Page 21 of K'Vella

"Sorry." Essa shakes her head again, her canines still piercing her lower lips and making her look scarier than she usually does. She turns to look at Holoth. "I wouldn't ever hurt her."

Holoth's jaw clenches as he pushes me behind him and starts herding me out of the room, away from Essa. "I know, Essa. I need you to calm down so we can figure out what happened, okay?"

"No, yeah." Essa shakes her head again, her fingers moving up to her temples so she can rub her head. When she looks at us again, her pupils have dilated back to their normal size. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Holoth says, taking more and more steps back until we're in the doorway. "We'll talk later when you've calmed down, okay?"

Essa nods again, her fingers still rubbing at her temple like she has a headache. Sloane is by her side, rubbing a hand down the other woman's back in soothing circles. They're good friends, and I thought we were getting closer, too, until Essa looked like she wanted to murder me.

"What were you all talking about?" Holoth asks when the living room door closes.

He turns to face me, his hands moving to my shoulders, then down one set of arms and the next, acting like he's searching my body for any sign of wounds that he didn't cause. He doesn't look back into my eyes until he's scoured every inch of my uncovered skin.

"My sister and where I'm from," I answer. "I don't know why she acted that way. She said my sister's name like a question and then asked which district I was from. When I answered, she was so mad. I thought we were bonding, but Holoth, she was so mad."

Holoth wraps his arms around me, and I realize I'm crying. I keep my lower arms around my abdomen, but I embrace him with my top arms. Holoth's purr cuts through the fright and worry still coursing through me.

"It's okay," he murmurs against the side of my head, his lips pressing softly against my temple as he continues purring and allowing me to cry against him. "Essa can be scary. She's a powerful female. I'm sure your instincts were to protect yourself. That's normal."

"She seems like such a nice female," I cry lousily into his shoulder. "Why was she mad at me?"

"I don't know," Holoth murmurs. "I don't know, but she's not a threat to you. I promise. Even when she looks all scary, and your mind tells you to run from her, she'll never hurt you."

"I don't even know how my sister could've made her mad. Kiena has done so much stuff to so many males on Varon, but I don't know how she could've made Essa mad."

Holoth's body tenses when I say her name, and then he's stroking my hair a bit more. "Kiena, from the ninth district on Varon?"

I sniffle and blink away a few more tears before pulling away from Holoth and looking at him. "Yes, why?"

Holoth's face screws up for a second when I confirm who my sister is, and then he rubs at his face like he's trying to force the scowl he was wearing off of his features. He presses his lips to my temple again and ushers me down the hallway back toward his room.

"If it's the same female I think it is, she did some mean things to Jovi and Alik when they still lived on Varon," Holoth says, not looking at me as he says it. He knows I won't take that information very well because he doesn't even seem surprised when my footsteps falter, and I turn to stare at him.

"I should tell them," I say, my eyes blinking rapidly as I take in just how bad this could be for me. For all I know, they'll want me off the ship immediately.

A small subset of females on Varon use their power of being needed to hurt others. Most males put up with it because the females are whole and willing to see if bonds form. I never understood why they would be cruel when we were all looking for bonds to start families with. I may not understand why, but I know there are always some who choose to be wicked because they can.

My sister is one of those. Her cruelty started out by putting me down as we grew up with one another. Then, she could be housed with males, and she inflicted her cruelty on males eager to find bond mates. When she got away with her treatment of the males housing her, she only grew bolder in how she inflicted her viciousness.

I don't know what she did to Jovi and Alik. She was fond of making males fight for her affections. She'd refuse to sleep with the males who housed her. It seems like such a small thing, but if Varon males don't fornicate often enough, they get aggressive and violent. It's normally violence that's directed at the other male in their pairing. My sister enjoyed seeing if she could breakapart pairs that cared for one another just by denying them for long enough. I imagine that's what she did to Jovi and Alik.

"I need to tell them before Essa does." I cover my mouth with one hand, my eyes widening in horror as I look back toward the living room. "Oh gods, what about Sloane? She's going to hate me."

"She would've known as soon as Essa did," Holoth tells me, his hand on my lower back urging me deeper into the ship. I keep myself planted where I am, looking down the other end of the hallway where the kitchen is.

"I need to tell them," I say, standing my ground.

I don't know who's stronger in our pairing. Normally, Varon males are stronger than females, but Holoth isn't a Varon. No, he's smaller than Jovi and Alik and not as muscled as a Varon male. His eyes narrow at the same time mine do, both of us wondering who would win in a battle of brute strength.

Holoth's lips pull back in a snarl. It's not a scary one like Essa gave me. None of Holoth's snarls have been like that. They've all been a male who's too upset at his need for his female.

No, not his female, any female. I'm sure it has nothing to do with me specifically.

"I want to play this game with you, but not in the hallway. Come back to our nest, and let's see which of us is stronger."

"Not until I tell them," I say, crossing both sets of arms and giving him my sternest look.

Holoth's growl rumbles in the air, and I can feel its command licking my skin. It sends tingles down my spine, making me wonder how well it works on females of his species. "Go to the nest, K'Vella."

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