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smaller meento. Even though she killed them for food as well, she did so with compassion and thanks. The great beast that let it suffer until he was ready to eat it had nothing in common with her yet everything in common with Jai.
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    Chapter Eleven
    Jai did not become angry when Mieli continued to stand, tense and silent, without acknowledging him. He was too practical for that. She had not truly provoked him yet, and despite his annoyance with her attitude, he was not ready to discipline her. Besides, there was much to be done before nightfall, and he wanted it over with.
    Without a second glance at Mieli, he turned back to where he'd dropped the pack, and began to set up camp. Behind him, she stood just as he'd left her, and when he caught sight of her from the corner of his eye as he moved around, she seemed lost. By the time he was done, darkness had begun to fall. The fire was just beginning to really burn, and still she stood.
    For the first time, the sounds of the forest were all around them. A day away from the unnatural destruction of his crash, the murmur of the woodland life was almost loud. Jai turned to Mieli, done with the distance between them.
    He was uncertain how to approach her now. Her eyes were downcast, but there was still a mulish set to her mouth, and her hands were clenched fists. If it were only the sex, he would have no problem taking her this way, but it was the yielding that Jai wanted. No, it was what he needed . Simple sex had never been a problem. He had rarely ever lost a combat-challenge.
    That thought brought a memory to mind, and Jai recalled the first time he'd ever challenged. In the War Tribe, it was an inevitability, especially among the humanoid races. If one were particularly unattractive, one might avoid challenge, but most others faced it. Jai had known that only his peers could issue the challenge, and so he'd felt confident in his ability to win. He'd even considered challenging another, just to prove it. His friend Tarin had been equally sure, and they'd spent their free time speculating who would be a good one to challenge.
    They had both been taken with a young woman named Yasbeth. She was soldier class but mostly for her skill with weapons. In hand-to-hand combat she was too lean to be truly powerful. Ultimately, it was Jai who called her out. He could still remember the hard mat beneath his knees and the feel of her muscled body bucking and thrashing and finally slumping in defeat. There had been quite a crowd. When he finally subdued her and pressed his hard cock into her resisting flesh, the roars of approval had been deafening. But it was one moment in particular that had been hard to forget. Above the sounds of his rough pounding and Yasbeth's angry snarls, he'd looked up into the crowd and met Tarin's eyes. There had been envy there. And desire.
    For some reason, the memory was very clear tonight, and Jai had to shake off the feeling that he was forgetting something important. It was a long time ago, not the last time he'd forced another on the challenge mat. There had been many in the intervening years, women mostly. He'd had his fair share of men but found he responded best when it was a woman. Tarin, on the other hand, tended to challenge mostly men.
    Jai spared a thought for his friend. Although they still served together, Tarin was often on the ground. He was a hulking brute who was most effectively employed on the land forces that set the seeds of the War Tribe civilization in place. Even now, Tarin would be somewhere in the large encampment to the west, giving orders and arranging for the safe transport of the nonsoldier class types who would set up the War Tribe colony on this planet.
    The idea flashed so intensely that Jai nearly laughed. Of course. Tarin would get him off this planet. They were like brothers, and if anyone were capable of smuggling them out, it would be him. It wouldn't be free, but Tarin was an honest thief who