2. Gravod

Ryoch walked back inside with his head hanging down and sat at the bar. Everyone was watching him openly now, not bothering to hide their curiosity. Their hope. When he didn't look up, they all looked at me.

"Mates," I confirmed. The room was so silent, I could hear twenty sets of heartbeats, including my own. "This is just the beginning. Have patience."

The words were for me as much as for them. When she walked out the door, my heart felt as though it was being torn from my body.

A loud huff came from the back, and I knew it was Thylor. He stood up, his shock of red hair reflecting even the dim light in the bar.

"We've been here almost a year. When will you all just admit this mission is a failure?"

I met his angry gaze and felt the tension in the room rise. On Vytaris, his defiance would be seen as a dominance challenge, something to resolve in the ring. We were the same size. I was sure I could best him in a fight.

But we weren't on Vytaris. The rules here were different. And unlike the rest of us, he hadn't exactly chosen to come to this planet. I sympathized. A little.

So I stayed behind the bar and kept calm. It was a delicate moment. I wanted to be a leader these males respected, not one they feared. I wanted them to have faith.

"The mission is hardly a failure. My lithis responded to the dark-haired female." It was engorged even now.

I looked to Ryoch, and he finally raised his head.

"Mine responded as well. To the blond." His hands curled into fists.

The room erupted in excited murmurs as males returned to their own conversations. Thylor sat back down and glared at me from his lonely corner, folding his arms over his chest.

I looked at the cocktail glasses the women had left behind, at her glass, and I felt a tug of need. My woman was beautiful, with full, pink lips, soulful eyes, and curves I longed to wrap around. When her scent had filled my lungs, I'd almost dropped the camouflage entirely.

Thylor could doubt all he wanted. I knew the female was mine.

"You guys are so freaky." Jake shook his head from his seat farther down the bar, where he was nursing a martini.

"We're freaky? You turn into a wolf, asshole."

"Yeah, well at least I don't have extra appendages." He grinned, his pale blue eyes sparking with amusement.

I raised a brow. "You have a knot." Alcohol had fueled a lot of very frank discussions over the last year. I took the two cocktail glasses off the bar and started to wash them. "Why are you here all the time if you think we're so horrifying?"

"My wolf is convinced this is where I need to park my ass. I'm beginning to think he's a moron."

"Your wolf is the reason I'm still alive, so I'd believe him."

Jake was an alpha, big and tall, with brown hair and typical bright shifter eyes. The first time he'd come into the bar with some of his pack, they'd taken one whiff and started shifting, growling and ready to attack. They knew instantly that we were something unknown, other, and therefore potentially dangerous. He could have said the word, and they would have ripped us all to pieces.

Thankfully, his wolf sensed we meant no harm. The whole thing had ended almost as soon as it began, and we'd bonded over our mutual drive to find mates. Now I considered him a friend. A friend who gave me a lot of shit.

"My wolf recognized another lonely soul looking for love." Jake said it on a sigh, batting his eyes like he was joking. I knew he wasn't. He took a sip of his martini. "Speaking of which, word is getting around. I've heard some bears are coming to check this place out."

"Do you all get along?" The last thing we needed was a shifter turf war.

"Sure. Bears can be a little boring, but they're fine."

"Then they're welcome. Our instincts guided us here, maybe others can benefit."

"That seems to be the rumor. If you guys really found two mates tonight, it might start getting crowded."

I finished cleaning up just as Thylor approached the bar.

"Two mates in a year? Vex. What about the rest of us? We should return to Vytaris." His gaze swept around the room, looking hard at each face that turned to him. "I only need one strong Lydaxian male to help me pilot. If even one of you wants to abandon this foolish mission, we can go home."

Home.

Images and memories flooded my mind. The violet sky. The jagged mountain ranges I'd climbed as a youth. My parents and sister.

The handful of wolf shifters in the room watched the drama, but they couldn't truly understand. They hadn't needed to leave their planet and their families to search for mates.

I raised my voice above the din, drawing all eyes to me when I spoke. "We don't have Lydaxian mates waiting for us on Vytaris. We have no chance of becoming fathers there. Remember that. It's why we're here." Grim faces stared at me, and I couldn't help but smile. "And now, we have proof. We will find mates on Earth. I'll say it again. Have patience."

More than a few of the males wore fierce expressions of jealousy. Good. It would light a fire under them, keep them hunting. Remind them that Thylor's way would be giving up, that it wasn't what they really wanted.

"I'll believe it when you have a pregnant mate. You're all delusional." Thylor didn't wait for a response. He turned his back on me and the rest of the males in the bar and left through the back door, slamming it behind him.

I detected envy in his tone, beneath the anger. Even he wasn't immune. The instinct to mate drove all of us, and Thylor had a chance to find his mate here. He could have been content. Instead, he'd been making trouble since the day we left.

A low growl came from Jake. "You'd better watch that one, Grav. I've got a bad feeling about him."

He was right, but I found I couldn't give Thylor much thought right now.

Ryoch had been listening while he drank his beer. He put down the empty glass as the rest of the males slowly went back to their conversations and games. I saw him shiver. He looked ill.

I knew how he was feeling. After all this time, I'd found my mate, just as he had. Ryoch was more open about his emotions than I was, less controlled. But even I was struggling to remain calm. Everything in my being was on alert with the need to touch and protect.

Mine.

It had taken all my strength not to race after her when she left. I needed to possess her, keep her near me. Breed her.

But that wouldn't work on Earth.

We had to be careful. Woo our mates properly. Build trust.

I wondered if we'd ever be able to be honest about ourselves. If we'd be able to share the mating bond as it was meant to be experienced.

I had to suppress a groan just thinking about it.

"How can you be so calm, Gravod? I feel like I'm about to fall apart."

I put my hand on Ryoch's shoulder. "I feel the same, my friend. But I know my mate will return."

"How?"

Instead of answering, I picked up the credit card sitting by the register.

"Because." I smiled and held it in front of him. "Jessica Smith will want her card back."