Page 31 of Warrioress

It was a tight squeeze, too tight even to make a fire, but at least their combined body heat pressed around Uma would keep her warm between them.

Kam paced ahead as they drew nearer, his tail flagging with his eagerness and refreshed good mood. Vrin glanced back at Laro. The male was guarding their rear as usual, his entire body tense and alert, and yet he too seemed to be invigorated. Vrin snorted softly to himself as he faced forward in time to evade a large branch. It seemed that they were all similarly affected, but perhaps for different reasons. Despite the lust racing through his blood, Vrin was... happy. And he could not even place the reason for it on simply being away from the citadel. Truthfully, the citadel was not all that bad—if they had not been restrained for so long in a small cell, he might have even found a certain pleasure in it and its strange combination of scents.

No, it was not because he was finally running free. His happiness was due entirely to the female clasped in his arms. Vrin shuddered in awe. Desire was expected as he was a healthy, unmated male in his prime and she was a healthy, unattached female. But as they entered the border forest, he felt jubilant and triumphant as if he had stolen the best part of the meat when his brothers were not looking. He was happy because he had her and was preparing to den with her, even if it was just for the night. And it felt right. She was his and he would never let her go... but first, he had to convince his triad.

His head swiveled as he cast brief speculative glances at his brothers. Of the two males, Kam would perhaps be the easiest to convince. The male was the most easygoing of their triad. When they first started discussing finding a new mate, he had voiced no preferences, being happy to go along with whomever Laro selected as a suitable mate. Vrin did not quite have the same faith in their lead and had made the most demands, most of which were going to now make him look foolish since Uma was none of those things.

She was not small and sweet; she was not submissive. Somehow he found the tallest, loudest, most assertive female in the entire citadel... and he could not want anyone more. She made him crazy with her stubbornness, and yet she undauntedly protected and cared for others. And while he did not like the fact that she just threw herself into conflicts, she was brave and intelligent and never shirked what she saw as her responsibility or worthy of her attention. And he quickly had found himself adoring all of that, and her cunning sense of humor that she did not hesitate to use in playful battle with him.

He hugged her closer and rubbed his cheek against the top of her head, guilt assailing him for how poorly he had initially treated her. Another female might have cried, but she had retaliated, earning his admiration despite his frustration and anger over their situation.

Uma had won him over so easily. Now he only hoped that he could help her do the same to Laro. Of all of them, he needed a female’s gentle touch the most and was the least likely of them to ask for it. He saw acquiring a mate for their triad as his duty to them, not as something that he desperately needed. Vrin knew different. He also knew that Laro could be the harder one to convince as the male had born the worst of the pain from Ekeren’s rages. Trusting a strong female would be more difficult, but Vrin knew Uma had a gentleness to her and was determined to help Laro see it as well.

“Here!” Kam suddenly shouted, and Vrin released the breath he had not even realized he had been holding, relief filling him.

Kam found the den.

Laro abandoned his guard as he circled around Vrin, coming around to pass him and join Kam. Both males immediately bent and began to dig away the snow that was blocking the entrance. Vrin waited patiently until the entrance widened enough and then squeezed in with Uma. The long straw that they had dug up from the snow previously to make their bed still lay in a thick layer over the stone floor, but in their absence it had become dry and gave the den an earthy fragrance. Vrin shifted his foot over it, looking for any sign of animals fouling the nest, before finally lowering into a crouch to set Uma upon it.

Her head swiveled as she looked around, but he knew with her weak eyes that she would make out little in the dim lighting. Already the sun was nearly set behind the mountain, and what light remained did not offer much to see by.

“Where are we?” she whispered.

“Shelter,” he grunted as he settled next to her and looked toward the entrance as Kam wiggled in with a grin.

“We found it when we came down the mountain,” Kam explained as he threw himself down onto the grass at Uma’s other side. “It is not much, but we will all fit and can enjoy being dry while we sleep.”

Uma looked pointedly at the snow slowly melting on his fur. “Dry, huh?”

Kam laughed and sprawled on his side. “The upper layer of our pelts does not stay damp long,” he assured her. “And we barely even notice it since our body heat keeps the lower layers dry and warm.”

“You will not notice either,” Vrin added, shooting an annoyed look at his brother. He turned, presenting the dry fur of his chest and belly toward her as he stretched out at her other side. “We will refrain from pressing the damp fur against you.”

At least what little snow they accumulated there melted and dried rapidly in comparison.

Laro grunted as he squeezed in after them and surveyed the remaining space. Vrin was already against the wall, and he gently tugged Uma so that she would move closer. She froze for a few heartbeats, but when her gaze blinding shifted to Laro’s glowing eyes she seemed to get the idea of what was going on as the male patiently waited. She chuckled softly, the sound warming Vrin’s insides, and then shifted, sliding her bottom over the dry grass in a soft susurrus as she moved over and reclined beside him, pressing intimately against his chest and belly. His arms immediately closed around her with satisfaction, and he smiled to himself when Kam eagerly wiggled over to press against her back.

The male was not going to be difficult to convince at all.

They lay there together as Laro squeezed in and dropped to the nest beside Kam with a tired yawn.

“Get some rest,” their lead rumbled. “Daylight will come quickly enough, and we do not want to be stuck in a dangerous spot on the mountain when the sun sets again. We will need to start out early.”

Vrin grunted in agreement, his eyes sliding shut, comforted by their mingled scents. He was tired from running that remaining distance with Uma in his arms, tired enough that it was easy to ignore the way his partially engorged cocks ached within their sheath. The ached subsided a small amount as he allowed himself to drift in a light doze but the sound of Kam shifting around made his eyes pop open to peer at the male irritably.

Kam offered him an apologetic smile. “My cocks hurt,” he whispered in ragii. “Pressing up against her heat is making me engorged.”

“Deal with it,” Vrin hissed in return. “Keep them within your sheath and go to sleep.”

“You are cruel,” Kam whined quietly, but he huffed and settled back down again under Vrin’s glare.

“You two are doing it again,” Uma whispered around a yawn.

Vrin grimaced and tucked his head against Uma’s. “Ignore him. Kam was just talking nonsense.”

“Not nonsense,” Kam rebutted, and Vrin wondered if he was going to have to murder the male if he dared to repeat their conversation for her. The last thing he wanted was for his intended mate to be uncomfortable lying between them. “I was just wondering out loud what that male meant about your sire.”

The tension eased from Vrin but his ears tipped curiously toward her. “I admit that I am curious about it as well.”

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