“And if none of them do?” His surly gaze bears down on me.
“Then… I will head out on my own. You know my options are limited. I don’t want to be some male’s broodmare and I can’t stay here anymore…” The large Boa comes to mind.
Krellix’s chin lifts with an incredulous expression. “Leave? You will be caught within minutes. Males, apparently, from all over have journeyed here, either to try and get a look at the children or for you?—
I throw up my hands. “Which is clearly why I can’t stay?—”
“—numerous, musky, heated scents plague the forest for miles in every direction. Males ready to mate, ready to claim. Many of these scents I have not smelled in seasons, some of which I have never smelled at all. It is disorientating.”
Great.“Exactly,” I huff, crossing my arms once again, harder this time. “There are more here than when you were here last time. It seems word has gotten out…” I trail off, sighing, suddenly tired.
His tail coils under him, untrapping me thankfully, and his face softens. “Zaku will not force you out, no matter what he threatens. Daisy likes you. He would not risk upsetting her.”
“So now I should stay put?” I uncross my arms. “And Zaku absolutely will force me to leave. He may have held off this long, but, like you said, there are nagas all over the mountain, most of which are after me. I’m a threat to everything he holds dear and that threat grows more everyday.”
“You still have not fully answered my question, female,” he growls.
I frown. “What question?”
“Why were you at the window with those other males? What has set this off?” He slides forward and I stand my ground. “I thought you did not want a mate.” Now only a mere feet away from each other, he towers over me. “Hassss that changed?” His head tilts.
“Zaku. The nagas,” I answer. “I thought that was obvious and I already told you I can’t stay.”
“Obvious? You have refused a protector up until now. Unless you have suddenly changed your mind, which it does not seem so, you have no reason to rile a group of desperate males. Unless you had hoped they would kill each other off for you, in which, I will not stop you next time. If that is not the case, choosing a male now, and like this, would only throw Zaku’s protection back in his face.”
I guffaw. The audacity. “Every choice has been made for me the moment I stepped foot on this planet. I don’t want a mate, Krellix, but refusing to weigh every option would be idiotic. I’m not going to do something stupid just so Zaku’s feelings don’t get hurt.”
He hisses after a long moment and leans upward, slightly into me. “As much as I would like you gone and safe elsewhere,somewhere you are not plagued with other malessss, you would be better off remaining here.”
“I’m not just thinking of my wellbeing.” The Boa jumps back into my mind, and I push him out. “I’m thinking of Daisy and the kids.”
Because if I stayed… and they got hurt because of it… If any of them got hurt…
He scowls like he doesn’t believe me. “Are you? Where would you go? That issss if you are not captured and taken to nest immediately upon stepping outside.”
That’s the question I’ve been trying to answer since the remaining crew of theWinged Ransom, my old captors, flew off without me. “Back to my people. What other choice is there?”
His jaw tightens. “Of course. To a soldier’s encampment. To the enemy.”
I recross my arms and hug myself harder, shifting my gaze to the side.
It’s not the best plan but it’s the only one I’ve got if I ever want to leave Earth. It’s risky, returning to the military, especially after being assumed dead. They’ll ask questions… interrogate me… wonder how I’ve survived for so long… “What other choice do I have?”I repeat again with more frustration in my voice. “It’s better for everyone if I disappear. So let me disappear!”
His tailtip snaps against the floor. “You can stay here where you are safe!”
“But for how much longer? I can’t win here, no matter what I decide.” I bristle, wondering why he seems annoyed by me viewing the other males when he’s not willing to do anything in regards to my predicament. “Also, you’re not being fair. There are good people in the military as much as there are bad. Since being here, I’ve been told countless times how dangerous you and your kind are. Rapists, murderers, woman-nappers. So whydo you care? If you hadn’t interrupted when you did, I might havefounda protector among the males gathered. Then I’d be out of all of your lives for good,” I snap. “That was what I was doing.” I hate that I can feel my cheeks heating at his nearness and, in a rush, I lift more of my nightshirt over my nose.
His frustrated eyes trail up and down my body once more, temporarily pausing at the small amount of stomach now visible from lifting my shirt. Tension ripples from his stiff stance, his tail taut, the tip raised, ready to strike.
“If what you say is true. How are you going to convince your protector to just let you go?”
I’m planning to escape them before that time comes but I don’t tell him that. He’d just have more ammunition to add as to why I should stay. But the way his gaze holds mine like he’s imagining what I’d do to get home, makes my throat tighten with embarrassment, and makes me temporarily reassess my limits.
What would I do to be free of this place, away from those I don’t want coming to harm, and to be back somewhere where I’m not a burden?
His question is not something I want to address, not with him, Zaku, Daisy, anyone. It’s something I only wanted to approach if I found the right male, and only after trying to barter for safe passage. What would I do if it meant getting home and ensuring Daisy and her children’s continued safety?
My lips flatten and my arms uncross to drop to my sides. “Krellix, if I could barter my way out of this situation, I would give him whatever he wanted.Anythingexcept my freedom.”
