14. Beren

“We only have a few more days until the storms return,” Ralleth says as he rolls his neck from side to side. “Marron should be here either late today or tomorrow. Rallan and his mate are trying to negotiate ways to ensure we receive aid in helping repair the tribe, but things are going slow since their tribal leader wants to make sure his males have a chance to meet the new females.”

I have one of my arms thrown over the back of Lyath’s chair, and he is leaning against it, letting me stroke his shoulder in a soft, rhythmic motion. Nia is sitting in my lap. My other hand is wrapped around her waist, and I give it a soft squeeze. I know she is excited to offer her opinions on what to do regarding the new humans and the males who might come from other tribes.

I did not realize how much Nia worried about her sisters until we talked out in the field while Lyath and I were seeding it. She cares very deeply for her sisters, even the ones she does not know. This is surprising to me because I care about my brothers here in the tribe, of course, but I do not care about the others from other tribes. As far as I can tell about Nia’s sisters, they come from many different tribes, or units as she calls them. She cares deeply about Deja and Simone since they are her friends, but she also cares for all the females. Maybe I am too selfish to understand. This does not matter. I can care because my mate cares. That is good enough.

Nia spent the last few days devising a plan to help her sisters find mates without pressure. Lyath and I have listened intently, trying to offer our support and differing opinions. Many of her ideas seem very good. She has written down a few that she hopes to discuss today at our meeting with Ralleth.

Listening to Nia’s plans while we work has also helped to make the long days go by faster. We currently have to walk buckets and buckets of water to the fields to begin the soaking of the soil. If we had more time for this harvest, we would have fixed some of the irrigation ditches that Lyath’s family used to water their entire fields.

The irrigation system is still built into the fields. Deep gouges in the ground are lined with tarred wood that reach all the way back to the river. Small dams are created on the river’s edge, and when the fields need watering, the dams are opened so water can flow. It is why our fields are built so close to the rivers. And if there is flooding, our plants thrive on it.

The ditches are filled with blockage, and the small dams are sealed right now. If there were more time, we would have repaired them, but for this first harvest, we have to work the watering of the fields manually.

“We have decided the closest homes to the great hall will be the first to be repaired. We will be housing males in the homes, one for each bedroom in a home. This will open the rooms in the great hall for the human females who will be coming. It is the safest place for them since we can keep them all close to one another.” Ralleth looks down at the paper his mate is holding up for him as she sits in his lap. His eyes scan over it as he presses his lips together. “It has come to the attention of multiple males that the females might be worried about the safety of their sisters. They want to know how we plan to prepare for the inevitability of the new humans being in a tribe filled with males who will want to mate them.”

Olivia nods her head as her mate reads directly from the paper. Nia’s body tenses in my lap, so I give her another squeeze. It is good for her to know that she is not the only one worried about her sisters. I have told her this many times, but she has not been back in the tribe since we laid together. She has been much too busy enjoying spending all of her time with Lyath and me.

I wait for a few moments to see if Ralleth will say anything else. Everyone in the tribe is always invited to meetings, and this one is being held in the dining room since so many are invested in the tribe’s future now that we know we have a future. It is customary for us to wait for Ralleth to ask us for our opinions on matters, but I am growing impatient. I want to tell them all that my mate has been scheming ways to make sure her sisters are safe. Everyone should hear her ideas because they are good and they will help us in this tense situation.

“We are going to open our tribe to the others,” Ralleth says as he takes the paper from his mate’s hands and sets it on the table. “I have spoken with some of you in private about this, and you have voiced your concerns about allowing anyone into the tribe and how you do not want it to happen.”

Ralleth cuts a look over to where Almaac and Toron are both staring him down with red eyes. Toron’s eyes are always red since he has gone through a transformation that makes him very dangerous and always angry. Almaac is just angry, probably because he does not like the idea of anyone else seeing our females. I would be on their side if not for my mate. She has told me time and time again that the plan that she made with the not-human from Earth only works if others join the tribe.

“I have spoken with the not-human many times about what is happening and what will happen in our tribe.” Ralleth’s words catch quite a few of us off guard. Even my Nia is surprised. She told us that her not-human friend had told her he would contact the tribal leader to ensure his plan happened. I think she must have thought he would visit her as well since it is their plan.

“We must allow others here. We do not have the ability to make this tribe livable and sustainable for that many creatures in such a short amount of time. Not to mention that the human females will need protectors, providers, and…” Ralleth’s voice trails off as he looks down at his mate, who is now growing pink. I have no doubt he was going to say lovers, but he will not if he thinks his mate will not like it.

Ralleth looks around the room and notices the few pairs of red eyes that are still unsure whether allowing more males into our tribe is the correct thing to do. He gives himself a soft nod before finally allowing the rest of us to speak. “I want to start by discussing plans for keeping the human females safe. It is what worries my creature the most, and it would make me immensely happy to ease her worries.”

Of course, as soon as Ralleth allows us to offer our opinions, many of my brothers begin talking over one another. I spoke with Toron before we all met, telling him that my mate has a plan that I think will prove most helpful. He, of course, told his blood, the two other chosen warriors. So, when the other brothers are all speaking over one another, trying to get Ralleth to call on them, I see Dath, the first of the goddess’s chosen warriors, walk over to Ralleth and whisper in his ear.

Ralleth’s eyes snap to me, and the room grows quieter as they all realize Ralleth has chosen who he will allow to have everyone’s attention.

“Beren’s mate.” Ralleth lowers his eyes to Nia. “Do you have plans to keep the females safe?”

I lean back in my chair, making sure that Nia has all of the space she needs to sit up tall and tell every one of her plan. This is all her. She does not need my strength, though I would offer it if asked. She does not need me to speak for her, and she most certainly doesn’t need a possessive male keeping his hands all over her body while she is trying to be serious. So I keep my hand moving on Lyath’s shoulder and force my other hand to still on her hip.

“I have a couple of plans. One that will work better than the others. I wanted to get the opinions of the other women and the males to see which would be the most helpful. The doctor and I worked together during my last six weeks on Earth to make up the plan of getting the human women here. He told me as much as he knew about how our kind interacts with one another. I hope these plans are helpful, but they might be seen as disrespectful to your brothers. I’m not quite sure what normal mating rituals look like.”

Nia pauses a moment, licking her lips slowly and trying to steady her breath. Ralleth offers her a small smile and holds his mate closer to him. “I am sure you know this already, but our tribe has not done things the traditional way in a very long time. Whatever new traditions we need to make, others will learn to deal with them. You will be surprised how much our males are willing to do in order to woo a female.”

“Good,” Nia sighs, “because the most promising idea has them sniffing armpits.”

There’s a snort of laughter from a few females, but everyone else stays quiet, not one of us concerned about having to smell a female. Maybe she thought she would get more pushback, but of course, my brothers are all more than eager to do anything in order to find and keep a female who calls to his soul. Even the ones with mates would sniff their female’s armpits right this instant if it would help.

When there is no pushback on the one thing Nia was most scared to tell the others, she tells them the rest of her plan. I watch her as she speaks as best as I can when she is in my lap. I do not miss how Lyath’s eyes are focused on her as well. Every once in a while, he will look over to me as if to check to make sure I am fine with him admiring what is mine. Of course I am, especially now that I have seen them together and know I very much appreciate that they enjoy one another.

“I want to house all of the females we can, at least from the first round of women brought, in the great hall, away from all of the brothers,” Nia says, keeping her eyes trained on Ralleth as though she knows there will be disgruntled brothers when they hear about this part of her plan. It’s something Lyath and I have told her many times because all of the males will want a chance to woo a female and will feel as though they cannot if they are not allowed to be near them.

Nia continues speaking without giving my brothers a chance to tell her they are already displeased with her plan. If they try to interrupt her, I might kill them. At least punch them if I am not allowed to kill, but killing seems the appropriate response to one of them disrespecting one of my mates.

“We need to keep the humans separate from the males so we know their nose souls aren’t influencing them until we know if they even want a mate. Plus, if we keep them contained, there’s a better chance they won’t be hurt by one of the males from the other tribe.”

“I know you’re all wanting to know how you can woo the females if you don’t get to be near them.” At this, Nia looks around at my brothers, who are all very obviously nodding and liking that she is about to address their biggest concern.

They know they would never hurt a human female, and I trust my brothers, but the other tribe… we all understand why the females may not trust them. They did try to kidnap one of our sisters and even succeeded for a short while.

“My plan proposes that we have a mating ceremony of sorts.” Nia rubs the back of her neck, and when she goes to put her hand down, Lyath grabs it in his and strokes it softly. She gives him an appreciative smile that has me relaxing even more in my chair. She is doing wonderfully, and Lyath will support her if she needs him. Of course, I am also here and will offer all my strength, but my mates are doing fine on their own. “It won’t be a ceremony where you make love with the females, but I can’t think of a better name.”

There’s a sharp hiss to my left. The sound has us all looking over at Kal, who is now squeezing his eyes shut. He’s probably more embarrassed than all of us at how Nia’s comment about making love with a multitude of females has impacted him. Thankfully, no one gives him a hard time just yet. In fact, they are all focusing on Nia as soon as they realize Kal is not hurt. He is just having a very bad time controlling his cock.

“Like I was saying, a mating ceremony. We’d have to get the females who are interested in mating near the males who are interested in mating and have the males smell their pheromones. According to the doctor, our pheromones are concentrated in our sweat, which is why you need to sniff armpits. The ceremony would be one day of sniffing, and then the males and females would need to be separated again.”

I hear a low grumble from one of my brothers. When I turn my eyes to where the sound is coming from, they all very purposefully look away from me. Yes, they know I am not going to allow them to interrupt my mate or to try to sway her from what she thinks is best for her sisters. She does not even spare the males who might have grumbled a look. This makes me puff my chest in pride, knowing she trusts me to handle it.

“This is the part that I’m struggling with and will need to speak with my sisters about. I know the males will want to know who their mate is immediately. So, if we do things the most direct way, the next day, we’d have the women sniff each male’s chest until we find who she reacts to. That’ll tell us who their mates are, but it doesn’t allow time for anyone to woo anyone.”

“I know, I know,” Nia waves her hands in front of her like she’s swatting away my brothers’ questions before any of them have a chance to ask them. “Why should I need to woo the female if my soul has already wooed hers? The human females will want to be wooed. So, I propose we have at least a few days of wooing before the chest sniffing to allow the women to get to know the males who are courting them.”

Nia stops talking, her eyes finding her cup of water on the table. She grabs it quickly to gulp down a few swallows of water. I have listened to her explain her plan many times, so I know she is at the end of it and just needs to open it for questions. Her hand shakes as she goes to set her cup down. Instead of letting her ask if anyone has any questions, I sit up straight in my chair, wrap my arm around her, and address my brothers.

“Are there any questions about my mate’s plan?” I ask, looking around the room and glaring at each of my brothers. If they have questions, they will need to be respectful.

Kal raises his hand, like he is a young again, waiting his turn to ask one of the elders a question during our lessons. I nod at him, letting him know he is allowed to speak since he seems to be waiting for someone to acknowledge him. The other brothers are also watching to see how I will react to his question to see if they want to ask what is on their minds.

“I mean this with the utmost respect for Beren’s mate.” Kal begins his questions in the worst way possible because now I think he is going to ask something very disrespectful. “Will the human females be willing to make love with us during this courting, or are we to wait until after they smell from our chests?”

Nia makes a sound in the back of her throat that I think for a moment is her dying, but I soon realize it is her trying to hide her laugh. I only know this because I can see a few of the other females covering their mouths with their hands, their small human eyes crinkling in the corners as they smile. Nia shakes her head, schools her features, and then answers Kal.

“I don’t have all of the answers yet, but I hope that we can make a small group that is in charge of creating a safe environment that is best for finding suitable matches.”

“You are looking for males and females to help you with this?” Yril asks, leaning his bandaged forearms onto the table. His mate is sitting in the chair next to him, looking just as interested.

“I am,” Nia says. This is another part of her plan that she has concerns about. She wasn’t sure who all might be interested in helping her or if they would all want her to handle it. She will always have Lyath and me, but we also have work to do on the farm. It will be most helpful if she has others to help her.

“Okay, so me and Yril are in,” Yril’s mate says as she flicks her long pale hair over her shoulder. “We mated in like two seconds so we can be the voice of the matebonds that form too fast. We need someone who tried to force the bond away.”

All eyes snap to Almaac, then to Dath, and finally to Toron.

“I accepted the bond immediately,” Toron says, scoffing at the eyes on him. “It is my mate who tried to deny how badly her nose wanted me.”

“I am not doing this,” Almaac says with a wave of his hand. “I have much hunting to do to make sure we have food for the new males and females. My mate may be of use to those females who have their souls shared with other males, but that is her choice.”

“That leaves my mate and I, yes?” Dath asks. His smile is large on his face, and it fills me with joy to know he is excited to be a part of this. Dath looks down at his Deja, and his smile only grows. It is the same way many of us look at our mates

“Good, so that gives us two males and three females,” Nia says.

She looks over to Kal, and I narrow my eyes at him in preparation. Why is she looking at him like she wants to ask something of him? She has asked enough of him already when she very purposefully has asked him if he would sate her female needs with his cock. She should never ask him for anything again. Kal can feel the death in my stare, and he makes sure to keep his eyes on his lap even when Nia talks to him.

“I want a single male to help as well, one who is willing to ask questions that might make some of you uncomfortable.”

Everyone in the room knows who she is asking. My stare has Kal still looking down at his hands, so he does not understand it is a pointed remark toward him.

“Kal,” I snap his name, knowing that I need to get his attention before Nia thinks to say his name. I know she will say it just to get me worked up. It would work in an instant. If she even begins to utter it, I will need to throw her over my shoulder and take her to the nearest bed.

“Yes?” Kal asks, his eyes flitting over to me before focusing on another brother and finally landing somewhere on the ceiling to the right of me.

“My mate is asking if you will assist her in creating the mating ceremony,” I repeat what Nia has said.

“What?” Kal’s eyes snap down to my mate, and his face darkens as his blood rushes to it in embarrassment. “You are asking me?”

“You’re comfortable enough to ask me about if you get to fuck the females, so yeah,” Nia says with a shrug.

She is trying and succeeding in getting me riled up now. I snap my teeth at Kal, who is wide-eyed. He is probably in a weird spot between excited and terrified, and who knows which will win.

“I would be honored,” Kal says, trying to keep his tone respectful.

I will not hurt him. I know this, but I also know that I need to get out of this room. I especially need to get Nia out of this room because I can feel the teasing energy pouring from her body. She is going to make me snap soon, and it is best if it happens closer to our home so I can make her scream my name when she finally pushes me over the edge.

“Good, two mated males, two mated females, and an unmated male to talk about love mak—“ Nia’s words are silenced as I throw her over my shoulder and begin to stalk through the dining room toward the exit.

“My mate will meet with you all after the storms have passed,” I say over my shoulder. I hold out my hand behind me, waiting for Lyath to take it before dragging him beside me and wrapping him under my arm. “Do not bother us until they are over.”

My brothers do not stop me from taking my mates to my home, and no one comes to visit us either. It is for the best since our days will be filled with hard work, and our free time will be spent finding different ways to bring my mates the most pleasurable pain.