Chapter 5
Voss
The acute pain of my mate’s hate and terror was crushing. And yet, I breathed through it, following two dozen steps behind her to make sure she was safe. Nothing should hurt her in my land, but I couldn’t risk it.
Now that I found her, I would do anything to keep her safe and happy. Which meant I was in quite a conundrum.
How was I supposed to give her happiness when my very presence made her suffer? I didn’t know, but I was determined to fix it somehow. She was wrong about me. I’d never treat her like that grabby, violent human did. I’d never call her the ugly words he used.
And I’d never hurt her, but for one thing, I wouldn’t defer to her wishes. She wanted to leave me, and that would never happen. She was my mate now, wed and bonded. I still bore her marks on my face, just as she bore mine.
I stepped out of the jungle in time to see Alina gazing up at my home, her expression uncertain, her fists clenched. I gave her space, walking around her in a wide circle, until she saw me in her peripheral vision. Only then did I speak.
“This is my home. Welcome.”
She didn’t look at me, her lips moving silently. Finally, she spoke. “Your… home.”
I couldn’t quite decipher the emotion in her voice, but one thing was certain: she wasn’t impressed. I leveled a critical look at the building, trying to see it through a stranger’s eyes.
Oh.
Shame squirmed in my gut, adding to the volatile cocktail of emotions already sloshing in there. Maybe I should have done a bit of work around the place before I applied for a bride, but it simply seemed like there was no point. I didn’t believe I would have the good fortune of finding a mate.
And so I left things as they were. As they had been for the last two hundred years, ever since my grandfather had it built. And then, I sped up the ruin in my rage and grief.
My house was three-stories tall, or rather, the central and left parts were. The other wing had collapsed and now was completely overtaken by the jungle. Tall trees sprung from the caved-in roof, vines trailed the walls, and a blooming forsha bush stuck out through the broken first-floor window. It was dotted with glittering white and purple flowers.
“It’s a bit unkempt,” I said self-consciously. “That wing is closed. Uh. But the rest of the house is in good repair.”
I thought about the countless rooms I didn’t use, their doors locked, hinges rusty. Most of them were probably covered with thick layers of dust, and who knew, there could be mold. I cringed.
“Well, the main part of the house… is habitable,” I conceded, doing my best to be honest.
Alina turned to me slowly, and my heart drummed with hope. Would she look at me?
She arrested the upward trajectory of her eyes and looked away, her throat bobbing. “I won’t stay here.”
My chest squeezed with the pain of her refusal, even more because it was justified. Yes, my house, once a proud manor, was a hovel. Of course no bride, human or not, would stay here.
“We can renovate,” I said fast, tripping over my tongue in the haste to appease her. “I have wealth. You can spend it however you like, get new furniture, new everything. We will bring in carpentry masters from the city and…”
“It’s not about the house!” she broke in, a shrill note stealing into her voice. “It could be a palace for all I care and I still wouldn’t want to stay here! Just point out the way to the nearest town and I’ll go.”
I was quiet for a moment. She turned toward me, her eyes briefly stopping at my palms that were clenched in helpless misery at my sides. Then she looked to the side, focusing on the deep pond in front of the grand entrance. It was green and murky with algae.
“Please, don’t,” I said quietly. “I will die without you.”
She snorted like I just said a rude joke. “I heard that before. Right before he grabbed me so hard, he left bruises, and informed me we’d live as husband and wife or not at all.”
A red flame of anger licked up my gut, reigniting the violent fury at the human I killed. But anger wouldn’t help now. He was dead. I drew in a deep breath, catching the faintest whiff of Alina’s fresh sweat. My wrath subsided to a slow simmer.
“I will never touch you forcibly. If you want to go…” I stopped, the pain in my chest swelling to unbearable proportions. I wanted to give her everything she asked for—just not this. “You can’t. You’re my wife,” I said, desperately watching her face.
She shook her head, swallowing hard.
“Not until we fuck,” she said crudely, her mouth twisting in a sneer.
Yet I knew she didn’t speak this way out of hate but out of terror. Her knuckles were white, she clenched her fists so hard.
“I will never touch you without your permission,” I said, promising her things that should be obvious and taken for granted, yet to her, they were not. I ached to wrap her in my body and protect her from all pain, but I understood it wasn’t what she wanted. “Alina. Please.”
She breathed hard, shaking her head, until a loud splash from the pond drew her gaze. I walked over to the edge, putting myself between the water and her. Nothing dangerous should be in my pond, but then, I’d been gone for two days, arranging deliveries of human food and other things that had to be ready after I learned the temple found me a bride.
I didn’t believe she’d be my mate, not truly, but I arranged the necessities just in case before the wedding ceremony. And even though I was gone only for two days, here in the jungle, much could change in that time. Something might have moved in.
When the long, scaly muzzle of a harrsh’ak broke the surface, I cursed under my breath.
“You’re not welcome here,” I said coolly as the rest of the creature appeared above the murky water. I stared at its rangy body covered in scales, its limbs long, ribs prominent. It was a young one, which probably meant it was stupid. The harrsh’ak gained intelligence with age, learning to speak better and even read in their older years.
This one was dumb enough to wander into my den.
The harrsh’ak were a lesser race that arrived on Alia Terra with us, basilisks. They were barely sentient but they bred fast while we went extinct. I was the last of my race. After I perished, the land would be overrun with them.
“Death Eyes went gone,” the harrsh’ak spoke in his screechy voice, coming onto the bank.
Behind me, Alina gasped as he craned his long, flexible neck to look around me. He stood upright for a moment, his toxic green scales glimmering in the sun, and than dropped to four clawed legs, trying to slink around me. His eyes shimmered and changed to red, announcing his intent.
“Death Eyes bring food,” he rasped, his long tongue lolling out. A line of saliva stretched from his lipless mouth almost to the ground.
Alina squealed in terror, and I gripped the harrsh’ak by the loose skin of his scruff and lifted him off the ground so we were eye to eye. He squeezed his four eyes shut with a whimper, right after they changed to green, and I shook him.
“No food. That’s my wife. Now go and tell the rest of your tribe that if any of you put even a claw on my land, they will die. These are my parts. You stick to yours.”
He nodded rapidly, his long, brown tongue rushing out to lick his eyelids in a nervous gesture. I let him drop to the ground, and he scurried away, his short tail between his legs.
I turned to Alina. Our eyes met for the briefest moment before hers widened and dropped. I shook my head.
“They usually attack in packs,” I said quietly, keeping my distance. “I saw them devouring a human carcass within minutes. They leave nothing behind, just white, clean bones.”
She balled her hands into fists, breathing rapidly. “You’re trying to scare me,” she said in a trembling voice.
“Yes,” I said honestly. “I want to make sure you don’t leave on your own. You’ll die out here without me. There are miles and miles of jungle and swamp, teeming with creatures, many of them far more dangerous than the harrsh’ak. I don’t ever want you to be hurt.”
She hugged herself, looking lost and unsure, and I waited. The sun was slowly lowering toward the horizon, but it was still hot. Alina sweated under its glare, her breathing fast and shallow.
“It’s cool in the house,” I said, hoping to tempt her. “And I promise not to touch you or come close.”
Her eyes shot up, stopping at my throat. When her shoulders slumped in defeat, I wanted to celebrate this small victory.
She nodded warily. “You lead. I’ll follow.”