18. Beren

It is much too early in the morning to have guests already visiting us. Even Marron and Thro do not come out this early. They normally come once the sky has lightened, but not this early. Never this early.

I open the door to my home, eyes already red since someone has brought me out of my bed where my mates are currently curled up with one another, just begging me to sit and watch them until they fully wake. I narrow my eyes at the empty air when I open the door and then drop my gaze down to two human females who are staring up at me with a false sense of confidence.

I know it is false because I have seen Thro use it many times. Even now, he sometimes resorts to faking it, but he is growing into his own. Even if he is annoying. It is good to see he is not still stuck as the scared young he was when he came here. The same could be said for Marron, except he is still scared much of the time. He had no one to shield him from his father, though, and does not know that many males are kind and protective over those they care for. It is something he is slowly learning by living with Toron.

“Yes?” I tilt my head to the side. My fury dissipates now that I can see it is two of my mate’s sisters standing on my porch instead of brothers here to annoy me early in the morning. Thankfully, my eyes also shift to black.

The older of the two females nudges the younger one on the shoulder, and she begins speaking. “My name is Jennifer, and this is my cousin, Tori. We need a place to live that’s not the great hall.”

My eyes narrow, and my mind immediately races toward thoughts of one of the brothers doing something to make them uncomfortable. The older one’s eyes widen, and she begins to speak to the younger one in quick, disjointed sounds that I don’t understand at all.

I lean closer, straining my ears to understand her since what she is saying makes no sense. All of the other females can speak to us and understand us, so I do not know what is happening now. The smaller girl huffs and looks back up at me.

“My cousin and I need somewhere to live.” She points up at me like she is accusing me of something, and it makes me want to laugh at how sure it is. “No one has touched us or talked to us or made us feel bad. My cousin can’t understand you, though, and so we need somewhere else to be so they all stop looking at her like she’s broken.”

I hiss loudly at the word broken being used to describe any of the females the goddess has blessed our tribe with. It is a word that my Nia has used to describe herself in the past, and I hated it then as much as I hate hearing another female use it now.

“Does she not understand what I am saying?” I ask, making sure I understand what the two females are asking. “When did you both come to the tribe and do the others know?”

Jennifer turns to her cousin and speaks in the same disjointed sounds that make me realize how much I have taken Nia’s ability to speak with me for granted. All of the other females who have joined our tribe can understand my brothers and me. They can all speak with us as well. It is one of the gifts that they received before coming to our tribe, but it seems as though one of the females was forgotten.

The two speak back and forth with words I do not understand until Tori is looking back up at me, her mouth moving and sounds falling from it. I let my eyes drop to her blood and wait for her to tell me what is being said.

“We arrived with the latest batch of females, so like ten days ago. The others don’t talk to us much, and Tori hasn’t told anyone she can’t understand you. She thought it would get us sent back to Earth.” Jennifer’s jaw ticks back and forth, a fire in her eyes as she clenches her fists at her sides. “We had hoped if we lived somewhere not in the great hall, we wouldn’t be seen as a burden, and maybe you wouldn’t send—“

I hold my hand up to silence whatever else Jennifer wants to say because I have heard enough. There are two terrified human females at my doorstep, scared they will be sent back to their dying planet if there is not someone to keep them safe and protected.

“Come inside.” I open the door wider, showing them to the sitting room and motioning for them to take a seat. “Let me go and wake my mates so we can all discuss this. I have no intentions of forcing a female out of the tribe, and so if that is what is happening, you will have a home here for as long as you need.”

Jennifer listens to me but doesn’t begin to translate for long moments. I think at first she isn’t sure of how to say some of the words, but that makes no sense. It isn’t until she begins to talk and the tightness of her words makes me realize she is trying not to sound emotional.

I turn from the two females, allowing them a moment to themselves while I figure out how to wake my mates without them being upset with me since they very much enjoy their sleep. They will want to help the two females, though. They are always looking for ways to help because somehow, I have managed to mate with two of the most selfless creatures. This is good because I am selfish enough for the three of us.

6 Months Later

I sit in the entryway to our home as I take a swig of water. Jen, Tori, and Thro are all sitting around for their lessons. Thro is still catching up so he can be on the same level of education as other males his age, and Tori is working on learning how to speak the language. Jen sits with them so she can work on her studies as well since she was still a young in school when her planet collapsed. I do not know how similar our teachings are, but I do know when I was their age I was very much bored when my father tried to teach me anything past learning to read. Maybe that makes me a dumb male, but I am strong, so this is fine.

“What are you doing?” Nia wraps her around me and rests her head on my shoulder. She is working on making dinner for everyone, and I am supposed to be helping her since I finished my work early enough. I smile and tilt my head upward so I am leaning more against her.

Lyath is off somewhere tending to his crops with Marron. Knowing there is so much love and happiness in our home makes my chest fill with pride, especially since we are getting to share it with others.

“Taking only a small break.” I reach back and wrap my fingers around one of her legs. “The sky will begin to darken soon. I think I am about to call them all inside.”

“Mmm,” Nia hums softly before pressing her lips to my cheek and standing back up behind me. “Food’s almost ready, but you’ll need to walk the unmated male back to the tribe.”

I make a sound of disapproval, but I know it is for the best. Marron is not allowed to be near an unmated female of mating age, which means he is not allowed in our home anymore. It upsets me because the male was finally starting to feel more comfortable around all of us. The rules are there to keep Nia’s sisters safe, though, so I do nothing more than make a disapproving sound.

“As soon as either of them goes through the mating ceremony and finds a mate, we won’t have to keep them separated anymore,” Nia tells me. She has told me the same thing every time I have grumbled about having to send Marron away when the rest of us stay and have a nice family dinner in our home.

I do not know if Nia does not see the way Marron looks at Tori or if she is purposefully trying to ignore it. I know Marron does not want to go through the mating ceremony until he is certain Tori will be there. I have yet to ask Tori how she feels about it because if I know she is also interested in Marron, I will be just as nosy and conniving as my brothers. I like to think I am at least a little better than them in that regard.

“I will go see if Thro is staying with us tonight or if he plans on going with his brother,” I say, standing from where I was resting.

Thro spends half of his evenings with us. Sometimes, he will stay the night and sleep on the couch, and sometimes, I have to escort him back because I do not want anything to happen to him on the short journey back to the tribe. Half the time, he returns with his brother, though, and they have dinner with Toron and his mate since that is where they live.

Lyath stands from one of the further fields, and I take a moment to admire my mate in all of his glory. I do not know when he removed his shirt, but it must have been recently because there is no way I would not have noticed sooner. He catches me staring at him, a smile splitting his lips, as he waves a hand in my direction. I tilt my head toward the house, telling him we’re about to all go in for the day. He nods once and then turns to Marron, who must be working on his knees near him so I cannot see. A moment later, Marron stands, dusting his palms on his shorts and looking over at me.

“I will take Thro home tonight,” he yells across the field, loud enough to stop the others in their lessons. Thro immediately tries to object, but his brother has told him what he will do, so he will do it—even though he might complain the whole time.

“Can I help with anything?” I ask Jen and Tori as I walk to where they are having their lessons.

The female who teaches them has a mate who works with some of the other males to help rebuild the houses in the tribe. She and her mate were not exactly who we thought would be coming to help with rebuilding since they were already mated and much older. Then they introduced us to their sons, and it became clear that they came to offer their help and their sons’ help to see if there was a better chance for their sons to find mates. This is fine, but they have tried to help on my farm as a way to get near Tori, and that is not fine.

I would not be surprised if one of the males comes soon to walk his mother back to the tribe, but I will make sure Tori is inside before that happens. I tell myself I do this because she has shown no interest in any males, but mostly, I do it because I know how Marron feels about her and do not want other males to think they have a chance with her. Nia tells me I should not interfere, but what she does not know does not hurt her. I mean, I will still tell her all about it, but right now, she cannot stop me from herding Jen and Tori into the house.

They have just stepped inside when I see Joll come walking through the trees. I shake my head in disapproval as I watch him look through the fields in search of the human female who cannot speak to him very well. Many males have been interested in her recently, and it makes me want to hiss at all of them and tell them to stay away from my ward because that is what she is now. Basically family, since I have lived with her for half a year now. Yes, no one is allowed to try to woo her without my permission. It is really the least I can do to make sure my mate’s sister is kept safe.

Joll lifts a hand to wave at me, a smile on his lips. I raise mine as well but do not give him a smile. I do not think I have ever smiled at him, and I do not think I ever will. Marron and Thro catch my attention, moving in the same direction that Joll is. I cannot hear what Joll says, but it has Marron’s body tensing and Thro throwing his hands up and yelling at something to the other male. I press my lips tightly together, wanting to go over and find out what they’re arguing about today. Nia is wrapping an arm around my waist before I can, though.

“Let them figure it out,” Nia says softly, her body pressing against me.

I let out a huff, “Thro and Jen could take lessons from many others in the tribe, and Tori is learning the language quickly. Soon, we will not have any reason for Joll’s mother to be here.”

“Okay,” Nia says. She wraps her fingers in mine and pulls me from the doorway into the dining room, where everyone is already sitting and waiting for me before we begin eating. “Then how about we discuss it together about whether or not we want to have someone else provide lessons.”

“Please,” Jen says quickly as I take a seat at the table. “At this point, she isn’t teaching Thro and me anything we don’t already know. I think she exaggerated her experience when she told you she could teach us.”

I cross my arms over my chest and watch as everyone begins to fill their plates. I want to make sure the young under my care are the first to eat their fill, and then, of course, both of my mates. I eat whatever is left when they have all filled themselves as much as they want.

“And your blood?” I turn my eyes to Tori.

Tori takes a deep breath and chews on her lip. I can see that she is trying to find the right words in her mind to speak with me. She tries her hardest to speak with us in our language, and she has made much progress since coming to live with us. She very rarely has Jen or Nia translate for her because she enjoys trying to make the words make sense on her own. “She does talk,” another pause and Tori closes her eyes for a moment. “Talks about her sons a lot.”

Jen lets out another huff of disapproval that catches everyone’s attention. Tori frowns at her, but Jen doesn’t let it stop her from saying something. “She talks about her sons all of the time. Any time she can think of working them into a lesson. I’m sorry, but math doesn’t need a whole story about how strong her sons are.”

Lyath lets out a snort, and Nia tries to cover her mouth from laughing as well. I find nothing humorous in it, though. I did not allow the female onto my land so she could try to match her sons to my ward, and I most definitely do not like that she is trying to pressure Tori into something she does not want.

“She will not be invited back then,” I say with a finality that has them all looking at me as though I have grown a new pair of horns. I lean forward in my seat, resting my arms on the table as I explain myself. “I do not want anyone in my care to worry about being forced into anything. So, we will find someone else to help Thro and Jen with their lessons, and Tori can work on her language skills with Lyath or me any time we are free.”

Nia whispers quietly everything I have just said to Tori so she is not left out. Yes, Tori prefers not to have translations unless she asks for them, but she seems to understand this is an important discussion for all of us. Tori nods along as Nia talks, and then whispers back to her something in their language. Nia smiles, a hand going to her shoulder and squeezing it. I give my mate a questioning look, but she shakes her head, telling me it is something she will tell me about when we are in the privacy of our room.

“Okay, moving on then.” I clap my hands together and change the subject. “One thing you learned today.” I turn my gaze to Lyath, who has just taken a large bite of his food. He scowls at me but swallows quickly.

He surprises us all by taking a deep breath and saying words in the same language that Tori speaks most of the time. “I learned tuh say this.” He beams with pride as he gets the words out, and Nia and Jen begin to clap for him almost instantly. Tori and I are sat in stunned silence as we look at my mate and his care to try to learn something that means so much to Tori.

“That was so good,” Nia says, grabbing his face between her hands and planting a soft kiss on his lips.

Lyath’s scales flush in embarrassment, and then he’s rubbing one of his horns. “I know it is not perfect, but our mouths do not move the same, and I cannot stop the hiss in my ‘sss’ sounds.”

“We didn’t even notice,” Nia says, her smile seeming to grow even brighter somehow.

When Nia settles back into her seat, Tori turns her whole body to face him. She tilts her head to the side and then asks him a one-word question in our language: “Why?”

“I cannot give all my secrets away,” Lyath says with a wiggle in his brow. Then, slowly, he says. “It is best we all learn, yes? Then we can all understand each other.” He pauses, leans further over the table, and whispers. “Plus, we can then talk about others in front of them without them knowing.”

Tori holds her hand to her mouth, eyes sparkling with tears as she stares up at my mate as though he has offered her something she has only ever dreamed about. I decide right then and there that I will learn their silly Earth language so quickly. None of the others see the determination I have set myself to, but when Nia squeezes my hand and forces my eyes to hers, I know she knows I will do anything for this family we have built. The best family any male could ask for.