Page 58 of You're Not My King!

“It should not matter,” I said. “Out with it.”

“Well…”

“Out with it,” I snarled again, growing frustrated. “What would a hoo-man find unappealing about me?”

“You are an arrogant male,” Zae’l remarked. “You are fierce, and headstrong.”

“All strong characteristics for a Great Leader, and a mate,” I bit back, white-knuckling my clyp’s tethers. Was Roo-bin truly displeased? I could tell by the musky, rich scent that followed him that he found me pleasing in that sense, but was that not enough? Was there more to a bond than arousal, safety, and feeling provided for?

“Yes, but he is not Ly’zrd,” Ok’tna chimed in. “Hoo-mans, I am told, hold mates to a different standard.”

“They do not want to be protected and well fed?”

Ok’tna shrugged. “I do not know. I take it the hoo-man is giving you a rough time?”

“He will not submit to his role,” I grumbled, baring my fangs. “What must I do to make him see reason?”

“Perhaps there lies the problem,” Zae’l said, explaining at my head tilt, “I mean no disrespect, but he was brought to you under obligation. He did not come freely. Making him do anything could be a blow to his own pride. He is your perfect match, through and through. He is stubborn and has an attitude befitting a Great Leader’s mate. Would you not react the same if you had not been shown a choice?”

I reeled as if slapped. “Have I not given him one?”

“Truthfully? No.”

I took Zae’l’s words like the blow to my ego that they were, dropping my gaze to my hands as my mind wandered. He was not exaggerating, was he? Roo-bin had arrived on my planet against his will, been mated within hours, and settled into a new life without any choice in the matter. I had not thought about it that way before.

I kept forgetting that he was Earth-born, only seeing him as my soul-companion, and not fully realizing that none of this was typical for his kind. Fee-oh-nah had tried to tell me, but like the prideful brute I was, I had waved her off, assured that he would learn our ways and draw the conclusion that U’suhk was the best place for him.

But what reason had I given him to think that?

I had tried to be a good mate, to show my strengths by protecting him from beasts, bringing him the largest kills, and providing the sturdiest hut. I had adopted his mating rituals—the mouth nudges and cock swallowing. He was warm at night, filled, sated, and I thought he had grown fond of his life among our clan, but perhaps that was only what I wanted to see. If he felt shackled, it was only me who was to blame. I kept him guarded for fear that he would wander into danger, or danger would find him, not with the intention of keeping him prisoner. I had thought he understood that, but why would he when it was not a custom he was used to?

“I care for the hoo-man,” I admitted after a hesitant pause, fondling the imperfect stitching of the garment I still wore at my waist, the token he had given me of our connection. I had no issues facing my own feelings; I was confident enough to admit my growing fondness for my mate, that our connection was strong. However, this show of vulnerability was foreign amongst my clansmen, regardless of our bond. “I would never wish to force him, but I also fear he will escape.”

“You must give him time,” Zae’l said, unmocking, showing that tactful side of himself, the reason I had chosen him as right hand. “While you have some rough edges, you are a good male and leader. Soon, he will begin to realize what the rest of us already know.”

My heart swelled, and I dipped my head in appreciation. “Thank you, friend. I?—”

My acknowledgment was cut off by a sound all too familiar to my ears…

The clatter of hooves.

Before I could even unsheathe my sword, we were surrounded, a flurry of movement homing in from all sides, too quick to comprehend. It was a group of masked nomads—a species I could not recognize—eighteen in total, and while their short, thin, blue-skinned stature was nothing to be intimidated by, there were only three of us.

It was an ambush.

Although I reacted quickly, brandishing my weapon at the closest opponents, I was knocked from my mount by three others, their combined weight too much. The skittish clyp abandoned the scene just as my back dug harshly into the soil, but I managed to dig my elbows in and roll a split second before a blade whipped past my ear. I kicked out, unsteadying the culprit just enough to get him on the ground—the opening I needed to slit his throat—while digging my claws into the eyes of another, rendering them both out of action. Lunging to my feet, I cast an uneasy glance toward my clan mates, relieved that they fared well, but only getting to witness their fight for a second before two more assailants rushed my way.

I would not hesitate.

Slice after slice, merciless death after merciless death, I struck them down, but they just kept coming. It seemed as if they had less interest in my companions, treating them as a bane to their mission, keeping them at a distance so my sides were open. It only dawned on me then, as I jabbed my blade through an attacker’s eye, that they were here for me. This was no random fight. Whoever had ordered the assault had known my travel route and had ordered them to lie in wait until we had left the Un’tymt Forest as I could not command the trees here.

They had expected an easy slaughter.

My chest was soaked with sweat, my arms tiring from the strain of felling enemy after enemy, but I was a strong male. I would not yield to cowards, not when I had something worth fighting for. I drove my weapon into the stomach of the creature at my back, reveling in the sick squelch of his blood, the adrenaline lighting up my veins. Pride roared in my ears at the conquest of a kill, fangs on display in a grim mockery of a smile. I scanned the glade to tally up who remained, when the sight of my right hand pinned under two males had the blood draining from my face.

Zae’l was the best fighter I had, but nothing could beat the odds of numbers, regardless of how mighty he was during the battle. I could not stand idle, I crossed the field in two long strides, plunging my sword into the back of one while my clan mate managed to gut the other. It was a vicious scene, and I could not help the laugh that rumbled from me. Zae’l joined in, shaking his head as he reached for my extended hand when I offered it, but instead of hauling him up, all I felt was pain.

Searing, red-hot fire webbed from my chest, shooting deep into the crevices of my soul. I blinked down at the arrow sticking out of my body, dazed and unbalanced. It was no ordinary arrow—none I knew of could cause the ringing in my head or the numbness in my limbs. It had been poisoned, laced with something I did not recognize, a cruel death unsuited to a Great Leader.

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