Page 11 of The Naga Outcast’s Unwanted Mate

“What’s going on?” Cosima whispered from beneath her pile of furs. She wasn’t moving, I could only just see the pale circle of her face in the near darkness in here. I knew the feeling, it was a little chilly, and I too wanted to go back to the warm furs in Zathar’s nest. Maybe Cosima wasn’t feeling ready to face the day, preferring to hide away for as long as she could, I couldn’t blame her.

“We need to stay quiet and hide,” I whispered back, moving to squat at her side so we could talk. “There are other Naga outside and Zathar seemed worried.” Cosima flinched, a muffled sound that was a mixture between a squeak and a moan escaping through her lips. I ignored her response, rising to search around the chamber for a better hiding place than just sitting in the middle in the dark. Zathar could see well at these light settings, I was sure of it, so that wouldn’t stop any other Naga from spotting us.

At the back wall, furthest away from the hewn entrance was a bank of consoles and viewscreens, or a slightly alien-looking version of them. I had been shocked to see them last night, but also too tired and distracted to give it much thought. Unlike the entrance into this mountain, this was very different from the ancient pyramids in Egypt. This was a utilitarian room that reminded me of a guard office, though everything in it except the computer bank had disappeared.

It could only mean that Zathar’s species had once been advanced enough to make not just fascinating stone gates and giant statues, but computers too. Between then and now, something had happened that had made his species devolve back into something close to Stone Age levels of technology.

“Come,” I urged the girl, dragging her from beneath the furs to where the pilot lady still lay slumbering. She was in a nest much like Zathar’s and I was pretty sure Corin had spent all night watching over her, healing her as much as he could, and yet, she still wasn’t awake. “Lie down in there with her. We’ll cover ourselves with the furs.”

When shouting went up outside the caves my blood chilled in my veins and my skin broke out in goosebumps even though I was covered in several warm layers and huddled up with two other women. That sounded like Zathar’s voice and it was followed by the clash of metal against metal, were they fighting?

Cosima was sobbing again, her tears getting the best of her, which was not helping us hide, her sounds were going to give us away. When the fighting sounds abruptly ended my chest felt heavy. No, had they hurt him? Killed him? I was so worried that I was almost ready to burst out there to find out.

I didn’t hear them approach, they were as quiet as wraiths. The silence only filled with Cosima desperately trying to be quiet as she wept. One moment we were hiding, still convinced they were all outside of the caves, the next the furs were being yanked from our bodies. I could only just contain my own scream, but Cosima’s pierced the dark at the sight of three unfamiliar Naga towering over us with their spears aimed our way.

We were hustled outside with those sharp points at our backs, and angry hissing orders I didn’t understand. One of them was carrying the injured pilot with a deep sneer of distaste on his face as if he was forced to carry a sack of shit. I was honestly completely shocked by the treatment, despite Zathar’s warnings of his mother. They were treating us like prisoners.

I threw up my hand and blinked hard when we approached the gate, trying hard to make my eyes adjust to the daylight. A dozen Naga with various shades of blue scales had congregated just beyond the towering pair of statues. One was very clearly in the lead, and it was the first female Naga I laid my eyes on.

She was angular and tall, but her tail was slightly more slender than those of the males. Her chest was banded by a bright strip of purple fabric that covered barely-there breasts. She was covered in glittering gold jewels from the tips of her claws to her long wavy azure hair. Bracelets, rings, necklaces, and some kind of pauldrons that were more ornamentation than armor.

I could see the family resemblance too, mostly because she was the exact same shade of azure as Zathar. So that was his mother, the Queen of his Clan. The woman he didn’t want me to meet. Like he’d made me warn Reid, she was closely circling the human man, interest gleaming in her reptilian eyes. For his part, Reid was standing tall and he deftly sidestepped the winding tail that wanted to trap him.

Then my eyes finally landed on what I really wanted to see; Zathar. He was just outside the gate, between the two statues, and Corin was at his side, holding him back by one arm, another unfamiliar Naga holding him on the other side. As soon as his eyes lit on me, I saw fear wash over his features and I felt an answering fear inside of me. If my confident snake-man was worried, this had to be really bad.

Our captors urged us forward, and I could tell they intended to move us past Zathar and Corin and toward the Queen. I didn’t think that would be good, to get separated so I adjusted my course at the last moment and threw myself at Zathar. He growled, ripped himself free, and caught me with his arms and his tail, wrapping me up tightly.

I instantly felt safer, Zathar had me, and he wouldn’t let anything happen to me. “Vera! I’ve got you,” he said in my ear, and now that I was touching him, the voices of the other Naga also suddenly made sense. I heard shocked exclamations and angry warnings from the guys with spears, and then above all of that the Queen’s voice rang out.

“Your mating sigils lit for that thing!?” she screeched, leaving no doubt of what she thought of me. From the safety of Zathar’s arms, I could see how she’d withdrawn from Reid, and with an imperious gesture from one hand, several Naga males rushed for him. He put his hands up defensively but he was no match for so many big aliens, and they had him down on his knees, hands tied behind his back in seconds.

“Vera is not a thing,” Zathar hissed in my defense, “They are Hu-mansss that need our help!” My heart melted at the words, at how he was standing up to her on our behalf. Zathar might not personally know me, yet, but it was clear he viewed me as something equal and that scored him major points in my book. I liked his compassion too, that he wanted to help all of us, even though only I was his supposed mate.

Nothing he said was persuading his mother; that was definitely a losing battle. Corin and he were severely outnumbered, and from the sight of Zathar’s swords dangling from the hands of one of the other warriors, he had tried anyway. I scanned what I could see of his body but didn’t notice any injuries, that was a relief, and hopefully a good sign. The Queen wouldn’t want to hurt her own son, would she?

They didn’t consider us a threat, keeping only Reid tied up and escorted between two brawny Naga. And though the Queen clearly wanted to have me removed from Zathar’s arms, she didn’t order her men to try. I didn’t think Zathar would give me up now. The walk to wherever it was they were taking us felt long, hours at least, but they never paused for a drink or a pee break and my stomach was aching from hunger, thirst, and the need to really go long before we got to our destination.

“Thunder Rock Village is not a safe place for you and the other Hu-mansss,” Zathar said in a hushed tone. “You must stay close to me at all times. The other females will want to challenge your right as my mate, they will kill you if they can.” I really hated the sound of that, I never asked to be his mate. I was pretty sure I still didn’t even want to be his mate but from the sounds of it, that wouldn’t matter to the women of his Clan.

Zathar had more to say as we walked, explaining in whispers how he and his friends had been cast out for the lack of a mate. At a certain point, the males lost their value if they couldn’t reproduce with a female and males tended to be more numerous than females. It sounded extremely harsh but Zathar didn’t sound upset about his situation, he was far more worried about what the Queen had in store for us now.

“She’s going to lock you up somewhere while she plots, she’ll separate us if she can. I am her firstborn son, and I have status. The female I mate has as much right to be the Queen’s heir as her own daughters… That’s why she’s so upset.” I got the message, I was not queen-material. But if Zathar was already an outcast, why did it even matter? Couldn’t she just send us on her way and forget we existed?

All thoughts of what was about to happen fled my mind when the trees opened up to show us the village nestled in the valley below. It was a small town with several dozen thatch-roofed houses, enclosed behind a palisade of thick gray poles; whole trees stripped of branches by the look of it.

I could see many Naga move behind that wood wall, some even on top of it; guards watching over this little place. Smoke was curling from chimneys and a town square opened up in the center of it all, with many houses facing the center. I got my first glance at Naga children playing in the stream of clear water that bisected the place like a shimmering ribbon.

When we neared the gates, shouts went up and soon it was a whole spectacle, everyone lining the dirt road to watch what the Queen brought home. I heard shouts and jeers, laughter and mockery at the sight of us, and at the sight of Zathar’s sigils glowing for me. They thought he had bad luck or was sick in the head for having a mating response to a creature such as me.

How could he continue to want me under such pressure? When his own people made such claims about me, felt such distaste for my scaleless, tailless being. Surely he wouldn’t want to keep me after this, especially if his mother offered him a place back home?

“Don’t listen to them,” Zathar hissed at me, his face grim and his grip tight as he cradled me in his arms. “I don’t care what any of them say or think. You are beautiful and soft and tasty, and you are so very very brave. They don’t know what they’re missing. I am the luckiest male there is.”

Ooh, he sure knew how to say all the right things. I felt myself grow hot with the flattery, did he really think I was pretty when I looked so different from a Naga female? Did he really think I was brave? I didn’t feel brave, I felt terrified out of my mind. When I met his eyes, the azure orbs were narrowed, watching his Clansmen angrily but they instantly softened for me. “You mean that?” I asked him, desperately wanting to believe it was true, that someone could actually think such good things of me.

“Yes, every word of it, Vera,” he answered huskily, “I will get us out of this, I promise. And then I will claim you and fill your belly with my seed.” Oh woah, that went from romantic to steamy in a heartbeat but the answering heat in my body told me that I kind of liked that too. Zathar was direct, I had to give him that. Maybe that meant that I really could take his words at face value. I just hoped he wasn’t going to regret picking me over his Clan later.

Our parade ended at the town square in front of a house. There was a commotion I couldn’t quite see from behind the many backs of our Naga escort. It became clear when Zathar was urged to the door where the Queen gestured a graceful hand at the dark interior. “Leave it here, you and I need a private talk.” She didn’t wait for an answer, simply turned around, chin raised haughtily in the air, and glided away.