Page 8 of Their Human to Entice

“Just say his name,” Deja yells at me from where she’s sitting. My head snaps in her direction so fast that I’m worried I might have whiplash. Tears spring in my eyes, my throat starts to burn, and emotion clogs my thoughts. “Come on, I want you to stay here, and it probably means something else in their language.”

“Born from joy,” the demon that fed me Beren’s come says from behind me. I startle at him being so close. Beren reaches out and steadies me before narrowing his eyes on the other demon. “You wanted to know what his name means. That is it. You will find that our mate does not live up to it well. He is a serious male most of the time.”

Vex looks back down at his wrist, his brow furrowing. Shit, I really don’t have enough time to be this picky. At least someone offered to take me. I mean, no one offered for what felt like an eternity. The demon who came and had me lick come off his hand wasn’t even the demon I was supposed to mate. Then, to make matters even more awkward, somehow, I’m pretty sure I’m intruding into an established relationship.

The demon who knelt behind the partition with me seemed kind, and he made me feel at ease. The one in front of me? I can’t tell if he’s upset with me for having to mate me or if he’s upset because I seem less than enthused to be mating him.

“Fine, fine, I’m yours… Beren.”

The name has me frowning in unease because of my own insecurities. It feels like a giant mockery of what I am now. I need this mating, though. I have to stay here because if I go back to Earth, I don’t know when or if they’ll ever let me come back. I can’t be there anymore, not after everything that’s happened, not when my friends are here. The look of hurt that crosses Beren’s face is a surprise, but he masks it quickly by clenching his jaw and looking behind me to the other demon still standing there.

“See so much joy on his face now. The name makes sense, yes?” the demon behind me, the demon I’m apparently sharing Beren with, says with a hint of a laugh in his voice. When I turn to look at him, his eyes are watching me, and a smile is splitting his lips. “It seems your face is showing just as much joy. That is fine. Maybe it will be what bonds you both.” He looks at me in earnest but then startles himself. “Oh, I almost forgot, my name is Lyath. You may say my name often it will probably upset our mate.”

“Am I supposed to upset him?”

“He is easy to rile.” Lyath gives me a mischievous grin.

Beren grumbles, seeming to brighten when we both face him. His eyes bounce from my face to Lyath’s before he finally decides to walk over to where Lyath’s standing. He holds out a hand for me to take if I want to. His other hand wraps around Lyath’s shoulder, holding him close to his body.

“So why did I have to mate the angry one if you’re both together?” I ask, not taking Beren’s hand but moving close to him so he knows I’m willing to follow him if we’re leaving.

I’m probably asking a pretty invasive question, but they’re stuck with me now as far as what the doctor told me. Beren stiffens at my question but keeps his gaze forward as he guides Lyath and me through the dining hall.

“Oh, you will find he is a much better mate than I am,” Lyath says with so much enthusiasm I don’t think he’s lying.

Either Lyath’s selling himself short, or Beren puts on a really shitty first impression. Not that either of them needs to offer me more than they have. I only needed someone to mate with me to keep me on the planet. They don’t have to have an actual relationship with me, and I don’t think I’ll be getting one with these two, who seem to be already devoted to one another.

“Yeah, I guess it didn’t really matter which one of you it was.” I shrug my shoulders, trying not to sound as disappointed as I feel. I kind of hoped I would be finding my alien charming or fated mate or whatever. I didn’t really think I’d be the third wheel in an already happy couple.

“Oh, it mattered very much.” Lyath looks around Beren to look down at me.

I’m not touching our shared mate, but I stay close to him as he navigates us through the lines of tables. They’re all filled with other demons, some of them looking like my mate and some of them with different horns and different coloring. Most of them watch me like they’re both happy I’m there and also uncertain if they can acknowledge me just yet. Vex, who I’m just now realizing has left without saying goodbye, told me that the demons are protective and possessive. Or, most of them are. He also told me of some who enjoy sharing their mates.

“Why’s that?” I ask, noticing how Lyath narrows his eyes to my empty hand. His brows pull together, and I can tell he wants to ask me why I’m not touching our shared mate, but I don’t have it in me to tell him that I’m almost positive his mate doesn’t want to be mated to me and that we may have forced him into it.

“You will figure it out, I am sure,” Lyath answers and then shakes his head.

A weird snort of laughter works out of him as he tries to stifle a laugh. He opens his mouth to say something else, covers his mouth to laugh again, and then repeats the process a few times like he is unable to say whatever joke he’s trying to make. The absurdity of it has me trying to stifle my own laughter, but when he opens his mouth for the third time to try to make a joke and only makes himself laugh, I accidentally let out a giggle, too. The sound has Beren shooting a look down at me, and for the first time since he found out he was mating me, he doesn’t look completely pissed off.

“Tell my mate your joke.” Beren glances at Lyath from the corner of his eyes. “She seems to think you are humorous already.”

“I am just thinking of how angry you must be in your head to have your other mate telling me how much it does not matter which of us she’s mated.” Lyath barely gets the words out, his body folding in half as he laughs loudly. Others around us give him suspicious looks because his joke isn’t funny and doesn’t even constitute a joke. His ability to make himself laugh is pretty funny and has me laughing, much to my own embarrassment, because all of these demons are going to think I’m laughing at Lyath’s terrible joke. “She has no idea how you are yet, and already she is wiggling her way underneath your scales, is she not?”

“Is this my life now?” Beren sighs as Lyath and I try and fail to stop our laughter.

I manage to stop myself, but then I look over at Lyath, who’s trying his hardest not to laugh, which causes his shoulders to jerk, and it has me laughing all over again. Okay, so I’m mated to a male who doesn’t seem to want anything to do with me, but at least I can get along with the male who’s mated to my mate. I kind of thought I’d be with someone who wanted to be with me, but being the third wheel in an established relationship will work, too. I mean, I’ll end up best friends with my hand, but at least I’m not stuck going back to Earth.

“This is your friend, correct?” Beren says when we near Deja, who’s watching the three of us, about a million questions are written all over her face.

“Best friend,” Deja answers for me, holding out her hand and pulling me into a chair next to her.

I wrap her in my arms when I get myself righted, hugging her so tight that I’m sure I’m cutting off her airway. She doesn’t complain, though. No, she holds me tight to her. I don’t realize we’re both crying until I pull away and feel the warmth of my tears running down my cheeks. I wipe them off, startling slightly when I hear a low hiss beside me. When I look up, Beren’s gaze is narrowed on Deja, who glares back up at him with defiance in her eyes.

“What are you going to do?” She raises one of her brows up at Beren, who pulls his lips back in a snarl. “Do I need to tell Dath that Nia’s mate is being a dick to me?”

Beren’s eyes drop to me, the red disappearing into a deep black, the snarl fading to a tight smile that doesn’t seem to reach his eyes. “Nia?”

I nod my head, and he does the same before turning back to Deja. “I am not scared of your mate. You can tell him that.”

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