“Forn,” I say softly, trying to keep my voice gentle so I don’t scare my mate. How can a woman like this be mine? She is so soft, so petite – so delicate compared to me.
How could a flower like this look at me and see anything but a brute?
There’s a hint of confusion in her eyes. “Forn,” I say again, touching my chest, taking care to avoid my wound. She bites her lip and nods, then points to herself.
“Tammy,” she says, her voice barely a whisper.
Tammy. I’ve dreamed of this moment since I was a boy, playing in the mud and wrestling with the other children. I’ve waited for this moment so long, it barely feels real.
“Tammy,” I repeat, and I finally know the name of my mate.
The word is soft on my tongue. There are no hard consonants, no roughness to the word. My cock surges to attention, and the diversion of blood to my dick sends another wave of dizziness through me. I stumble and Tammy catches me, her hands gentle on my chest.
I ache to kiss her, but there is still a war to be won.
Outside is chaos. My mate is touching me, but I have not won her yet. I stand to my full height, looking down at her and knowing I must keep her safe, no matter what happens. I snarl as I turn and look at the pile of Scorp corpses plugging the entranceway. The foul creatures have stopped the assault, seeking out softer targets – not ones protected by a triad of lethal Aurelian battle brothers.
For now.
“More Scorps will come,” I telepath to my triad. They nod as one, keeping their eyes on the door and every muscle tense. We’ve saved each other’s lives a hundred times over, but nothing could prepare us for what awaits us outside. I saw how many of the Scorp ships had landed.
It’s going to be a slaughter.
“Are you strong enough?” Questions Hadone, looking at my closed wound. I grit my teeth, bristling at his words. He speaks truly, but I am ashamed to be weak in front of them.
“Aye,” I growl, taking a step forward. My leg doesn’t buckle under me, and I feel steadier. I spare a solitary glance at the man who pointed that devastating stick-weapon at me, causing me so much pain.
It shot something, as from a bow. The soft tribes of the south rely on bows and arrows to strike their enemies from afar. They are a coward’s weapon.
The human looks sheepish now that he’s seen us keep his home safe from enemies. Even with a weapon like he has in his hands, he’d not have been able to stand up to the endless waves of Scorp warriors flooding through that doorway.
And even now, his home will not be safe for long. My triad and I have more than just ourselves to protect. My mate is the priority, and because of the way she looks at them, I want the two, small children she protects to be the next.
Hadone steps forward, close to Tammy – and for just a moment I bristle with jealousy. And yet, I owe Hadone my life ten times over. I’d rip the head off of any other man who attempted to get near her. But Hadone? And likewise Darok? They can approach.
“Hadone,” my blood-brother says slowly, looking at Tammy as though she’s a precious thing he’s already lost.
Tammy gives him a weak smile. “Hadone,” she repeats, then adds a string of words that I cannot make sense of. She accents the words by pointing furiously at the two small children cowering under the table in the corner.
“She wants us to protect them,” says Darok slowly, piecing her words together logically. He licks his lips, giving Tammy a stare that has a hint of suspicion to it. He’s never been a trusting one.
Mind you, perhaps Darok has wisdom Hadone and I like. All of us feel the wrongness of this situation, but Darok feels it most keenly. We did not earn our mate through ritual sacrifice – so why did the portal that brought us here open?
Darok doesn’t like that the ancient traditions have been circumvented. I feel it as well. I feel as if I don’t deserve such a fine mate to keep and have as my own – not yet, anyway. Not until I’ve proven myself.
Tammy points at the children again, then holds up two fingers.
“What is she saying?” Asks Hadone.
“She wants us to protect both of them,” I answer.
Tammy puts up two more fingers and I squint.
“There are two more children, somewhere out there,” says Darok slowly, and we all understand the gravity of his words.
“By the Orb-God, two more? Somewhere out in that madness?” Hadone sounds angry. “We’ve found our mate. We need to keep her safe, not attempt to help every human in this damned city!”
His voice goes cold. Hadone is a callous man at times, a necessary trait for survival. We all know the odds of getting out of a city laid siege by Scorp warriors. It’s going to be slim odds even without two extra bodies to find and protect.
But four children? Four will cut our chances in half.
8
Darok
I felt Forn’s aura weakening through the Bond as his blood spilled out. He knows he should be gone, claimed by the void.
Yet this woman, Tammy, was somehow able to heal him through her strange witchcraft.
Tammy’s blue eyes are wide and innocent as she looks at the two little children, cowering beneath the table. She goes to them and holds her hands out, gently soothing them as she helps them out from their hiding place. My heart breaks as I imagine how attentive she’d surely be caring for my many sons.
“We keep them safe. All of them,” I say, my voice resolute. I feel a surge of frustration through the Bond from Hadone, and he gives a hard look...
...before nodding in deference.
He’s tough, Hadone – sometimes
