Page 27 of Noah

Noah’s head pounded. Wouldn’t it be better if she just gave her something to wake her up? “Make it better,” he demanded.

Lila frowned as she ignored him, listening to Ren’s heart and counting. He was shoulder to shoulder with Cain as he moved beside him. Lila continued to check Ren.

Cain shook hands with Oleg and acknowledged him. “Sorry, we didn’t intend to ignore you. It’s tense, you know?” Cain gestured between them all.

He knew more people were outside Oleg’s house, but they were respectful and probably worried about his reaction. Rightfully so, he was unsure how he would react to all those people in the small place with Ren so sick.

Oleg shrugged. “Don’t worry, she’s more important than me and has been out of it since he brought her here.”

“Sick?” Noah asked. Now he had a nurse here, he wanted to know what he could do to fix Ren.

“Yeah.” Cain nodded. “My mate is brilliant. She’ll help your female get stable, and when she’s stable, we can move her.”

Noah frowned. Cain explained, “We will take you both to Moon. Together. We’re here to take care of her, make her healthier.”

“Yes,” Noah replied, gazing worriedly at her. “She gets well again?”

“Will she get well?” Cain corrected with a kind voice. Noah could tell he wasn’t being derogatory like his captors used to be. Cain’s attempt to correct him was gentle. “In answer to your question, yes. We have a male doctor who will help her. He’s human, but a loyal friend to Numbers. That’s our name. Our people’s names.”

“Ren told me,” Noah replied with a small smile. At the time, he hadn’t paid much attention to it. She had said they didn’t stop looking for their people and cared deeply about them, and it seemed she was right. “How long free?”

“How long have we been free?” Almost nine years.” Cain grinned. “I wouldn’t be where I am now without my mate.” Cain’s eyes softened as he talked about his freedom. “We have a whole committee planning something special for our tenth anniversary. We’re looking forward to a big celebration.”

Noah could tell that Cain was trying to reassure him, but his heart and soul were frozen.

Noah knew his heart would beat again when Ren looked at him with those uncertain eyes of hers. There was something wrong with that. Noah frowned; he would have to fix it. He couldn’t tolerate her looking at him with unsure eyes.

“Were you alone?” Cain asked.

Noah frowned. Alone, apart from his human captors. “Alone?”

“Were there any others like us?” Cain pointed to them as he spoke.

“No. Alone.”

“Did they teach you how to talk?”

“Simple language,” Noah said, rubbing a hand through his hair self-consciously. His fingers snagged on his hair tie.

Was his speech offensive?

He got frustrated when he tried to talk to his captors because they teased him or ignored his requests for information. Oleg and Ren hadn’t asked him about his speech, they didn’t seem bothered by his stilted responses.

“We decided to open a school. It’s almost finished, and a few kids attend. Two rooms are being used, hopefully, we’ll fill the rest. It’s for our children.”

Noah’s head whipped up in shock as he looked at Cain, who hesitated, glancing at his Lila.

Noah’s eyes widened. He knew his captors had been determined to ‘breed him’ but this was confirmation they could have children.

Cain cleared his throat. “My mate told me our daughter would be ready for school next year. I’m still uncertain. I think she should stay at home with us.”

Lila chuckled, briefly glancing at Cain, her eyes dancing before turning back to Ren.

“School?” Noah thought school must be okay if they joked about it, and Lila seemed amused by the conversation.

“Children go to school during the day to learn proper speech, numbers, and general knowledge. We all missed out on these things.”

“Children?”

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