Page 22 of Enchanting Her Mate

Put Mek and Alu together in a house with four other Hexrins and Tibik, and it is a constant state of chaos.

I am also a bit stressed because I need to have a conversation with Tibik about what happened during the battle with Bzzsil Chi, but I have not summoned the courage to broach the subject. When he is not criticizing me under his breath in front of the rest of the coven, he is complaining loudly about Alu or Mek, or both.

It has been easier to avoid the subject altogether. Because I know the moment I reopen this wound, it will not just be the battle we argue about, but every other moment of unpleasantness that has passed between us over the last two centuries.

That is what happens when Tibik’s choices are questioned. He gets defensive and lashes out with a list of mistakes the person questioning him has made, and the original point of the discussion gets lost.

Alu is also growing frustrated by my stalling. She has not said as much to me, but I can tell in the way her jaw clenches every time Tibik speaks, and then in the silence that follows when I do not stand up to him.

Her disappointment is like a dagger plunged deep into my side, and with each additional opportunity to confront Tibik that I am too afraid to take, the knife twists deeper.

I am not a fire-breathing draxilio who was altered to lack fear, however. I am just a short, timid Hexrin who has been pretending to be weaker than I am for the last two hundred years. After playing the part for so long, I have started to believe it. A handful of days in the jungle pretending to be worthy of the role of Prime cannot erase the time I have spent cowering in the corner.

Right now, what I must focus on is bringing the coven together. Well, everyone but Tibik. We have spent far too much time apart, and the younger Hexrins need my guidance. They are certainly not getting it from our leader.

“Let us begin. Who would like to lead this morning’s invocation to the goddess?” I ask, looking around the circle. Our three other Hexrins, Rulya, Divahni, and Qayeko, are all quite timid, and sit silently as they drop their gazes to the ground. We are seated in the small clearing next to the house since the rituals we have attempted inside the house have proved…difficult. Eventually, Rulya, our youngest Hexrin at one hundred three, raises her hand.

“Wonderful, Rulya,” I cheer. “Today we are calling upon the goddess to keep our soil free of frost during the cold season so that our crops may continue to thrive.”

We join hands, inhale deeply, and close our eyes.

Rulya clears her throat and begins the invocation “Goddess above, giver of light and life alike, we call upo–”

“Mek! Get back here!” Alu shouts as she chases Mek out the front door and around the outside of the house.

Our circle is broken by the disruption, and I sigh in frustration as I get to my feet. “What has he done now?” I ask.

“He tore the hood…” Alu grunts as she leaps into the air, trying to grab hold of Mek’s tail feathers, “off your cloak.”

“My cloak?” I repeat, my voice rising to a squeaky, distressed pitch. Now I will have to ask Zohma to repair it, and the sewing circle is always so busy with clothing repairs that they may not get around to it until we are nearing the end of the cold season. By then, I will not need a hood at all.

“Gahh,” she groans when Mek flies away, heading deeper into the forest. She places her hands on her hips and turns toward us, her eyes lighting up at the sight of our circle. “Are you meditating?” she asks as she approaches the blanket spread out beneath us. “I am in dire need of some meditation.”

A sharp crunch beneath Alu’s foot has us all whipping our heads around. When she lifts her boot, Rulya sucks in a breath as she gathers the broken, tattered remains of the wreath she made as an offering to the goddess, wrapped in herbs and flowers that are now destroyed. She clutches it to her chest as her cheeks darken, and I know she is on the verge of tears.

“Many apologies,” Alu says with a pained expression as she softly pats Rulya’s shoulder. “I did not see it.”

“This seems like a good time for a break,” I tell the group, trying to distract Rulya enough to keep her from crying. I can tell Alu already feels terrible, and I do not wish to make the situation worse for anyone. “Let us reconvene our circle after middle meal, yes?”

The Hexrins rise to their feet and head in the direction of the food hall as I gather the supplies from our circle to take them inside.

“Something ails you,” Alu says, lifting the blanket from the ground and shaking it out. “Tell me what it is.”

“No, no,” I say, trying to reassure her, “all is well. I am just distracted, I suppose.” I do not tell her she is the distraction because I do not wish to hurt her feelings, but I do not know what to do. If there was another house she could stay in, I would suggest she do so, but with the recent arrival of the five human females, every free bed in the village is occupied.

If we were to continue strengthening the connection between us, how would it even work? I cannot ask her to abandon her cottage in the jungle when I cannot take a mate. Though, if the dark energy cluster remains on her property, she really should abandon it.

I also do not know how she truly feels about me. She brought me to her cottage to seduce me, which she has. How much longer will she remain interested in spending time with me? If she wants nothing more than a pleasure mate, that would be fine with me. I just wish I knew for certain.

Of course, I could always come out and ask the question. But asking Alu a question like that is almost as terrifying as pondering what her answer might be. She does not soften her delivery, no matter the situation. What if I ask her how she feels about me, and her answer is that she feels nothing beyond the joy of physical release?

After what we have shared, the things she has done to my body, the emotions she has awoken inside me, I am not certain I could handle hearing such a statement from her lips without instantly crumbling.

We return the invocation supplies to the storage box just inside the front door, and Alu pulls me into her arms. “You need a different kind of distraction, I think,” she says, pressing a gentle kiss to each of my knuckles.

“Is that so?” I ask, a familiar flutter of excitement filling my belly as she pulls me up the stairs. At last, we have time to ourselves. I have missed the feel of her bare skin against mine.

By the time we get inside my room, I am rubbing myself against her shamelessly as her hands squeeze and massage my behind. “You smell so good today,” she purrs as she runs her nose along the length of my throat.

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