6. Lyath

“You enjoy cock, right?” Erkoz’s voice startles me as I make up the bed in the bedroom Beren and I have been preparing for Nia. It would please us greatly to have Nia stay in our bed, but she is still growing accustomed to our world.

“Does Beren know you are here?” I ask, leaning against the far wall and crossing my arms over my chest. I know my mate, and he would not appreciate anyone asking me the kinds of questions Erkoz seems to want to ask me tonight.

“He saw me come inside. I doubt he knew I was going to ask about your enjoyment of cock, though.” Erkoz shrugs. “I figure you are the one to ask because he may only get angry at me if I were to ask him.”

“I do enjoy cock,” I snort as I answer. “I would not be mated to a male if I did not.”

“So you do not enjoy what is between a female’s legs?” Erkoz asks, taking a step toward me that has me frowning.

Erkoz has never shown any interest in a male before, but maybe being mated to a female that he shares with another has him curious about things. I will not be the male he is curious with. Oh, most definitely not.

“Does your mate know you are here?” I tilt my head to the side and raise one hand. “I am flattered, but I am not interested in you.”

“What?” Erkoz’s eyes go wide, but then his smile spreads even wider. “You think I want to make love with you?”

I motion at him, intruding into one of my bedrooms, asking me about my enjoyment of cock, and his need to continue to step closer to me until I had him stop. There is no other way to interpret his actions, and he seems to understand why I am questioning him.

“No,” he laughs and raises his hands. “I do not wish to be sealed, and Kendra would murder me if it were not Xoth who I tried with. She has asked many times, but we are hesitant.”

“Hesitant because of?”

“For reasons that are irrelevant to our current conversation,” Erkoz says, his laugh still in his voice.

“Yes, yes, the conversation about cock.”

I move back to the bed and continue setting it up. It grew dark not that long ago, but I know Beren wants to get Nia in her new home tonight. It has already been three nights of her not sleeping near us, and it is burning my mate up inside.

Every night since she has been here, we have curled up in our new bed in the home we will soon share with Nia. I know we are staying out of the great hall since Beren will struggle not to bring Nia into our home. I know I am very much wanting her near, and she is not even my mate.

Erkoz rubs his chin and then seems to settle on his words. “Are you interested in females at all?”

“Just one,” I answer honestly. I have watched Kendra bathe many times before. I do not want her anymore, though. I want only the female who is mated to my mate because she is the most perfect female for us.

“Which one?” Erkoz narrows his eyes. “Because there may be something important you need to know.”

“Nia,” I answer, confused about how he could possibly not know who it is that I am talking about. “Beren’s mate. She is beautiful and soft and all of the things we have ever wanted. I am sure her personality and mind are just as perfect.”

Erkoz’s eyes go wide and not in amusement, fun, or anything else that might be more characteristic of him. No, he is worried—more worried than I have ever seen him before. I never even knew that he was capable of anything other than being annoying.

“Where is your mate?” Erkoz asks.

“Right outside. He was finishing with sealing up the remainder of the cracks in the stones.”

Erkoz runs out of the house before I even notice he is leaving me. I drop the pillow I’m fluffing nice and soft for Nia and follow him, hoping his intention is not to upset Beren. He is already having a rough time since Nia did not seem too enthused to be mating him.

I have told him many times that she just needs some time. He is the best male, and she will notice this sooner or later. There is no reason for him to stress about it as much as he does. He has told other males that they need to have patience with the females, so I do not know why he does not take that advice himself.

“I need to speak with you,” Erkoz is already pestering Beren when I get outside. Beren is very purposefully ignoring Erkoz as he continues to seal the last few cracks. “It is urgent, and I know you think Erkoz is an annoying male, a male who has nothing better to do than to bother the others, but I am here to offer you help.”

Beren looks up to where I’m standing right behind Erkoz and gives me a questioning look. It is a small narrowing of his eyes that others might miss because of how minuscule it is, but I have been with him for many years and have learned most of his mannerisms.

“He asked me about my enjoyment of cock and females,” I say. I know this will rile Beren up, but it is necessary, I feel, to get his full attention.

Erkoz is a smart male and steps behind me, knowing Beren will go for his throat first and listen to his reasoning second. He hesitates when he is first met with my palm on his chest and a hopeful smile on my lips.

“Speak and be quick,” Beren snaps.

“Your mate is interested in having others woo her,” Erkoz says and shifts more behind me like he is a cowering young who is afraid of a scolding he is about to get. “She is with Dath’s mate in the great hall, scheming of ways to get into their pants. It is what they have said.”

“And you allowed this?” Beren’s hiss is loud in the night air.

I do not know why Nia would look to others for companionship unless she is unsatisfied with Beren as her mate. There is no way because he is the most perfect mate.

“I allow nothing,” Erkoz says, the humor returning to his voice now that he knows he’s not going to be killed. “I heard them scheming, listened to it all, and then came to you when I felt I knew everything I needed to know. I would not have even come to you because I did not think you were interested in females, but I think your female may be interested in you.”

“We are very much interested in females,” Beren snaps, somehow missing the better part of what Erkoz says when he says that Nia wants us, or at least seems like she does. How Erkoz could notice this, I want to know, but I also know that he might be making all of it up to trick us and make us look like fools.

“Yes, well, I do not think a single male in this tribe knows this,” Erkoz says, stepping out from behind me now that it seems the worst of Beren’s outburst is over. “Ralleth has given his blessing on allowing your mate to play with the brothers as my Kendra does.” Erkoz pauses, tilts his head to the side, and then adds. “Well, more than my Kendra since your female has made it clear she is interested in cock.”

Beren lunges for Erkoz, but the other male seems ready for it and quickly dodges out of the way. He smiles brightly as I wrap an arm around Beren’s shoulders and hold him back from attacking Erkoz.

“He wants you angry,” I murmur to my mate, hoping to calm him enough to see reason.

Of course, Erkoz does not help anything by laughing at the fool Beren is making himself out to be. We gain nothing by attacking Erkoz, and he only wins because he can tell he is getting under at least one of our scales.

Beren takes a deep breath, his eyes flickering back to black as he tries to calm himself. He looks at me but asks a question of Erkoz. “When?”

“Tomorrow,” Erkoz says. “She was talking with one of her sisters about all the males who are agreeable to being with mated females.”

“I will kill them then,” Beren says it like it is an answer to this problem when it most certainly is not. “Give me the names they talked about. I will kill them all.”

“For what reason? Because your mate is looking for companionship in the form of lovemaking?” Erkoz chooses the wrong words on purpose, as if he does not know how little control I have over my mate on a good day. “They have done nothing wrong and will not do anything wrong if we play this correctly.”

“We?” Beren and I both snap at Erkoz and narrow our eyes at him. There is no we in this at all unless we are talking about Beren and me. Erkoz is not part of this at all.

“Fine, fine,” Erkoz grumbles as he shakes his head. “I will excuse myself, but I think you should think about a way that does not include killing to get your mate to notice you.” Another pause as Beren and I try to think of a plan, and Erkoz watches the confusion on our faces. He barks out another laugh and then continues. “Maybe also think of a way to get others to think you are interested in females. That might help your female to see that maybe she can go to you for lovemaking.”

“She should already know this,” Beren hisses but does not lunge for Erkoz this time. No, it is much worse this time because I can see the hurt on his face. “I have mated her. Why would she not first come to me with this?”

Erkoz ponders this question for a moment, his head tilting, thumb rubbing his chin. Then, he shrugs and turns away as though he has said all he wants to say and wants to return to the great hall now. I mean, there is not much more for him to do since it is Beren’s mate. That is the problem. Well, not even a problem, but she has a problem, and she has not brought it to him. He is a wonderful male, and he will fix her problem in an instant.

“I can go speak with her,” I say when Erkoz has vanished around some of the trees on the perimeter of our lot of land to start our farm. “She was friendly enough with me. Maybe I can ask her why she did not come to us for her use and is instead thinking of using other brothers?”

“No.” Beren shakes his head as he speaks. “She obviously does not feel comfortable enough around us yet. Offering her my cock is not going to make her trust us more.”

“It is a glorious cock, though,” I say, hoping to earn a smile from my mate. He, of course, loves hearing his praises and gives me a nip on my shoulder in response.

“We should go collect my other mate before it is much later,” Beren says when he releases my shoulder. “I do not want her thinking she is to sleep in the great hall again. No, not anymore.”

“Well, I finished her room, so she has a place to stay.” I wrap my fingers in Beren’s and pull him in the same direction Erkoz went, back to the tribe.

The walk is not long because we chose one of the abandoned farmhouses closest to the tribe. With females coming to us every month, we thought it would be smart to start up a bigger farm than the small garden we had inside the tribe’s walls.

When I was younger, my family was very prominent in tending the farms outside the walls. When the sickness came and took all of our females, my brothers left for other tribes, and my father moved himself and me into the tribe walls. He could not tend the farm and raise me at the same time while I was still so young.

Now, I am excited to get to start back up what my family did. It is hard work, but it is work to be proud of, work that sustains our growing tribe. Beren may not be as excited as me, but when I spoke of wanting a garden, he built it for me. When I asked about expanding, he found us this home and made it livable again.

When we near the great hall doors, Beren pulls me to a stop and nuzzles his head close to mine so our horns lock against one another for a moment.

“I want you to get my mate and then take her home.” Beren pushes away from me. His dark eyes offer me nothing right now, which means he is determined to do whatever he is thinking about right now. I doubt he will tell me his plan before he has done it. I will ask him later in bed what he has done, and he will confess it all. “If you do not think it is safe to go, wait for me where we normally sit, and I will be there shortly.”

“You will be safe?” I ask, needing to know that he will not be too foolish tonight.

“The safest.” He nods and gives my shoulders a squeeze.

“Then I will make sure both your mates make it home.”

Beren looks at me with a smile that I try very hard to make sure I can imagine in my mind forever. He cups my cheek, his thumb rubbing me twice before he opens the door to the great hall and motions me inside. He slips into the first hallway, leaving me to find his mate and get her home. It’s an easy enough task, especially when I see her with her head on her arms, already fast asleep while some of her sisters and brothers chat around her.

“I am taking Beren’s mate home,” I say when I approach the table.

Dath’s mate, Deja, looks up at me with a bright smile as she nods. “She can stay with us if you both want your privacy. We know you just got the new house set up.”

My brows furrow, and a frown takes over the smile that was on my lips. “She shares a mate with me now. It makes sense she would share a home with me, too.”

Deja’s brows rise on her forehead, but I care very little for whatever else she has to say. I am upset that she would even offer her room to Nia for even longer when she has a perfectly good room with Beren and me. Erkoz was right when he said no one in the tribe knows we are interested in females. They really think Beren mated Nia so she could stay on this planet and for nothing else. I push those thoughts to the side, knowing it is more important to get Nia back home safely.

“Beren’s mate,” I whisper softly near her ear as I jostle her shoulder. I would very much like to say her name, but Beren is not here. If he knew I was saying it without him, he would be very unhappy with me. I would love to share a bed with her, but it is something that would be a group event.

Nia wakes with a groan, her head rolling on her forearms. Then she stops her movements, her body going limp again. I let out a huff of breath in amusement and repeat the process. When she looks at me from the crook of her arm, I offer her my kindest smile.

“Hm?” she asks.

“We should get you home, yes?” I ask, not wanting to move her anywhere against her will. She did not go back to Deja’s room or any of the other female’s rooms to sleep tonight. I am hoping this means she was waiting for Beren and me to fetch her. Perhaps she knows tonight is the night we will all be together in one home.

“Yeah.” Nia rubs at her eyes, blinking them open just to squint them like the low lighting in the dining room is too bright, even though most of the fires have started to dim. “I’m ready for bed.”

“Can you walk?” I ask, hoping the answer is no so I can hold her in my arms for the journey back. “I can carry you if that is okay?”

“Yeah.” Nia nods, her head falling back against her arms as she tries to settle back in for more sleep.

“Up we go, then.” I reach one arm under the crook in her knees and the other behind her shoulder blades as I scoop her into my arms. I expect more of a reaction from her since it is my first time carrying a female in this way, and I am not the most graceful. Instead, she grumbles something under her breath and nuzzles against my chest, trying to hide her eyes from any light that might try to sneak under her lids.

I’ve just stepped out of the great hall when her eyes peek up from where she has them tucked against my chest.

“I’m sorry,” she says with words much more coherent than I expect from her when she is staving off sleep.

“What for?” There’s nothing she has done, probably nothing she could do, that she will ever need to be sorry for.

Well, anything except for sharing a bed with any other males who are not Beren or me. That would hurt, and I would like an apology for that, but that has not happened and will not happen. So, once again, there’s nothing she could do to need to apologize for.

Nia puts her cheek back against my chest, and I wish I had not worn a tunic. I would like to feel her warm skin against my scales, even if it does not lead to more touching.

“For tonight.” She pauses and lets her body feel heavy in my arms for a moment. “I’m sorry for tonight.”

I still do not know what she means because she hasn’t done anything tonight that could warrant an apology. Sure, scheming ways to get males to try to woo her is not Beren’s or mine’s favorite thing, but she has not done anything wrong. Females and males are allowed to want to be wooed. I make Beren woo me all of the time, even if he is not the best at it. They should all be wooed, especially ones as beautiful as our Nia.

“You have nothing to apologize for,” I say to her. Her breathing is already deep again, and I am sure she has already slipped back into sleep. I feel the need to say them anyway. Whatever wrong she thinks she has committed, I will right it in the morning when she is thinking more clearly and not fighting off sleep. I squeeze her tighter to me, wanting the journey back to the house to be even longer so I can keep her in my arms.

Our home comes into view much faster than I want it to. Nia rolls to face me when I place her in her bed. She whines softly when I cover her in the thin blanket that she will toss off herself if she is anything like the other females who all get much too hot on our planet. I stand in her doorway, watching her sleep until Beren returns home. Then, we both stand in the doorway until we are tired and retreat back to our room across from Nia’s.