Page 10 of The Naga Outcast’s Unwanted Mate

When I woke a couple hours later, it was with a jolt, my body on high alert. The lights had all been turned off but sunlight filtered in through the gate, just enough brushing the entrance to this chamber to help my sight. Corin was already at the door, but all our rescues were still sleeping, including my mate whose face had turned pink, her lips looking soft and pillowy. I was extremely tempted to just let Corin deal with whatever noise had intruded on our rest, but I couldn’t, it could be Iave, it could be danger.

Rising quietly, I gently extracted my coils from around Vera, my well-oiled scales quiet as I slithered across the chamber to meet up with my friend. When I passed the male and female asleep next to the now extinguished heat source, I realized the male had his eyes open, watching us. That one wasn’t a force I should just dismiss I was starting to realize; he had training.

“There’s a scout in front of the gate,” Corin murmured when I reached his side. “He doesn’t want to come in but I saw the tip of his tail as he made a first pass. It’s Khawla.” A Thunder Rock scout sent directly to where we’d been camping, it couldn’t be a coincidence. Khawla was a very capable scout, a master at camouflage. If Corin had spotted him it meant he’d showed himself on purpose.

Khawla was a little older than Iave, Corin, and me, we hadn’t been in the same circles growing up. He also had a mate of high rank in the Clan, although I vaguely recalled there had been some excitement concerning their match. I couldn’t recall what, but it wasn’t relevant anyway.

“Wait here,” I said to Corin, and just a glance over my shoulder was enough to convey what I wanted. He nodded his head, his hands going to the long knives he carried on the belt around his hips. Ready to defend, even against a former Clan member. I was lucky to have such a loyal friend at my side.

I left the Ancestor Caves with my head held high, pausing between the two giant statues that flanked the path inside. If Khawla wanted to talk, he’d show up when he was good and ready but I had a feeling I wouldn’t have to wait long. He was here with a message from my mother and it was no coincidence that he showed up so soon after we’d discovered Vera and her kind.

The male came out from behind a pair of trees that didn’t look like they could provide adequate cover, and yet, I hadn’t seen him until he moved. His scales were a deep blue that hinted at purple, they appeared dull, almost lifeless compared to my own luster. As far as males went, Khawla was probably the least attractive male I knew. Dull and plain, but it worked in his favor, as it helped him to hide.

He stopped at a respectable distance, his face carefully neutral as he looked me over. “Your mother, the Queen, requires an audience with you,” he said, his tongue flicking the air as the words left his mouth; sneakily searching for any strange scents. “She will be here shortly, so you better all meet her outside. Don’t keep her waiting.”

His eyes were a very out-of-place purple that hinted at a mixed ancestry, likely with a Copper Tooth Clan member. I always thought they looked wise and calm, like the placid lake surface of Lake Irace just west of our clan village. That’s what Khawla usually was too, calm and placid, hard to ruffle. Which made the edge I detected in his demeanor all the more out of place.

I narrowed my eyes at him, was he hiding something? If so, it wouldn’t sit well with the straight-laced male I knew. That could explain it. Suspicious of everything, I drifted back toward the Cave of the Ancestors, but I left my hands out at my side, relaxed. I didn’t want to fight Khawla or any other Clan member. I had lived with them, grown up with them, I didn’t want to be forced to kill people that I once called friends.

Khawla sighed, his clawed hand reaching for the back of his head to scratch beneath the long braid of nearly black hair. “You were always an observant one, weren’t you, Zathar?” he said, and now he moved closer, his posture relaxed, his shoulders hunching a little as he passed beneath the statues. Khawla really didn’t like being here, near the Ancestor Caves, and I recalled that he tended to be a little superstitious.

“Zeti and Rossh saw you retrieve those strange beings from that sky-ship. That’s why she’s here, she wants to see them for herself. I’m sure that’s all it is. Just a trip to sate her curiosity.” The master scout spoke in hushed tones, pitching his voice low so that nobody could possibly overhear him. I appreciated his attempt at reassuring me, and I was glad that I now knew what this was about. I could prepare because I sure as fuck wasn’t going to let my mother see Vera or the mating sigils. I had decided my mate wouldn’t be safe in the village and seeing that… I knew what she’d do.

“Wait here,” I said to Khawla, “I will inform the others of the visit.” I turned around and headed back beneath the giant gate into the caves, not worried that Khawla would try to follow me. The male winced as I went inside, probably imagining all kinds of bad things befalling me for what he imagined was an insult to our ancestors.

I updated Corin quickly and then tried to figure out how to explain the situation to Vera. She was stirring in my nest, a very adorable, slightly confused expression on her face when she sat up and discovered she wasn’t where she went to sleep last night. Then she frowned, glaring at me from all the way across the chamber and I knew she was mad about it, but I couldn’t regret spending hours with her in my arms, covering myself in her tasty scent.

The male, Reid, was up. Neatly folding the furs he slept in, his posture relaxed. He wasn’t worried when I passed close to him either, good, he’d need that if I was going to show him off to my nosy mother. I hoped he wasn’t too much of a curiosity for her, my father was dead and she liked to flit from one young unmated male to another until she had her fill. Reid wouldn’t enjoy that kind of attention from her, it never boded well.

Leaning down near my nest, I ignored the fierce glare on her pretty face and cupped her hornless chin in my palm. “My mother is arriving soon,” I said, ignoring the fact that my touch was more intimate than the ‘impersonal’ touches she’s stipulated where allowed.

“Ah, and you don’t want her to see me, is that it?” she said with a sharp edge to her tone. I nodded because yes, that was absolutely it and I was glad she immediately understood but I couldn’t shake the feeling that she was upset with me for saying this. There was no time to figure it out, to have a real conversation about any of this, I could hear the approach of more Naga outside the caves, we were running out of time.

“She knows we rescued beings yesterday, she is just curious. Please convey to Reid that I need him to come out with me so she can see him, while you and Cosima hide.” I helped her to her feet, with a hand this time, not my tail like I wanted to. Once she stood, she dusted off her strange coverings, then strode right past me and headed for Reid with her chin held high.

I didn’t like the sight of her approaching another male so confidently, the sway of her curved rear far too enticing. I needed to pull in a steadying breath and force my eyes away from the shockingly erotic side of her swaying ass.

“We’re called humans you know, hu-man. Remember that,” she said over her shoulder. I could still understand every word she said, which meant… I hadn’t even realized my tail had followed her, the tip curled around her ankle. She really had me in knots; she had no tail, but I was still trapped in her coils.

Hurrying after her, I added a palm to the small of her back once she squared off with Reid and quickly and concisely conveyed what I wanted from the male. He was nodding, saying things back to my female that made her angry. Things like, he’s right, you should stay hidden. And more about how she needed to tread carefully with unknowns approaching. What mattered was that he agreed to come.

“You need to warn him, my mother, the Queen of the Thunder Rock Clan is without a mate. It’s possible she’ll find him interesting and try something… He needs to make sure she doesn’t try to touch him with her coils, it’s taboo.” She frowned at me for a long time, her gaze dipping down to the tip of my tail, looping around her ankle.

Yeah, I knew I was breaking the rules myself, she was just too irresistible. The difference was, that she was my mate, my one, which meant I was driven to please her, to make her happy, and keep her safe. I wanted to fill her with my offspring. The Queen had no such limits on her, if she wanted the hu-man male, she would have him, toy with him, and then toss him like he was garbage.

Vera explained this to Reid as well but he just crossed his arms and shrugged. Then he jerked his chin at the entrance to the chamber and barked out a few short words that clearly meant ‘let’s go.’ I would have gotten that even without the benefit of touching Vera right now. I dipped down to her, nuzzled my face against her silky hair, and then with much regret, I led the way outside. “Stay hidden,” I warned her just before slipping the tip of my tail from her leg.

Chapter 7

Vera

I woke up to the scent of something spicy and very distinctly male filling my nose. Everything was still dark around me but I knew immediately that I hadn’t woken up in the same place that I’d fallen asleep in. I recognized this scent, Zathar. Forcing myself to sit up and shrug out from beneath the thick, warm furs, I searched for him to give him a piece of my mind.

Impersonal touches only, that’s what I told him. This did not qualify. This was borderline creepy and he should not have done it without my permission. My fingers twitched in the soft pelt beneath them as I struggled with the rising feelings inside of me, feelings that made me feel extremely conflicted about the whole situation. That he moved me to his nest, meant he wanted me there, even after we fought last night… I’d never been wanted that way before and I couldn’t trust it, I didn’t think I believed it.

When he cupped my face, my traitorous body just wanted to melt into his touch, snuggle against his heat. I wanted to know what it had felt like to be curled up in that nest with him because I didn’t doubt that he’d slept right at my side. Of course, he managed to ruin the moment by saying something that made it clear he didn’t want to introduce me to his family. How could I be his mate if he didn’t even want his mother to know about me? I wanted to push him away for saying such a hurtful thing, but putting space between us was all but impossible when I had to play translator for him and Reid.

It wasn’t until after the two of them had left the darkened chamber that I started to come to my senses. Stay hidden had been uttered as much as an order as a prayer. Zathar was really worried about his mother, and his Clan, seeing me. This wasn’t a ‘you’re not good enough to meet my mom’ kind of thing. This was a ‘my mom is a psychotic bitch’ kind of warning.