Page 16

An insult is on the tip of my tongue, and a forceful push of his arm flashes in my mind. I don’t do either of those things. What I do is so much worse. I smile up at him. A soft, simpering smile that all but tells him he’s grown on me. Yeah, sure, everything’s fine.

8

Rallan

“Get off the bed,” I grumble as I walk over to where three of my brothers have found fit to make themselves comfortable.

Honestly, I cannot blame them. It has been a long push to get to the tribe today. We thought we might make it early, but there is still too far to go before darkness is upon us. I was hoping that my brothers would all have made it and it would only be Simone and me in the safe house. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.

“Sorry,” Thalm says. He is the first to stand, allowing the others to shimmy off the bed behind him. “We did not know the female was joining us.”

“Do not call her that,” I snap a bit more harshly than I mean to. Again, it has been a long day.

Unlike my brothers, who must carry their luggage and supplies, I must do that and also carry Simone when her legs begin to ache and her feet begin to blister. I always know sheis well and truly exhausted when she asks for me to carry her because she does not show weakness to anyone, least of all me.

“Sorry.” I turn toward Thalm and hope he hears my sincerity in the word. “I am tired, and it is making me foul.”

“Rest,” he says with a pat on my back. “You will feel much better in the morning. Your mate’s tribe is not much further.”

I do not correct him in saying Simone is not yet my mate. Firstly, because she is in all ways except physically. Secondly, she is asleep in my arms, so she is unable to huff and puff about it. So, I grunt in acknowledgment of what he has said and place Simone on the bed.

I scoot her as close to the wall as I can before turning back to my supplies. I rummage around for bandages, salve, and some sort of seed oil that Simone told me is good for her hair if it’s diluted in water. She often mentions needing a spray bottle, but I do not know what that is.

The three males, who were too slow to reach the tribe tonight, are already chatting amongst themselves on the pallets they have now made on the floor. None of them complain, none of them bicker. They are all more than happy because soon they will be in a tribe where they can be useful males who have the chance to woo the humans.

They watch me as I set out supplies and begin to clean the wounds on Simone’s feet. I hate that she allows herself to be injured before asking for help. I hate that if I suggest she needs help, she lashes out. Most of all, I hate that it seems as though I cannot take care of my mate when all of my brothers can see how her already bandaged feet need even more care.

No one speaks to me as I tend to her. The first night, a few of them asked questions of me, but when it was clear all the responses they would get from me were grunts and nods, they stopped. Normally, I am a cheery male, and I will be once we are back in the tribe. For now, I am irritable and a little grouchy.Who would not be when their mate is hurt and continues to inflict hurt upon herself instead of accepting aid?

When I finish cleaning her feet, I apply the salve. Then, I wrap her feet tightly in fresh bandages and crawl close to her head so I can begin work on her hair.

I set out a small bowl of water that I mix with a small amount of oil she likes. I dip my fingers in, flick the excess off, and begin to apply the mixture to her hair.

“What are you doing?” Thalm asks me, peeking his head over the side of the bed. He has been in the safe houses with me every night, so he has seen me do this three times now. I do not know why tonight is the night he decides to ask his questions.

“Her hair is dry. She says it needs tending, but she is too exhausted to tend it herself,” I answer. I’m as surprised as my brothers when I say more than a single grunt.

“She does not know you do this for her every night. I have seen how she responds when she wakes up close to you in the mornings. It does not seem like a mate who knows how much care you give her. Should we tell her? Maybe this will make her happier to wake in your arms?”

“She knows all I do for her,” I murmur more to myself than to him. “I know she does because she would not lash out so much in the mornings if she did not.”

“Strange,” Thalm says. He stares at me for a moment longer, but I turn back to Simone when he doesn’t say anything else.

I continue working the mixture into the ends of her hair and work it up the length of her locs. When I get to her scalp, I run my claws against her skin until the bumps on her arms appear even in her sleep.

“So her soul has called to yours?” Thalm asks, startling me because I did not know he was still watching me take care of my mate.

“It has,” I say, not turning to face him because I would like to finish soon so I can hold Simone through the night.

“And does yours call to her?”

I let my lips pull up in a smile even though I feel too tired for the motion. “It does, and she hates that it does.”

“Strange,” Thalm says again, and this time, it’s the last thing he says to me.

I finish with Simone’s hair, put away all the supplies, and then curl my body tightly around hers. In her sleep, she molds herself against me, and soon, we are both drifting.

“If you try to touch me one more fucking time, I’m going to cut your hand off,” Simone snaps at me as she swats my arm off her shoulders.