Page 12 of The Naga Outcast’s Unwanted Mate

Zathar remained frozen in place in front of the opened door, his expression shrewd as he considered his options. I was pretty sure there was only one, he had to be cunning to get us out of this jam, and that meant not fighting right now. She was locking us up for the time being, not killing us. I hated it, hated the thought of yet another prison, but I knew I had to be brave. He thought I was, now I had to prove it.

“It’s okay, go. Better to figure this out without any bloodshed, right?” Zathar nodded, but he still looked very conflicted, his grip on my body growing tighter like he really didn’t want to let me go. On impulse, I cupped the side of his face, feeling the softly pebbled texture of the fine scales that covered his cheek. Leaning up, I captured his lips with mine in a quick kiss. “Go, put me down.”

He hissed, his eyes growing wide and his tongue flicking out to taste the air. Long and agile, with a forked tip, I was suddenly very curious about what he could do with that thing. “What was that?” he murmured, both of us ignoring the sounds of shocked gasps and outraged murmurs from around us.

“A kiss, don’t you do that?” I said, but my last words were muffled when he slammed his mouth back against mine, his own version far more awkward but flatteringly eager. I opened my mouth, licked at the seam of his, and then his forked tongue came out to play, tangling around my own. The muscle was unexpectedly powerful when he gave a gentle tug that caused an answering shaft of heat in my belly.

When we pulled apart, his tongue was flicking at the air, drawing scent back into his mouth with each pass. Eyes like molten lava, he let me slide down his long, serpentine body until my feet touched the ground, my legs a little unsteady after that mind-blowing initiation. As my belly slid along his groin I thought for just an instant that I felt something wet kiss my skin where my shirt had ridden up. But once I was standing I didn’t see anything that could explain the sensation.

The guards flanking us were out of patience with our goodbye. One gestured angrily with his spear at the open door, another pushed his way between Zathar and me, talking rapidly at him and pushing him in the direction the Queen had gone. Neither dared to touch me, yet, and I wasn’t going to risk it. With a final wave at him, I darted through the door.

Chapter 8

Zathar

Leaving Vera inside the food storage building was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. Everything in me screamed that I was making a mistake by leaving her there without my protection. She was so fragile without scales or claws, completely defenseless against a Naga.

Then there was the ‘kiss’ she’d bestowed on me. I had never heard of anyone doing such a thing, it seemed outrageous to press mouths together, it didn’t sound like it would feel good. I’d never been happier to be wrong though, my cock was aching in my sheath. When I had her pressed up against me, I hadn’t been able to stop the tip from partially extruding and I still vividly remembered the touch of her silky skin against the sensitive tips.

Once I had my mate safe again, I was going to demand as many kisses from her as she was willing to give me. I would never forget the taste of her as I drew her essence into my mouth and now I was wondering what else I could do, where else she’d let me taste her.

“Zathar, firstborn!” my mother called out, jerking me roughly from my vividly erotic thoughts. Thoughts that had no place in this situation, I needed to keep my cool and think ahead if I wanted to resolve this the way I wanted. She was beneath the Pagode on the edge of the town square, draped among the many pillows and pelts. Rich fabrics created by the Lagoon Weaver Clan waving gently in the breeze created a sense of privacy; fake walls for a building that had none.

Several of my sisters sat around her, and a young hunter was coiled just below the raised platform she resided on, her current lover. Everything about this scene screamed decadence and wealth, from the many jewels each of the females wore, though none outshone my mother, down to the expensive fabrics.

It had bothered me before I was cast out of the Clan, that the wealth we earned with our hunts and our trades went into things to keep the Queen and her chosen females happy, not into bettering the rest of the Clan. Now it felt even more glaringly obvious that my mother was a Queen who cared for her power and her wealth but not for her people.

I was glad that she didn’t even remember Corin’s involvement in all of this, leaving him out of this audience. Maybe she would forget him altogether, just return him to the fold and forget about it. I hoped so, my friend deserved a good life.

Sliding between the pillows into the semi-circle my sisters and some other high-ranking females formed, I came to a stop in front of my mother. On her raised platform she was taller than me, and I was forced to look up or rudely rise on my tail. “I am here, what do you wish of me?” I said by rote, the required phrase that started any audience with her, whether I was her son or not.

The tip of her tail flicked and then coiled along the edge of the platform, sliding down to curl around the throat of the male sitting beneath her. He was several years younger, a hunter barely out of training and I was horrified with the realization that she was picking them younger and younger each year. The movement was insulting and possessive and it was wrong that she was bold enough to do that in plain view of everyone. I knew she meant it as a threat to me, symbolizing that she had my neck in a noose and I better obey.

“What I wish, is for my firstborn not to dishonor my proud lineage!” she hissed, her clawed hand shooting out to point at the storage building in which Vera was locked. I hadn’t missed the sound of the heavy bar locking into place behind me, or the two Naga that had taken up flanking positions right outside.

“What does it matter to you? I am an outcast, what I do no longer concerns anyone,” I responded calmly, staring defiantly at her narrowed eyes. When I was a young hunter in training, her gaze could make me feel withered to the bone, worthless, and tiny. No more, she had lost that power long ago and I knew it had been a contributing reason to my outcast status. My mother preferred her sycophants.

“It does now. I have decided on a better future for you,” she answered, her body elegantly rising. Still sleek and powerful though she’d birthed more than a dozen young already. Like all Naga females, she had birthed twins and triplets. But the two sisters with whom I’d shared the womb were both dead already, dead before they’d even fully matured because of the challenges most females were so fond of.

I didn’t rise to her bait, asking her what she meant, I simply waited with my arms crossed over my chest and my chin held high. High enough that my horns were angled just a tad her way, a minor insult I delighted in getting away with.

“Astrexa,” my mother said, the name a demand and answer both. As the female she’d called for rose from her pillows to move to my side in front of the dais, I knew what she was going to say. A mate approved by my mother, her favorite sycophant, raised to the status of heir in that manner. Only a mating to the firstborn son could do that. Which meant that she might have intended to return me to the fold before she’d even learned of Vera’s existence.

The female in question was slightly younger than I was, with dark blue scales patterned with the palest blue spots along the back. Unusual and pretty but it didn’t stir me in the least. Not even when she smiled seductively and flipped her long black hair over a shoulder to display the delicate arch of her neck.

“She will be your mate, forget about the pale, tailless thing. You will mate Astrexa, return honor to my line, and provide the Clan with many healthy Naga.” My mother said it casually, her gaze flicking from my defiant one to the female’s eager smile. She made an imperious gesture with a hand that counted as a complete dismissal but I wasn’t going to roll over for her like I was expected to do.

“I will consider your proposition. You’ll have an answer in five days,” I said. Stalling for time was the only thing I could do. She wasn’t going to let me walk out of her with Vera willingly, not when she had other things in mind. My mother always got what she wanted, but not this time. I’d have to break the humans out, and then we’d have to escape Thunder Rock Village.

The shocked gasps that echoed through the Pagoda were satisfying, as was the furious expression on my mother’s face. Astrexa looked downright offended as if she couldn’t fathom that I wasn’t leaping at the opportunity to be hers. I remembered her as a particularly vicious one when growing up. She always fought over the slightest of offenses and it showed in the claw scars that lined her chest, arms, and stomach. Points of pride for any Naga female.

“Three days!” was the offer, which was far more than I expected. I grinned as I conceded, letting her know that I was aware I held more power than it had previously seemed. She had shown her hand, and now I was going to run with it.

I had three days to retrieve my mate from her current prison and escape the village. Three days was plenty.

*

Vera