Page 172

Nathair hissed and retracted his arm when Kai grabbed his wrist and accidentally dug his fingertips into a deep wound.

“Be careful,” Linh stated, placing her hand on top of her father’s. “Nathair is really hurt.”

I thought that would have been obvious,Nathair complained.

A day had not yet passed, and he was littered with gashes and many more puncture wounds. He’d been stabbed repeatedly in the chest, abdomen, and neck by either swords or daggers. Part of his throat was still gaping from a bandit who had shoved a dagger in and sliced sideways, not to mention what Bragg had done. His tail fared little better.

This time, Linh placed her hand in Nathair’s so she could pull him between the gates.

“This is not a good idea,” Nathair signed, shaking his head while remaining unmoving.

“My father speaks for our people, Nathair,” Linh stated softly, supplying him with an inviting smile. “He wouldn’t have offered for you to come inside if they did not want you to enter or didn’t trust you.”

Reluctantly, Nathair slowly slithered forward. He followed her pretty gaze as she walked backwards, his heart swelling when her smile deepened. He looked up at the wooden threshold, ducking beneath it.

His skull met many faces, all of them gawking.

A light tangle of fear entered the scents of many, but it was mostly mild. Their expressions appeared to be of awe more than anything negative.

Her mother stood off to the side, unarmed, but her face was pinched with exhaustion. A young female at her side went to run forward, but Tahlia grabbed her arm and tsked at her.

“Go slowly. Don’t run at a predator.”

Predator.That was how they saw him, yet both females approached. The younger one kept her eyes on Linh, a teary smile filling her features, while her mother’s stern face looked up at Nathair.

The younger one tackled Linh with a loud cry, and they hugged each other.

Her mother bowed her head towards Nathair. “Thank you for saving our daughter.”

A choked grunt punched out of him when the younger female tackled him and hugged his waist. She started rambling, showering him in gratitude as his orbs turned white just as the crowd before him fucking cheered again. He winced when it collided with his fragments.

He was uncomfortable with all this, and the young female was pressing against multiple wounds. Thankfully she quickly backed up under the direction of Linh, who once more spoke about his injuries.

“We want you to know that you are welcome to return here any time,” Kai stated up at Nathair.

His heart constricted, and he grabbed Linh’s forearm. He gently tugged her closer, showing them that he had no intention of leaving this female here. He did not save her for these people, but for himself, for her.

Kai placed his hands on his hips, tilted his head back, and let out a bellowing laugh.

“Yes, we figured as much,” her mother said, eyeing her daughter cautiously. “After what we learned from Linh, and the, uh” – her mother coughed into her fist – “the Priestess, we know your feelings are not one-sided.”

Linh’s gaze grew bashful, and she turned to Nathair as if she wanted to hide her expression.

“Look, if you are who my daughter has fallen in love with, then so be it,” Kai said, shining a grin up at Nathair. “Even if you are a little spooky.”

The male grunted when he was smacked in the stomach by Tahlia. “The fact is, she’s safe. That’s all we care about.”

Nathair’s hold on Linh loosened when he absorbed their words.They are accepting me?He’d thought there would be outrage that he had bonded with their daughter and had no intention of letting her go. She washis,no matter what they thought or desired.

He did not expect their relationship to be welcomed so readily.

“See?” Linh said, casting him a coy, yet mischievous smile. She waved her hand at her family and then the rest of her people.

Sure, many faces looked appalled, but Nathair didn’t mind. Her family were the ones who could whisper in her ear and cause a painful rift between them.

Nathair lifted his hands, but his fingers just twitched in front of his chest. He didn’t know what to say, how to respond. He was completely at a loss for words.

He couldn’t stop the way his orbs shifted to bright yellow, overcome with relief and joy that this wasn’t as hard as he’d expected. No, instead, it was rather heartwarming to be accepted like this, especially as he knew what he looked like to them.