by Belle Harper
When I scented Quinn nearby, I tried to scare the male off with my stone as I had done with the M’Mori the time before. But this male didn’t seem to be afraid. He would have been able to smell Quinn or hear her voice and I couldn’t have him taking her from me… her mates.
“Do you think they came from the mines? Should we go out there and see if he has returned? Eren asked me again this day. I shook my head; I didn’t know the answer. I only knew the male moved away from Quinn and he was not of our world.
“I think we should tell the females. We should consider that the location is not safe here and move Clan Wolf to another area, away from the mines.” This was Luna’s first mate—Vallyn’s—suggestion and Eren agreed with him. To the moving, not to the telling the females. But then, Daku reminded them both that the females needed a water hole large enough for bathing.
And that was true, they loved to bathe and I loved to watch. For their safety… That would be what I told others if they caught me. But no, they were safe there. It was so I could see my Quinn and her body.
“We will have more warriors here, around camp. We will not alert the females to this, and if they ask, have the males say they are having some free time. We don’t want them to know they are patrolling close by. They will know. My mate is smart,” Vallyn said and nodded to all of us.
“You are very skilled, Apak’s brother. And for being injured, you have skills that could help teach younger warriors. I do not have the time to do so, but you do,” Daku nodded as he spoke to me. He was very skilled himself. You couldn’t hear him coming through the tree canopy and sometimes it was hard to even sense him there. I liked him. He was newly mate bonded and he was a very protective mate to his Luna.
“I will teach my skills. I shall start with Zezii. He could be a great warrior for our clan one day.” I looked over to the young male and he nodded. He knew this to be true when he caught up to me yesterday and I told him of the mistake he made. That he should have stayed with Quinn, protected her by staying with her. That he left her vulnerable for any male to take her.
He was very upset with himself. He raced back but Eren had found us by then, had told us Quinn was safe, but that Zezii shouldn’t have left her like that. Unprotected. Eren was angry, as he should be. I explained to him what happened and he was grateful that I protected Quinn, but that she was upset that I had ruined the talking she was doing with young Zezii. That wasn’t my intention and now she was upset with me. I didn’t like that.
“Come, Zezii, I shall teach you how to move through the trees without sound.”
I returned many hours later to Quinn’s hut. Zezii was a good student, but he was very unskilled. He knew how to wield a spear, but when he was matched against me he didn’t know how best to use it. It was all from training in a clan, no challenge at all to improve skills.
This was what happened to many young males when placed in the clan wars and those males died. My eye was lost from a battle. I pointed to it and warned Zezii, “if you are too slow, you lose an eye. If you cannot fight well, you lose your life.”
I nodded goodbye to Zezii. I saw Quinn out of my good eye. She ran at me spewing words from her mouth so fast I couldn’t understand, the translator she wore on her wrist couldn’t keep up.
“What do you wish to say, Quinn?” I asked her in a calm voice in hopes she would respond in kind so I could understand her further. But her nostrils flared and her hands turned into fists. I looked down at them and she made a sound that I had never heard her make. And I had heard her make many sounds.
“Yoo, far-king, asss-hole.” I nodded, that was easier to hear, the translator didn’t make good sense of the tone in which she was yelling. But I suspected she was mad at me like Eren had spoken. And she wanted me for her mate in her anus? The words sounded wrong, but I knew she had Tyee mate her there. Maybe she thinks to have me mate there. Was that her asking me to be bond mates? That was not how to bond mate the first time.
“You are most generous, Quinn. But I do not wish to mate bond you in the anal way.” That was what she called it. Luna didn’t mate her males this way. I had heard her mates speak of it. But if I was to mate bond Quinn, I wished to do it in her pussy.
When Quinn shook her head and took a step back, I felt bad I had hurt her feelings by rejection. I still wished for her to choose me, I should have been grateful, but now I had upset her once again.
“Mate bond? What the…” Her teeth pressed together and she made a growling sound.
“She is not asking to mate bond, she is calling you bad words. She thinks you are asshole, which means you are like the waste that comes from an anus,” Zezii told me. I nodded. That would make more sense of her actions towards me.
I liked when she yelled and spewed the words from her mouth. It made my cock leak more for her. When I rubbed my lower hand against my tight cloth her eyes watched and widened. I could smell her scent even more from that action and I smiled. Maybe she was considering it? She liked to be angry at me, I could tell. So instead of apologizing like a male should to a female, I did something opposite.
“Yes, I will mate bond you, Quinn.”
Her eyes flared with anger as she stomped her foot and turned away from me, her words spewing from her mouth once again.
“She is telling you no mate bond.” Zezii translated her words for me. I didn’t need to know that, I could tell this already. When I thought she would enter her hut, she surprised me and came stomping back. She was so close and I watched as she took the hand of Zezii and pulled him away with her and lead him into the hut. I watched her as she looked out one last time at me and her eyes rolled as she closed the door with a lot more force than needed.
Eren saw the state of his mate and approached me. I did not care if I upset her, it meant that she remembered me. She knew who I was.
“Thank you for teaching Zezii today, you are welcome to sleep nearby. It would make me feel better knowing that I have extra eyes… eye, on our Quinn.” I nodded. I kept watch out here every night, he just didn’t know it.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Quinn
That asshole, Ryven—I had found out his name. He thought I wanted to mate bond him? Hell, the fuck, no. I wanted to punch him in the face. If he wasn’t so tall, I would have. His cocky smirks and how he acts like nothing affects him. Ugh, my blood boiled with him around. The only thing I was okay with, was him teaching Zezii how to be a good warrior. But it meant I saw him less over the last few days so today I claimed Zezii. I told Ryven to fuck off. I wanted to spend time with my mate.
Well, soon to be mate. Eren agreed I didn’t have to wait much longer, he said the wet season was soon arriving and that was when Zezii turned a year older. I just wanted to run it by Luna before I did any big announcements. I didn’t want to start a riot or something in the clan.
“Come, my mate.” I smiled to Zezii and at the word mate, I swear he blushed. I lead him to the table where we have our meals. There was a tree close by and nice for shade. Luna had started setting up an area for us to work. It was still foggy but was getting close to lunch.
“I’m actually excited to make something that doesn’t require strength,” I told Luna and Brooklyn as I flopped down beside them. Luna laughed and Brooklyn raised a brow at me.
“Don’t ever attempt to make a cup, they are, like, impossible,” I explained to Brooklyn. Zezii sat down beside me with a bunch of leaves he had collected. Brooklyn’s mate, Evzyn, did the same. He was young, like Zezii. Well, young as in he was in his twenties and that’s young for someone to choose as a mate. I had heard that many times around the clan already. They were going to freak when I announced Zezii and I.
The difference was, Evzyn was small like Tyee and Axoh. Like only six foot at most, whereas Zezii was over seven foot. He would be able to slam dunk a basketball if he was back on Earth and well… not be purple with four arms and tails.
“How are you feeling?” Luna asked Brooklyn. She had really bad morning sickness. Well, it wa
s more like all-day sickness. She would just be sick at random times and for no reason at all.
“I’m fine.” Evzyn looked over to her and placed his hand on her thigh. Yeah, even he knew the code word for not feeling good was fine. But I didn’t want to push her into saying something or making herself sick by thinking about it.
“So we strip this?” I asked Zezii, holding out my leaf and trying to copy what he was doing. He watched my fingers and how I pulled the leaf in half and fucked it up. He reached out and held my hands and showed me how to do it.
“Feel it there.” He rubbed my finger over a groove in the leaf, but I was too focused on how he was touching me without even thinking. Either the others around us didn’t see or they were choosing to ignore it. I leaned over and grabbed another leaf and my stomach gave a strange feeling.
I placed my hand on my stomach and realized I had a tiny baby bump, like, only that I could really feel. I didn’t think you could see it and not think I just ate a large meal. I smiled to myself. I can’t wait for you, baby. You are going to be so loved. Are you going to look like me? Your dads? I could just imagine a purple, two-armed, two-tailed baby with big, chocolate eyes and my curls.
“I wonder how many blankets we can make today?” Brooklyn asked out loud, taking me away from my daydreaming. Evzyn didn’t speak much, I think he was shy—kind of like how Zezii was now—but he replied when we didn’t answer.
“It can take many days for one.” I slumped over a little. Many days, well, I guess I had nothing better to do with my time.
“Maybe I could make a baby blanket for my kit, that should take half the time,” I joked but was half serious.
“That would be a wonderful idea,” Zezii spoke up, smiling at me. He was stripping these leaves at record time. Having four hands made this so much faster. I could see Evzyn doing the same and they were placing them in a large pile for us all to use.
It didn’t take long for me to make a couple of mistakes, but I got the hang of it. Zezii was making a blanket and I swear he was a machine. The thing was almost half done. I had a feeling that Evzyn only said a few days so he didn’t make Brooklyn feel bad if she took a long time.
I heard some males yelling, which wasn’t unheard of around here, but then I heard someone call out “intruder alert.” That had me on my feet and standing tall. Where was that coming from… I squeaked when Zezii jumped in front of me. I wasn’t expecting that. Evzyn did the same to Brooklyn and Luna held her hands on her hips. That woman was tough as nails. I loved how Zezii thought to protect me though. I saw his tail so close to me, it was tense, like the rest of him.
I reached out with my fingers. I wanted him to relax a little. Just stroking it a little won’t be bad… would it? Daku scared the shit out of me and instead of stroking Zezii’s tail, I grabbed it and clenched it tight. He made a strangled sound and bent over a little.
Oh shit, I hurt him. I went to apologize to Zezii but Daku spoke up before I could tell him.
“Luna, there are more human females here.”
Oh my god, this was fantastic. I looked to Luna. The others were finding us. I wondered who it was, I wondered what they had been up too. How far they traveled. Like, eek… We just got Brooklyn and now we had another female, or wait, did he say females?
“Human female?” Brooklyn asked Daku, but before he could answer she started running towards the huge crowd gathering. I stood back, I wasn’t sure why there were so many warriors with spears. Spears that seemed to be aimed towards whoever came here.
“Shit, are they going to kill the mates or what the fuck?” Luna questioned Daku. He jumped down from the tree branch, his tails seeking out Luna for a moment.
“The males are angry, they might challenge us for the clan.” My heart started racing and I held onto Zezii now. I didn’t give a shit, it was done, he was mine and I was freaking out now and I needed his strength.
“It’s okay, my Quinn. I have been taught well by Ryven, I will make sure no harm comes to you.” Zezii held onto me tightly with his lower arms. But he didn’t have a spear or any weapons, because who takes weapons to make blankets? Dumb people, that was who.
“Quinn,” Tyee called out to me. He was running and held a spear. I had never seen him with one, then I realized it was Zezii’s spear. I didn’t want him to go fight, I didn’t want him hurt, but he let go and ran over to the crowd.
“Come, my heart. To the hut.” Tyee now held me as he pointed to Luna’s hut. I could see Axoh with her now and he was pulling her inside. Daku stood with two spears and waited for me to go with Tyee before he followed after me.
“Holy shit, I didn’t expect this. I thought they would come and want to join. But to kill us?” Luna nodded then chuckled.
“What?” I asked her because I didn’t see anything funny in this moment.
“No, I was just… I could see Jessica doing something like this,” she replied. I held my hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing. Because, yeah, of all the other girls, she would be the one to stage a coup. I thought she would when we were on the spaceship. Now she was here to start a fight? I didn’t overly like Jessica. She was okay, but she was a little demanding. And I guess she was demanding our clan.
Brooklyn was ushered in and she had with her, her mate, Tiji—the one who was all scarred. It reminded me of Ryven and his missing eye. I wonder if they were both injured in the same clan war?
When Luna gave one of the spears in her hut to Tiji, he looked to Brooklyn.
“No stabby?” he asked her. I couldn’t help but laugh. What the hell was no stabby? But Brooklyn told him to stab them if they wanted to hurt us. His eyes lit up a little crazy at the words which worried me a little. Maybe he shouldn’t have a spear?
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Nvaa
The newcomers were angry. Some demanded to speak to our females and have them tell the female—Jessica—to mate bond with them. This made us very angry. The other two females with them had small warrior mates with them, and they were not wanting to fight us. They looked as if they were not happy with these other males and their demands, but their males were too small a warrior to speak up against them.
“Why would these males come to challenge us? This is not the way of the Aashi. If she chooses not to mate bond then you do not demand it so.” I looked beside me. Tomlee was with his spear, ready to fight. He was one of the mates that came with Brooklyn, his brother—Makee—had no words and spoke with his hands. Makee, he was now mated to Brooklyn.
“These males hold no honor,” I replied. I had waited for a long time for Quinn to see me as a chosen male. She chose me on her own, I would never demand such a thing from her. He was right in saying they were not behaving in the way of the Aashi. I was touched by Luna, but I knew she didn’t want me as a mate. I didn’t demand that from her.
“These males do not deserve a female,” I grunted in agreement.
Eren, Vallyn, and Apak were trying to reason with the males to let the females free. After a long standoff they agreed, but they wanted their mate back, the one with the long hair that was the color of the sun. She had many tears, but they had since stopped. When she walked past us, Zezii directed her to the hut with my mate. The female struggled to walk.
“Jessica,” I heard Quinn call out with Luna just behind her. Then the female—Jessica—dropped down and started to sob just outside the hut. All the males watched on as Luna wrapped this human in a hug. Quinn then called out what I assumed were the other females’ names as they walked past and towards the hut with their mates. I spotted Ryven then. He was beside the hut watching everything that was going on, but offering protection for the females. I nodded to him, and he nodded in return. He could see so well for missing one eye.
I had seen him use his stone to navigate through the trees. He did it for distraction and to listen for echo, he told me.
We turned to the males who had come in and challenged us. Eren and Vallyn stripped two of them of their spears. The other clan br
others did the same to the other three. There was no takxe with this chosen group. I didn’t want to think of what bad thing had happened to him.
“We do not have a holding cell, Koh and Tomlee.” Vallyn called out the two best builders of our clan.
“We will build one at once,” Koh said, and Tomlee moved from my side and they took some males with them to go and build this holding cell—something I didn’t think we would ever need.
“We just want our female to understand. We don’t want to start a fight, not truly. We have been with our female, Jessica, a long time now. And she has touched us, we have weak mate marks. But she never wants to mate bond. It is like she doesn’t understand the ways of our people.” I made an angry sound at that. But before I could step forward and speak, it was Zezii who did.
“They are not Aashi females, they do not know our ways. You do not treat your chosen female with respect, you do not deserve to have a female.”
I could see Eren was proud of Zezii, as was I. He was quiet and often avoided conflict. But he stood up when it was needed. And soon he was to be mated to Quinn. From what I have seen today, I knew he would make the best mate for Quinn.
Later that day, Quinn was exhausted but she was all smiles from seeing her female friends.
“I can't believe all three of them found us and Jessica hasn't mated anyone at all.”
I wondered what had happened with her friend Jessica, to make it all the way here with her chosen. They had followed her and she still did not choose them. She was a very strong female, this one.
