"First of all, his female is my friend.Her name is Penny and she is more than just his mate.I'm not trying to take her away, I'm trying to make sure she's happy."
"Has she said she isn't?"
"No."I rolled my tongue over my teeth and glared at him."But she's been acting weird about everything, and I get to worry about her."
"Have you thought that it isn't your concern?"
"Excuse me?"Was he really telling me to butt out?"What about you?You're worried about your friend and you're scolding me about worrying about mine."
Dargo dragged his hand through his mohawk."I'm not scolding you, I was just asking that you not plant seeds of discontent between two mates."
"So I should just watch Penny be quiet and sad, and not ask if she's okay?What if she isn't happy and she's scared to say something?"
His brows lowered and he glared at me."Are you saying Adak is threatening her?"
"No, I'm saying she's not acting like herself.I don't know your friend, but Penny isn't happy and I'm not going to stand around and pretend I can't tell."I could feel my blood pressure rising the longer we argued and part of me was itching for a real fight.If I could get good and pissed at him, I wouldn't have to keep thinking about all the doubts I was having about yesterday.
"You're meddling in their mating-"
"Penny is the most important person in my life," I snapped.An almost comforting wave of anger washed over me.This was an emotion I could handle."If she needs me I'm going to be there for her."
Dargo's eyes flashed."And what of your mate?I cannot ask this one thing of you?"
I set my jaw and bit back the urge to scream in frustration.
"You're asking for something I won't give."
His tail lashed behind him and for a moment I worried I'd pushed him too far.He let out a furious snarl and stalked away from me.
"Oh, now you're running away?"I yelled after him."Can't think of a good argument, so you just give up?"
"You're testing me, female," he called over his shoulder.
I watched him move farther away and my irritation faded until all I was left with was a vague sense of nausea.Fighting with Dargo wasn't what I wanted, but I was such a mess of confusion about him that I couldn't figure out how to fix this.I couldn't ignore my concerns about Penny, she was the only person who'd stuck by me and I'd be damned if I let her down.
But wasn't that what Dargo was doing for Adak?Watching his back and trying to protect his friend?It wasn't his fault that we were on opposing sides on this.
I sighed and rested my oversized hatchet on my shoulder, reluctantly following after him.We didn't speak as Dargo made a wide circle around camp, scanning the horizon with a watchful eye as we walked.I knew spotting the ship yesterday had spooked him, but the fact that he and Adak felt the need to do patrols was alarming.
Somehow in the last few days, I'd been lulled into a false sense of security.All the anxiety I'd felt when the first ships had appeared in the sky had been overshadowed, first by my need to find Penny and then by the growing relationship with Dargo.
But Earth had been invaded, and even if some of the aliens weren't so bad, the sytos that had destroyed our world were still out there.Hope and Penny had brought me up to date on their habit of decimating planets and leaving them in ruins.
Earth wasn’t in good shape, but it didn’t seem like the sytos were done with us yet.
I was starting to sweat through my new clothes when Dargo swerved off our path and jogged away from camp.
Hurrying after him, I spotted a collection of shallow pits scratched into the dirt.The ground around the divots was covered in massive tracks, ruts that looked a lot like claw marks peppered the space and the sight made the hair stand up on my arms.
Dargo kicked at the indentations, still not meeting my eyes.
"These are percer nests," he muttered."Yet another threat right outside the camp."
"They're breeding?"I shuddered at the thought of the monstrous beasts making mini-mes.Just one was too many.
"This is going to be a problem."Dargo dropped his ax and whipped his loincloth to the side.
"What are you doing?"I asked.
