Page 48 of K'Vella

I cast him a furious look and pull my lips back over my teeth at even the suggestion. Holoth's prepared for this reaction. He's already watching to make sure he's said enough to prove I'm just as jealous as he is.

"Thankfully, this beautiful female was there to save the day."

"So you managed to snag one of the most eligible Rytharian males in this clan just by being at the right place at the right time?" Jatha asks.

Her tone isn't rude, but the question still stings. What if, just like Helna before she found out about the babe or any of the females here who think Holoth should've chosen one of them, she thinks I'm not enough for her son? That I'm not good enough, that I don't belong.

"Mother." Helna elbows the older woman, who shoots her gaze over to me and notices my worried apprehension.

"Oh, no, that's not a bad thing," Jatha says, her eyes growing wide at realizing she's made me unsure of myself. "The only way to find your mate is being at the right place at the right time. I met their father during a heat run two clans over when he was invited as a special guest by the clan leader's daughter. Imagine everyone's surprise when he was jumping over tables to get to me."

"What my mother is terrible at saying is that fate works to bring us closer to the one we're meant to be with, even if it's in ways we don't think would lead to us finding mates," Holoth says, his fingers rubbing soft circles against my pelt. "Fate brought you to me."

"What about your people, K'Vella?" Helna asks as she leans her elbows on her knees.

I take a deep drink of my tea, trying to buy myself time before needing to respond. "I don't know how much you've already researched, but there are fewer females than males on my planet. We go through a housing ceremony about twice a year so we can be placed with males who might bring out our bonding marks and who might also help us conceive. So, while we also think fate has a lot to do with it, we aren't as open about everything as you are here."

"No rutting at your parties, then?" Helna asks with genuine curiosity. When I shake my head, her brows lift a small amount. "What do you do then?"

I bite back a small laugh. "Well, we mingle with one another, try to see who might be interested in housing us for the next half a year, and we get to know the other males."

"Well, yeah, I get to know plenty of males too, but how do you know if they're worth anything if you haven't made sure they can make you orgasm?" Helna asks so bluntly that none of us are ready for it. Holoth stands from the couch, his growl a bite in the room.

"Is my home still here? I need to see what repairs need to be done before I sell it."

Holoth doesn't wait for an answer before stomping out of the house and, I assume, down to his own home. A home I kind of want to see, and one that hurts my heart to know he wants to sell.

"Glad he's gone," Jatha sighs. "Smart thinking with the talk of rutting."

"I'm surprised I had to bring out the word orgasm," Helna laughs. "I really thought when I talked of rutting, he'd be gone."

"Wait, what?" I ask, trying and failing to keep up with what's happening.

"We wanted to talk to you without Holoth listening in," Jatha says. "There's only so many times I can stop myself from asking about the babe."

"Oh." My chest flushes a bright violet. "The babe is fine." I place my two lower hands over my abdomen and cradle it. "It's still much too early to know if it'll stick."

Jatha and Helna both scoff at that and then their faces turn serious when they realize I'm not joking. Jatha grabs one of my upper hands and pats it with hers. "If you're pregnant, that babe is coming into this world. We haven't lost a Rytharian babe in, oh, a hundred years or so. This is what our bodies are meant to do."

"And if you were altered, you'd take to it just as easily," Helna says, giving me a supportive smile just like her mother's. "Seriously, we breed faster than any other species out there. I need to find my mate soon. I'm an old maid by Rytharian standards."

"Oh shush," Jatha waves away her daughter's concern. "You're only twenty-one. You still have plenty of time."

I look at Helna and try hard not to show my surprise at her youth. When I was twenty-one, I had just attended my first housing ceremony. Yet I'm pretty sure Helna wandered off to a dark corner with a male last night after she tired of dancing.

"You breed young here?" I ask, hoping it's not an intrusive question, but now I'm curious about how old Holoth is.

I don't know why I didn't ask beforehand, but now that I know his sister is only twenty-one, I need to know how old he is. I'm getting close to my thirty-second year, and based on how he looks, I thought Holoth was the same.

"Males go through their first rut around eighteen," Jatha says, and I have to fight to stop the tea I just drank from spraying out of my mouth. If males go through their first rut at eighteen, thenthat means Holoth, my Holoth, is somewhere around twenty-four.

The front door opens, and we listen to Holoth walk down the short hall to the living space. Either Holoth's house is nearby, or he decided he didn't want to be away from me because he's only been gone for maybe five minutes before coming back inside.

"Why does my mate look like you just told her the worst possible news?"

Holoth growls when he comes back into the living room. He settles down next to me, and I can't help but stare at him in wide-eyed confusion. He furrows his brows at me, a frown pulling his lips downward.

"What?"

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