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15

Simone

“Rallan’s mate?” Dath rubs his eyes as he stares down at me. I should care that he’s holding a pillow to cover his obviously nude groin, but right now, I need to talk to my friend. I’ve decided to bother Deja since the trail leading to Nia’s house isn’t completed yet. I don’t trust myself not to get lost on the short walk outside the tribe’s wall. “It is early. What are you doing here?”

Dath’s red eyes are narrowed with slumber, and he barely keeps them open for more than a few seconds at a time before having to reopen them. He’s a big alien, like bigger than all of the others, since he went through some sort of weird transformation that turned him into an even bigger version of an already big species. He’s actually a giant teddy bear on the inside, at least according to Deja. Sure, he’s killed other demons for her, but we ignore that part when we talk about how sweet he is.

“Is Deja awake?” I ask, staring up at him and rocking back on my heels.

“Is she?” Dath tries to register my question and then shakes his head. “No, it is early. She will not be awake for a while. Are you alone?” He looks behind me like he might see Vex or Rallan somewhere nearby.

I wiggled out of Rallan’s grip early this morning. It was more difficult than I thought it’d be. He likes holding me to him when we sleep, which was annoying at first when I was still trying to tell myself that I didn’t want to be with him. Now, it’s like sleeping with a weighted blanket that keeps me cool enough not to sweat through all of my water. It’s inconvenient when I’m trying to sneak out of the house.

Thankfully, Rallan can sleep through almost anything and didn’t budge when I wrenched myself free of him.

I don’t know where Vex is this morning. He doesn’t sleep, so he could be doing all kinds of work. I’m more surprised he hasn’t found me by now. Rallan, I at least know, is a deep sleeper, but I thought Vex would be close. Maybe he was, and my sneaking was extra successful. I tried to get to Deja’s house without either of my aliens noticing I was gone, and so far, I’ve been successful.

“So Deja’s not awake?” I ask again, thinking maybe something might’ve changed in the last few seconds.

Dath’s brows furrow and his lips tug downward in confusion. “No, she is still sleeping.” He looks inside his house and then back down at me. “You may come sit and wait if you would like, but I am going to get back in bed with my mate.”

I want to say that yes, I’ll wait, but then I think about how awkward it’ll be if I’m just sitting in their small workshop. I’ve been inside before. I’m going to be sitting on a chair that’s probably right next to a table littered with drawings of my friend. Some of them will be safe for my eyes, and then there will be a whole heap that will make me never view my best friend inthe same way ever again. Not to mention Deja and Dath will be sleeping probably a few feet away as I pretend not to be looking at the softcore porn that Dath draws of her.

“No, I’ll just come back later,” I sigh.

Dath nods as though he understands. “You are welcome anytime, but maybe wait until the clouds have lightened next time, yes?”

“Yeah, yeah.” I wave him away.

I have to force a shriek from leaving my throat when he turns his back to me to go back inside his house. Apparently, he didn’t think to move the pillow from his front to his back, and so I get an eyeful of ass that doesn’t belong to either of my mates. Dath doesn’t even seem to notice. He just closes the door and leaves me in my own mortification.

“Vex’s mate?” someone calls out to me.

I’m surprised they don’t call me Rallan’s mate since most of the demons in this tribe and the demons we brought from the other tribe all know me as being with Rallan. It doesn’t matter that I’ve told them repeatedly that I’m not with him. It’s a battle I’ve lost enough times to know to give up. Not to mention, I also kind of like it now.

I turn to see who’s called me and am surprised when it’s Ralleth walking back toward the great hall. I look around like Olivia might show up at any second because I’ve never seen them very far from one another.

He notices me looking for her and beams. “My mate is still asleep. She has been very tired these last few days and not feeling very well. I was actually searching for your mate to come take a look at her once she wakes.”

“Oh,” I frown, not liking that one of the women isn’t doing great right now.

No one has been sick since we’ve been here. Sure, some people have been hurt, but it hasn’t been anything that can’tbe handled. I’d hate to know what happens if someone actually gets sick out here. It’s not like the demons have the same medicine that we had on Earth, and definitely not the advanced technology that the Hands have.

“No, no, do not worry. My mate is strong, and you would not know she is not feeling well. She is just sick in the mornings sometimes. By lunch, she is always feeling better. She has told me not to worry, but I am her mate. How could I not?”

Realization dawns on me, and I nod my head along with what he’s saying. I hope I’m keeping my expression neutral because I’m not about to be the one to explain to Ralleth that there’s a chance his mate might be pregnant. I don’t know for sure, obviously, and there’s a chance she might also just be sick. Either way, it’s not my place to say anything, so I try to look normal as I change the subject.

“Did you find him?” I ask.

“Your mate? No, not yet. I checked out by the farms because I thought he might be out there. I was going to see if Olivia was awake yet and then venture around the tribe.” Ralleth pauses, his head tilting to the side in a gesture that reminds me of his brother. Rallan is more teasing and conniving than his younger brother, though. Ralleth looks at me with nothing but good intentions and kindness I don’t even think he knows how to scheme. “Would you like to join me? I think it would be good for us to get to know one another since we are blood.”

My eyebrows shoot up my forehead, but I’m not about to say no to learning more about Rallan through his brother. I also want to know why Ralleth is more comfortable calling me Vex’s mate than Rallan’s mate.

“Yeah, sure, I’ll wait here while you go check on Olivia.” I give him a smile, hoping that I look casual and not at all like I might be overthinking this whole thing.

Vex didn’t have any family to meet on Earth. Of the few boyfriends I had, I only met one set of parents, and it was awkward. Sure, the demons are different, but I can’t help but feel like Ralleth will be judging whether or not I’m a good match for his brother.

“I will be so quick,” Ralleth says with a smile that definitely must be genetic because I’ve seen the same one on his brother every single day. He sticks to his word, though, and is only in the great hall for a few minutes before joining me.