Page 5 of The Naga Outcast’s Unwanted Mate

As soon as my tail was free, I whirled around. I shifted my precious burden to the crook of my elbow, so I could free up one hand and grab for one of my swords. I brandished it in front of me as I carefully watched for any sign of trouble. Iave was pushing the dark-skinned female through the crevice and she was yelling and gesturing with her hands as she went, almost hitting my friend in the eye with her pilfered blade.

I saw the change in Iave’s face before I caught on to what he’d sensed. Tilting my head, I spotted the pair of Bitter Storm Naga with their shimmering red scales and even more menacing black spears. They were coming down the mountain to our passage, having found some other path up there, worse, they were jabbing their spears down into scree rubble lying on a ledge above us. They were about to create a rock avalanche, one that could very well crush us, but it was going to take them down with it.

Locking eyes with my friend through the narrow opening, he gave me one sharp nod, his jagged horns almost hitting his chest from the quick move. He whipped his tail around and yanked the warrior female out, just as I leaped my body back, yelling at the others to start running.

The rocks started sliding, first just a few thudding into the narrow passage we were in, then more, until it was raining down on us. I hunched myself over my mate, shielding her from the blows with my much tougher scales. The chaos of our frantic retreat meant I had lost sight of the two enemy Naga but I had my focus on our rescues and Corin; they were out. They’d made it far enough before the rocks started pelting down.

The roar behind me had me spinning, slashing my sword without thought, while I remained curled around my mate. I caught the Naga across the chest, my sharp blade cutting deep. The male fell limply to the ground and was promptly covered by the last of the rocks, a sharp pain at the tip of my tail warning me that I was now pinned in place too.

No longer at risk of getting crushed, I gently put my female down behind me and whirled back the way we’d come, peering at the settling crush of rocks that now filled the narrow passage. Where was the second one? Had he survived? I had to locate him or I just knew I’d end up with a spear in my back when I tried to leave this place. I had the uneasy feeling that someone was watching me, and I wasn’t talking about the huddle of refugees at my back. Corin was trying to calm them but I didn’t think they were finding the sound of his voice all that soothing.

No longer touching my mate, I couldn’t understand what she was saying, but I was fairly certain she was talking about the rocks piled on the end of my tail. Lifting my head I growled when I finally spotted my adversary, still on the ledge somehow and yanking free his own tail with a scraping noise that certainly meant he’d just lost a good amount of his scales.

I grabbed my second sword, meeting the male head-on as he leaped down the crevice, making more of the rocks tumble and slide. We clashed fiercely, our bodies writhing together, as the both of us growled and hissed insults. I was only too aware of my fragile mate with her head injury, just a few feet behind me, standing unsteadily on the sandy path.

This fight needed to end two minutes ago, and I couldn’t let it get anywhere near her. With my tail pinned I was limited in my movements and he wasn’t, but that didn’t matter. I was the superior fighter, and I was extremely motivated. My blades soon found a home and I’d only caught a small cut on my bicep for the effort. Heaving with breath, I rose above my downed opponents, grinning victoriously.

Glancing at my mate, I hoped she appreciated what I’d just done. I hoped she could tell what a good catch I was. She was still standing, her hands clasped over her mouth, her pretty eyes huge in her face. The first Naga was lying dead at her feet and I really didn’t like how close that one had gotten to her.

Corin was close behind her, his arms full of the bleeding, unconscious female. But he was holding his crossbow one-handed as if he had intended to come to my aid if I needed it. “Very stuck,” I told him wryly, while I gazed back at my half-buried tail. I was not as much in a rush now as before, because the rock slide had accomplished two things. Separating us from Iave and the two females, but also blocking Bitter Storm from reaching us.

“I can see that,” he confirmed. He didn’t move to put down his burden, just watched the rocks piled on my tail with a smile flirting at the edges of his mouth. I knew Corin had a wicked sense of humor, and normally I enjoyed it, but this wasn’t the time for that.

It was the human male that brushed past him, carefully skirting the dead Naga and started to dig me out. Up close, I realized he wasn’t as small as I first thought, his chest probably rivaled my own, and his shoulders were just as wide. He was strong too, seeming to have no trouble shifting the big rocks pinning me. He talked as he worked, his brown eyes flitting to me several times.

He only briefly flinched when I curled around so I could help dig myself out, my blades hissing as I sheathed them on my back. I couldn’t understand what he was saying in his low bass. It still sounded musical and song-like to my ears, even spoken in those much lower tones.

Reaching out a hand, I laid my fingers on my mate’s shoulders, gently squeezing her because I just couldn’t resist how soft she was. “Translate, please,” I asked her, jerking my head toward the crouching male.

“He’s saying he’s glad you’re on our side, and he’s wondering if the others are okay,” she promptly responded, “His name is Reid.” I didn’t care what the male was called one way or another but I was grateful that he was digging me out. Between the two of us the job was done much more quickly and I knew that we needed to leave this place sooner rather than later.

The rock slide was only going to delay a determined Bitter Storm warrior for so long. I didn’t want to contemplate the fact that they might be more focused on chasing after Iave and his two refugees. Iave was a very resourceful warrior, and he was a huge male. Having always towered over all the others; he was very adept at using his giant size to his advantage. I had to have faith in his survival.

I couldn’t keep holding my mate while I dug myself out and I hated that I couldn’t understand what she was saying to the others as I worked. Was she saying something good or bad? Was she expressing fear over the Bitter Storm warriors? Her expression when I glanced her way seemed to indicate she wasn’t worried, but the sight of the blood drying on her temple made my scales rattle with unease.

The male huffed out a short laugh, his brown eyes glittering with amusement. It was shocking how familiar their faces were, despite their lack of scales, chin horns, or even a functional nictitating membrane. I ignored him, and the fact that he seemed to find my interest in my mate funny. He was tailless, I could take him if he decided he wanted to make a move on her; I wasn’t threatened.

With a final heave, the two of us rolled a rather large block off my poor tail and I hissed in relief as blood flow was restored and nerves unpinched. Everything started tingling but I relished the feeling, it meant my tail was undamaged, my tough scales had protected it from real harm, and we’d freed it in time.

I listened carefully for the sound of the Bitter Storm warriors on the other side of the blocked crevice but I could no longer hear their shouting. That meant they’d moved on, either to forge a better path in our direction, or they’d refocused and were now chasing Iave exclusively. I didn’t intend to stick around and find out.

“Let’s go,” I growled, picking up my mate and cradling her carefully in my arms. Moving past Corin cradling the wounded female, and then the weepy one who’d sat down on the narrow sandy path, her arms curled tightly around her body. From the safety of my arms, my female repeated what I’d said, leaning over to offer a reassuring smile.

“Damn right, let’s get out of here,” the male, Reid concurred, “As soon as you give me a weapon. I can help if those scaly red fuckers show up again.” I tilted my head to look at him over my shoulder, raising myself a little higher on my tail so I was definitely towering over him. Then I shared a look with Corin, who nodded. Fine, the male could have a knife, it wasn’t like he could sneak up on me on those big clumsy feet.

Chapter 4

Vera

I was going to get used to this if he kept it up. Being carried around in Azure-Eyes’ big brawny arms was far more pleasant than it ought to be, considering his rather monstrous appearance. I seemed to have a thing for monstrous as it turned out. Maybe that was the head wound talking. The knock on my head had caused a fierce pounding and throbbing in my temple. Probably a mild concussion, but I couldn’t worry about it now; there were bigger things at stake.

“Hey, my name’s Vera. What’s yours?” I asked, licking my dry lips. His eyes darted from the narrow path we were on, down to my face, and then lingered for a moment on my mouth. His own tongue flicked into the air, showing me that it was split like a serpent’s. Of course it was.

I couldn’t keep calling him Azure-Eyes, at least not to his face, even if they were really pretty blue eyes. When he drawled, “Zathar,” my belly tingled in response. Oh yeah, that was way better. The name Zathar fit him like a glove, it slid right off the tongue, even if mine wasn’t split. It matched the serpentine vibes.

“Thank you, can you tell me where we’re going?” I asked, trying to remain polite when nothing about this situation was normal. I had been manhandled and touched by this male far more than my last boyfriend ever had in the span of the three months we’d dated. To be fair to that ex, he’d been approved by my mom and I had abhorred every moment I had to spend with him, which was not exactly conducive to a physical relationship.

Why was I even thinking about relationships and sex? Zathar was a stranger, an alien that was so different from me that he didn’t even have legs. I shouldn’t be contemplating anything but my survival and the survival of the other humans with me.