Now both N’Ashtar and O’Rrin were staring at me funny, but whatever. I meant what I said, even though I didn’t have anything to chop with and just had the strange laser gun.
“Fine.” N’Ashtar dropped his weapons and strode forward, pulling me into his arms and wrapping them around me. He buried his scaly face in the crook of my neck, even though it meant leaning down, and licked the skin there. I shivered, the sensation sparking through my body. So not the time or place, but god, it’d felt good.
“What are you doing?” I murmured to him, distracted but still keeping an eye on O’Rrin in case he tried to get to Squire.
“I was worried about you.” N’Ashtar nuzzled my neck, tasted it with that forked tongue of his in a way that made me want to bare my throat to him. Then he paused, turning to the Caterri—to Squire. “If you do anything, you will be in trouble, no matter what my mate says. Do you understand?”
Squire’s face shifted to a wry understanding, and it surprised me just how human he looked. What were the Caterri’s origins? Where had they came from? So many questions, so few answers. “I understand.”
I smacked N’Ashtar’s shoulder, mostly because he hadn’t let me go. “Leave Squire alone.”
N’Ashtar gave me a puzzled look. “That is his name? Squire?” The way he pronounced it was more like skwee-er, which was both adorable and incorrect.
“I never asked his name,” I admitted, the adrenaline of everything finally starting to leave me. “So I called him Squire in my head.”
N’Ashtar grunted, which was apparently his commentary on the whole matter. Then he tightened his grip on me and closed his eyes, just breathing. “You are safe, my Dana.”
That reminded me of something he’d said earlier. “Wait wait wait wait.” I nudged him, trying to get him to let go of me. “You called me your mate. What the heck did you mean by that?”
N’Ashtar let me move maybe an inch away, still determined to keep me close. “That is what you are. You are my mate.”
I scoffed, ignoring the pleasure that thought filled me with. Wasn’t that what I had wanted, to be his? “And when did you ask?”
“N’Ashtar, let me wrap your leg.” O’Rrin broke into the conversation, which I was grateful for. It gave me a chance to get my head around everything and maybe have the conversation with N’Ashtar without fighting. It wasn’t that I wanted to fight him, but I didn’t want him to take the decision from me.
I was also terrified of what it meant, that I wanted to be his so badly. But if I was trapped on this planet and would never see my mother again, did it really matter what she would have thought?
O’Rrin’s words smashed through my thoughts and this time I did jerk out of N’Ashtar’s grip, immediately looking at his legs. “You’re bleeding,” I said dumbly.
N’Ashtar grumbled. “Just a scratch. It does not need any mending.”
O’Rrin’s hiss of disapproval was audible to all, and I hid a smile. “Doesn’t sound like he agrees.”
“Let me bind it and then we can take you back to my Hetta and she can treat it with her herbs,” O’Rrin said.
I perked up. “Hetta is here? Where?”
O’Rrin scowled at me, the lightness gone from his expression for a moment. “I would not leave my Hetta behind, no matter how safe she would have been in N’Akkar.” Exasperation flashed through his eyes, and I had a feeling that was a debate they had had multiple times. She was stubborn, that was for sure, but O’Rrin seemed to bring out the best in her. Then he sighed again. “And Jackie is there, because she would have snuck after us if not.”
“Erica’s back at camp by herself?” I asked, not sure why I felt uneasy.
O’Rrin shrugged, his forked tongue flicking out to taste the air. “V’Annor makes sure she is safe.”
I still wasn’t certain what I thought of that, but it was what it was. I was about to ask what we were going to do with Squire when N’Ashtar turned to look at O’Rrin, even though he kept an arm possessively around me. “Why did you follow?” N’Ashtar asked, his tone curious.
“I know your father sent R’Asha after you,” O’Rrin said. “But when you did not return, I worried, no matter how much your father tried to pretend he did not care. Especially since you left without permission. So I came after you.” Amusement colored his soft hiss. “With my human entourage.”
I stared at N’Ashtar. “You came after me without your father’s approval?” I had never been to N’Akkar, but from the way N’Ashtar had spoken, I knew his father was the chief of the tribe and his word was law.
There was a stubborn set to N’Ashtar’s jaw. “I needed to rescue my mate.”
I reached over and tapped his chin with my fingers, the movement affectionate. I knew my expression was similar, a warmth going through me to the tip of my toes. “We’ll talk about that mate thing when we get some time alone.”
Silence reigned for a moment, but N’Ashtar’s eyes flared gold.
“I came when I heard the shouting, but it seemed like you did not need help after all.” O’Rrin sounded amused. Maybe his distraction had allowed N’Ashtar to take out the last few Caterri easier, but otherwise we’d been able to take care of ourselves. I had faith, after all.
Everyone fell quiet again, their attention turning to the giant elephant in the…plains. Did they even have rooms? What did they live in, in N’Akkar? I guessed I was about to find out. Squire was sitting calmly where he was, his strange legs tucked under him, his black eyes on the two N’Akron warriors who both had significant height on him.
“He is Caterri,” N’Ashtar
