Page 1

Tori

" W e're having a family dinner tonight," Nia says as she peeks into the room Jen and I share in her home.

We've been living with Nia, Beren, and Lyath for a few weeks, and this is the first time they've ever called dinner family dinner. Jen and I frown at one another.

"What do you mean, family dinner?" Jen asks, rising from the bed we share and following Nia out of the room.

Jen and I came to live on the farm after the translation device implanted in my head never started working. We thought I'd be sent back to Earth if anyone found out, so I avoided talking to anyone and pretended to be uninterested in everything until we came up with a plan.

The plan consisted of listening to gossip from some of the other women, who all said that Beren and Lyath opened their home to a human who was going to be sent back to Earth so she didn't have to go.

Turns out the gossip wasn't entirely accurate because while they did keep her from being sent back to Earth, she's also one of Beren's mates.

Thankfully, when we asked them to save us, they opened their homes without a second thought.

"The males who help out around the farm are staying over for dinner because their wardens need alone time," Nia says with a shrug.

"They're coming inside?" Jen and I both ask at the same time.

Jen is four years younger than me, which means, technically, she isn't barred from being in the same room as unmated males like I am.

At twenty, I'm seen as a grown, unmated female, so I'm not allowed to be anywhere near a grown, unmated male unless we're both going through the mating ceremony.

It's for our own protection and making sure the males don't start forming bonds with women who don't want a mate yet.

Women like me, who are still too scared to leave the house because I can't talk to anyone without another human there to translate for me.

"Thro is coming inside because he's still years away from being grown, and his brother will eat on the porch, wait until you girls go back to your room, and then come sleep on the couch," Nia says as though she has it all figured out.

"Do they know about me?" I ask, my fingers wringing together. "Do they know I can't understand them?"

Nia turns to face me and frowns. "We haven't told them anything yet, and we wanted to leave it up to you to tell them if you wanted.

Thro and his brother are here often because they work on the farm, and they have for a while now.

They're good males. Hopefully, they'll help you feel more comfortable around others.

Plus, you need demons to practice talking with, and Thro loves talking. "

"And his brother?" I ask, feeling my stomach do a little flop at an unmated male being near me.

It's not that I think I'll fall for the first unmated male I'm near.

I know the chances for that are slim. Even the mating ceremonies have only proven to match up a few dozen women with their males so far.

The chances of me feeling a calling toward anyone, especially the only grown male who will be near me for as long as I live on the farm, are so low I shouldn't worry.

"His brother is a quiet male." Nia gives me a reassuring smile, as if she can tell why I'm so nervous. "I doubt you'll even know he's here."

I take a deep breath and feel Jen's fingers in mine, giving me a soft squeeze. "You do need to practice learning their language."

"I know," I grumble under my breath. "Fine, let's have a family dinner with someone creepily eating on the porch, and maybe I can learn a few words."

"It's a marathon, not a sprint," Nia tells me as she moves to the kitchen to prepare dinner. "You won't be proficient in the language for a while, but no one here will ever give you a hard time for it."

I give her an appreciative smile and then take a stack of plates from her to set the dining room table. We work silently for a few minutes before hissing and harsh clicking fill the air outside the front door.

The demon's language is harsh and makes them sound angry. I've gotten used to that part since I've also seen how Nia melts into her mate sometimes when he says things in a tone that sounds like he's fighting with her. I assume it's angry language, and I hope I won't hear it that way one day.

"The one that sounds like a girl is pissed that his brother has to eat outside." Jen leans toward me and starts to tell me what they're talking about.

"You probably shouldn't say Thro sounds like a girl." Nia snorts as she tries to cover her laugh. "I doubt he'll be too happy to hear that."

"Shh." Jen waves her warning away and tilts her head to listen better.

There's more hissing and clicking. The voices are barely distinguishable except for the higher-pitched one.

I can only tell that it's Beren talking with someone else because I've grown used to how Lyath and Beren sound when they speak.

The third voice belongs to someone I don't know.

The low vibrations of his hiss make it sound almost calming, and it's the first time I've thought one of them sounds nice instead of the usual anger.

"The brother is telling them he's honored to be fed at all, and he has no problem waiting for you to go to bed before he comes inside. Beren's thanking him and telling Thro he needs to be respectful to us, even though he's mad that we're the reason his brother can't come inside."

My face flushes, which means I'm beet red.

I can't help that no matter how much I wish it didn't happen, as soon as I get a slight blush, it turns into a raging inferno under my skin and makes my face look like a tomato.

It could be the tiniest embarrassment, and someone would think it's the most mortifying thing that has ever happened to me.

Of course, it's at this moment, when I look terrible, that the front door opens, and I make eye contact with the most handsome alien I have ever seen.

"Close your mouth." Jen nudges my arm with her elbow and speaks to me out of the corner of her mouth.

Beren pushes the handsome demon behind him and immediately starts saying something I can't understand to Nia, who's trying and failing to hide her smile and laugh behind her fist. She speaks to Beren in the same hissing and clicking sounds she can make without thinking about it because her translation device works as it should.

A smaller male with a broken horn, Thro, pushes past Beren, his head whipping around between everyone as he says something that has Jen laughing. The smaller male turns around and tilts his head to look behind Beren as he speaks some more.

I want to laugh and smile with everyone else. I want to be part of the chatter and understand what's making everyone act like something is so funny. Instead, I'm standing red-faced and stunned as I try to force my mind to understand anything so I'm not the only one left out of this conversation.

Jen says something to Nia that I can't understand, and I don't want to be a burden and have her translate everything that's happening. I step backward, hoping no one notices me trying to escape. I take a second step when no one moves to look at me. A third, and I'm almost back to our room.

I only pause when Beren shifts his body, and I make eye contact with the unmated male.

He's staring right at me, but doesn't look happy or entertained like everyone else.

No, he seems concerned, and it has me flushing even brighter.

I scurry the last couple of feet to my room and don't stop until the door shuts behind me.

I take one shuddering breath and then a second as I push my unruly red hair behind my ears and try to decide what I'm going to do. The storm season is over, so the wood paneling that sealed the window has been removed.

I know I shouldn't sneak out since it's dangerous at night. I also know I can't be in this house when I can hear everyone having a good time, and I'm left to guess what everyone's saying, not knowing even a little bit.

A knock on the door has me jumping and realizing how dumb an idea it would be to climb out the window.

"Tori." Nia's voice on the other side of the door sounds worried, and it makes me feel even worse because I know she and Jen take it upon themselves to translate for me and think they aren't doing a good job when they forget. It's not their fault, and it's not their responsibility.

"I'm fine," I call out, my voice betraying me as it cracks. I'm not crying, but my throat is dry and burning, so it sounds like I'm on the verge of sobbing. "I'm good. I just need a second."

"We were talking about how the plan to separate you and the unmated male didn't work out so well. No one was laughing at you, I promise."

"I didn't think you were." Which was true until this moment. Now I think she's saying they weren't laughing at me because they were laughing at me.

Thro must be close to Nia because I can hear him clicking and hissing just on the other side of the door.

"Thro says he would like you to eat with us so he can get to know you."

More clicking and hissing in a much more animated tone this time. Nia says something to him in their language and then translates it for me.

"He says it's his responsibility to ensure you're unharmed since his brother isn't allowed to be near you."

"How chivalrous." I try to laugh, but it comes out thin. "Seriously, give me like five minutes to fix myself, and I'll come out."

Nia must translate what I'm saying to Thro because she's hissing and clicking. When she finishes, the younger male says something else, and I hear someone lightly hit the door.

The sound of the others at the dining room table grows louder as they begin to pass around food and eat. I was serious about only needing a few minutes. I can feel my face cooling down, and my throat stops burning. I smile, trying to make myself feel happier, and then open the door.

Thro falls backward until he's lying face up on the ground halfway in my room, halfway still in the hall. He jumps to his feet quickly and sticks his hand out to me. He says something in a rapid, disjointed sound with a smile on his face.

I try to tell him I can't understand him, but he has an arm wrapped over my shoulder and is dragging me to the kitchen table, where everyone's now staring and watching this interaction unfold.

Thro pulls a chair out for me, the whole time chattering about something I can't understand.

When I sit down, he sits between Jen and me and starts filling my plate.

"Do you want me to translate everything?" Jen asks, brow quirked as Thro keeps talking and talking and talking.

"Is it anything bad?" I ask, hoping he's saying nice things since he looks so happy.

"It's a lot about how happy he is that you're here and some stuff about his brother." Jen pauses. "A lot of stuff about his brother."

Jen frowns and asks Thro a question in his language, which he quickly answers. Jen snorts and turns her attention back to me.

"He says he's going to help you learn their language so that way you stop crying in your bedroom alone because you can't understand everyone talking about Marron."

My cheeks flush again, but I try not to let the embarrassment get to me. Even if I'm embarrassed about being called out like that, it's not being done maliciously. I don't think Thro has a malicious bone in his body.

So, I grab my fork and start eating, nodding my head along with Thro's stories, letting Jen translate when she thinks something is important. For the most part, I listen to everyone talk, wishing I could understand them, but more so wishing that the male on the porch was sitting next to me instead.