Page 22 of Ragoru

Fuck, she would murder for a bed.

CHAPTER18

Thral didn’t like the human den any more the second time he entered it with his family than he did the first time alone. It smelled weird. Not in the bad way that the forest near the mountains had, but just strange. It didn’t smell natural. It didn’t smell like wood or trees but something that had a weird tang to it. It wasn’t necessarily unpleasant. He could even see himself becoming accustomed to it and perhaps enjoying the freshness of the scent if they lingered long enough, but for now it made his hackles rise slightly because of it.

But Evie hadn’t been wrong. The den was completely secure, though oddly made of some shiny wood rather than the stone of the dens in which Ragoru lived. Vrishna and Sabol peered around, their noses twitching as they followed him in, with Evie safely sheltered between them. He approved. Even though he had already investigated the house, they couldn’t be too careful when it came to the safety of their female. He peered silently at Evie to gauge her reaction to the place, the tension draining out of him when a smile lit her face.

“This is perfect! Look at that, it’s made with fibralwood. No wonder it’s still standing in this condition. There was only a limited amount of this stuff brought to Solum. Only the familial homes of the founding families got fibralwood. The artificial wood mixed with fracture-resistant fiberglass among other things was a luxury allotted to few.”

She tapped her chin and hummed softly. “That explains a few things. This residential area must have been intended for a very specific—very wealthy—clientele who never made here. I mean, even the architecture is not some basic slap up.” She whistled softly as she looked around and took a deep breath. “Even smells almost as good as new.”

He wrinkled his nose a little at that. “It smells strange,” he pointed out, wondering if there was more wrong with her nose than simply being weaker.

She grinned at him. “I suppose it does to you. What you’re smelling are the dirt-eating cleaning solutions that were rubbed into every surface. The idea was so that the colonists could take residence here quickly and not have to worry about having to aggressively clean house for quite a while as they set up. With the house basically being sealed since it was erected, nothing has been used and the solution is still intact. Don’t worry. It’s skin safe and nontoxic,” she hastened to add.

Thral grunted, unimpressed.

“It’s not that bad,” Vrishna interjected as he breathed it in. Thral stared at him in disbelief, and the male responded with a casual ear flick as he grinned. “If Evie likes it, then I like it.”

Evie’s head tipped back toward Vrishna, her smile widening. She laughed softly and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. “I appreciate the sacrifice, but it’s okay. This place has a solar generator so we can rush the system to flush the house. There will be some lingering scent, but I think you’ll get used to it and it will eventually wear off.”

Thral stiffened, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at her. There was something calculating within her eyes as she said that which immediately put him on guard. What was she up to? “We will not be here long enough to get accustomed to it,” he reminded her with a soft growl. “Unless you have changed your mind.”

A look of guilt flashed across her face. “About that. I was actually thinking that this is a nice, safe area. No humans who are likely to come across you and plenty of food between the fruits and game. Then there’s the house, which makes a perfect long-term shelter. This spot really has everything. The solar generator and water pump will even keep this place warm at night and hot water for cleaning.”

“We are staying?” Sabol’s tail wagged with delight as he took another look around, his wariness now replaced with anticipation that made Thral groan.

“Well,youare… for now,” she added when hurt flashed across the male’s face and Vrishna stiffened beside her. “After what happened at the river, I just think that this will be best if you guys… stay.”

Thral’s heart clenched at her words but even more painfully when Sabol’s ears flattened to the sides and his tail dropped against his legs.

“Are you punishing me?” Sabol asked quietly. “I didn’t mean to endanger you…or myself. Please don’t reject me.”

Vrishna growled and shifted past Evie to drag Sabol against him. “She doesn’t mean that… do you?” He cut a questioning looking at Evie, giving voice to the words that beat with Thral, demanding an answer.

She pressed her fingers to her mouth, her eyes widening as she vehemently shook her head. “No, Sabol. No! Of course, I don’t mean that. What happened wasmyfault, all because I needed to cross that damn river.” She moved forward and wrapped her arms around him. At that moment, Thral knew she meant nothing malicious in what she said. “I have a duty I need to finish carrying out because others could potentially be in danger. And while I admit that I’m confused and uncertain about what I want to do when it comes to the four of us, if I can focus on my task, I can come back and devote myself entirely to figuring out our path together. But I have to go to the mining village, and I can’t justify taking you any farther. This is what I do, and I have devoted my life to making sure that our world stays safe for us, but that doesn’t mean I can justify endangering you to accomplish that. Any of you.”

She looked at Vrishna and Thral pleadingly, and Thral felt himself weaken with that look. As much as he admired her fairness and kindness, he had tried to remain aloof so that he wouldn’t know pain if she tried to reject them. If she had, he wouldn’t have given up so easily and would have followed her regardless, but he would have shielded himself from the worst of the hurt. Seeing her like this was breaking down the barrier around his heart as assuredly as the regular affection from his triad.

“Please understand.”

Thral’s jaw worked. “I don’t think any of us understand this reasoning. Why do you wish to abandon us here? Do you think that we must be rogs who require tending and saving from ourselves?”

Her brow furrowed, and she shook her head. “Of course I don’t think that.”

Vrishna rumbled in agreement, though the tension in his expression softened as he looked down at her. “Your desire to keep us safe is admirable, but we can’t be caged here and kept out of the way. The Shining Ones attempted to keep us safe this way, and all three of us have broken away from them to find you.”

Thral would have laughed at the horror on Evie’s face at the comparison if it weren’t such a serious matter. She needed to understand this. They were adult males. They intended to be her mates. She had to trust them to remain by her side and help her. Not locked away, no matter that this place was ideally suited for their human-Ragoru family. He didn’t wish for his Evie to lack any of her human comforts.

“But Sabol could have died,” she whispered brokenly.

Sabol’s head dropped, and he bent low to nuzzle her cheek, all four of his arms coming around her to hold her to him in turn. “But I didn’t,” he rasped. “And I have no intention of leaving you, not by your river, or by your huntsmen. I only desire to remain with you. It’s the only thing that I’ve wanted since I came across you alone in the woods.”

Vrishna chuffed softly, the scarred side of his face bunching with his lopsided smile as he happily watched them. At his laughter, Evie peered up at him from where her face was pressed into Sabol’s fur and gave him a small, uncertain smile. Thral moved in closer, understanding her need to be comforted as much as Sabol needed it. They were both hurting for different but entirely similar reasons. From the look Vrishna shared with him, he knew that the male understood that too.

“What happened with Sabol is an accident born of the male’s clear devotion to you,” Vrishna explained, giving the male in question a fond look. His expression turned serious as he regarded Evie. “He found you first. He’s kept you safe and cared for even when he was exhausted. I don’t hold it against him that he made the mistake to try to see to your care alone. He had to learn the hard way to trust us. And this is something you must learn too.”

Evie’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean? I do trust you. I have traveled, eaten, and… slept with you,” she pointed out, her cheeks turning red as she glanced up at Sabol.

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