Page 41 of The Highseer's Mate

Anger boils in my belly. I want to be angry with him—blame him for this. In my head, he let them get sick and starve. It’s all Varek’s fault right?

Wrong.

It’s mine.

If I would have known the Vruts a week ago, everything would have been different. I didn’t need to protect the women—in fact, I’ve left them in more danger by hiding their existence. And if I had just let Varek send other males to go retrieve them, the Vruts could have taken care of them since day one.

This is all my fault.

“I’m going,” I tell him, my voice firm.

“Paige—”

My thoughts bubble out before I can stop them. “I won’t let my friends die while I’m here getting fucked and falling in love with an alien!”

Varek’s expression is tight but the longer he looks at me, the softer his eyes become. He sighs and then nods softly.

“Draxel. Get more food and supplies. Meet us just beyond the southern dip.”

Draxel bows his head with respect and leaves, the leather falling back into place.

My mate turns his attention back to me. “We will not bring them back here, but we will help cure them and protect the ship.”

My shoulders relax, but the sinking feeling in my chest hasn’t lightened up. There’s no way they can survive out there if they couldn’t contact Command. If Earth doesn’t know we crashed, or where in the hell we even landed, the ship won’t protect them forever. I don’t press the subject, but I know that the women need to come here. Varek steps into my space and drags me into his chest, nuzzling the top of my head. I want to let him take away the worry, but my throat is tight and I feel like I can barely breathe. I need to make sure they are okay.

Why didn’t I realize they would be safe here sooner?

“Let’s go,” Varek says, his voice rumbling from deep in his chest. I cling to the rich sound of it and follow his lead out of our chamber.

We walk in silence through the glowhollow. I almost have to jog to keep up with him, my bare feet slapping across the dirt. We round the corner and Kylor is standing upright in the middle of the rocky corridor, his cloak pulled tight around his shoulders.

“Varek,” he says, bowing his head.

My mate grabs my hand and pulls me close to his side. “Kylor.”

The old male’s nostrils flare before his sharp eyes snap to mine. “Ah. I see you are a fully mated pair. Congratulations.”

I swallow and look away—realizing he knows exactly what we got up to in our chamber.

Kylor addresses my mate. “Any updates from Draxel? Any more signs of life from the crash?”

Varek’s grip on my hand tightens almost painfully.

“No. It appears Paige was the only survivor.”

I grit my teeth but stay quiet. He’s speaking as a Highseer—his chest out, his chin high. These are his people and he knows best.

Except he doesn’t know that I don’t plan to let my friends stay out there in the marshes for another night.

I guess we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

Kylor nods, a line on his forehead deepening. “Hm. That is a shame.”

He lets out a deep breath.

“The council was hoping for better news. Hope for the future. With no Vrut-born female mates appearing, we cannot go on like this.”

Varek blinks back at the older male in front of us and a twinge of guilt pangs in my gut.

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