My father’s face clouded, his eyes growing red and his scales tinging dark. “R’Asha was given his position far too soon, and has been sent to spend some time to establish a clearer connection to the spirits, one that wasn’t polluted by him being struck dumb by these females.”
Inwardly, I winced, because communing with the Goddess often entailed being stuck in a hut with no food or water, instead at the mercy of the Goddess while apologizing for whatever sins had landed them there in the first place. While I wasn’t surprised that was R’Asha’s punishment for being unable to pull me back into the tribe, I still made a note of it so I could try and get it reversed as soon as I could. Under the Goddess’s power, we could survive a long time without sustenance, but no one wanted to test it and be the first to die.
“He—”
Dana cut me off, and I looked at my mate with a mixture of surprise and affection. “The mating is done, and I’m proud to be here as his mate.” Her fingers traced over the mark I had left on the crook of her neck, a soft smile playing around her lips in a way that threatened to make my cock hard. “You would be equally proud to know N’Ashtar took out nine Caterri on his own, only stopping himself from killing the tenth when I asked him to do so.”
Father stared at me because he had absolutely no idea what she was saying, so I translated. When I finished, his face clouded over. “That is irrelevant—”
“No, what’s irrelevant is who he’s mated to and that he’s mated in the first place. The fact is, we’re here to stay,” Dana said fiercely. “All of us. But we think there’s some stuff we can do to help improve quality of life.”
I nodded as if I had any idea of what she was talking about, even though I didn’t. If I had questions, I could ask her later. I translated her words, watching my father’s face draw tighter and his pupils dilate with rage. He looked like he was seconds away from snapping like a [X] tree, his blood the sap sticking to everyone.
Before he could say another, the elders started talking almost as a group, and for a long moment it was chaos. I couldn’t tell if the elders were arguing or agreeing, and my father seemed to get angrier and angrier. My mother just sat there with her hands politely on her lap, the perfect wife. A quick glance at Dana told me she wasn’t wearing anything close to the same apathy, the frustration on her face clear for everyone to see.
My father slammed his hand on the table to end the discussion, startling everyone. “Enough!”
Even Dana looked surprised, which I didn’t like. I hissed softly, making sure that she was close enough to me I felt safe that none of the others would be able to get to her.
“I did not want one of these hoomans at our table, yet you insisted on polluting our home with several. Now, you have one who presumes to lecture us on how to live. She is not familiar with our ways, and if you are the warrior she claims you to be, you should not need a female’s view to accomplish anything.” Father’s eyes were crimson, and I had never seen him that worked up before.
I put my hand on Dana’s knee immediately before she could say anything, because even though my father couldn’t understand her, Dana was the type to get into a fight she couldn’t win, just because it was the right thing to do. “It was Dana’s tactical assistance that allowed me to take down almost a dozen Caterri without assistance.” Dana coughed in the brief pause, and I fought a smile. “Sorry, my mate had her hands on one,” he allowed. “If I can fight those odds when the Caterri were unaware and well equipped, imagine what a group of us could do in the event we were outnumbered. It would allow us to stop tithing to the Caterri and giving them power. She also allowed us to network with other N’Akron to start the process of bringing the tribes together again.”
An uneasy silence hung in the air, the elders clearly trying to figure out what to do and my father apparently trying not to end up ill. My Mother hadn’t moved either, just sitting there like a stiff tree, her back oh-so-straight.
“In the event we accept the help from these…hoomans, and our people, how are we supposed to feed them? They are not familiar with our ways and I do not think they would be helpful as providers.” One of the elders, M’Intok, had his hands steepled together and was looking at us seriously over them.
I felt Dana’s leg twitch in irritation under my hand, and I understood that. It was more than obvious M’Intok and the others were simply looking for trivial reasons to make the humans seem like more trouble than they were.
“That’s easy,” Hetta said confidently.
I jerked around, as did almost everyone else in the building, to see Hetta standing in the doorway, her chin raised even as her fingers plucked nervously with the hem of her top. Where had she come from? Then I caught sight of O’Rrin next to her, and Erica and Jackie not far behind him. Without a word, the three humans swerved around him and came to stand around my mate, clearly offering their support.
Dana swallowed thickly, and it was clear the support was overwhelming her. I wanted to hug her and hold her, because while she was so strong, sometimes she did not
