Page 70 of Claimed By the Alien Barbarian

“I still believe it was you.” Nevarn latched onto Khol’s arm to keep him from running away, though I doubted Khol would flee.

We strode through the village, arriving at a small stone building, where we went inside.

Firion wasn’t there.

“Do you want me to go look for your brother?” I asked.

“I’d rather you stayed here, where you’re safe.”

We all sat, and a short time later, Firion arrived. He took one look at us and sunk into a chair on the opposite side of a big stone desk.

Nevarn explained that Khol was Weela’s lover. “Tell us why you killed her, Khol. She was defenseless. A good person.”

“I told you. I didn’t do it.” A snarl ripped up Khol’s throat, but his shoulders quickly slumped. “I’m sorry.” He glanced Firion’s way. “Neither of us wanted it to happen, but it just did. We both loved to walk, and we’d often leave at the same time or run into each other on one of the trails. After months of this, we started walking with each other. We’d talk. Nothing else.” He pinched his eyes closed before opening them again. “We fell in love. Neither of us wanted to hurt you, Nevarn.” He lifted his gaze to meet my mate’s. “You and I have been friends since we were small. I would never do anything to hurt you, but we couldn’t help it.” He extended his arm and flipped it over, revealing smooth, medium blue skin.

Nevarn said nothing, just watched Khol.

Khol spit on his arm and taking the hem of his tunic, started rubbing, slowly revealing a mark that looked vaguely like a slice of a moon with a few stars encircling it. “They appeared the day before she was murdered. Hers matched mine. We didn’t dare reveal them.”

Nevarn sighed. “You were true mates.”

“We didn’t suspect anything like that at first. But then our mating marks appeared. That’s when we knew we had to run. Neither of us wanted to hurt you, but we couldn’t stay away from each other. I loved her and she loved me. The fates wanted us to be together.”

Nevarn’s grandfather was wrong to force Weela and Nevarn to mate when they were only friends.

“We made plans and packed our things,” Khol said. “We were going to run that day, but then . . .”

“You didn’t kill her.” The defeat in Nevarn’s voice made my heart spasm. I took his hand and squeezed it.

Khol sighed. “I couldn’t do something like that. I loved her desperately. We were going to start a new life together, far from here. I went to the place where we agreed to meet, but she . . .” He choked and tears ran down his face. “She wasn’t there.” He lifted his head. “I saw someone else hiding in the bushes some distance away. I turned and ran down the trail, hoping to intercept her before she arrived. We didn’t want anyone to know we were leaving. Our plan would only work if we could get away and hide somewhere on the mainland until everyone gave up looking for us.”

“Who was hiding in the bushes?”

“I couldn’t tell, and I didn’t find Weela. By the time I’d reached the village, I realized she must’ve taken a different trail, maybe one where she thought no one would see her carrying her pack full of belongings.” His breathing raged, and he kept clenching his hands to fists before releasing them. “I ran all the way back to the meeting spot again, but it was already too late. Blood . . .” He gulped. “There was blood everywhere. I rushed to the village and learned you’d been accused of killing her.”

“Why didn’t you tell us this before?” Firion asked in a deadly voice.

“I needed to find out who was hiding in the bushes. Honestly,” he stared at Nevarn, “I thought it was you, that you’d done it. I thought you’d discovered we were together and were waiting to confront us. That you were angry, and in your rage, you killed her. I’m sorry. It’s only recently that I discovered who was hiding in the bushes.”

“Who?” Nevarn growled.

Khol whispered a name.

Chapter 34

Nevarn

We talked and came up with a plan to catch the person who murdered Weela. I still couldn’t believe who he named, but after Khol laid out the evidence he’d discovered, all of us were convinced.

“We’ll put the plan in place immediately,” Firion said. Rising and rounding his desk, he slapped my shoulder. “This will be over soon. Once we have their confession, our elder will banish them. Your name will be cleared.” He pulled me into a hug. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay here on the island with Kerry? You’re more than welcome. The rest of your clan can come back too. They’ll be honored for believing in you when so many didn’t, and you and I can discuss sharing the traedorship.”

“I’m honored, but I miss the forest.” I reached out to take Kerry’s hand. “I can’t wait to show my new mate our home within the trees. You should visit us sometime. You might find you like it there more than here.”

“And leave our ryvars?” he scoffed.

“They wouldn’t survive in the dense forest.” They’d never nested there, and they enjoyed diving into the sea to catch fish. “I can’t take Faelest with me. She’s nesting and will soon hatcheggs.” Something I’d learned from my brother earlier. She had a mate and a life here without me.

But I could visit her.

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