Beneath and Beyond

Chapter 34

They ran up to two giant stone pillars then stopped just outside it's perimeters.

"Climb off," Luke said to her through their link then bent forward so she could hop off. When she was off he, along with the rest of the guys, went behind some trees and changed back to their human form. They came back wearing only ripped jeans.

Shirtless Luke came over to her and Kiedi couldn't help staring at his thick muscular arms and his pronounced chest then his perfectly formed abs that were cradled by his sexy V that curved down into the waist band of his jeans.

When she looked back up at his face Luke was smirking at her and Kiedi could feel her face get heated and she tried to hide it by smiling as if she hadn't just been mentally drooling over his body. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and bent so he was close to her ear.

"No matter what happens stay close to me," he whispered and Kie saw his jaw clench. She wasn't planning on leaving his side anyways so she simply nodded.

They all walked slowly through the pillars and suddenly they were in the center of a quaint little village. There were tents everywhere and small shacks made of wood and thatch roofing, they reminded Kie of the Amerindian homes back in the sixteenth century.

There was one shack in the center of the village that was bigger than all the rest. It also had a sloping wooden roof instead of the thatch that was everywhere else. It looked the most advanced and it was where they were headed.

They stopped a few feet away and Mr. Gold continued and knocked on the door as if in code then went inside. He was in there for a few minutes and the others except for Kiedi and especially Cooger looked restless. Luke kept a tight hold around her waist and his eyes seemed guarded and his jaw never stopped clenching.

Finally Mr. Gold and several other men came out of the room. These men were also in ripped jeans or cargo shorts but these men obviously held a higher power because they were also wearing sleeveless open robes. After a head nod from one of the men a little boy ran away then came back holding one of the dark robes for Mr. Gold.

The men were laughing and mumbling something about the good old days as they straightened into a line outside of the large hut. One rather large and bulky man with a mean looking beard and dark thick hair with eyes that reminded her of Carl cleared his throat loudly and looked at all of them. He glanced at each individual face, spending a few extra seconds on Kiedi's before looking lovingly on Carl.

"My People!" he boomed and the whole village went silent and turned their attention to them. Whilst the people now openly stared at them Kiedi felt self conscious that she was an an outsider among them.

"My son and my brother have returned with their team!" the crowd of people cheered then stopped when he put his hand in the air for silence. "When a brother is lost we mourn-"

"Aye," the crowd mumbled.

"-but when our brothers come home, we celebrate!"

There was a loud roar of hoots and hollers and soon they were swarmed by people who wanted to welcome them back with greetings and hugs. Kiedi even got a few hugs before Luke took her by the elbow and led her out of the crowd.

He stopped when they were standing off to the side and Kiedi looked up at him as he placed his hand around her waist. There was a possessive look in his eye, she had seen it before but never quite this intense. She looked at the crowd and wondered what could have set him so on edge.

At first she thought that it was the people hugging her that made him so angry but then she saw a few guys amongst the crowd, that were also shirtless, just staring at her. Luke followed her stare and a growl came from his chest. Luke was in a state of possessive jealousy, that's why he was behaving like that ever since they walked in.