Chapter 16

Kayla

CW: bullying, use of mobility device without permission

Our journey throughout the morning was silent. Even Taylor and I didn’t dare to speak to each other, even though we were so close. I’ve known men like Scaron. They do their best to bait you into a fight just to prove that you’re as hot-headed as they are. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction and I didn’t trust myself not to bite his head off at the first provocation, so I kept my mouth shut and gazed at the trees as we passed by.

Every once in a while, a vine would brush my shoulder and I knew it was Drovo’s doing. I liked that he was giving me reassurance, even without looking back at me. It was clever, and I liked clever men.

Scaron looked back twice, eyeing me, Taylor, and the chariot. On the third time, he announced, “I’d like to take a turn on that thing.”

The group stopped as Scaron approached Taylor and I. He stood beside our bench seat with his arms crossed, impatiently tapping his foot on the ground.

“Well?” He asked, clearly implying we should vacate our seats for him. Neither of us got up. Drovo made this for me, not this piece of scum.

“She needs it. She grows tired quickly.” Drovo looked beyond agitated. If Scaron didn’t hold so much sway over their Savrix, I’m sure Drovo would have knocked him on his ass hours ago.

The short sirret furrowed his brows and looked me up and down. “Are you sick?”

“No, I’m not sick. I have a weak heart.”

He slowly nodded his head as he took in that information.

“Do you have a weak heart?” He turned his attention to Taylor.

“No.”

I didn’t like where this was going.

“Then I’ll take your seat.”

Taylor hesitated for a moment.

“Give me your seat female or I might be too tired to give my Savrix a favorable report about our journey when we reach the valley,” Scaron growled, winning an even deeper growl from Brexl.

Scaron’s attention snapped to Brexl and fear flashed in his eyes. Good.

“Cut that out you vile beast,” he demanded.

Brexl looked like he was in an angry trance. His growl deepened and his bone plating started to emerge from his blue skin.

Taylor hopped off the chariot and rushed to his side. The moment her hand touched his shoulder, he snapped out of whatever trance was holding him captive. His bone plating disappeared, and he wrapped a protective arm around Taylor’s waist.

She wrapped her arm around his waist in kind and they held each other as they stared Scaron down, waiting for him to make his next move.

“That’s better.” The corner of his mouth turned up in a smug, self-satisfied smile.

He settled in beside me on the bench and had the audacity to put his arm around my shoulders.

Drovo looked murderous. My gentle dryad shifter was seething with anger, and I hated Scaron for making him feel that way.

“Get your hands off my mate,” he growled. My mate. I liked the sound of that. We hadn’t declared anything official. It was just last night that we shared our first kiss, but I could see myself being his mate. Hell, I’d been envisioning myself as his mate shortly after Gabby had claimed Tarak as hers. It was only when I thought Drovo was withholding this chariot from me that my vision of us being together had changed.

“The Savrix will decide if you’re mates or not. In the meantime, I’ll do as I wish. Lead on Zander. I want to get to the valley before nightfall.”

The group moved forward, and I held myself stiffly, as far away from Scaron as I could manage on the little bench seat. What I wanted to do was punch this guy in the balls, but I knew I couldn’t. I wouldn’t rip away the one religious practice the guys had left by doing something rash when Drovo and Brexl were trying so hard to keep themselves in check.

I sat next to Scaron for as long as I could take it before declaring that I needed to stretch my legs.

“I thought you had a weak heart.” Scaron eyed me suspiciously. “Which is it? Are you weak or are you lying?” His suspicious look had turned predatory, like a cat ready to pounce on its prey.

I got up and walked toward Drovo as I shook with anger. Weak. I hated that word. I am so tired of feeling weak. Every day I wake up with less energy than I had before my heart failure. Weak. I could rip that guy”s head off for calling me that.

As soon as I reached Drovo, he pulled me to his chest for a tight hug as if we’d been separated for a millennia and not half a day.

“Let me carry you,” he suggested.

I nodded my head, and he got down on one knee so I could climb onto his back. Once I was firmly in place, I loosely wrapped my arms around him and kissed the back of his neck. He wrapped his tail around my ankle in a possessive gesture.

“We’re ready.” Drovo declared leveling Scaron with a stare that promised violence.

I kissed the back of his neck again, causing him to shiver and Scaron to nearly gag.

“You can have your seat back. I feel like walking anyway,” he grumbled as he stepped off the chariot.

Drovo got back down on one knee so I could slide off his back. I walked to his front and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, just to piss off that weasel of a male even more. Drovo’s hands tightened on my waist and I knew he wanted to make our kiss last longer, but he let me go, nonetheless. I gave him a heated look that promised more kisses in the future.

Taylor and I settled next to each other on the bench once again. The rest of the trip was blessedly uneventful.

As the sun started to sink low in the sky, we approached a deep valley fenced in by two large mountains and a rustic stone wall in the middle. As we drew closer, I could make out rows of small wooden houses surrounded by lush pink grass.

It looked like the shire. It was cute, cozy even. These people were protected by the valley allowing them to live outside in the open while our dekes was forced to live in a mountain for protection. I ground my teeth as I imagined Drovo, only thirteen years old, being forced to leave this safe haven of a home. My heart ached for all the guys. How could a community be so cruel?

I had a bad feeling I’d get my answer as soon as I met their Savrix.