TAUSHEN

I search each face of my tribesmates as they arrive. Rokan, who is mated to Li-lah. Bek, who is mated to Ell-ee. Vektal, who is mated to Shorshie. Raahosh and his mate, Leezh. Salukh. Ereven. Hassen. Zolaya. Pashov. Cashol. All mated hunters.

There is no one that can resonate to Brooke. I am relieved, even though I am also angry at myself for being so possessive. She has made it clear she does not wish to be mine. That she only endures my touch when she is drugged.

She is not mine…but I am glad she will also not be another’s. Not yet.

Then I think of the four males waiting in their pods and scowl to myself.

Vektal claps me on the shoulder in greeting as they arrive at the cave-ship. The others are close behind, Rokan and Bek pulling up the rear. They drag sleds behind them, full of furs and gear that will be needed. When I see that, I know the answer that my chief has decided.

Like it or not, we will be waking up the twenty strangers.

My distaste for this must show on my face, because Vektal’s smile of greeting turns to a concerned look. “Has anything else happened? Have more returned?”

“All is well enough,” I tell him, carefully hiding my feelings. “No others have arrived. Come. The others will be glad to see you.”

Someone puts a hand to his mouth and calls out a boisterous “ho” in greeting. Zolaya, who is always happy and cheerful. It seems almost inappropriate, though I would not say such a thing. Zolaya has a good heart.

One by one, others emerge from the ship. Rukh appears, spear in hand, and then Farli rushes out to hug her brothers. Mardok follows behind his mate, though his greeting is not as cheery, and Har-loh waits by her mate’s side. Brooke does not rush out to greet the others either, taking her time to appear. When she does, I frown to see that her soft mane is knotted in high, decorative tails over each shoulder. Has she made herself attractive knowing that the others would arrive?

Why do I care? Why do I notice? She hates my touch.

“Everyone is well?” Vektal asks, going around to greet each tribesmate with a clasped arm and a quick look-over. “I wanted to bring Maylak, but the healer said she would be of more use back at Croatoan. The ship can heal just as well as her, she says.” He looks dubious. “Is anyone wounded?”

“We are all whole,” Farli tells him, casting a worried look at Mardok.

“Only our hearts are bruised,” Har-loh says a moment later, and clasps her hands over her belly. “Is Rukhar okay? Did he make the trip all right? Did he cry?” She sounds as if she will cry, as well, and Rukh puts a protective arm around his mate’s shoulders.

“Little Rukhar has not left Shail’s side,” Cashol offers. “He follows her like a shadow, and she clucks over him like a lonely dirtbeak.”

“There’s a visual,” Har-loh says with a teary little laugh and wipes at her eyes. “But it makes me feel a little better, at least.”

“Then I am glad.” He smiles patiently at her, and I suspect he sees a little of his own mate in Har-loh’s tears. “Is there somewhere to set a fire and make tea? I can tell you about Rukhar as we do.”

“There’s a kitchen,” she says, glancing at Rukh and then nodding at Cashol. “I’ll show you.”

Rukh follows behind them, his hand on Har-loh’s back protectively. I see that small move and think, I understand you. Cashol is mated, but I understand being possessive of a female. I thought I understood it when I sought Ti-fa-ni’s attention many seasons ago. Or when Li-lah and her sister arrived. Or when Farli came of age and there were not many male hunters left unmated in the tribe and I was sure to be her choice for a pleasure-mate. But how I felt all those times pales to how I feel about Brooke now. There is a hungry, furious craving for her deep in my gut that will not ease. I watch her as she greets the others, smiling politely and laughing at Zolaya’s jokes as the sleds are parked in the snow nearby.

It does not matter that she is not mine in her eyes. I view her as mine and mine alone.

Vektal claps a hand on my shoulder, drawing my attention. “Show me these new humans,” he tells me.

“You just got here,” Mardok says. “Want to take a load off first?”

“I have no load that I cannot shoulder,” Vektal tells him with a nod, and for some reason that makes Mardok smile. Vektal continues. “And I have thought about these new humans for many, many days. I would wait no longer.”

“Come,” I tell him. “I will show you.”

I turn to go inside the ship and I am not entirely surprised that everyone chooses to follow behind us. Of course they will. It is exciting to hear that new humans will be joining us, even if the others are already mated.

Perhaps I should be excited at the prospect of sixteen new females, all of whom I could resonate to the moment they emerge from their sleep pods. But the thought does not fill me with the joy it would have, once. Instead, I think of Brooke. Brooke, who clung to me even as I thrust into her, crying out her pleasure. Brooke, who bit at my earlobe as if she could not resist a taste.

Brooke, who had been given something by our captors to make her act in such a way.

My stomach curdles at the thought.

It feels strange to be leading my chief in to see the sleeping humans, but Mardok and Farli seem content to follow behind, and Rukh and Har-loh have disappeared. I suppose I must be the one to show them, then. Brooke watches me, too, and it is her gaze that adds a little strength to my step. Perhaps I imagine the approval I see in her eyes. It does not matter. Right now, all that matters is the chief’s decision.

I take him to the large, cavernous room in the ship that the others call “cargo bay.” The strange pods are lined up along the walls and in a row across the floor, and I lead the group to the first one. The lids are kept over the pods because Mardok and Har-loh fear they will get damaged and wake the sleeping occupant, so I pry the lid off the first one and step back so my chief can see.

Someone jostles me from behind, desperate to peer inside. Vektal leans over, and then frowns, curious. “What is this creature? Is it a human?” He looks to Brooke. “Buh-brukh? Do you have people that look like this?”

She moves to my side, her hand grazing my arm as she moves forward to look at the sleeping male. I am fascinated by that small touch, my cock surging in response. I barely notice her words as she tells the chief that no, that male is not human. She doesn’t know what it is. Standing in front of me, her pink-and-brown braids are just below my chin. If I pull her against me, she would fit perfectly against my body. If I inhale deeply, I can breathe in her scent—

“That’s a fucking lizard-man and you think he might be human?” Leezh’s loud thoughts burst through my fantasy. “Has a third resonance to Georgie squeezed your brain out of your dick?” The yellow-haired human peers over the sleeping male and then gives the chief another disgusted look. “He’s got fricking scales. He’s bronze. What part of that screams ‘human’?”

Raahosh puts a calming hand on his mate’s shoulder, mouth twitching with silent amusement. “Perhaps he is not the only one that is sleep deprived. You are yelling, my mate.”

“Am I? Shit. Sorry.” She grimaces. “I’m just…damn, dude. A friggin’ lizard-man? What does that say about what you think we look like?” She casts another disgruntled look in the chief’s direction.

“My Shorshie is beautiful beyond anything.” Vektal scowls, irritated with Leezh’s abrasive words. “I did not mean—”

“He looks a little human, doesn’t he, Taushen?” Brooke comments, interjecting. Her voice is sweetly teasing. “If you ignore the scales, he looks a lot more like human people than sa-khui people. I can see the mistake.”

“He’s gold,” Leezh says. “And scaly.”

“The males are all non-humans, and all the females are humans. I think it kind of goes along with what we’ve seen of the slavers, but who can guess the reasoning behind selling four alien guys, too?” Brooke continues, and turns toward me. She touches my arm, and my skin feels on fire with that caress. “Can you show Vektal the other males while everyone looks at this one?”

She acts as if we are a team, she and I. I like it far more than I should, and find myself eager to do her bidding. When Vektal looks expectantly at me, I nod and gesture to a pod on the far side of the room. Brooke moves next to Leezh and speaks quietly, the flirty tone in her voice. It is the tone she uses when she wants something, and when Leezh laughs a moment later, I realize she is trying to distract the others so I can show the chief privately. Brooke glances over at me and then points at something else in the scaly male’s pod, again using her teasing voice.

It takes me a moment to realize she did not use such a tone on me. Pride puffs my chest. I stride a bit more confidently to the other creature’s pod and pull back the lid. “This one is ugly and fierce-looking,” I tell him. “I worry he will be a problem when he awakens. The other two males are more human-looking, but Brooke assures me that they are not.”

Vektal glances down at the male creature, a twitch in his cheek the only outward sign he has seen it. “What are your thoughts, Taushen? I would hear from you, away from Leezh. She has had many, many things to say this trip and has made clear to me that I should hear her opinion on all of them.”

I laugh at that. Leezh has never been shy about voicing her thoughts. I picture the chief hiking, Leezh chattering in his ear about how she thinks things should go with the newcomers, and imagine that Vektal’s patience must be strained in this moment. “She has very…firm ideas.”

Vektal grunts. “And some of them are good. I do listen…but sometimes I appreciate quiet.” He crosses his arms over his chest and gazes down at the sleeping male, a troubled flash crossing his face. “I fear quiet is something we will be losing very soon.”

His thoughts echo mine. I worry that it will be a bad thing to awaken these strangers, yet how can we not? I think of Brooke and Li-lah and all of the others that have arrived. They have brought so much joy and life to our small tribe. How can we let them remain asleep? Yet at the same time… “These newcomers worry me.”

Vektal nods. “And me as well, but we do not have many choices. They are people, and as people, we must take care of them.”

He is not wrong…and yet, I wonder who will take care of my people if these are bad ones? The last people we met were violent and had bad intentions. Our people were not safe with them. I glance over at Brooke, and she has her head tilted, her smile a charming one as she teases Hassen and Pashov about missing their mates. Who will protect Brooke?

I tried to do so once, and I failed. Instead, I hurt her. I took what she did not freely offer.

I will not fail her again, I vow. No matter what is decided with these strangers, she is mine to protect, even if she does not want my protection. I can do no less.