Page 3 of Hadley's Heroes
“Do you know Brooklyn?” the takxe asked. His eyes widened as he caught mine and I narrowed my eyes at him. Had these males been following us?
“Brooklyn is my mate.” I turned to see Tiji standing behind me with his spear in hand, his huge scar on his chest proving that he could take these males on if they challenged, and he would succeed.
“We were her Chosen males from Yaayi, but she left with Sako. We tried to follow, but we became lost tracking her scent. The M’Mori found us instead. Took us to their mines. Put these on our ankles.” The large warrior pointed to his ankle where the device was attached. What was it? How did that track him?
“What is your name?” I asked, standing at my full height. He was much taller than myself. I needed to show him that he didn’t intimidate me. I was willing to take on any male that challenged me for my mate.
“Adee, this is Jaim. My litter brother Aalee was with us when we found your female. He is not here now.” I nodded as many more males from their clan approached us and more of Clan Wolf descended the mountain.
“Adee? Jaim?” I turned to see the large mate of Brooklyn approach the males in front of me.
“Sako, you are here?” Their expressions changed, they seemed relieved to see him. As Sako approached them, he stopped, then he wrapped his arms around both males. He embraced them, hehuggedthem. I had seen him do this with some of the males in the Clan, but these males wore looks of surprise, but you could tell they were very happy to see him.
They started to speak about their travels, but I had no care for that. My mate was injured and in my arms. She needed me to take her to someone, to help her heal. Neither Jaka or myself were healers. We needed a takxe that could help my Hadley. I kissed her forehead. She snuggled into me, then made a sound that had me angry at myself again. She was in pain and, even in my arms, I was hurting her.
“I am a takxe, I can help to heal your mate.” I looked to the male, Jaim, then to the other males around us now. So many eyes on my Hadley.
“No,” I said at the same time Hadley said, “Yes, please.” I growled slightly and she patted my chest. I saw then how injured her hands were, red blood stained them alongside the dirt from her fall. It made my heart ache for her, she must hurt badly. I couldn’t deny her this healer if she wished to be seen by him.
“I hurt, babe, I need to see someone about my ankle. Maybe he has somewhere I can lay down and rest for a while.”
My arms tightened around her, pulling her close to me. Now that she was in my arms I didn’t wish to let her go. I would carry her wherever she needed. This way, I could look out for danger and she would never be hurt. She let out a pained sound. Jaka now growled at me. She could see one of our healers from Clan Wolf, I was sure we had many. Axoh was head of the healers, so she didn’t need this healer.
“Vetok, you must respect our mate. She allows this male to treat her, I agree with her. She needs to be seen. We need the looking device from K’Tem to see if our kits are uninjured.”
My eyes flashed to her belly where our kits were nestled deep within her. If the kits were hurt she would never forgive me. I had been a terrible mate, not even thinking of the kits after her fall. How could I forget something so important as the life she carried? Her hand rested on her belly and Jaka’s hand followed hers. He whispered some words to her. He was not often vocal about things and didn’t speak much in front of others so I knew his concern was very strong to have spoken up like that.
“Okay,” I nodded to the healer. He smiled as he turned, waving for me to follow him towards the clan I now saw very clearly. It was full of huts. There were trees, but mostly the land had been cleared and made way for huts and open spaces, similar to how our clan was. There was a river between us and the clan. They had built a small wooden bridge to cross over. I was fascinated with what they had done here. So many different items, things I didn’t understand. But they must all have a purpose.
We passed by some huts as we followed Jaim. I felt uneasy with so many outcast males watching me. Jaka was beside me, but we were so much smaller than these males. We couldn’t protect our mate. We needed her to choose more mates sooner rather than later. I had kept those thoughts to myself for so long now, thinking how lucky I was that I only shared a mate with one other.
I knew now, the best for her would be for her to choose larger males to protect her. I could not protect her anymore. Her falling proved that I was not fit to be her mate and I would understand if she wished to reject me.
I deserved it.
Chapter Three
Hadley
Vetok was upset. I could tell it was more than he generally was, he wasn’t his usual self. I wanted him to stay calm and not start any fights, but he was extra possessive. I knew he just wanted to make sure I was safe and he was upset that I had fallen. I was secure with him, I always felt safe with him and Jaka. But it was like he couldn’t see that, he was tense and stiff as he walked.
I stroked his chest as Jaka held my other hand. I loved that he just knew that I needed that. I just needed their touch to reassure me everything would be alright. Even the suggestion of K’Tem and his datapad to check on the baby was not something I even thought about. I forgot K’Tem could do that. Not Jaka. He remembered and I was grateful.
The Aashi, Jaim, he was cute, the way he smiled back at me when he would turn to double-check we were still following him. He saw me looking at him and his whole face seemed to light up, but not like Adee. But every time he gave me a smile, I had to pat Vetok, as his chest would start to rumble. I was suspecting Adee was a flirt. And I kinda liked it. I kinda liked that my sexy Vetok was a little jealous, he never had to be before. I hadn’t shown any interest in other males before so this was new.
“Aalee and Adee share this hut with me, but anything you need you are welcome to take, female Hadley.”
Jaim led us into a dark hut. I heard a sound outside and the room was suddenly filled with light. As my eyes adjusted I saw Adee, the male with mate marks, standing on the other side of the window. He went a darker purple… if that was even possible. I swear he just blushed and smiled when he saw me watching him. That smile was panty melting and distracting me from my injuries.
“We won’t need your things, we can supply our mate with everything she needs,” Vetok growled out at them.
Ugh…men.
“That would be lovely, thank you for the offer. We left really fast, so we don’t have a lot. But we don’t need a lot either. Maybe a blanket I could use as a pillow would be nice?”
Adee jumped through the window and only took a moment to grab all the blankets in the hut and present them to me on one knee. Vetok growled again, he was super growly. Maybe jealousy wasn’t as sexy as I thought. Although I loved him growling… it usually wasn’t at other males.
Vetok needed to leave the hut before he lost his cool and hurt these guys. I patted Vetok’s arm to let me down. He wasn’t happy with that either. Honestly, he was more angry than I had ever seen him before.
