Maya POV
Brutus's eyes followed me like a predator tracking wounded prey, and I wanted to throw up.
He'd been watching us for three hours now, perched on a boulder at the canyon entrance. Not speaking. Not moving. Just staring with those dead eyes while wearing a smile that promised terrible things.
I couldn't think with him there. Couldn't plan. Couldn't breathe without imagining those massive hands around my throat in six weeks when I inevitably failed this impossible task.
"Ignore him," Kael said quietly beside me. His jaw was tight with barely controlled rage. "He wants you scared. Don't give him the satisfaction."
"Too late," I muttered. My hands shook as I knelt by the stream, splashing cold water on my face. The binding oath's mark burned beneath my skin like a brand—a constant reminder that I'd just bet my life on knowledge I wasn't even sure would work in this alien world.
What was I thinking? I was a trauma surgeon, not a farmer. I'd killed every houseplant I'd ever owned. My idea of gardening was buying pre-cut vegetables at Whole Foods.
And now I had six weeks to turn a dead canyon into farmland or become a breeding prize for a psychopath.
"Focus, Maya," I whispered to myself. "You've done harder things. Remember that gunshot victim with the severed artery? You had thirty seconds and saved him. This is just... longer odds."
"Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness," Soren said, appearing beside me with that too-sharp smile. "Though considering our situation, madness might be an improvement."
I looked up at the fox-man. In the fading light, his amber eyes gleamed with intelligence that seemed at odds with his jokes. "Do you ever take anything seriously?"
"Not if I can help it. Seriousness is depressing." But his smile faded. "You really think you can do this? Make food grow here?"
"I have to." I stood, wiping my wet hands on my strange clothes—I'd woken up wearing some kind of soft leather dress that definitely wasn't my scrubs. "Because the alternative is unacceptable."
Thorne suddenly appeared, making me jump. The tiger-man moved silent as smoke despite his size. He held out his hand—in his palm was a scraggly plant with purple flowers.
"Found this," he said in his rough voice. "Smells like you."
I took it carefully. Wild sage, unless I was completely wrong. "You found this growing here?"
He nodded, pointing upstream. "More there. And yellow flowers. And thorny plants with fat leaves."
My heart kicked up speed. "Show me. Now."
Thorne led me along the stream while Kael and Oryn followed close, protective shadows. Soren stayed behind, watching Brutus watch us. The tiger-man was right—scattered among the dead vegetation were survivors. Wild herbs, a few struggling berry bushes, even what looked like wild onions.
"This is good," I said, my doctor-brain shifting into diagnostic mode. "This means the soil isn't completely dead. It's just exhausted. We can work with exhausted."
"How?" Oryn asked. His blind eyes were turned toward me, head tilted like he was reading me through sound and scent alone. "Exiled males survive by hunting and gathering. We know nothing of making plants grow."
I turned to face all three of them. These broken, desperate men who'd somehow become my responsibility. Kael with his scars and warrior's stance. Oryn with his gentle voice and unseeing eyes. Thorne with his wild energy and few words. And Soren, still watching our enemy, protecting us with his presence.
They were starving. I could see it now—the way their skin stretched tight over muscle, the hollow look around their eyes. They were dying slowly in this wasteland, and I'd just promised to save them while saving myself.
"Okay," I said, using my doctor voice—the one that made panicking patients calm down and listen. "Here's how this works. I'm going to teach you everything I know about growing food. But we're going to do this my way, which means rules. Non-negotiable rules."
"We're listening," Kael said.
"First rule: I'm in charge of the farming operation. You follow my instructions exactly, even if they seem strange. Second rule: No fighting among yourselves. We're a team now, and teams don't survive if they're busy killing each other. Third rule—" I took a breath. "No touching me without permission. No cornering me. No assuming that because I'm the only woman here, I'm automatically anyone's property. I'm a person, not a prize. Understood?"
Silence. They looked at each other, clearly unsure.
"In my world," I continued, "people get to choose who touches them. Who they're close to. It's called consent, and it's not optional. You want my help surviving? Then you respect my boundaries."
Kael moved first. The scarred wolf-man dropped to one knee, his ice-blue eyes meeting mine with something like reverence. "I accept your terms. Command us, rare one. We'll follow your lead."
Oryn knelt next. "Your rules are fair. I agree."
Thorne knelt without words, but his golden eyes were fierce with loyalty.
Only Soren remained standing, arms crossed. "And what do we get in return for this obedience? Besides hopefully not starving to death?"
"My knowledge. My skills. And my promise that if we survive this, you'll never be exiles again. We'll build something here. Something that's ours." I met each of their eyes. "A home."
The word hung in the air like magic. I watched something crack open in their faces—hope, fragile and desperate.
Soren knelt last, his sharp smile genuine for once. "Well then. I suppose we'd better start this miracle of yours."
A slow clap echoed through the canyon.
Brutus stood, his massive form blocking the last rays of sunset. "How touching. The little female playing leader with her broken toys." He started walking toward us, each step deliberate. "But you're forgetting something important, bride."
Kael and the others shifted instantly into beast forms, putting themselves between us.
Brutus laughed and kept coming. "Mother said I could watch. She didn't say I couldn't test." His eyes locked on mine. "Let's see how much fight you've got in you, little female. Let's see if you're worth the wait."
He shifted mid-stride—massive brown bear, bigger than any grizzly I'd seen in nature documentaries. His roar shook the canyon walls.
And he charged straight at me.
Kael's wolf leaped to intercept, but Brutus swatted him aside like he weighed nothing. Thorne and Oryn attacked from both sides. Brutus caught Thorne by the throat and threw him into the rock wall with a sickening crunch.
Three seconds. That's all it took for him to get past all of them.
I ran. Not away—there was nowhere to go. I ran toward the stream, toward the thorny plants Thorne had shown me. My hands closed around the fattest leaves, ripping them free as the bear's breath heated my neck.
I spun and threw the plant sap directly into Brutus's eyes.
He reared back with a scream that was half-bear, half-human. The sap—mildly toxic, I'd recognized it—burned like acid on soft tissue.
"That's for Thorne," I snarled.
Brutus shifted back to human, clawing at his streaming eyes. "You little—"
"Six weeks," I said coldly. "You've got six weeks to heal from that. Come at me again before the deadline, and next time I'll aim for something more permanent."
He staggered backward, still cursing, and finally retreated to his boulder. But his voice carried across the canyon: "You just made this so much worse for yourself, bride."
I dropped to my knees beside Thorne's unconscious form, hands moving automatically to check his pulse, his breathing. Broken ribs. Possible concussion. But alive.
"Welcome to Eden," Soren said weakly, nursing his own injuries. "Where the relaxation never stops."
Kael limped over, back in human form, blood dripping from a gash in his shoulder. But he was smiling—fierce and proud.
"That plant trick," he said. "Teach us that. Teach us everything."
I looked at the four of them—beaten, bleeding, but still standing. Still fighting.
"Starting tomorrow," I promised. "Tonight, we survive. Tomorrow, we build a miracle."
Above us, the twin suns finally set, and the temperature dropped ten degrees in an instant.
Winter was coming.
And I'd just made an enemy who'd make sure I suffered every day until he could claim me.