He felt Ruth place a trembling hand against his back and he spared a glance at her. They would not welcome him, and their body language was curious, but primed for a fight. Now he had Bonded with Ruth, he was of her tribe. He hadn’t realised he was close to his tribe’s territory. His initial reaction was to be overjoyed to see his family again, but he hesitated in greeting them. Leading them was his older brother, Kranu, and he recognised the other two from his tribe, Drenz and Troii. Three males of his own kind stepped out of the treeline. He separated from Ruth and put her down, turning his head to look in the direction of the noise, and tensed. Gron heard the rustling of leaves being pushed aside. Gron could build them a home, find them plenty of food and water. They had been saved by the spirits, brought home, with food and water in strange containers, and Ruth had been given more of that strange covering she liked, but they were home. Their time in the cell and in that other forest felt more like a dream than this.

Had she died because of him, because he hadn’t been there to save her? Perhaps it was a dream, then, but it felt very real. But thinking that Ruth had died too upset him. Perhaps he had died and this was the life after. Had it made him sick? He knew he had felt feverish. He remembered the strange sharp trees, climbing one to examine the area, look for a place they could make their life, and being pricked in the arm by one of the branches. It was still new to him, the reactions of a primed male, but Ruth had made it easy for him. He remembered mating with Ruth, a memory that heated his blood. He remembered being in that forest, sleeping in that cave after escaping from the cell, growing hungrier every day. They were home! He didn’t know how it had happened, but the trees were the same, the birdsong was the same, the ground and air were the same, everything was the same! They were home! Gron snatched Ruth up and held her to him, putting his mouth over hers the way she had taught him. I hope you all like them, and let me know what you think. I am publishing them early to make up for telling people I would have the book out by the end of October, which I have failed to do. Below is the first three chapters to Gron’s Fated, the sequel to my first novel, Ruth’s Bonded.

Ruth's Bonded by V.C. Lancaster