Adaptation 1 by Pepper Pace

Author:Pepper Pace
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Genetic Engineering, Multicultural, Post-Apocalyptic, Colonization, Romance, Science Fiction, Space Fleet, Military, Multicultural & Interracial
Publisher: Pepper Pace Publications
Published: 2014-07-24T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

~Asking for Help~

Carmella pulled back and wiped her eyes. She was about to apologize and blame it on her hormones when she saw tears sliding down Bilal’s face.

He’s crying, she thought. Is he crying for me? Or did he … Carmella staggered backwards as it all became clear to her. He had emotions that were no less heartfelt than hers or any other human’s. Bilal was hurting, and it was because of her. Dear God, she had humanized a wolf but couldn’t see that a talking, thinking being was worthy of the same consideration. Though Bilal was not born a human, he had the capacity for compassion and for pain and for … forgiveness.

Bilal had ducked his head and turned his back to her as he swiped the tears from his eyes.

Carmella reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Bilal. I’m so sorry. I’ve been wrong in how I’ve treated you, and I feel horrible about it.”

“Carmella? I don’t understand.”

“I’ve treated you badly, and you didn’t deserve it. Will you accept my apology?”

Bilal didn’t expect to be treated in any way other than the way he’d been treated. He had never perceived himself as being mistreated because he understood that Carmella hated him, and rightfully so. He had been a disruption to her life. Centaurians had disrupted her entire world.

He shook his head slightly. “You don’t need to apologize to me. You’ve done nothing wrong, Carmella. You’ve reacted to me based on everything that you’ve lost.”

She grimaced. His kindness was unfathomable. It would be nice having him around, and that lifted her heart and made her smile.

He stopped talking as he watched the display of emotions cross her face. Human emotions were so easily displayed by a slight shifting of muscles beneath the skin. Centaurians showed their emotion through the change of color within their skin. He’d been disappointed to see that his skin wasn’t the same color as other humans and that beneath it anyone could see his “emotions.” But now he didn’t care because he knew that his face could be as emotional as hers was. His lips pulled up into a smile, not because he made it do so, but from the sheer pleasure of watching her contagious smile.

“Friends?” she asked, not sure why she felt nervous.

“Do you want to be my friend?” Bilal asked.

“I haven’t had a friend in a decade. Yes, I would like very much to be friends.” She shook her head. “It’s so much easier than being enemies.”

“I would like that, too.” Bilal’s smile grew.

~***~

Carmella sat on the couch with two pillows against her back and her legs crossed beneath her. She rubbed the top of her belly unconsciously.

Bilal put another log into the fireplace. “This wood won’t last all winter.”

“No. You’ll have to cut some before the weather gets bad.”

“When will that be?”

“It’s hard to say. Sometimes I’ve gotten my first snow by Halloween, and other times it’s November. But since I don’t like cutting wood in sub-zero temperatures, I usually have a good stack of wood by fall.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.