifted upward every time the wind shifted around them, some sharp and resinous while others carried softer floral sweetness or deeper earthy bitterness beneath the cool mountain air. Her thoughts kept circling back toward them automatically no matter how hard she tried focusing elsewhere.
Unfortunately, focusing elsewhere became increasingly difficult because Kael had not moved his hand from the small of her back once during the climb upward. The touch was never forceful enough to trap her, but it remained constant enough that she stayed continuously aware of him, of his warmth at her side, his size beside her, and the way his attention never seemed to wander far from her movements.
The truly dangerous part was that her body had already started accepting his presence around her naturally.
Nia adjusted the herb bundles slightly against her chest while stepping carefully over a rough patch of stone. Kael immediately slowed beside her.
“You’re limping more again.”
“I am walking up a mountain.”
“You were limping before the incline.”
“You monitor me too much.”
“You almost fell into a river yesterday.”
Nia glanced sideways at him. “That still feels unrelated.”
“It feels very related to me.”
She sighed under her breath.
The frustrating part was that Kael never sounded overbearing when he said things like that. Calm certainty wrapped around everything he did so naturally that arguing with him often felt like trying to convince a mountain to relocate itself somewhere more convenient. Possible in theory perhaps, but exhausting in practice.
Several beastmen descending from the upper paths moved aside immediately when they spotted Kael approaching. A pair of younger hunters carrying bundled hides greeted him respectfully before their attention shifted toward the herbs in Nia’s arms.
One blinked before looking toward Kael with visible disbelief.
“You let her near Elder Sana’s herb tables?”
Nia narrowed her eyes instantly. “That sentence sounded insulting.”
The hunter startled slightly. “No, I just meant—”
“She looked at them like she was mentally taking inventory,” Kael interrupted calmly.
“That is still betrayal.”
The second hunter choked back a laugh.
Kael looked entirely unrepentant.
Nia pointed accusingly at him while balancing the herbs carefully in her arms. “You are damaging my reputation before I even have one.”
“You already have one.”
“That is deeply concerning.”
“It’s mostly curiosity.”
“Mostly?”
Kael’s mouth shifted slightly. “You glared at broth earlier.”
“I had reasons.”
The hunters looked increasingly entertained.
Nia realized with growing horror that Kael apparently became funnier around her.
That felt deeply unfair.
The two hunters eventually continued downward still grinning to themselves while Nia stared at Kael in disbelief.
“You encourage chaos.”
“You start arguments.”
“You participate in them.”
“Yes.”
At least he remained honest.
The upper settlement paths grew quieter the farther they climbed. The communal noise from below softened into distant movement and overlapping voices carried upward by the wind while the mountain air turned cooler around them.
Nia’s attention drifted toward the settlement beneath the cliffs.
From above, she could see the organization even more clearly now. Smoke curled steadily from different fire pits scattered between the homes while hunters crossed between preparation halls carrying fresh hides over their shoulders. Children darted through the open spaces between buildings, weaving effortlessly around older tribe members carrying baskets, tools, or bundles of wood. The entire settlement moved with the same steady rhythm she had been noticing all morning, alive in a way that felt deeply interconnected rather than chaotic.
No one here seemed truly isolated from everyone else.
Even homes built farther apart remained tied into the larger structure of the tribe through shared workspaces, communal meals, and the constant flow of movement between the paths.
The thought lingered with her longer than expected.
Nia had spent most of her life understanding survival through individual adaptation and personal responsibility. This place survived collectively. Strength here did not seem separate from community. If anything, the two appeared woven tightly together.
Kael noticed the direction of her attention. “What are you thinking about?”
“The settlement.”
“What about it?”
Nia searched briefly for the right words. “Everyone seems involved in everyone else’s life.”
Kael looked mildly confused by the observation. “They’re tribe.”
“I know.”
His gaze stayed on her face another moment before understanding slowly settled into his expression.
“You’re used to handling things alone.”
The simple accuracy of it caught her slightly off guard.
Nia looked back toward the lower settlement instead of answering immediately. “It’s different,” she admitted after a moment.
Kael accepted the answer without pressing further.
Another thing she was beginning to notice.
He watched her constantly. He paid attention to nearly everything she did, yet when something clearly mattered, he rarely forced her into speaking before she was ready. The realization lingered longer than she expected because she was starting to associate his presence with patience as much as protection, and that combination felt far more dangerous than simple attraction.
They reached the final incline leading toward Kael’s cave not long afterward.
By then her ankle had started throbbing steadily despite her attempts not to show it. She adjusted her weight slightly while stepping over another uneven section of stone.
Kael immediately stopped walking.
Nia looked at him warily. “Why did you stop?”
“You’re done.”
“I am still standing.”
“You’re trying not to limp in front of me.”
“That accusation lacks proof.”
“You tightened your shoulders three steps ago.”
Nia stared at him. “How do you even notice things like that?”
Kael looked genuinely puzzled by the question. “You’re hurting.”
Like that explained everything.
Maybe to him it did.
Before she could argue further, Kael bent smoothly and lifted her into his arms.
Nia inhaled sharply. “Kael.”
“You walked enough.”
“That was not a discussion.”
“You’re injured.”
“That is becoming your answer for everything.”
“It’s a useful answer.”
Nia looked at him in exasperation while instinctively tightening her hold on the herb bundles so they would not spill. Kael adjusted her automatically against his chest once he noticed, the movement so natural already that warmth crept unexpectedly into her face before she could stop it.
She tried looking toward the mountain path instead.
It did not help.
Kael carried her too easily. There was no strain in his movements and no awkward shifting beneath her weight, only steady warmth and effortless strength beneath the cool mountain wind moving through his dark hair.
One of Kael’s ears flicked slightly.
“You’re staring again.”
Nia looked away. “I was observing.”
“You were looking at my arms.”
“That is still observing.”
Kael’s mouth shifted faintly.
Nia narrowed her eyes. “You enjoy this too much.”
“Yes.”
At least he continued being straightforward enough to prevent confusion.
The inside of the cave felt warmer after the cool mountain air outside. The main chamber fire still burned steadily near the center of the living space, casting amber light across the stone walls and woven rugs spread around the floor. Nia noticed the lingering scent of breakfast broth still hanging faintly in the air beneath smoke and warm stone.
Her attention drifted instinctively toward the cooking area before she caught herself.
Kael’s gaze shifted toward the cooking area too.
“Food again?”
Nia looked mildly offended. “I think about other things.”
“You looked at the fire pit like you were evaluating it.”
“That sounds less dramatic than before.”
“It probably is.”
Kael lowered her carefully onto the thick bedding near the fire before crouching beside her.
Nia became aware of how close he was again, of warm golden eyes fixed entirely on her face, dark skin glowing softly beneath the firelight, and black tiger ears angled toward her with complete attention. The man focused on her with his entire existence whenever she stood near him, and she genuinely had no idea how she was supposed to function normally around that.
Kael’s gaze dropped toward the herb bundles still trapped against her chest.
“You haven’t put those down once.”
Nia looked down.
Right.
Apparently she had been holding them protectively the entire climb without realizing it.
“That probably says concerning things about me.”
“It says you like them.”
“I do like them.”
Kael watched her expression soften slightly while looking at the herbs.
The change fascinated him.
Nia already reacted strongly to food, but plants seemed to pull something deeper from her, a quieter kind of focus that sharpened her attention completely. She touched unfamiliar herbs with careful curiosity instead of caution, and every new scent seemed to send her thoughts somewhere farther than the immediate moment.
Kael wanted to know where.
Nia finally loosened her grip enough to sort through the bundles more carefully. Some leaves had already started wilting slightly from the warmth of her hands while others remained sturdy and aromatic despite the climb. She lifted one of the silver-green stems closer to inspect it again.
Kael watched her quietly. “You stop looking wary when you’re focused on plants.”
Nia glanced up.
“What?”
“You relax.”
“That sounds fake too.”
“It isn’t.”
She narrowed her eyes before returning her attention to the stem.
The sharp scent carried a cleaner edge now that the oils had warmed beneath her fingers.
“It would probably work well in heavy broths,” she murmured thoughtfully. “Something fatty. Maybe boiled roots too.”
Kael watched her expression sharpen again as she spoke.
“There’s a bitterness underneath the sharper scent,” she continued more to herself now. “If it’s cooked too long it would probably overpower everything else, but if it’s added near the end…”
Her thoughts began moving faster than her words.
Different preparation methods.
Different oil releases.
Heat timing.
Layering scents into heavier food.
Kael watched the shift happen in real time.
Nia forgot to guard her expressions whenever she became genuinely interested in something. Her attention narrowed completely, and the cautious distance she carried around other people softened into concentration instead.
“You’re planning again,” he observed quietly.
Nia blinked before realizing she had been mentally rebuilding an entire broth recipe using plants from another world.
“I’m thinking.”
“That too.”
She narrowed her eyes slightly at him before looking back toward the herbs again.
The dangerous part was that Kael no longer looked intimidating while watching her like this.
He looked interested.
And somehow that felt much harder to defend against.
Nia lowered the herb stem slowly back into her lap while the cave settled into quieter warmth around them. Outside, the wind moved faintly across the mountain entrance, carrying distant traces of settlement noise upward from below, but the sounds felt softer here inside Kael’s cave, muted beneath firelight, stone, and the steady presence crouched beside her.
Kael had still not moved away.
Not crowding her exactly, just close enough that she remained continuously aware of him.
His attention rested briefly on the herbs in her hands before shifting back toward her face. “You think while cooking the same way hunters think while tracking.”
Nia blinked once. “You said something similar earlier.”
“I’m saying it more accurately now.”
She found herself unexpectedly amused by that answer.
“You compare everything to hunting.”
“It’s familiar.”
“That still sounds philosophical.”
Kael looked mildly suspicious. “Was it?”
Nia laughed softly before she could stop herself, and Kael’s attention sharpened at the sound in a way she was beginning to recognize. The man reacted to her laughter like it mattered personally to him.
Dangerous.
Very dangerous.
Nia cleared her throat before her thoughts wandered somewhere unhelpful again and looked back down at the herbs instead. Some of the leaves had already started wilting slightly from the warmth of her hands while others remained sturdy and aromatic despite the climb.
“This tribe has much better plants than food,” she decided.
Kael looked entirely calm. “You’ve been here less than two days.”
“That has been enough time to suffer through your broth.”
“You survived it.”
“Barely.”
One corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
Nia sorted carefully through another bundle while continuing to examine the leaves. Some were clearly medicinal from scent alone, while others carried oils strong enough that she started thinking about flavor combinations before she consciously realized she was doing it.
Kael watched her hands move through the bundles. “You keep trying to sort them.”
“I’m not sorting them.”
“You grouped three piles already.”
Nia looked down.
She had.
“…That could still be coincidence.”
“It’s extremely organized coincidence.”
She ignored him with dignity and lifted another stem closer to smell. This one carried a warmer scent underneath the sharper herbal edge, almost sweet once the oils released beneath her fingers.
The scent carried enough warmth beneath the sharper herbal edge that possibilities started forming.
Different cooking applications.
Possibly teas.
Maybe oils.
Potentially medicinal uses if prepared correctly.
Her fingers shifted automatically toward another pile.
Kael’s gaze dropped toward the herb bundle she grabbed.
“You found another problem to solve.”
Nia looked offended.
“I found possibilities.”
“That sounds like the same thing.”
“It absolutely is not.”
Kael’s quiet rumble of amusement spread through the room again.
Nia was beginning to realize he laughed more with his body than his voice most of the time.
That realization made her smile despite herself.
And that, unfortunately, felt like another problem entirely.