Page 16 of Keeping His Mate

After a few moments, I toss in two more pebble-sized douku orbs and peek inside. It is empty. Elle-noor and I release simultaneous sighs as we stand back. When I turn to face her, she is chewing on the inside of her cheek, and her gaze is hard with frustration.

“Do you have a theory before we return to the village?” I ask, secretly thrilled I did not have to lay my eyes on a tr’gory this day.

She huffs a breath and looks down at the tissue in the puddle of blood. “Yeah, I do, actually.”

“And?”

“I think a tr’gory gave birth here.”

A female tr’gory? Why did I assume the nearby pack was all males? If it was a birth, what does that mean for the safety of our clan with a growing litter of tr’gorys close by?

“I’m worried about her though,” Elle-noor adds, cutting through my string of concerned thoughts. “This is a lot of blood. I know tr’gorys are big, but still.”

“Well, she is no longer here, and neither are her pups, so she cannot be that weak,” I reply.

“Yeah, I know, but if she has trouble nursing, her babies might not survive.”

That is the least of my concerns at this moment. If Elle-noor’s theory is correct, then we have a tr’gory mother in the area who is even more aggressive than the average tr’gory because she has new pups to protect. We need to get back to the village and ensure that no one leaves the main path for the foreseeable future. “This is not our responsibility, Elle-noor,” I tell her. “Come. The clan is waiting for our return.”

The look Elle-noor gives me is scathing. “I can’t just leave them out here!”

“You do not even know where they are!” I shout back. I was tasked with keeping Elle-noor safe, not the tr’gory she heard cry and that tr’gory’s pack of pups. I gesture for her to follow me back to the main path, and she shakes her head as she crosses her arms across her chest. Does she think I would truly leave without her? Or that her stubborn expression would deter me from protecting her? She has no knowledge of what I am capable of and the lengths I would go to in order to keep her safe. “If you do not come willingly, I will not hesitate to throw you over my shoulder and carry you back.”

Her mouth drops open, and her eyes sparkle with defiance, which makes my cock pulse beneath my pants.

“You wouldn’t.”

I give her a wicked grin and take a step toward her. “I would. Happily.”

Elle-noor’s eyes stray to the blood again, and her mood visibly shifts. There is no fear in her scent, but when her chin dips and her lips wobble, I can feel her devastation and powerlessness from where I stand. “But…”

Suddenly, I know how I can help her. She must regain control of this situation, even if she cannot find the tr’gory in need of medical attention. “Come with me,” I say, holding out my hand. “I have perimeter footage of the tr’gorys coming in and out of the village each eve for the last three moon cycles. Watch them. Study them. I am certain you will feel better once you observe them.”

She sniffles quietly. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Okay,” she mutters with a small smile as she walks toward me, placing her hand in mine. Her skin is warm, smooth like the finest Trovilian silk, and when she gives my hand a single squeeze, my body prickles with awareness. It is as if I could measure the distance between our bodies without even looking. And every drop of my blood seeks to close that distance as if my survival is dependent on it.

It is the tether, reminding me that not only does my inara exist, but “she is here! Right here!” and that I must make her mine immediately, and eternally.

Since I cannot accomplish this goal, I break the contact between us, dropping her hand. Briefly, she looks down at her palm, searching for something. Then lowers her gaze and continues walking at my side. Once the path becomes narrow, I guide Elle-noor in front of me, in case the mother tr’gory is closer than we think. We reach the tree line and Varrek sighs as we emerge onto the main path. “Well?” he asks.

Eleanor straightens her spine and gives Varrek a quick summary of our findings. “I think the sounds we heard were a female tr’gory giving birth. We didn’t see her, or her pups, but there was a pool of blood left behind near the falls, and I think it’s her placenta.”

“The clan should not veer off the main path until we have more information,” I add. “She may be close by and will be protective of her pups.”

Elle-noor nods as she pushes her mane behind her ear. “Bruvix is going to let me watch the footage he has of them, and I’ll see if I can get a better idea of their pack dynamics and where this new mother could be hiding.”

“Is that so?” Varrek asks, narrowing his eyes at me. “Bruvix allowing a guest into his dwelling? Interesting.”

Elle-noor looks at me, then at Varrek, then at me again. “Is that a rare occurrence?”

“No,” I reply quickly.

In the same moment, Varrek says, “Yes.”

I clear my throat and change the subject. “There is quite a bit of recording to look over. We should be going.”

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