Chapter 6
Zathar
My mate ran off with the beginnings of those watery leaky eyes.
I was pretty sure that was a normal function of her body, considering how often the other female did that.
With Vera, it made my chest feel tight, and my belly ached.
She was sad, and those leaky eyes just made that more clear.
I didn’t know how to comfort her, how to prove to her that I did want her.
Her, the strange two-legged creature with the pale hair and the soft curves.
When I moved to go after her, the male had the guts to rise to his feet and block my path.
It would be very easy to fight him and let out some of this frustration with a few well-aimed punches.
Not that the male would make for a good wrestling partner, he had no tail, so it wouldn’t be a fair fight.
Vera had not gone far, she had only left the chamber and then frozen in place.
She was safe there because no predators or critters ever entered the Caves of the Ancestors.
That didn’t mean I didn’t worry as long as she was out of my sight.
I circled the chamber several times, trying to ease the frustrated energy inside of me.
“I healed her, you know,” Corin assured me.
He was still at the pilot’s side, carefully repositioning her leg and splinting it with the supplies I’d brought.
I was lucky to have him here with me, with his training to be a Shaman, he was the only one who could use the healing device, or attempt any other remedies.
It had always felt extremely unfair that my mother had blocked a true apprenticeship for him. Nobody knew why she had done that.
“Thank you,” I said, and I circled the room for another lap.
It was making the other two stare, and the female flinched when I crossed behind her.
They were behind this, I knew it. Vera hadn’t questioned my touch, my presence, until after I’d left her to gather supplies. They had said something to her.
When she walked back into the chamber, it was with her head held high, her face composed. She was beautiful and she was fierce, especially when she glanced at Reid and me. I was glad I wasn’t the only one on the receiving end of that glare.
She walked right up to me and I had to force myself to hold still, to freeze in place, and not reach for her with my hands and my tail.
She had no idea just how desperately I wanted to have her in my coils, and she also didn’t know how many rules I’d broken by doing so already.
If she were a Naga female, she would have bitten my head off by now.
“Listen,” she said, as she pressed the tip of her pointer finger against the center of my chest. Or rather, she jabbed me with it as if she intended to stab me with her blunt little claws.
I tilted my head, angling one ear her way to indicate that I was doing as she said.
My breath stalled in my lungs in anticipation.
“You think I’m your mate, but I don’t agree with that.
But I understand that communication is important so I’ll concede to impersonal touch to facilitate that.
That’s all. Got it?” She spelled out her terms with a determined frown on her face, her pale blue eyes flashing fire at me.
Ah, so she was going to try and deny this, was she?
Pretend that I hadn’t tasted her arousal in the air, and scented her attraction?
It went against every instinct in me to agree, but if she needed to think she was in control for a while, that’s what she’d get. “Fine!” I said, but I clasped my hand over hers, pressing it fully against the center of my chest, my heart. “For now.”
I let her go and purposely moved away, settling next to Corin on the hard floor.
I angled my head so I could still see her from the corner of my eyes, but I made sure not to fully glance her way.
Corin huffed out a low chuckle, no doubt highly amused by my current lack of success with my female.
He was smart enough not to comment, turning the conversation to Iave instead. “Do you think he made it out of there?”
I hoped so, Iave was the best warrior I knew; he wouldn’t go down without a fight.
On top of that, I was positive that the dark-skinned female was his mate, even if I hadn’t seen his sigils glow.
Protecting his mate would make him extremely driven, and it was talked of among my fellow hunters and warriors that having a mate could make a male more powerful.
I hoped that was the truth, and that Iave could draw on that right now to keep both those females safe.
Behind me, I heard Vera talk with the other two in her beautiful melodic language.
I wished I could understand what they were saying.
I wanted to warn the male to stay away from her, I didn’t like how close they were sitting.
When they started yawning, I got up to gather more furs for them to lie down on.
Not long after, the two females were fast asleep near the heat source. The male was lying down but I was sure he was still alert. He didn’t say a word when I gathered Vera in my arms and took her to my nest. Good, he knew where she belonged, that was one down. Now I just needed to convince my mate.
She didn’t need to have a heat source to stay warm when she could sleep in my coils inside my nest. I would provide her with everything she needed, starting with a better place to live.
One that was not the Thunder Rock Village, even if my mother might let me back into the fold now that I had a mate.
I fell asleep with the taste of her on my tongue and my head filled with thoughts of the future.
When I woke a couple hours later, it was with a jolt, my body on high alert.
The lights had all been turned off but sunlight filtered in through the gate, just enough brushing the entrance to this chamber to help my sight.
Corin was already at the door, but all our rescues were still sleeping, including my mate whose face had turned pink, her lips looking soft and pillowy.
I was extremely tempted to just let Corin deal with whatever noise had intruded on our rest, but I couldn’t, it could be Iave, it could be danger.
Rising quietly, I gently extracted my coils from around Vera, my well-oiled scales quiet as I slithered across the chamber to meet up with my friend.
When I passed the male and female asleep next to the now extinguished heat source, I realized the male had his eyes open, watching us.
I was starting to realize that he wasn’t a force I should just dismiss; he had training.
“There’s a scout in front of the gate,” Corin murmured when I reached his side.
“He doesn’t want to come in but I saw the tip of his tail as he made a first pass.
It’s Khawla.” A Thunder Rock scout sent directly to where we’d been camping, it couldn’t be a coincidence.
Khawla was a very capable scout, a master at camouflage.
If Corin had spotted him it meant he’d showed himself on purpose.
Khawla was a little older than Iave, Corin, and me, we hadn’t been in the same circles growing up. He also had a mate of high rank in the Clan, although I vaguely recalled there had been some excitement concerning their match. I couldn’t recall what, but it wasn’t relevant anyway.
“Wait here,” I said to Corin, and just a glance over my shoulder was enough to convey what I wanted. He nodded his head, his hands going to the long knives he carried on the belt around his hips. Ready to defend, even against a former Clan member. I was lucky to have such a loyal friend at my side.
I left the Ancestor Caves with my head held high, pausing between the two giant statues that flanked the path inside.
If Khawla wanted to talk, he’d show up when he was good and ready but I had a feeling I wouldn’t have to wait long.
He was here with a message from my mother and it was no coincidence that he showed up so soon after we’d discovered Vera and her kind.
The male came out from behind a pair of trees that didn’t look like they could provide adequate cover, and yet, I hadn’t seen him until he moved.
His scales were a deep blue that hinted at purple, they appeared dull, almost lifeless compared to my own luster.
As far as males went, Khawla was probably the least attractive male I knew.
Dull and plain, but it worked in his favor, as it helped him to hide.
He stopped at a respectable distance, his face carefully neutral as he looked me over.
“Your mother, the Queen, requires an audience with you,” he said, his tongue flicking the air as the words left his mouth; sneakily searching for any strange scents.
“She will be here shortly, so you better all meet her outside. Don’t keep her waiting. ”
His eyes were a very out-of-place purple that hinted at a mixed ancestry, likely with a Copper Tooth Clan member.
I always thought they looked wise and calm, like the placid lake surface of Lake Irace just west of our clan village.
That’s what Khawla usually was too, calm and placid, hard to ruffle.
Which made the edge I detected in his demeanor all the more out of place.
I narrowed my eyes at him, was he hiding something?
If so, it wouldn’t sit well with the straight-laced male I knew.
That could explain it. Suspicious of everything, I drifted back toward the Cave of the Ancestors, but I left my hands out at my side, relaxed.
I didn’t want to fight Khawla or any other Clan member.
I had lived with them, grown up with them, I didn’t want to be forced to kill people that I once called friends.