Page 4 of His Human to Charm

When I turn around a few minutes later, my room is empty, and the door is closed. The hollowness in my chest is back, and it’s me who’s rubbing at it as I stare at the door, almost wishing Toron would come back so I can tell him I need a second to get my thoughts in order. He doesn’t show up, though, and my brain doesn’t give me a moment to rest. No, it reminds me of everything I did wrong in that interaction. Instead of leaving my room or trying to fix my misstep with Toron, I curl into a ball on my bed and do a bit more of what I do best. I cry.

3

Toron

Six Days Before Kidnapping

My mate is struggling to accept me, but that is okay. She is not the first female to push her male away, and there is a good chance she will not be the last. I keep reminding myself of how Almaac’s mate pushed him away and then wanted him back almost instantly when he did leave her alone. That is what’s keeping me from spiraling into despair.

Alice has told me her name and allowed me the honor of knowing it. She did immediately tell me she did not wish to make love with me, but I am trying my hardest to forget that happened. The mere flicker of it in my mind makes my whole body tense, and my lips curl back in a snarl.

“Are you okay, brother?” Lyath comes around the corner of the hallway where I have set up a chair and have sat since I was kicked out of Alice’s room the night before.

I am watching over my mate’s room because she is in there crying, or she was when I last checked. I am hoping she’s sleeping now, but she could still be crying for all I know.

She has made it clear she needs some space from me. I would love to hold her and tell her that everything will be okay, but that is not what she wants right now. Even if I know it will make me feel immensely better.

Lyath steps closer to me, carrying a few tunics in a closed fist. My eyes narrow on the clothing, and then a growl erupts from my chest before I can stop it. He thinks to clothe my mate. There is no way I am letting my mate be clothed in any other tunics besides mine. My growl must be louder than I mean for it to be because Lyath’s mate Beren is around the corner in an instant, pushing Lyath behind him and hissing back at me.

“What is your problem?” Beren asks, his eyes hard like I have wounded his mate in some way when it’s his mate who is the one trying to wound me by offering my mate his tunics.

“Why is your mate carrying tunics?”

My eyes flicker to the handful of tunics and then back to Beren’s burning gaze. His eyes are a deep red, just like mine, which means I have angered him greatly by growling at his mate. They have been together for years now, and he is always the one to get upset as soon as he thinks anyone might possibly be insulting or hurting his mate. I wish I could be upset at him, but he is only doing what any good mate would do.

“They are from your father. Ralleth’s mate told us to bring them to the new female so she does not have to wear the tunics of a male she has not mated. These are the safest ones. We offered our own since we are already mated and want nothing to do with your female, but the others thought you might be upset. They were right.” Beren’s words are harsh, but he means to pick a fight with me. He is close to getting what he wants because I am filled with so much rage thanks to being in transition to becoming one of the goddess’s chosen warriors. Anger is always bubbling underneath my scales, and the only thing that can ease some of it is my mate. It’s too bad for me; my mate has yet to accept me as hers.

“Do not test me, Beren,” I snap, my teeth clashing loudly as I gnash them at him.

Beren’s eyes narrow even more, his hands balling into fists before he flexes them. He opens his mouth to say something else that will only rile me up more, but his mate places a hand on his forearm. Beren’s body relaxes, his eyes softening, and then he turns to face Lyath to see what it is that his mate needs.

“Let me drop these off, and we can go get some food,” Lyath murmurs to his mate.

Beren’s body relaxes more, the snarl on his lips falling into more of a smile as he looks at his mate and the kindness on Lyath’s face.

Have they always been so in tune with one another in this way? I have not really noticed because them having a mate always felt too cruel to me when I was left with no mate and no chance of a mate. I used to think the brothers who found matehood with other brothers were lucky and wished so badly that I could be like them. Now I have my mate, and watching them interact does not hurt like it once did. It is also being made very clear to me just how easy we males must seem to the females if it only takes soft touches and kind words to get us to do their bidding. I wonder even more if Beren ever has to be the soft one with Lyath. I doubt it since Lyath is much more carefree than his mate ever is.

“Take the tunics to the female.” Beren nods to his mate.

He waits until his mate has made his way to Alice’s room and is knocking on the door before turning his attention back to me. He most likely wants to make sure I am not about to tear his mate limb from limb for even being in Alice’s presence. It is tempting to do, especially since he is offering to clothe her. I am not so far lost in my anger that I cannot think rationally. If Alice continues denying me, I may become lost to it.

“If the other tribe comes through with bringing us our supplies, Lyath and I are planning to start a farm just outside the gates.” Beren’s fingers twitch at his side. He wants to turn back around and check on his mate. I know I want to see mine all of the time, and she hasn’t even accepted me as hers yet. “We were hoping you could help us repair one of the buildings out there. We’ve found one on a decent plot of land where the trees have already been cleared, but it needs work done to reseal it.”

“Asking for my help after you mocked my lack of a mate?” I press my lips together tightly, wanting him to think there is a chance I will not help him. I will, of course. I will help any of my brothers when I can, but Beren should at least apologize.

“Yes.” Is the only response I get before he crosses his arms in front of his chest and turns to look down the hallway.

“You feel for him as I feel for my mate?” I ask after a short moment. I never understood exactly what the others felt when they found their mates, but I was envious.

“I do.” Beren nods. “I have for years. We just never made a show of it since it was unfair to all of you who would not find mates. It still does not seem fair knowing so many will be without mates even when all of the humans come.”

“Maybe more of them will be willing to share as Erkoz and Xoth’s mate does, or maybe some of them will offer to touch the others as she does as well.” I think I am offering words of encouragement, but they have Beren’s eyes hardening again. He swallows hard, his throat bobbing slightly. “Or maybe not.”

“We cannot think like that because it will only lead to disappointment,” Beren says coolly right as Lyath comes out of Alice’s room. “Too many can be hurt by hopeful thinking like that.”

Beren wraps an arm around his mate as Lyath comes to stand next to him. He looks like he wants to ask us what we were talking about, and a part of me wants him to ask as well. Beren very obviously has a reason for thinking human females not wanting to share is bad, and I want to know why it seems to affect him so much. However, Beren is not one for idle chit-chat, and even his mate cannot get him to stay and chat with me when his company is offered first.

“The storms are picking back up,” Lyath says to me over his shoulder as they begin to walk back to the dining hall. “Maybe your mate will come around since we will be stuck with one another for many days.”

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