Crouching low she took diminutive steps, trying to get closer to the deer without getting noticed. Its ears pricked as one of the tiny bells sounded on Cassandra’s anklet, its head lifted, and it gazed directly at her.
The fear and panic were so visible in its soft brown eyes as they met Cassandra’s violet ones. For a second both of them stared at each other.
The predator vs the prey and then it took off. Running in the opposite direction.
"Oh! No," Cassandra grunted to herself, raising her hand with the dagger and trying to aim towards the receding deer, running away for its life.
Siroos casually watched from a small distance, with his legs crossed at the ankles and hands behind his head as he leaned against a giant erected wooden pole.
Curiosity twirled in his eyes just to see what his innocent mate would do next as his gaze remained fixed on her back.
She aimed and reluctantly released the dagger. It soared through the air and missed the deer by many many inches.
"Uggh!" Cassandra cried out in frustration seeing she missed the target.
The deer escaped unscathed, only to be captured by the warrior and to be placed back inside the cage.
Siroos lowered his head and smiled before ungluing himself from the pole and proceeding to where Cassandra was.
She had her hands on her knees as she huffed out in frustration.
"You know why you missed?" Siroos asked, placing his hand on her back so his reassurance would wash over her, making her less guilty.
"I need to work on my aim and practice throwing more," Cassandra frustratedly answered while straightening up.
"Practice always comes in handy but you missed because you hesitated. Your heart was not into it. Secretly, you were hoping that it would escape."
Siroos so casually laid out the truth making Cassandra huff out some more. Deep down she knew he was right.
"Umm...no."
Siroos side-glanced at her, his kissable lips half-turned into a smile.
"I could sense your relief when you missed, it overpowered your frustration. Remember I can sense your emotions through the bond. You can’t lie to me Malakti," he answered.
She hated how he understood all of her emotions and she could no longer hide anything from him.
"Fine, I might have been a tiny bit relieved." She threw out her hands in frustration. Siroos gently placed both his hands on her shoulders and turned her towards himself.
"Sometimes we have to make decisions which our hearts might not sync with. I know it’s not easy for you, but you are strong here." Siroos touched her temple with his index finger. "Tomorrow we will try again and this time you will hit the target. Let’s call it a day for now."
"I appreciate your understanding," Cassandra answered as the warrior brought back her dagger and handed it over to her.
She accepted it with a small thanks and placed it in the hilt, which was embedded in the belt she wore around her waist.
"Come let’s head back."
Siroos and Cassandra left the training arena and headed back to their dwelling. They washed up and then Cassandra helped Lana and other females in preparing the evening meal.
"How was your training? Nissa!" Lana asked.
"Let me see. I failed at pull-ups and then failed again at killing a deer, so frankly speaking. Not so good." Cassandra sighed as her arms ached from all the practice. She was developing cramps.
"It’s just four days since you began, you will be unstoppable soon," she reassuredly smiled at her.
The supper was almost ready and Cassandra glanced around the cookery, seeing most of the females had left it with the prepared food. She knew it was an appropriate time to ask Lana. She cleared her throat and dropped her voice several notches so only Lana could hear. Being a shifter she could hear even the whispers of normal humans.
"I want to ask you something, Lana. But I don’t know how to." Cassandra was rolling out flatbread; she handed it to Lana so she could place it in the clay oven for it to be baked.
"Nissa! You can always feel free to ask me whatever. It will remain between us," she kindly smiled and Cassandra gulped before speaking even more slowly than she had done previously.
"You know the kind of relationship Siroos and I have. But he still satisfies me in ways. Is there a way I can do the same for him?"
Her cheeks and ears were burning just like the clay oven in front of them. She finished her question and kept her eyes on the kneaded flour instead of gazing at Lana. She was expecting Lana to laugh out at her question but she had no one else to ask.
Lana froze for a few seconds, her hands paused with the bread which she had forgotten to place in the oven. She finally willed herself to speak, leaning in towards Cassandra.
"Ah! Now, that is a very thought-provoking question. I can give you a few hints but it will be all about practice." She winked, making Cassandra blush even deeper than before.
"I will be forever thankful, girl."
Lana placed the bread inside the oven and dusted her hands to free them of extra flour.
She then grabbed the rolling pin Cassandra had been using to roll out the bread and turned her whole body to face her Luna.
"Imagine, this is that." She herself turned red thinking what she was saying, but her Luna had asked for her help, and she had to guide her.
Cassandra nodded, flushed in embarrassment.
"The base part is where you stroke with your thumb and the rest will be in your palm. Like this." Lana continued to show Cassandra how it was done. She then added in a very hushed voice.
"You can also use your mouth, Nissa. Men love it when we take it in our mouth."
Cassandra’s eyes blew wide at her words, the embarrassment seeped into her marrow.
"M–mouth? That’s gross," she blurted out without thinking at all.
"Gross? What’s gross?" Siroos’s heavy voice came from the entrance of the cookery as he stood there watching his mate with a keen interest.