Page 45 of K'Vella

"Holoth isn't one of theirs," Glinn says, wrapping her arms around me. "That's thanks to you. We both know they would've dragged me off to one of their nests to make sure the rutting stuck."

I grind my teeth together and force a nod. I don't enjoy thinking about why I left the tribe years ago. I like even less to know that the person who was most hurt by it didn't get to run like I did.

"I'm happy now," Glinn says, smiling up at me as she keeps her arms wrapped around me. "The sisters helped me. I got help for the nightmares and the inability to trust, and when males from another clan came for one of the heat runs, I found Elan." I notice tears pricking the lower lashes of Glinn's eyes, and I move to brush them away.

"And the smell?" I ask, knowing how hard Avery reacted to seeing me and hoping Glinn's reaction to the smell wasn't nearly as bad as that.

"Elan scrubbed himself raw," she laughs. "His skin had a pink tint to it when he finally came to check on me. The sisters didn't let him into the sanctuary, and he was on the verge of a mating frenzy, but he was a calm male when I finally stepped out."

We stand in the darkness a little while longer. I keep her face between my palms, brushing her tears away as they fall, and she keeps her arms wrapped around me. She's a strong female, much stronger than she ever should've needed to be.

"You need to get back to your mate," Glinn says after long moments of us just holding each other. She takes a deep breath, and her eyes widen a fraction. "Maybe rinse off before you go back. You smell of my heat. I don't want your female getting the wrong idea."

"She isn't like us." I smile, thinking about K'Vella sniffing me and finding another female's scent all over me. I bet she's a female who would make sure I know who my mate is if she knew. "I'll have to introduce you if we're still here when your heat ends."

Glinn gives me a small smile, but it doesn't reach her eyes. We both know I won't be seeing her again. Even if Avery's heat is long, we'll still be leaving in the next few days. It's not nearly enough time for Glinn to get hers started and sate it with her mate.

"There's a heat run happening in five days," Glinn says. "Maybe you can convince your crew to stay for a little while and enjoy some of our traditions with us."

I have to hold in my true thoughts about that. Of course, I'd love to have K'Vella running from me so I could track her down and take her out in the open. I'd need to remove my blocker, though, and there's no way that's going to happen.

Not to mention, I doubt anyone on the crew, except maybe Sloane, would want to be here to watch males and females from other clans gather to rut like crazy.

"I'll let them know it's happening, but I doubt they'll be very interested," I say. I don't want to get her hopes up with false promises.

She gives me another small smile and then waves me back to the great hall. I run back, hoping to wrap K'Vella up in my arms and convince her to get out of her clothes again.

sixteen

K'Vella

My body's exhausted even though I'm waking up from a long night of rest. Or at least I think it was still night when we came back to the nest.

I crack my eyes open and can't see the clock from where I'm plastered to Holoth's front. I sigh and plop back down. Maybe I'll just sleep a bit longer.

"My mother will want to meet you," Holoth murmurs against my hair.

He nuzzles his nose into the crook of my neck and places kisses against it. His arm tightens around my abdomen as he grinds against my backside like that's acceptable when talking about meeting his mother.

"Your mother?" I sound downright scandalized at the idea.

I spent the better part of last night with Holoth's fingers inside me as he made me come over and over again. By the time he made me orgasm for the fifth time, I'd completely forgotten about how Helna punched a female who came up to me and toldme I didn't deserve a male like Holoth. What was even more startling was that after Helna hit her, she grabbed a full drink from a different female and downed it as though she hadn't just punched a female hard enough that she fell to the ground.

"Yes, my mother." Holoth nips at my shoulder, drawing my attention back to the present. "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing," I say too quickly.

I don't know if Helna wants her older brother to know that she's fighting other females or that any of them said anything rude to me. I'm already other enough. I don't need to make things more difficult for Holoth. Not when he's enjoying himself so much with being back. I'm enjoying myself, too, even if I never thought I'd be into being pleasured in public places.

I enjoy the family that's formed in the tribe. Even most of the females accepted me after Helna told the other females to sniff me but not tell any of the crew. Most were eager to know a new babe was going to be born, and it seemed to make them accept me as one of them.

I was even dragged toward the dancing pit at one point. Jovi put a stop to that, stating he was all for fun, but Holoth might actually kill one of them if I went in there.

"Did you have fun while I was gone last night?" Holoth asks as he traces soft lines up and down my upper arms.

"Why do you ask?" I shoot him a suspicious look over my shoulder, and he only grins back at me.

He hops up from the bed, taking the blankets with him. Instead of hiding myself away, I stretch out in the nest, making loud, sensual moans as I wake myself. Holoth stands over me, eyes greedily taking in my naked body.

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