Chapter 31

Ashley

"Are you excited about going back home?" I asked Axon as we walked hand-in-hand through the forest.

"Yeah, I'm excited to tell my parents about us." He looked down at me with a wide dopey grin. He was so fucking sweet.

"Do you think they'll be happy about our mating?"

"I think happy wouldn't even begin to describe how they'd feel about us being together," Axon laughed.

"Really? Do they like me that much?"

The tips of Axon's ears turned a dark blue as he admitted, "I may have told them that I liked you months ago."

"Months ago?" I couldn't believe it.

"Yeah," he ran a hand through his hair.

"I couldn't get you off my mind and I needed to tell somebody. My parents felt like a good option. I think they've been secretly hoping we'd get together ever since."

My heart felt near to bursting. Not only had he had a crush on me for a while now, but he'd even told his parents about it.

"I assume that we'll be living in your cave when we get back," I continued.

"I don't think I'd survive the storage cavern with all the other people in there." Axon laughed. "As long as that's alright with you."

"I'd like to move into your cave," I smiled up at him. I'd never been in his cave, but if it was as comfy as his moon cave, which I assumed it was, then I'd be a very happy lady.

With that settled, we kept walking until the sun started its slow descent through the sky. That's when Axon spotted some rare fall mushrooms that were used as a pain reliever.

"You see them up there?" He pointed to a tree branch that I wouldn't have a prayer of reaching.

"Yeah, I see them."

"I'm going to get a few. I'll be right back." He said after he gave me a quick kiss.

While he did that, I spotted some berries that Orsu had pointed out as safe to eat when he taught us about foraging.

"I'm going to pick these berries over here," I shouted up to Axon who had shifted into his spider form and was half way up a very tall tree.

He looked at where I was pointing and nodded his head. "Don't go too far," he warned.

"I won't," I promised.

I collected as many berries as I could since they were probably the last of the season. Then I spotted another set of bushes close by. It felt like too good of an opportunity to pass up, so I collected those too.

To my surprise, there were some purple flowers here too that I knew Orsu used for certain teas. I might well harvest those along with everything else. It'd be a shame to leave them out here just to die when it snows.

I'd made my way halfway through the flowers when I heard a noise behind me.

"Did you find all the mushrooms?" I called over my shoulder.

"I didn't find any mushrooms, but I did find myself a nice surprise." An unfamiliar male voice reached my ears.

I whirled around to find two sirret males that looked to be a little older than Axon. One was tall and wore a leather vest, and the other was a bit shorter and had a broken horn.

"I knew it. I knew they were lying to us," the shorter one said.

"How many of you are there?" The other male asked.

"How many?" I took a step backward and looked around for Axon.

"How many females!" The taller one seethed.

I took another shaky step back as he shouted. I couldn't tell from the description Kayla had given us if these males were the same ones that they encountered or not.

"Fine, don't tell us. We'll take you back with us as proof of their lies." The male with the broken horn walked up to me, and I took off in a run.

Unfortunately, they were much faster than I was. The tall one lifted me as if I weighed nothing and threw me over his shoulder.

They didn't waste any time heading for the valley, because as soon as my captor had me in a secure position, he took off in a sprint.

I did the only thing I could think of and let out the loudest scream of my life.

Axon

CW: Violence

As I climbed higher to grab just one more mushroom, I heard a desperate scream that made my blood run cold. It had come from Ashley. I had no doubt about that.

I closed my eyes and listened to the forest surrounding me. There were heavy footfalls coming from two big males. I strained to hear Ashley's steps but I could not. That meant only one thing, those males were carrying off my mate.

I traveled through the trees jumping with my spider legs and using my webbing for support. I went as fast as my body could take me. I would not lose my Ashley.

From my position high up in the forest, I could see it was Sefar and Voroso. My fists tightened on the tree branch as I remembered how much they bullied me and Brexl as sietlings. Me, because I was so sensitive to sounds that I could hardly play with the others, and Brexl, because he was so quiet, they started to tease him and claim he couldn't speak at all.

I'd only run into them a few times since our exile and their personalities hadn't improved much since adulthood, and now they had my mate, my soft precious mate.

I dropped from my perch and landed right in front of them both. Ashley let out a whimper as soon as she saw me.

"Axon," she pleaded as she tried to break free from Blank's grip.

"Is this your female, freak?" Sefar eyed me with a smirk, then squeezed Ashley's ass.

"Yes," I growled, not liking how he was holding her.

"Not anymore," he grinned.

I took a step forward seething and ready to strike, but in a flash he had Ashley in front of him and a bone knife to her throat.

"Back off, or she will pay the price."

"We're going to tell the Savrix of your lies." Voroso added. "How many females are there?"

Sefar's grip tightened on my mate and hot anger coursed through my veins. How dare they? How dare they threaten my mate!

"I've had enough of you," I growled as I shot a web from my fingertips and pulled back the moment my webbing made contact with Sefar's bone knife.

"Hey!" The weapon flew from his hand into mine and I chucked it to the ground.

Both males tracked the movement of the knife and watched it fall to the ground.

"Mot!" The one holding Ashley cursed as he threw her over his shoulder and broke off into another sprint.

Stupid male! Have they learned nothing?!

I took to the trees and used my webbing to swing ahead of them. I fell to the ground in front of them again and wasted no time tying the second male to a nearby tree with my web.

Fear filled Sefar's eyes, and knowing he'd been bested, he threw my mate to the ground.

"Fine, you want your female, you can fight for her!" His words rang through my ears like nonsense. Why would he want to fight me, a shifter with the clear advantage ?

"But you won't do that, will you? You're all so desperate for the goddess's blessing that you won't risk Dameron's wrath. You know if you piss him off, he'll take your rights to the offering away."

A growl formed low in my throat and all the anger I'd ever felt about being exiled and watching my parents lose their home flooded through me.

"You misunderstand." A cruel smile spread across my face. "My brother shifters care about the offering and the goddess, I. Do. Not."

The male before me turned pale as I took a step closer to him, my claws on full display. He'd made a mistake. He messed with the wrong shifter.

I lunged for him, dragging my claws across his torso, ripping through his vest and skin. He attempted to spear me, but I was too fast. I easily moved to the side before he could make contact.

I could hear Voroso struggling against my webbing in an attempt to free himself.

I grabbed Sefar by the neck and threw him to the ground. He groaned and did not get up. Good. He didn't deserve to see another sun rise.

I hovered over him, poised to strike him down with one final blow when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ashley pull herself up and lean against a tree. The sight of her helped clear my head. Her safety and our happiness were more important than killing this male. If I killed him, then Dameron would send every able-bodied male our way to destroy us. He'd hunt us down until we were all dead. I didn't want that. I just wanted to live in peace with my mate.

"Do not, come this way again." I growled. "And remember, not everyone in my dekes believes in the goddess. Now go!"

I used one clawed finger and released Voroso from my web. Once free, he took off like a coward, and Sefar hobbled after him, clutching his side.

Once they were far enough away, I returned to my mate.

"Are you alright? Did they hurt you?" I checked every inch of her and sighed with relief when there were no wounds to be found.

"I'm alright. Axon," her eyes met mine. "What are they going to do now that they know there are more of us?"

"I don't know." I shook my head. "It is something we should bring up to Tarak. He'll know what to do." Tarak might be the same age as the rest of us, but he was wise beyond his years and he had a way of understanding people that made him a good leader.

I picked Ashley up, and she squeaked.

"I said I'm alright. You don't have to carry me."

"I just saw you be carried off by two of the cruelest males I've ever known. It'll be a full moon cycle before I can let you out of my sight. Holding you against me is the only thing keeping me calm enough to not finish what I started."

I longed to attack them again, to witness their final breaths for what they dared to do, but holding my mate against me was keeping me grounded.

"Okay." Ashley sighed and leaned her head against my chest.

"It won't be long now." I promised. "We'll be within the safety of the mountain soon."

I walked as fast as I could without jostling my mate and, just as I predicted, we made it to the entrance before the sun set. Already I could smell meat cooking on the fire. My mouth watered to taste Orsu and Julie's cooking again, but most of all, I simply longed to be home.

I set Ashley down and moved the boulder blocking the entrance out of the way. Once she was inside, I moved it back and let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. We made it. We were safe. We were home.