Page 27 of His Human to Chase

“Look, as soon as I’m in danger, I’m pretty sure I’ll have the attention of someone I really want the attention of.” Simone finally drops the middle finger from in front of Rallan’s face, and he watches it until it’s lying back on the table, then his eyes are back on the back of her head. “I’ll go to the other tribe. I just need someone willing to take me.”

Rallan’s eyes grow so large that I almost ask him if he is okay, but he takes a deep breath and pulls Simone’s chair to face him. She swats at his hands and scowls at him, but he is a determined male. All of us watch with knowing glances. He is a male who wants to prove his worth to a female, but he most definitely has not made Simone swoon even once based on her reactions to him. No one steps in to assist her, though. Maybe they find their interactions as entertaining as I do.

“You plan to go to my tribe, so you will allow me to take you,” Rallan says as he crosses his arms over his chest. His muscles in his arms twitch slightly, and I have to stop myself from laughing as he tries to make himself appear larger. Have we all seemed this desperate when courting a female, or is Rallan the most desperate because Simone only frowns at him?

“I’ve already traveled with you.” Simone shakes her head. “I’d prefer someone else.”

“No one else will want to leave this tribe,” I say behind my mate. She is curled up against my chest now that Simone is done talking with her and more occupied with Rallan.

“Didn’t ask,” Simone bites back at me, but as soon as she tries to scoot her chair back around, Rallan grabs it and keeps her facing him. She snarls at him almost like we do to one another when we’re angry, and it does not have the effect she wants it to have on Rallan. No, he looks at her like he is actually wooing her, and it makes me wonder what our species’ females are like if Rallan is so proud to be receiving these reactions from a human.

“I will take you, insufferable female,” Rallan says the words slower, like he is not insulting her and like she is a small young who does not fully understand his language. The twitch in her eye only makes him beam brighter. “You are welcome.”

I lean down to my mate’s ear and whisper as quietly as I can, “I am about to make her angry. Keep your mate safe, yes?” A wicked smile crosses my lips as Skylar scrambles in my lap to try to silence me, but it is far too late for that. I roll my shoulders, preparing for Simone to probably lash out at me. “It is settled. Rallan and his mate will go to his tribe.”

“Excuse you?” Simone yells as she spins around in the chair, standing on the seat of it so she can look over the back and point an accusatory finger at me. “What the fuck did you just say you overgrown iguana?”

“Iguana?” I tilt my head to the side and look down at my mate, who is red in embarrassment and also from trying to hold back her laugh. Yes, I have been a good mate in making her have so much joy. It is clear from the others coughing to cover their laughs and some blatantly laughing that I have succeeded in being clever enough that they may even forgive me for cutting them a bit.

“You must admit that it feels nice, does it not?” Rallan smiles brightly, and it only grows when Simone makes a shrill scream, and her eye twitches again.

Simone doesn’t turn to face Rallan, though. No, her small human eyes are on me, and she is very much not happy with me or how I have made everyone laugh by calling her Rallan’s mate. My humor is still alive and well until she narrows her eyes on me and then scrambles from her chair, her small feet stomping as hard as she can on the stone floor. She is close to us, so she doesn’t need to travel far, but I still wrap my Skylar up in my arms and stand with her so we can make a hasty retreat.

“Come my floof,” I say loud enough so the brothers around me know that I am no longer antagonizing Simone.

Is it cowardly to agitate her and then retreat? Of course. It is also immensely entertaining. It is not the most honorable, though, and so I will not do it again. Unless, of course, there is a good reason. Like I need all of the brothers to forget that I might have mauled them all and almost killed Ralleth because I was angry. Yes, that is a wonderful reason why I might need to irritate Simone about her weird bond with Rallan.

“You don’t get to start shit and walk away!” Simone yells after me as I make my grand escape. It includes carrying Skylar in my arms as she tries to hide her face in embarrassment.

“I am feeling so very angry, brothers,” I feign a snarl that probably looks no more frightening than a cheerful smile. “So angry, should probably remove myself.”

The sound of a few more chairs scraping the dining hall falls behind us as I carry my mate toward the doors that lead out of the great hall. I do not need to make love to her since we have already done that many times today. I do want to get her alone and make sure she is dealing with the news of everything okay. She is close to Alice, or at least she is closer to her than the other females here, and they will be blood soon. She is probably distraught over her sister missing, and it is up to me to make sure she is reassured and taken care of. I also need to ensure that everyone in the great hall is safe, and I can do that best by being near the only entrance.

All of the windows in the great hall are still boarded up from the previous storms. It keeps the only entrance into the building being the front doors. There is nowhere safer than the great hall right now. There was nowhere safer when Alice was taken either, but I have to remind myself that I was not here to protect her, and if I was, maybe she would not have been taken. I could have cared for my sister in a way that no one else was able to since none of the males who were in the tribe were chosen warriors.

“We will find your sister,” I say to Skylar as I settle in against the rough stones of the exterior of the great hall. I cross my legs and then let her body fall into my lap so she can make herself comfortable. We will be out here for a long time, so she needs to make herself at home in my lap. Maybe I will be fine with her going into the great hall in a little while, but for right now, I need my mate touching me so I know she’s safe.

“I’m sure she’ll be found,” Skylar sighs as she lays her cheek against my chest. “I just worry about what will happen to her before she’s found.”

My stomach rolls at the idea of what the males might do to her. I saw what they were willing to do to my Skylar before I ripped their throats from their necks, and so I am sure the males that have Alice are similar in that regard. They will also be similar in not having throats for much longer if Toron is tracking them down. He will find them, and he will make them pay for every transgression they have committed against him and his mate.

“Toron will find her,” I run my claws through Skylar’s hair and whisper sweet things to her, hoping to keep her beating nice and slow and her breathing calm. She needs sleep after how I used her body this morning, and I am hoping she will find slumber in my lap. “He will find her, and he will make sure nothing bad ever happens to her again.”

The doors to the great hall open, and Almaac steps out. His eyes scan over the parts of the tribe he can see before they make their way to where Skylar and I are sitting. He startles slightly, almost like he didn’t think we would be resting out here. He opens his mouth to speak but closes it and shakes his head before even starting.

“I need to talk to you, but it can wait until you are free.” Almaac nods to my mate, who is curled up in my lap. Her breathing is deeper as she nuzzles closer to my chest.

“Thank you,” I say with a nod.

Almaac will want to talk about my punishment for harming my brothers and almost killing Ralleth. I can only hope my punishment will not be too terrible. Not for my own sake, but for my mate’s. I need to make sure Skylar is taken care of if I am banished or worse. I hope it does not come to that, but what I did was very serious, which means the punishment will be just as severe.

Almaac frowns a bit deeper before turning on his heel and walking back into the great hall. I could worry about what is to happen to me, or I could enjoy my time left with my sweet mate. It is no choice. I hold my mate closer to my chest and hope she is able to find enough comfort in my arms to find sleep.

Skylar wraps her fingers in my tunic as she shifts her head into the crook of my arm, where there is more darkness. “Tell me if they come home.”

My beating quickens when she calls this place her home. She is my mate and my tether to my sanity, so I would hope she is happy in my life and in my tribe. To hear her call it her home. That is the most wonderful gift. The most wonderful outside of things she can do with her body or the companionships she provides me with. Okay, so it is not the most wonderful gift, but it still feels nice.

The reminder of home also makes me think about where my mate and I will stay when everything calms down. I will need to find a home in the tribe that is in need of repairs and ask if I can move my mate into it with me. Maybe if I get her into a home just for the two of us and everything else in the tribe calms down, I will be able to convince her body to accept my seed and help her grow with my young. I want that with my little floof. I want all the young she is willing to provide me, and I want to attempt to impregnate her as often as possible.

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