Page 5 of Warrioress

A deep sigh came from the other side of the cell, and Vrin’s neck craned further so that he peered over at his lead reclining in the corner.

“Try to contain your humor a little, Vrin,” Laro rumbled. “We do not need to frighten humans. That is not why we are here. Besides, they are likely to not have the same appreciation for it that we do. Better to be bored and be able to eat for the duration of the time that we are stuck here.”

“And whose fault is it that we are here?” Vrin countered testily around the bone clasped between his teeth. “Not only did you insist that we come here to seek our mate, but you were also the one who decided to deal with our competition, which gave the human males leverage against us.”

Laro grunted quietly, his ears flattening. “A miscalculation on my part,” he admitted. “I did not believe that humans would involve themselves in affairs between triads.”

Vrin snorted quietly but did not bother to protest. He could not blame his lead on that point. Humans were naturally concerned about their own safety but rarely seemed to care about what went on between competing triads or the welfare of the Ragoru among them. Certainly no one within the tavern had leaped to their defense. The fact that anyone remembered the altercation between them and the other triad was surprising—and clearly calculated.

“There is no point in casting blame around,” Kam muttered. “It is not going to help us get out of this cell. Laro is right—none of us could have anticipated this happening when we were careful around the humans.”

Grunting in reluctant agreement, Vrin spat the bone out and leaned against the bars of the cell. “They do not accept us being here,” he pointed out.

Kam scoffed quietly and gave him a wry smile. “I did not see the females objecting to our presence. In fact, I would say that they were happy to have our company.”

“The females are not the ones who locked us up, even if they utilized the guardswomen to carry it out,” Vrin replied drily. “I speak of the males. They pretend to be agreeable to our faces as if we are so beneath them that they do not care about our presence—but you saw the truth. They wanted to get rid of us. The females merely complied with their wishes.”

“But why?” Kam gave him an incredulous look. “There are so many unmated females within the citadel—it is the reason that Ragoru triads were invited to seek mates among the humans here. The few males within that tavern would not have been enough to satisfy even half the females there.”

Vrin shrugged. He did not have an answer.

“Probably because they, like so many of the pampered males within the citadel, see Ragoru as an obstacle to their established way of life.” Vrin glanced over toward the voice, his muscles tensing as the lead female from the night before stepped into the room, her dark eyes pinned on them with a flinty hardness. The right corner of her full lips hitched up in an expression of amusement as she gestured to their guards, silently commanding them to leave. The females gave them one last wary look before departing together, but this female did not seem to be bothered at all to be alone with them. “Carousing with one’s pick of any lonely woman in sight has been an unfortunate pastime within Old Wayfairer for generations now.”

Claws scraped quietly against the stone floor as Lago rose from the floor and strode the few steps to Vrin’s side, his yellow eyes fastened on Captain. “How do we combat it?”

A dry laugh left the female, and for a moment he saw a hint of true amusement glimmer in her eyes before it was abruptly quashed. “There is no combating it. The Council will still favor and spoil the men because it will keep them happy and in line. They do not care what their husbands, fathers, and sons do in the lower district, far from their own pristine-walled homes. The new laws were created to satisfy the masses of unhappy women here, as well as eliminating the power of The Order, but little changes overnight and not all of the changes have been beneficial. In short—getting rid of you is the easiest answer.”

“Get rid of us? What exactly does that mean?” Kam asked with a tense growl, his ears tipping vigilantly toward Captain.

She leaned then against the wall, her arms crossing over her chest as she regarded them, her expression stony and revealing nothing of what she was thinking. “Don’t growl at me. It’s nothing dire. You will be detained here for a few days while the festivities are going on and the worse of the weather passes through, and then escorted out of the territory.”

Lago stiffened at Vrin’s side. “Detained? For how long?”

“Likely no more than a week. Two at the most if the storms take longer to clear out,” she replied nonchalantly even as Vrin felt alarm quickly crawl up his spine.

He shared a startled look with his lead and the male swallowed visibly. If they were trapped with a female during the Withering Days, they would not be able to control their need to mate. They would bind themselves to any female, defeating their whole purpose of seeking the perfect mate for their triad within the citadel.

“We cannot,” Lago argued, his words clipped with his urgency. “You do not understand. The Withering Days...”

“I have already been briefed on the problem,” Captain interrupted. “Which is why I will be here to keep an eye on you. Rest assured that no one will bother you as I will be fully responsible for anything that you do until I personally escort you off our land.” She slowly rotated her neck as if to release tension from it. “From here on out mine will be the only human face you will see for most of the day.”

Vrin eyed her, noting the grimness in her tone. This was no female looking to snare a male. There was too much resignation in her words, indicating that they were more of a burden for her than an opportunity. Still, there remained that risk.

“If you worry about your virtue, you don’t need to be,” she continued dryly, interpreting their watchful silence correctly. “If I’m with a male, it is because he is worthy of me. Not because he is the first available dick trapped with me. I’m not desperate. You will be returned to the Great Forest in the same state you were when you arrived from it.”

Lago grumbled quietly but shook his head, sending the small braids within the long fur of his mane that grew out from his head and the long fur at the back of his neck clattering. “We do not wish to be seen in that state,” he protested. “I would prefer to save our dignity and not be watched while we are unable to control our body’s reactions.”

There was not even the faintest softening of Captain’s expression as her gaze turned toward Lago.

“Unfortunately, your dignity is going to have to take a hit. You no longer have the option of just leaving,” she replied in a voice as severe as her expression. “If it makes you feel any better, though, I have no interest in witnessing all of that and will make myself scarce as much as possible.”

That was the only concession that they were going to get, and Lago recognized it as well as Vrin. The male’s shoulders hunched but he nodded in agreement, willing to accept that much.

Kam whined quietly, his ears flattening in embarrassment. “The Withering Days are between a triad and their mate. It is private. And yet we are expected to... in front of you.” The male swallowed thickly, stirring sympathy within the burnt-out husk of Vrin’s heart.

He glanced over at the female. She regarded Kam quietly for a moment, her expression finally softening with sympathy. He was relieved to see it. She would have to be heartless to feel nothing at all for Kam’s shame. Vrin was too scarred inside, too damaged, to feel that same sense of shame over sharing something so intimate with a female who was not their mate, but for Kam’s sake he was glad she was not disregarding it entirely.

“I will try to secure you as much privacy as possible,” she assured him. She then proceeded to give the male a small smile. “If it helps at all, there is a positive side to this. I spoke to my superior and got special permission for your situation. Until the Withering Days, and while the weather holds, I am allowed to give you as much freedom as possible so that you are not locked in your cell at all hours.” Her brow arched as she gave them all a measured look. “That, of course, depends on your cooperation.”

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