Page 51 of K'Vella

"I heard a scream and chased after it. It's strange being in runs because there are rules about interrupting ruttings. Some females enjoy being pinned down and made to submit, but we have special words that are only used when a female is well and truly not having fun. Glinn screamed it over and over again, and I stood in the trees watching, trying to figure out what I was supposed to do."

K'Vella grabs my hand and silences the words in my throat. She cups my face between her hands and wipes at tears I didn't know were falling. "You were a child."

"I was a grown male," I scoff and give her a smile that doesn't feel as full as it should be. "I killed the males. I don't remember how in very much detail. It's all a blur of hormones and rage and confusion. I only know Glinn was soaked in blood. I didn't know how much of it was hers and how much of it was theirs when I dropped her off with the sisters in the sanctuary. I didn't stop off at my house before I left. I just called a pickup from anyone who would make a stop on our planet. I somehow managed to get on Alik's ship a few months later."

"You saved someone from something awful and thought you had to run?" K'Vella brushes her fingers against my face again, wiping away the remainder of my tears.

"I needed to run for myself," I tell her, cupping my hand over hers and nuzzling my face deeper into her touch. "I didn't know who I was for a little while after that. I thought I should've been faster. That I should've known Glinn wasn't enjoying herself quicker than I did. Or that maybe I should've felt something when I killed three males. I've come to terms with what happened now. Maybe not completely, but I don't fear how anyone here looks at me anymore. I don't think for a second that I couldn't keep you or our young safe."

"You'll keep us so safe," K'Vella says.

"And if I can't, well, you're strong enough."

I press my lips to hers before she realizes that I've pulled her out of the nest. She squeals as her body falls on top of mine, and I discard her furs with ease so my mate is back to being naked for me.

K'Vella lays her head against my chest, listening to the rhythmic beats of my heart for long moments before turning her eyes up to me. "My mother and sister think I'm useless. They cast me out of the family after I got sick."

"They what?" I ask. The bark in my words is harsher than I mean for it to be, and the growl that rumbles through me doesn't help matters.

"Calm, my big ferocious mate," K'Vella laughs as she settles her head back against my chest. "I was sick. You know this already. I had to have bits and pieces of me removed that would help me conceive a Varon child. When my sister found out, which was because of negligence on my end because I never wanted her to find out, she went and told our mother. They're both the same kind of cruel. I don't know why, and at this point in my life, I can't care. My sister called to mock me a week or so after my surgery about how no one would ever want me now that I'm a broken female."

"I want you," I growl.

She shakes in laughter, and it eases some of my worries.

"I know you do, and my sister is a bitch. Everyone knows this." K'Vella pats my chest with one of her hands and lets her fingers play across the dark markings on my chest.

"I don't think I'm ever going back to Varon." Her words are so soft I don't know if they're for me or not.

I can't help but be curious, though. "Oh, where do you want to go, then?"

K'Vella's fingers stop moving against my chest, and I hold my breath, waiting for her answer. "I think I want to be wherever you are."

"Those are dangerous words, little mate," I purr and roll her onto her back, spreading her legs and nuzzling my mouth close to her neck. "If you stay with me, I'm never going to tire of you. You'll be busy with my needs and round with my young all the time."

"Mhm," K'Vella moans as she tugs on my braid until my hair is free and falling around my face. She wraps her finger in my hair and pulls me back so our lips are barely touching. "I want you to keep me busy. I want to be round with your young. I want you in whatever way I can have you."

I press a searing kiss against her lips, tugging her close to me as though I can consume her very being. "All ways," I growl into her mouth as I kiss her again. "You'll have me in all ways."

"Get me in my nest," K'Vella groans underneath me, and those words have never been so sweet.

eighteen

K'Vella

"Am I looking hot now?" Essa asks as she spins around the entertainment room. She's dressed in something similar to me. Furs that barely cover her front bits and her backside and a fur tied in a halter for her top.

"Looking hot, babe," Sloane says, beaming up at the golden woman.

Helna nods along, and I'm smiling up at Essa as well. She made the males leave the ship already because she wasn't sure if she'd be comfortable in the furs once she had them on. I'm pretty sure Holoth growled at the request, but he's a good friend because he's standing outside waiting with Jovi, Alik, and Phial.

"Whose furs were these again?" Essa asks as she runs her hands over the front lower flap. "I don't want any female being upset thinking I'm taking their male."

"They're leftover furs from Holoth's room before he left." Helna shrugs and gives me a side-eyed glance. I frown at it, and she laughs. "Don't worry. They don't smell like anything otherthan the incense my mother burns in the house. They've been in a closet for like five years now."

"Oh, this is fine," Essa says, wrapping an arm over my shoulder. "Holoth knows I want nothing to do with him or his knot. I'm much too good of a friend for that."

I frown harder, and the three women laugh. "Let's just not talk about his knot, okay?"

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