Page 21 of Argurma Monster

It was only toward the end of the night when the faintest streak of color lit the horizon that the males began to look earnestly for a safe, defensible place where they could rest. Beverly was pressed against Zoreth’s chest when he came to a stop in front of a sturdy little building with few windows and gestured to it. Talech gave an affirmative click of his mandibles and opened the door to step into darkness.

Lights brightening, the males made a quick visual scan of the entryway, their bodies turning slowly, looking for hidden danger.

“Garanga, proceed with lifeform scan,” Zoreth rasped wearily.

Beverly frowned. He didn’t sound good. Was the AI starting to drain his resources already? Why did he insist on carrying her. She wanted to demand that he put her down but held her tongue as she recalled that it was pitch dark in the building. If she accidentally hurt herself, she would only be even more of a liability.

“One infected life form detected trapped in the lower level,” the AI responded mechanically as a holographic image popped up of the building’s layout. The infected’s position was clearly marked by its low heat signature. “Structural containment and safety it optimal,”Garangaconcluded.

“Acknowledged.” Zoreth nodded to Talech, and the larger male turned and began barricading the door with rapid movements of his metal limbs.

It was only after the males had assured themselves that the barrier would hold that they began to ascend the stairs. They bypassed many doors, going up floors before pushing a door open and entering. She couldn’t see much of her surroundings except basic furnishings illuminated by the Argurma that revealed it to be some sort of domicile. There was the standard appearance of what she assumed was a kitchen to the left to the entrance. They walked past it, their lights briefly flicking over it as they passed to walk through a room with furnishings for sitting.

At last, they opened a door to a bedroom, and within short order Beverly found herself lying in a strange oblong bed while Talech fussed with blocking out as much of the light as possible from the windows. She blinked blindly against the impenetrable darkness, utterly helpless as she attempted to follow the glow of Zoreth’s movements as he went to help Talech. With no way to be useful, she curled on her side as the males fortified the room.

A heavy sigh escaped her.

All of her goals and plans, they felt... pointless.

Chapter 19

Zoreth’s mandibles clicked uneasily. There was something amiss with Beverly. Her bold and unshakeable spirit was one of the things that drew him to her, and yet she was now withdrawn for reasons he could not decipher. She was curled between them on the bedding that they had found in several of the housing units and had piled together into the large sleeping nest.

It was a good thing that Kaze tended to not only mate in groups of three or more adults but also tended be communal sleepers or else their larger Argurma frames would have failed to fit properly. There was still little room for movement but Talech did not appear to mind. The male was curled on his side, his spinal limbs spread wide against the wall behind his back. It was an aberrant position compared to his normal sleeping behavior onGaranga, but with the way his claws twitched occasionally, Zoreth processed that it was likely a defensive position that allowed him to feel the vibrations through the walls and the floors adjoining them. His body was otherwise stretched out peacefully beside Beverly, his glowing eyes slitted as he watched her with a concerned expression.

Concern that matched what Zoreth was currently experiencing within his systems.

Divesting himself of his weapons and piling them on a small table beside the nest, Zoreth carefully slipped into the bed on Beverly’s other side. As she was facing him, her eyes followed him, and she held his gaze when his face lay nearly parallel to hers. There was an emotion in her eyes that he did not understand, and his mandibles spread lightly to collect scent data in hope that it would help him decipher it. There was a faint taste of something akin to despair in her scent that filled his receptors, and his vibrissae twitched in distaste.

He did not like that emotion on his female. It made his chest tighten painfully, and his mandibles began to vibrate in a soft purr. Talech lifted his head, and the male’s gaze settled on him thoughtfully. Zoreth tensed, his sensors taking in the situation. It had been some time since they had an issue sharing a bed together with Beverly, but she had never been in such need of comfort either. She had always met every new situation or challenge with exceptional adaptability, even if at times infuriatingly single-minded.

His mouth quirked as he recalled her bold insistence that they would simply share a bed if he was going to insist that she part from Talech. It had concerned him at the time how attached she obviously was to the damaged male, but now it warmed something within him. She was loyal and accepting of everyone’s needs in ways he had failed to process or appreciate. He knew well enough from studying the human mated to Veral that humans often customarily mated in pair bonds in the manner that was likewise common among Argurmas. The arrangements that they were all forced to adapt to had been as new for her as it had been for them, and yet she had never complained or demonstrated a hint of discomfort sleeping between two large males who each equally desired her.

He processed now that she had actually enjoyed it. She always smiled when they joined her in bed and would fling a leg or an arm over each of them so that neither of them felt ignored in favor of the other. And every night he caught the delicate flavor of her arousal that flooded his systems with his own desire. Despite that, he had processed that her decision to share a bed with them had been in part because she was trying to humor both of them without committing to a mate bond with either of them. He did not complain. He respected the fact that she consciously did not show preferential treatment towardTalech, even though the other male had the prior claim despite his damaged state.

His processors, therefore, were struggling all the more with his female’s unhappiness.

“Relay your concerns, Beverly,” he rumbled.

Her brow furrowed slightly at him. “My concerns? You mean other than being trapped on a planet filled with zombie parasites?”

He dipped his head and made a conscious effort to keep his vibrissae from streaking across the supports toward her. She never objected to the way their vibrissae sought her out, but this moment was about her comfort—not theirs.

“You did not scent of mild despair once while we walked, even though you were tired and aching. Why do you scent of it now?”

“She is sad. Never breed, Zoreth, else you will be endlessly puzzled by your offspring,” Talech growled with just enough venom that Zoreth’s eyes snapped up to the other male until Beverly chuckled softly, drawing their attention to her.

“I’m all right, guys. Just tired, I think.”

Zoreth’s mandibles clicked in understanding. “You did travel for many hours through the day and night. You need rest.”

An apathetic snort escaped her, startling him. “You mean I walked most of the day and none of the night. You guys carried me, passing me between you like a toddler.”

Zoreth frowned. That was not his recollection of events. He glanced over Beverly’s head at Talech and found the other male wearing a puzzled expression. A toddler was a young offspring. He understood that much as he heard Veral’s mate use similar terms regarding their small female. But Beverly was not an offspring. She was a prized female—a mate—and she was cared for as such.

Talech’s hand settled on her side, his mandibles vibrating in a soft purr that drained some of the tension from her shoulders. “No dishonor or disrespect meant, anastha. Only care.”

To Zoreth’s surprise, the male met his eyes, his gaze dropping to his own hand resting on Beverly, and then Zoreth’s lax hand on the bedding, before rising again to meet his eyes meaningfully. His purr halted, delivering a few even clicks of encouragement before resuming. Zoreth blinked uncertainly but lifted his hand and settled it on Beverly’s side just under Talech’s. An approving expression crossed the male’s face as their female relaxed further, and his own mandibles instinctively picked up the purr.

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