Page 41 of Avery

"My current plan is to wait to see what Avery wishes for me to do."

My feathers rustle on my head, down my back. Yeah, I'm not the happiest with this plan. I'd much rather know what my role is to be. It'd be even better if my role were to be to fill her full of my cocks over and over again until her heat was over.

"And if she doesn't want you to assist?" Helna asks, her eyes narrowing on me like she's trying to catch me in any sort of untruth. She'll find none from me. I might enjoy following my female around, listening to everything she says, and standing so close to her that I can feel her breath on my scales when she doesn't know I'm around. But that doesn't mean I'll disregard her wishes.

"Then I will not assist."

I frown and shift on my feet to feel if my cocks have hidden themselves back inside my pocket. When I'm certain they have, I move to put the paneling back on the ship.

Most of what I need to do out here is done. I only have a few more things to check, and then everything is done for the exterior check. Jovi should be doing the interior check, and Alik was the one who told him to do it, which means it's actually getting done.

"What will you do instead?" Helna asks.

I jump a little at her voice. Honestly, I thought she had left when I returned to work. Her talking to me is more than a little frightening and makes me feel like a rude male for ignoring her. I hope she doesn't think I ignored her on purpose. She's friends with Avery, which means I'm supposed to be kind to her. I mean, I dislike Jia, but I still kept her from getting punched in the face because I'm a good male for Avery.

"Sorry." I rub at my feathers, trying to smooth them down. Helna gives me a small smile that fights for space on her face because she's still trying to be stern with me right now. "I didn't know you were still here. I didn't mean to make you feel ignored."

"Phial, I didn't," she snorts. "I was watching you work and trying to decide if you're good enough for Avery."

Her words find their mark, and my lips tug downward. "Don't let Avery hear you say that. I already kept her from punching Jia earlier."

"I heard about that." Helna tilts her head to the side, her eyes dropping down my body in an appraising manner that has me shifting from foot to foot.

As far as Rytharian standards go, I am not an example of peak masculinity. By my species' standards, well, I'm average. At least I was when I was there. I might be above average since, you know, I have all of those explosives. I bet some females would think that makes me a suitable male. Maybe Avery thinks it's part of my appeal. She knows I have explosives stashed away.

She knowseverything.

"She really likes you," Helna says, her eyes turning hard as she returns my gaze.

She looks like she's about to say something else, but I need her to know something before then. I hold a hand up, her brows rising at the interruption.

"I love her. I've loved her for a while. You can think I'm not suitable for her because I'm smaller and weaker than your males. I can protect her, and I can provide for her. There's nowhere safer for her than with me, this I promise you."

Helna's stern gaze softens as she listens to my words, and when I finish, she brushes a tear that's threatening to spill from her lower lids. I didn't say anything profound or anything thateveryone shouldn't already know, so I shrug my shoulders and try not to make a big deal about Helna's overeager tear ducts.

"What will you do when Avery's in heat if she doesn't want you to help?" Helna asks, returning us to her original question. My teeth clamp down so fast I'm sure she's heard the click. "I don't ask to upset you, but I know how hard it is for some of the males here when they have to drop their females off at the sanctuary. There won't be a secure place for her to go, at least not one you won't be able to access."

I puff my chest a bit at that because she's right. There aren't many places I couldn't get to—even the sanctuary. The only thing that kept me from getting to Avery was that it would get us kicked off the planet, and then Avery would have no one to help her. Well, that, and the fact that Helna snitched on me, and the whole sanctuary turned down their filtration system so they could sniff me out if I was nearby.

"I won't go to her if she doesn't want me to," I tell Helna. "I know it's hard to believe I'm not like your males." I wiggle my brows at her, hoping my joke lands. She gives me an unimpressed snort before I continue. "I can't smell her heat. I don't get all worked up for it. Do I want to be near her every moment of every day? Of course, but I can function without being there. I've done it plenty."

Helna chews on her lip as she listens to me. "I'm sorry you can't smell her. I couldn't imagine not being able to smell my mate." She swallows hard, her eyes darting around like she's not sure she should've voiced that part out loud.

"Do you have a mate?" I ask. Her word choice was strange, but I've never really had a conversation with Helna, just the two of us. I think this might be the most we've said to one another where it wasn't me hissing at her for telling me she told the sanctuary that I might camouflage and sneak in.

"No!" Her face flushes a deep red, and her eyes go wide. She takes a deep breath and then releases it slowly. "This is going to sound stupid when I say it, but you have to remember we scent match so easily with our mates. I'm twenty-two and haven't even been drawn to anyone. I've been to twelve other clans for runs. There's been more than that come here, and no one smells good. I'm starting to think my mate's already dead."

My feathers are standing on end, my eyes are wide, and my mind is racing. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with any of this information. Am I meant to console her? Tell her I'm sure her mate isn't dead? Do they only get one? If her mate's dead, does she never get to find someone to belong with? Oh, mother, how am I supposed to handle this situation?

"Phial?" Helna's voice holds a hint of amusement as she pulls me out of the spiral my mind is going into. As heavy as her words are, her smile is bright when she looks at me. "Sorry about that. I didn't realize how badly I needed to get the words out."

I run my hands down my feathers, trying to flatten them out because they make me look foolish. "No, it's fine. We all need someone to speak with. I would suggest maybe Kithi or another female because I do not have words of advice. Really, I only have questions. Many, many questions."

"No, I know." Helna waves her hand in front of her as though it's waving around the seriousness of what she's talking about. "It just all came out. Sorry for putting that on you. I'm fine, really."

"Maybe talk to your brother about your worries," I say, my feathers finally softening and starting to lie down. "It's not like he would've found his mate if he stayed on this planet. Maybe yours is out there somewhere." I motion up to the sky, which is starting to darken. The two moons visible in the sky are tinted a pale red.

Helna stares up at the skies, her eyes shimmering with something I know quite fondly. A desire to explore, to not be trapped down. Who would've thought Helna and I would be alike in any way? It's this kinship that has me offering something I have no place offering.

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