Page 16

Marron

" W hy are you out here?" Beren asks when he answers the door to his home.

I am meant to be in the tribe since the mating ceremonies have not ended. It is hard to be so close to Tori and not go to her, though, not after everything she has done for me.

Beren's eyes harden when he sees the bandage on my neck. I know he is trying to think of whether or not I had a cut there after Joll and his friends attacked me. Before he can ask me any questions, I move the topic toward why I came out to his home.

"I would like to petition for the farmland we have been clearing," I say, standing as tall as I can with my hands behind my back.

I want him to look at me as a strong, capable male, not the barely coordinated male I was when I first began helping on his farm.

"I know you have been taking applications for males to work the land and live in the house there.

I would like to be added to the males you are interviewing. "

Beren's brows rise on his forehead. He leans against the doorframe, moving to one side so his mate, Lyath, can stand beside him.

"Are you interested in the land?" Lyath asks, sounding as surprised as Beren looked for all of a second. "What about our farmland? Are you to leave us to start your own?"

My scales feel tight at the question. Maybe I should have told them I would no longer be helping them on their farm before I asked for the other land. I avert my eyes, my hand moving up to rub the back of my horn. I try to think of what to say, but I am too embarrassed at this point.

"Stop being mean to your blood," Nia says as she squishes between her males to stand in front of them. "They're teasing you. Pay them no mind."

"You are ruining your mate's fun." Beren glares down at her, but Nia just swats him away.

"He wants to talk to you about taking over the farm he's had a hand in preparing for its next owner.

He's been out at the house as often as the two of you, getting it ready for someone to live in it.

The least you can do is offer him the same courtesy you've given every other male who's asked about it. "

Beren and Lyath look at one another for a moment, and they have a silent conversation.

I have been there for the interviews that Nia is talking about.

Beren has been rude and condescending to every male who has come out to look at the land, and Lyath has not helped the poor males who try to tell them how they can be good farmers.

Nia does not know how the interviews go. Beren and Lyath seem to decide they aren't going to ruin Nia's perception of them just yet and shrug.

"Come with me," Lyath motions as he steps from the porch and heads toward the other farm. "We will have many questions for you."

"Many, many questions," Beren says, walking behind me.

They have me trapped between them, and it isn't until we are further into the fields where Nia cannot see us that I realize they could dispose of me easily if they so chose.

Maybe they are now unhappy that I am the male who calls to their ward's soul.

Or maybe they do not want me to have a farm near theirs and will dispose of me for that.

"Stop looking scared," Lyath calls out from over his shoulder. "You make our ward happy. We are not going to kill you."

"I may still kill you," Beren says nonchalantly. "What is the wound on your neck?"

My gulp is audible as I try to decide the correct answer to this question.

Obviously, I am mating Tori. There is no getting around that, and Beren has, on more than one occasion, called her my female and my mate.

I hope he is being his usual self, and this is his version of teasing me, even though it feels very much like he is testing me to ensure I am an honorable male.

"Tori has claimed me," I say, keeping my eyes forward so I do not have to see when Beren strikes, if he is going to kill me. "In the old ways. She has claimed me. We are not mated yet, but only because we are following the rules of the ceremony."

"You are blessed," Beren says, coming to stand beside me. He claps a hand on my shoulder, and for the first time in a long while, I do not wince when he does it.

I have grown accustomed to others touching me.

Especially the males I am now blood with.

It took me a long time not to flinch when a hand was raised toward me, but none of them made me feel less than.

If anything, they continued to treat me as they did everyone else.

Over time, I have managed to find ease around them.

"Very blessed," I murmur, thanking the goddess when the gate to the next farm comes into view. It is not too terribly far from Beren and Lyath's farm. The fields butt up against one another, but the houses are on opposite ends.

"You know this house is one of the larger ones, yes?" Lyath asks, turning over his shoulder and smiling when he sees Beren touching me in a way that makes it clear I am not to die this day.

"I am hoping to fill it." I rub the back of one of my horns as soon as the admission is out of my mouth.

I have always wished for a large family, and I know I will attempt to get Tori swollen with my young as often as possible.

Thro has told me that she is also eager to have children, not that she has ever told me.

But I have seen her with some of her sisters' young, and Thro tells me she often talks about starting her own family.

I have had to tell him to stop talking many times because it made me want things I could not have yet.

Now, I am close to having everything I have ever wanted, so it does not feel wrong to tell the other males how I wish for a large family.

"We are to have many young to spoil, then?" Lyath asks.

I realize they have not asked me about my ability to tend to the farm, what I plan on growing, or my strategies for planting and harvesting.

They are not asking all their questions and then cutting down my answers as they have done to the various males before me.

It would make me suspicious if I weren't so eager to express my excitement about starting my own family.

"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.

"We are," Lyath says, turning to grab the door. "Now go. The mating ceremony will begin soon, and I doubt you plan to be there long."

My beating picks up at the thought of bringing Tori back to the house so soon.

I take one final deep breath and give Lyath a stiff nod before he disappears back into the house to calm his mate.

I make my way back to the tribe and shake out my nerves as I stand in the meeting spot outside the great hall.

I will wait here until Kal takes us all inside.