Page 27

"I hope many," I tell Lyath. "Like you said, it is a large home. It would be wasted with no young running around."

"Does your female know of your plans to fill the house?" Beren asks. Opening the door to the house for Lyath and me to enter.

"She wants a large family as well, but no, it is not something we have spoken about," I answer.

If I had talked with Tori about wanting young before now, I would have never made it as long as I have in not mating her. It is already hard enough not to claim her without the talk of young.

"And if you are not given this house?" Lyath asks. "What is your plan then?"

"You should already have a plan if you want to mate a female," Beren adds.

I walk through the house, stopping in the room I hope to share with Tori. "I have had a plan since I first saw her. You already know this."

I look over at Beren, leaning against one of the walls with his arms crossed over his chest. It's clear to me now that my interview is much different than the other males they have shown this place because they want to give it to me. I wonder how long they will pretend they are still thinking about it. Will they make me wait for their answer until after I am mated, or will they grow bored of this game before then?

"I petitioned for a home in the tribe after seeing Tori for the first time. It is a small one near the wall. I have kept it clean and in good condition, in case Tori ever offered to mate me. I ask for this house now because I think it would make my mate happy to stay near her blood. Not to mention, there is no one else in the tribe you trust to keep the fields fertile. You have run every other male off."

"Perhaps we want to keep the land for ourselves and keep Thro and you on to work them with us," Beren says with narrowed eyes.

I stare at him for a moment, and it all clicks into place. The soft crinkle in the corner of his eyes, the way his lip is not nearly as tensed as usual. He is happy right now. I can barely see it, but the signs are there.

"If I can keep the house, I care very little about who owns the fields." I shrug.

Beren narrows his eyes, and Lyath smiles a deep grin.

"We are not that cruel," Lyath says, moving over to me and placing his hands on my shoulders. "Of course, this is your home. It has been your home since we started working on it."

It is my turn for my brows to rise and my eyes to widen. I assumed they would let me take over this farm, but I did not realize it would always be for me.

"We have been telling our ward for many, many days that she needs to go through the mating ceremony," Beren says. "We started showing the farm off to other males because she was getting upset that we did not offer it to you first, since you've done so much work on our farm and on this one to prepare it. She did not know we were already going to offer it to you if you were interested, and we were almost certain it would help prompt her to mate you. We were a few days away from telling her that only mated males were being looked at to take over the farm before Joll managed to force her hand anyway."

I frown at the reminder of Joll, and Lyath's lips also curl back. It makes me feel nice to know that others care as little for Joll and his dishonorable ways.

"Speaking of Joll, what happened to him after he grabbed Tori last night?" I ask.

"After he what?" Beren's body tenses, and his eyes turn a deep blood red. I look at Lyath, who looks just as angry as his mate.

"Did no one tell you?" I ask, my voice smaller now because I realize I may have caused even more trouble.

"What did Joll do to my ward?" Beren snarls the words.

He takes two steps until he's standing in front of me, his hands flexing at his sides like he is forcing himself not to grab me. He would never hurt me, never on purpose. I know this of my blood. However, I cannot help but be reminded of the young male I once was. My words feel too heavy, my throat too tight. No words come out of my mouth, and it seems to make Beren even angrier.

"It is time for you to leave," Lyath says, placing a hand on my shoulder and ushering me out of the house. Beren doesn't move from his position in the living area. His breathing is hard, his body primed for a fight. I look back only once as Lyath closes the door behind us, leaving Beren alone in the house.

"You are not in trouble, and Beren is not upset with you," Lyath tells me in a hushed voice. "Let me care for my mate. You must go care for yours."

I look up at the clouds and notice they are beginning to darken. At least I managed to kill plenty of time today. Still, I wish I could have left Beren and Lyath in good spirits instead of angry as they are now.

"Go and enjoy your night," Lyath tells me as he pushes me away from the house and waves me further down the trail. "Do not fret over Beren. He can be an angry male, but only because he thinks he is responsible for making sure nothing bad ever happens to anyone he cares about."

"That is—" I clear my throat to get the words out easier. "That is impossible."

Lyath smiles and nods. "Yes, well, I have explained that to him many times. Maybe one day it will stick."

"You are good?" I ask once more.

I feel terrible leaving Lyath and Beren as they are now, but there is no reason for me to stick around if there is nothing else to do.