Page 31 of Ragoru

All three males stared at her silently. Not one laughed or made a dismissive sound.

“There’s more.” She pressed her lips together. She really didn’t want to tell them and give them more reason to worry about her, but they had to understand that it wouldn’t just be their lives in danger but hers as well. “If I’m caught with you, I will be immediately charged with harboring a threat to Solum, and probably a number of other absurd charges and will be either detained or executed on the spot—to be determined by the judgment of the huntsman.” She laughed humorlessly. “And considering that I’ll be with the three of you, there is a good chance that they’ll go straight to execution as the safest and most expedient route unless we’re somehow separated.”

Three deep growls resonated through the room, making her skin tingle as their hackles rose.

“And you wish to aid the humans despite this?” Sabol demanded.

She bit her lip but nodded. “If there is something dangerous out there, we need to know about it and make sure that we can defend our homes from it.”

“She is right,” Thral rasped, his eyes narrowing as he looked over at his triad. “Knowing is better than hiding. We can eliminate any threats when we know what we are dealing with.”

“Which means we need to make an informed decision about what we are doing,” Evie continued. “I will be honest when I say that there will be less personal risk to me if I go alone and your scent should keep the worst of the predators at bay.”

“Unless they are hungry enough to take advantage of you alone,” Vrishna pointed out, throwing her words right back at her, Sabol grumbling unhappily in agreement.

That was a fair point, so she conceded it with a nod in his direction.

“Anything could happen. You could fall. Or get tangled in a carnivorous plant you did not see—one of these new kinds you aren’t aware of,” Sabol interjected quickly. “We are all safer together. You’ve pointed this much out. We can take care of each other until we reach the village.”

She sighed and scrubbed her face. He had a point as well. “You would have to stay well outside the limits of the village, beyond what a huntsman would patrol in his security rounds.”

Thral exchanged a look with the other males and nodded, his strength returning rapidly despite how wobbly the motion was. “We would escort you to a spot outside of the village of your choosing and wait for you there. We would remain alert for any human and pull back if any approach to an agreed upon spot.”

“That… could work,” Evie agreed, her mind whirling. There was a spot up on the map that showed a high ridge just beyond the main path heading into the village. It was a fair distance away from the village, but it was one where she was confident that the presence of the Ragoru wouldn’t be noticed and outside of the usual perimeter scans. “You would have to stay there and not come any closer to the village, no matter what.”

Vrishna’s ear flattened at that, but she gave him a long, hard look until he dropped his head in agreement.

Sabol grumbled unhappily but nodded. “I won’t be left behind.”

Thral inclined his head. “Then we are in agreement? We will proceed as a family to bar all potential dangers, but we will abide by Evie’s decision when it comes to human-occupied areas.”

Sabol and Vrishna dipped their heads, neither looking too pleased with the decision but awareness and understanding in their gaze as their eyes skimmed over their alpha.

Evie sucked in her lips, the weight of her emotions pulling at her as she rapidly blinked her eyes. She didn’t want to leave them. She could allow herself to recognize that now that she could be sure that they weren’t going to throw themselves into the path of unknown danger. They would be cautious and put their trust in her experience and knowledge. That humbled her and made her feel the weight of responsibility even more, but this time it did not strike her with terror but a sense of comfort.

They were trusting her judgment implicitly. And because of that she would be able to count on them to watch over her when it would count the most knowing that they wouldn’t be taken by surprise by anything out there now that they saw the ramifications of what even the slightest bit of inattention could do out here.

When they returned—and she was determined more than ever that they would return—they would work together to pull up every trace of carnivorous plants to make this place the source of peace and comfort that they all needed. But that was for later.

Blowing out a breath, she brushed a hand along Thral’s ear, enjoying the way his pleased rumble faintly vibrated through her.

“We will take a couple of days for Thral to recover completely,” she murmured as she met the eyes of the two other males hovering by her. “Then we leave.”

“Agreed,” Thral rasped, allowing his head to drop the rest of the way to the armrest of the couch. “Now help me off of this thing and up into the nest. If I’m to rest for two days, I will at least be comfortable,” he grumbled.

Evie smiled as the two other males hurried forward to pull him up between them, supporting his weight on their large bodies as they helped him up the stairs. That was her Thral. She had no doubt he would be completely recovered by the time they left if he was already grumbling and barking orders.

CHAPTER26

Two days of rest and respite went faster than Sabol liked. As eager as he was to escape the Shining Ones and the safety of their confinement zone, he was equally happy to remain with his family within Evie’s chosen den. The freedom and excitement that he’d felt as he plunged into this unknown world was dimmed with the knowledge of its dangers to his new family, as well as to himself, and overshadowed by the happiness he felt in their new territory. Thral’s incident with the burrowwort aside, he couldn’t recall a time when he felt greater peace and contentment as he did when patrolling along the outskirts of their inner territory as his thoughts turned to marking the limits of their outer territory where they might hunt and chase off interlopers.

And now that they were preparing to leave it, he wasn’t ready.

Sabol glanced anxiously behind him as the house slowly shrank and became increasingly obscured by the trees as they left it behind. Thral’s ear tipped toward him, and he sighed, knowing that he was certain to be reprimanded by the alpha for straggling behind. It surprised him, instead, when their alpha loped back to his side and nudged Sabol’s shoulder gently with his, a concerned look on the male’s face.

“We’ll be back, Sabol. Don’t be concerned. Nothing would dare interfere with our territory as well marked as it is.”

Sabol’s ears twitched. He was unconvinced but would humor the lead. He startled, however, when Thral’s chuffing laughter met his response. He glanced over at the male curiously as Thral grinned over at him.

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