Page 25 of His Human to Chase

“You can make them all in due time,” Almaac stands with his mate still held firmly against his chest. The fabric wrapped around one of his shoulders is clean still, which means he at least got the wound to stop bleeding. I’m hoping that means it wasn’t too bad of a cut. I don’t see just how badly Yril had cut his brothers before almost killing Ralleth. “Ralleth wants you and all of the injured to stay in the tribe until they return. Then we’ll discuss the punishment for your actions.”

Yril’s lips pull back to show off the fangs that drop from his jaw. I wrap my arm tighter around his lower back and place a hand against his chest, stroking him softly to ease some of his anger. He wants to be out there with the others looking for Alice, but he’s needed here, and he can’t be trusted not to go into bloodlust again if I’m not touching him. But, for a man like Yril, who wants to fight and protect, he feels like he’s being sidelined. I’m sure most of his anger is at himself since he’s the one who landed himself on the ‘do not trust alone’ list.

“We need someone here to protect us,” I whisper to him. His eyes immediately fall to mine when he hears my voice, and his snarl softens into a soft smile. He looks almost mischievous before his thoughts catch back up with him, and he scowls again. “I need you here to protect me.”

Yeah, that one gets him. He pulls me tight against his side and presses the tips of his claws against the side of my ass. “I’ll always keep you safe, floof.”

“Then stay,” I shift my body more toward the front of him and reach up to cup his face. He hunches over to allow our foreheads to touch, and his claws retract so his hands can press harder into my lower back and ass as he holds me against his front. “Stay with me.”

Yril lets out a soft huff of air before slightly nodding. I trace my fingers across his lips and down his chin until I’m lightly tracing my bite mark on his neck. He hisses, hot air blowing across my face, harsh enough to have me laughing and breaking the soft moment between us. I wrap my arms around Yril, loving that I’m able to get this giant red alien to forget everything else in the world except for me. He gives me one final smile, shared just between the two of us, and then straightens to address his brothers.

“I will stay to help you keep the females safe,” he says it with authority like they weren’t all already very aware that he was going to stay. They may have been aware, but Yril was not, and now that he is, he’s going to pretend it was his idea. The others are smart enough or have enough self-preservation not to question it. “What have the others done?”

Almaac stays standing, his arm still tight around his mate’s shoulders as he holds her to his chest. She runs her fingertips along his scales, eyes floating to look up at Almaac to the others in the dining hall and to Yril and me for just a moment before she’s back to tracing the lines of his scales. She seems calm enough, definitely calmer than all the other women, probably because none of them have their mates with them.

“Ralleth and the others divided into groups to search the trees for Toron’s mate,” Almaac says with a frown. His teeth grind against one another for a moment as he tries to figure out what to say. My bottom lip is sucked into my mouth, and I chew on it until it’s sore. I’m worried about Alice being out there with men who want to do the same kinds of things they wanted to do to me when they caught me.

Yril told me what Dath had found out from the male who wrote the note left on our window when we needed a break between lovemaking. I was still hopeful that Alice was just hiding in the tribe until Yril told me that there was a plan to take one of us. A small sob had escaped my throat, and I thought Yril was going to rip the mattress in half with how hard he pressed his claws into it. He’s not a fan of my tears unless they’re from bringing me pleasure. Anyone else making me cry is asking to die as far as he’s concerned.

“How will they know if their search is over?” Yril asks the question through gritted teeth like he’s having to force the words out because he knows none of us want to hear them. I lean my cheek against his chest and let it rest, needing to hear his heartbeat to help calm some of my nerves and knowing my closeness will help to calm him.

“They are to return tomorrow before night falls,” Almaac answers. “Whether they find her or not, everyone was told to return.”

“Everyone?” Yril’s hand tenses on my back.

“Toron was already running back through the trees when he saw your mate had helped you ease the bloodlust,” Almaac answers. “He did not hear Ralleth’s commands, but no one would stop him from searching even if he did.”

Yril forces a stiff nod and flexes his hand against my back again. “The male Dath was talking with, did he perish?”

Almaac looks back toward a far hallway, and a wave of unease fills my body. They brought one of them, a stranger who wanted to kidnap one of us, back into our home. No way would any of them allow that, right? Yril ripped the throats out of the necks of the men who threatened me, so why would any of them think to bring a stranger into our tribe, let alone the building where we all sleep?

Yril senses my unease, or maybe he feels some of his own because there’s a deep hiss that slips through his fangs. His claws start to extend as he releases some of the pressure on my back. I want to calm my demon. I want to tell him it’s okay and that he doesn’t need to protect me if everyone else thinks the man is safe, but a part of me wants him to rip the stranger to shreds for even being associated with the aliens wanting to kidnap a human for themselves.

“He is still a boy.” Almaac tries to comfort us both, but I don’t believe it for a second. Yril doesn’t seem to either because he’s shifting his arms around, maneuvering me so efficiently that I don’t realize I’m being herded behind him until I’m looking at his back. “He went through the change in the last few days. While he was in the trees. Based on his size now, he was a small male and did not stand a chance standing up against an older male telling him what to do.”

“He also tried to warn us,” Rallan says as he leans against the archway that leads down the hall Almaac was looking down. “I know none of you trust him, but he’s a good male. He’s been trying to gain favor in the tribe leader’s court so he could leave his father’s home with his brother when he finally matured. I’m not asking you to let him stay, but I am telling you that he will not find harm so long as I am alive.”

Yril moves faster than I can keep up with, which leaves me sprinting after him as he jumps over tables and pushes away chairs to grab the other demon by the throat and push him against the stone wall. Their heads clash, long spiraled horns bracing against one another as they both snap their teeth and hiss. Yril is stronger, but the other one doesn’t seem to be willing to back down.

“You challenge me, Rallan?” Yril keeps his hands by his side as he pushes harder against the other man’s horns, forcing his body to stiffen and try harder to push back. “You left, and you think you have any say in this tribe?”

“Yril!” I try to push between them, but it only has them glaring harder at one another. I’m not getting in between them, so I place my hands on Yril’s arm and hope it’s enough to calm him down. “Please, just listen to what he has to say.”

“No more listening, little floof,” Yril’s fangs drip with the threat of ripping into Rallan’s throat, but still, he doesn’t back down, doesn’t submit. If Rallan backs down now, he’s definitely going to die, so I need him to hold out until I can get my crazy violent demon under control.

“Grab his horn and yank his head to the side on three,” I hear a feminine voice to my left, but before I can figure out which woman it is, she’s disappeared to the other side of the demons who are still hissing. Thankfully, the other woman has a louder voice than them, and she has no issues with yelling in their ears.

“One.”

I reach as high as I can, barely reaching the middle of Yril’s head. If I’m going to get to his horn, I’m going to have to jump for it.

“Two.”

I squat down a bit, hoping the other woman knows what she’s doing. I jump up right as she says three, my fingers wrapping around Yril’s horn and tugging his head to the side, and the other demon has his head yanked in the opposite direction.

“Female!” Rallan roars as he snaps his head over to who I now see is Simone, who wears a smirk on her face like she’s enjoying being yelled at. “Insuffer—“

“You’re a fucking idiot,” she says casually as she walks back to the others and sits back down. She pierces him with her gaze again. “You’re welcome for saving your red ass by the way.”

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