Page 12 of Warrioress

Her mouth flattened. “I have been briefed on your Withering Days, and while I hadn’t been aware of those particulars, I had planned ahead to spend as little time in the holding area with you as possible then. Although I’m afraid that your own freedom will suffer considerably as well.”

The lead grunted in acknowledgment. “It is for the best. I would be safest for all of us when there are no guarantees that we would be able to hold off the urges. You are not our mate, but our bodies may not obey past a certain point and we do not wish to have an accidental mating.”

Uma managed not to wince at his words. It admittedly stung to be flat out told that she was that undesirable for a mate as far as they were concerned. Like they had any room to act superior. Frankly, the last thing she wanted was to be saddled with this triad. Who needed the headache? As much as she wanted to lob those words back at him so that he knew that the feeling was definitely mutual, she merely shrugged as if unaffected and picked up a rag to dry off any water that had splashed onto her hands.

“I agree,” she replied as she hung the rag back on its hook. “I do appreciate you informing me of the... mess. It will give me even more incentive to avoid this room as much as possible. And to make arrangements for a cleaning crew to come in to deal with it afterward,” she added, this time not hiding her grimace of distaste.

Kam chuffed and rolled so that his head was draped over Vrin’s back. His amber eyes gleamed at her with humor. “Are you saying that you will not make sure we have a clean and comfortable place to rest?”

“Why, so you can just spray all over it again?” Uma retorted flatly and shook her head. “I would suggest trying to aim for not soaking your bedding and cell as much as possible. These floors are easier and quicker to clean.”

She made a mental note to not touch or sit anywhere within the cell until said cleaning crew addressed the mess.

The corner of Laro’s mouth quirked, and she thought she caught a hint of laughter in his eyes before it was quickly shut down and he regarded her soberly once more. “We will do our best.”

She shrugged, unconcerned. “You are the ones who will have to sit and sleep in it, so that is entirely on you because there is no way anyone is unlocking and entering that cell during the Withering Days—least of all me.”

His gaze narrowed on her for a moment, and she wondered if he was feeling affronted having his own undesirability shoved back in his face after all. If so, good. Although she didn’t take the complaints against the triad entirely at face value, and knew that there was far more to it, it was also clear to her that they saw themselves as a desirable choice with their pick of women available to them. She rolled her eyes as she turned away. With that attitude, they were collectively about as desirable as a kick in the ass. Kam was at least a little endearing but not enough to buoy his entire triad.

“I will be back with your supper,” she announced as she headed for the door. “With the way the storm is moving in, I suspect it will be just us for the next couple of days so not expect anything special. Learning to cook beyond making sure I had something edible and filling was not a priority for me, so you will have to make do.”

She smothered a smile as a pair of groans followed her out, but it was Kam’s cheerful voice that made her burst out laughing the moment the door was closed between them.

“Well, at least it is not just meat anymore,” he cajoled his brothers.

Uma shook her head as she headed to the station’s kitchen. It would be more than just meat, but given how simple her diet was he was being overly optimistic. And sure enough, when she returned an hour later with beef and potato stew, the look of resignation that Kam gave his large bowl was enough to brighten the rest of her night as she headed to her lonely bunk with her own supper in hand.

Perhaps it was a bit mean, after all he was the least annoying among the males, but if was enough to make him stare down at their fare with distaste, then she knew the other two would hate it. What a pity. The fact that beef and potato soup was her comfort food for a stormy winter night had made it a good selection for the meal as far as she was concerned. That the triad found it distasteful was just icing on the cake. It made her feel gleefully back in control. They could taunt her all they wanted, but in the end, they would have to remember that she was the one in charge of their comfort while they were stuck with each other.

If it led to a more peaceful cohabitation within the holding area, then she would consider it well worth it.

Chapter 10

Uma was not impressed. The triad was trying her last nerve. Not only were they not the least bit grateful or appreciative of the stew she had provided for them for dinner, but they were taking every opportunity to ignore her presence altogether while they spoke in their ragii. Normally that wouldn’t have bothered her, but it was their body language taken together with it that irritated her. Maybe she was being overly sensitive, but it was too much like having the group of them talking about her behind her back—except it was blatantly right in front of her face but in a language she didn’t understand. It was bad enough that they were clearly mocking her, but that they were laughing at her but not letting her in on the joke was as much disrespect as she was willing to take.

Especially after their comments regarding the mess that would be left for her during the Withering Days. It made her feel like a rookie again—a rookie with a messed-up face and a rocky beginning that no one wanted to be teamed with. But there had been plenty of speculation and rumors that went around the training academy. And more strategically planned pranks to humiliate her than she cared to remember. It had been intolerable back then, and she was certainly not putting up with it now. Of course, she also felt guilty too, which was why she was freezing her ass off outside while the males enjoyed the remnants of fairer weather before the true strength of the storm moved in.

She had only one rule: the prisoners were not to converse in a manner that she didn’t understand. She had no back up there while the storm slowly moved—no one to protect her and remain supportively at her side. Even Katiera had reluctantly returned to her own apartment when she couldn’t get Renny to revise her orders to allow a two-person team to remain at the station. Call her suspicious and a little paranoid but she just didn’t feel safe when they were speaking around her in a way she couldn’t understand when she was literally trapped within the station grounds with them. When they growled at each other in ragii, it made her feel vulnerable and trapped, which brought up terrible memories that plagued her in turn and followed her into her nightmares.

Drawing in a shaky breath, she blinked rapidly to clear her eyes from the snow clinging to her lashes. It was okay. She was the captain. She was still entirely in control. They couldn’t make her feel any less than she was unless she let them.

With those words settling deeper within her, she crossed her arms over her chest as she watched them lope around through the snow drifts of the enclosed yard. And some of those drifts were incredibly deep, even on the much larger Ragoru. Jessie and guards of similar stature would have been swallowed entirely by those same drifts. The Ragoru also sank but it didn’t last long before they burst out from the snow energetically, spraying white powder everywhere wherever it didn’t cling to their fur. Kam grinned as he kicked free, splattering snow into Vrin’s face so that the male jerked back reflexively and swiped at him with his lower right hand. Laro, however, was just circling the yard at an even lope. The heat of his breath was so regular in its little measured puffs of steam that she was certain he wasn’t even breathing hard as he made his paces.

Her attention shot back to Kam as the male shouted excitedly and broke off at a sprint with Vrin barreling down behind him. Her eyes followed them idly as Kam hurried after his lead with indistinct words shouted about the soft whine of the wind.

She frowned as she hugged herself to stave off the cold. Despite her layers, the cold was quickly finding a way to seep in through the seams, chilling the leather and woven fabrics. Why was it always so brutally cold when she was on shift? Damn the winters, perhaps she should have filed paperwork to transfer to one of the more southern citadels instead of letting sentimentality and guilt keep her in Old Wayfairer.

She grumbled to herself as she gave her arms a brisk rub. She hoped that the triad appreciated her sacrifice. It was likely the only romp they would enjoy outside before the weather finally turned vicious. Why didn’t they bother to do this mate hunting business in the summer when it was at least warm?

She cocked her head and frowned thoughtfully as she watched the Ragoru settle once more into an easy lope circling around the perimeter of the yard to its far end. That was a good question—why hadn’t they? Midwinter and so close to their own rut seemed like an odd choice of timing. And not just them but another triad as well according to those at the Lucky Bull. She hadn’t found any copy of a complaint issued regarding the incident they mentioned, but it still stood out in her mind that there had been two different triads in the lower district at such an inopportune time.

And what happened to the other triad? The report from the tavern that merely mentioned the previous incident hadn’t been overburdened with details outside of the fact that there was a conflict, and one triad was removed as a result of it.

Perhaps she should just ask the males in her custody. It was unlikely that they knew the fate of the other triad unless they buried the other males in a shallow pit somewhere, but perhaps they could offer some sort of perspective on the matter. If this was becoming a behavioral shift in the Ragoru, migrating into the citadels with the urge to find mates so near the rut... this would be something important for the council to be aware of, especially if it would result in potentially violent encounters between competing males. There would be too many, such as those men at the tavern, who would weaponize it against the males.

“Well, no time like the present to ask and find out,” Uma muttered to herself.

Of course they had to cease their pacing to congregate out at the farthest edge of the training yard. The angle kept them entirely obscure from the street so she couldn’t imagine what they found so fascinating out there. Whatever it was, it certainly seemed to be holding their attention remarkably well. She couldn’t even wave them over because other than casually allowing their gaze to drift over the yard, they were ignoring her. Or at least Laro and Vrin were. Kam peered over at her, but when she lifted her hand to wave him over, he opened his mouth for a moment as if to say something to his triad brothers, and all it took was a sharp look from Vrin and he studiously turned away from her as if he too were entirely unaware of her presence.

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