17. Lyath

The storms finally stopped for the season a few days ago. There were enough small patches of light rain where Beren could run to get more food from the tribe, but it was never long enough for him to feel safe with Nia or me joining him. We still sat on the porch, comforting one another until Beren returned a short while later, out of breath and tired from running through the trees. I am sure he has proved to be the quickest male in the whole tribe. He told us he refused to be trapped in the great hall ever again without the two of us.

Now that the storms are over until the next season, we need to continue work on the farm. The crops are already growing very well, and if we are lucky, the first harvest will be ready soon after the first of the humans arrive.

Today, I am working on assessing the damage to the irrigation system since we have not used it in many, many years. I hope that the system only needs to be cleaned and maybe repaired in small parts. I am doing this when two males come out from the tree line, a young male hidden behind a taller male who looks as though he has recently gone through the changing because of how awkward he moves.

Beren is at the great hall, grabbing more seeds that should have arrived earlier today. Nia is with him to check if there is more fabric so she can keep making clothing for her future sisters. So I am left alone at our home and alone to deal with these almost strangers. The only reason I am not more concerned is that the small male, hiding behind the grown male, has a broken horn that I remember belongs to the young who is living with Toron now.

“Can I help you?” I stand from where I am looking over the watering system.

I wipe my dirt-covered hands on my pants as I walk over to the two males and notice that neither is looking at me. In fact, they are very purposefully looking at the ground in front of them as though they do not feel comfortable speaking to me at all.

I am almost positive the young staying with Toron is turning into a little terror, so I do not know why he is shy now. The other male, his brother, if I remember correctly, is small even for a grown male, so I understand why he might be more intimidated by speaking with me.

“Are you lost?” I ask, trying to keep my voice light so they won’t look so frightful.

I remember what it was like when I first went through the change. I still felt like I was a small male, even if my body was much larger and I could handle myself. This male in front of me still does not trust that he is a strong male. It does not help that he is about the size of Dath before he went through the transformation to be one of the goddess’s chosen warriors. Meaning he is a small male even if he is fully grown.

“You must be lost,” I say, nodding to myself. “Come with me. I will show you the way back to the tribe. My mate is working on making a path, but he is slow about it since he has been busy with—“ I cut myself off, remembering that there is a young hiding behind the larger male.

“No,” the grown male says a little too harshly and then winces like I might strike him. I take a step back, holding my hands up by my head so that he does not think I am a threat. “Sorry, no, we are meant to be here.”

“Here?” I ask.

I look around my farm as though something will help me understand why they are at my home. Maybe they are looking for another brother or some plants for Dath to make paints out of. Surely, they do not mean to be here since I do not know what they could want from me or my home.

“Yes, uh, Toron said we could be of use,” the older of the two says.

He doesn’t get to tell me anything else before the young male pushes past him and stands between us. His arms cross in front of his chest and he holds his head high as he meets my eyes.

“I was told I had to earn my keep to stay in the tribe,” the young says, a hint of defiance in his voice that has a smile pulling at my lips. Yes, this is much more like the young I thought him to be. “Toron says I am in his debt because I kept his Alice safe, but all of the males from our tribe have to help if we want a female. I do not want one, but my brother should have one because he is lonely, so we are here to help.”

“Is this so?” I stand with my hands on my hips, looking from the young to his brother and returning my gaze to the young since he’s better at speaking to me. “You are here to help on the farm? Your wardens know this?”

“We were told to wait for your mate to show us the way, but he was taking too long. I told Marron I could find it,” the young says and then looks around the farm like he is just now realizing where they are and what kind of work they might have to do. “I am Thro, but you probably knew that. Everyone in the tribe knows me now. I think I am a favorite— the most favorite male.”

Marron rolls his eyes, the first hint of any personality that I have seen from him. I cover my laugh at what Thro has said with a clearing of my throat and then cock my head to the side. “Fine, I could use your help. You know this will be hard work, yes?”

“My brother is strong, and I am clever. We can do anything between the two of us,” Thro says, walking toward me, hands on his hips like mine. He stares up at me and tilts his head to the side in a mimic of how I am looking at him when he gets close. It is clear he is waiting for me to say or do something more.

“This way.” I motion for the two of them to follow me. “I am checking the watering system for the fields right now. So far, everything looks good for this field, but it needs to be cleaned. Your job for today is to clean the small ditches in the fields. They have been unused for many years and are filled with dirt, rocks, and all kinds of stuff.”

I kneel down next to the first of the ditches. I dig through the dirt and push it off to the side until I reach the bottom of the small trench.“They are coated in a layer of tar to keep the water from leaking, so when you get to it, you have cleaned a section well enough.”

“That is all?” Thro narrows his eyes as he kneels next to me and begins to clean the next section. “This seems much easier than I was led to believe it would be.”

“How much work do you want to do?” I ask, leaving it up to him to tell me how much he can handle. I am surprised when Marron answers instead.

“We will do whatever work needs to be done,” he says, not looking at me. His words have a conviction that reminds me of Beren when he talks about keeping Nia and me safe. “We know we are lucky to be housed in this tribe, and we will do whatever we need to make sure you do not regret allowing us to stay.”

I narrow my eyes on the male but do not say anything else. He has things he needs to work through on his own, but I will be here if he needs to talk. I will not pry, though, because that is what the rest of my brothers will do in the tribe.

Part of what I love about working on the farm and in all of the small gardens I used to keep in the tribe is that I would have time to myself to think about all the things that troubled me without anyone bothering me. Maybe that is what Marron needs, so who am I to interrupt his solitude?

“I will be working on inspecting the other watering systems,” I say as I move to stand again. “I ask that you take care when you move since these are still growing crops.”

The two males look around and then give me stiff nods before returning to their work. As I walk away. Thro grumbles softly until his older brother gives him a stern hiss.

“We will make ourselves useful for once in our lives. This is our home, and we will make it a good one.”

I don’t turn around to let them know I can hear their conversation. Especially not when Thro begins to tell his brother that a chosen warrior owes him a debt, so he will always be welcome in the tribe.

I move to the furthest field, letting the males work on their own and work through whatever family issues they are having. Thankfully, I am not working on my own for long when Beren and Nia appear at the edge of the trees.

“Did two males make it here?” Beren asks me, his eyes scanning over the fields until they land on the red scales poking out from near the field closest to our home. “Ah, they made it, good. Did they give you any trouble?”

“No trouble,” I answer, standing to my full height and walking toward the two.

Nia has her arms full of so much fabric that she can barely see over the top of it. I can see how her eyes crinkle in the corners, though, and I know she is more than excited to begin making clothing for her sisters. I grab a couple of the bags of seeds from Beren, who would probably be telling me he could carry all on his own, except that he looks like he has been struggling to carry so much in one go.

Beren seems to know what I am thinking because he gives me a playful smile. “I did not want to make another trip, but I did not realize I would not have alone time with my mates.” He looks over to the two males, who lower their heads and go back to work when we notice them watching us. “I might have been more open to multiple trips had I known.”

“My poor mate,” I tease him, hoisting two of the bags up and making my way toward the house. “We will need to make it up to you tonight, yes?” I turn to Nia, who is nodding furiously behind her pile of fabrics.

“Yes, yes,” Beren agrees with me. He hastens his steps until he is at the door first, opening it so Nia and I can enter before him. He sets his bags on the table before turning to face me and taking mine.

Nia runs over to where she enjoys sitting and deposits all of her fabrics. She picks out a large swatch of cloth and her cutting tools before walking back out the door and making herself comfortable on the porch.

“You are making good work of the land,” Beren says to me as he leans against the door frame.

He crosses his arms across his chest, his muscled arms straining against the fabric of his tunic. It makes my eyes travel over his body. Beren chuckles low in his throat, and I know I am going to enjoy whatever he chooses to do now very much.

Or, I would be enjoying it if the young did not take this moment to interrupt us.

“I wanted to introduce myself to your mates,” Thro says, standing just as tall as he was when he spoke to me. “Marron is too shy, but it is important that you all know the names of the males who are being very, very helpful on your farm.” He pauses, rubs his chin, and then continues. “So helpful that it would probably be good of you to tell Ralleth we are the most useful. Also, maybe tell Toron because he is someone who should know too, I think.”

Beren’s smile is small, but I can see he is very much amused by the young who has interrupted our moment together. He stands in the doorway and I join him to look down at the young male standing in front of Nia and smiling up at all of us. His fingers twitch at his sides, the only thing that tells us he’s not as confident as he seems, but we aren’t ones to point that out.

Beren steps in front of Nia, Thro steps back, and then Beren kneels down to be at eye level with the male. “Thro and Marron, yes?” Beren waits for the young to nod, his fingers interlocking with one another. “I will make sure Ralleth and Toron both know you have been and will continue to be very helpful. We will need much help on the farm, especially if we are to feed so many females, yes?”

“Yes.” Thro’s eyes light up at the description of what we’re doing here. “It is good to be helpful. This is what I have been taught.”

“You have been taught well,” Beren says and raises a hand to pat the young on the shoulder. He doesn’t miss the flinch when he first raises his hand but doesn’t let Thro feel bad for it. He lowers his hand to his shoulder slowly and gives it a squeeze. “Go continue your work. I am sure I will be there to help you in just a moment.”

Thro lifts his hand to rub his horn as he nods. His hand meets the jagged edge of his broken horn, and his eyes go wide before he turns from us and all but runs back to his brother. Marron hugs him to his chest for a moment, and then they’re back to cleaning the watering system. Beren frowns as he looks at them but then dusts himself off and turns to Nia and me.

“You will both be productive today, yes?” Beren asks Nia and me as though we’re not always productive.

Sure, most of our productivity is in the bedroom, but that is the best way to be productive. Nia must be thinking the same thing because she opens her mouth to argue but closes it when she sees that the two other males are much closer than any of us would like for that kind of talk. That must be the reason Beren has said what he has and the reason he looks so mischievous.

“I will work on the irrigation ditches,” I say, squeezing Beren’s hand as I step next to him. I cup Nia’s face and stroke her cheek with my thumb. “You will make wonderful clothes for your sisters, yes?”

Nia smiles up at me and nods, her attention falling back to her work when I step away.

“That leaves only our mate, who needs to find a way to be useful.” I let my eyes rake over Beren’s body. They linger in all of my favorite spots until he moves from side to side in embarrassment. I look into his eyes, a smile forming on my lips, “Maybe it is Beren who will need to find a way to be useful when the day is over.”

Beren opens his mouth to say something, his eyes narrowing like he wants to pin me against something and remind me who is in charge of our mating. Nia is faster than him, though, and she is all too willing to tease our shared mate. “He’ll need to work so hard tonight. We’ll have done so much work, and he’ll need to catch up.”

Beren shakes his head. “Fine. We will see how much you make me work when the sky has darkened. Until then, stop trying to get me to take you to bed now.”

“That’s what you love about us, though.” Nia pouts. I try to mimic her pouting face, but it does not work out as well since my lips do not move that way. Beren seems to appreciate my attempt, though, and he most definitely loves that look on Nia because it reminds him how plush and soft her lips are.

“I love you both for much more than just your teasing,” Beren says, his words hard like he thinks we do not know this already.

“We love you as well, Beren,” I say right as Nia says, “We both love you too.” Beren looks between the two of us, his hand reaching for me, then Nia, and then falling to his side when he realizes there’s nothing for us to do about it now.

“Later, we will see how much I love when you love me,” Beren says, turning from us to work with Marron and Thro in the field.

“We’re pretty lucky,” Nia says as we watch Beren walk away from us. He has an amazing backside, and I know his other mate agrees with that as well. That is why we both enjoy watching him walk away from us. It might be one of our favorite things to do with one another that is not done in bed.

“We are blessed,” I agree.

We are so blessed to have a male who loves us, protects us, and makes sure we want nothing other than more of his attention. It is how we will be from this day until our last. All of the days in between will be my favorites because they will be filled with moments with my two favorite creatures, my mate and his mate who the goddess brought to us.