Page 18

Chapter 18

Daff

Light and noise spilled onto the concrete ahead of us, a layered mix of low male voices punctured by the occasional ring of laughter.

King and a mammoth of a hybrid, similar looking to Sarge, with a high, wide forehead, boulders for shoulders and a fine, velvet fuzz, the colour of storm clouds covering his skin, waited just outside the open door.

Our guards slowed behind us.

King acknowledged them with a nod.

“You must be Drill,” I said, craning my neck to meet his chocolate eyes.

He blinked like he couldn’t quite believe I was talking to him.

I squeezed Prowl’s hand, both to warn and reassure him, before offering my other one to Drill.

“I’m Daff.”

He did another slow blink, his attention falling to my waiting hand.

Sympathy flooded me over his uncertainty.

Was it nerves from never touching a female before?

Or was he a little slow on the uptake?

An all brawn and no brains situation?

Either way, I felt for him.

He looked to Prowl for direction.

Or was it permission?

Which made me bristle.

“You shake it,” I said, maybe a touch too forcefully.

My tone pulled his attention back to me, where he still hesitated before slowly creeping his hand forward.

It felt like forever before it finally reached mine.

His hand completely engulfed mine, while at the same time barely touching it.

I grinned up at him.

“Nice to meet you, Drill.”

“You too.”

His soft voice startled me, but he was too busy dropping my hand like I was a hot coal to notice.

“You’re the last to arrive. They’re waiting for you.”

King turned, and we followed him in, Drill falling in behind us.

Two steps in, silence choked the indoor basketball court as sixty-odd pairs of eyes devoured us and the places we touched.

Chairs squeaked and shuffled as we headed up a clear path that led to Sarge, standing front and centre of the gathering.

Two chairs sat slightly behind and to the right of him.

Drill positioned himself behind them and faced forward, his arms folding over his enormous chest.

Prowl took a seat in the plastic chair, then pulled me onto his lap, his arm wrapping around my waist, almost making me roll my eyes.

It seemed his standard go-to position when other hybrids were around.

Sharp, staggered inhales and muttered four-letter words followed his move.

I wriggled back against his chest, sinking into him.

The sea of hybrids, of blatant, intense stares, kicking up my heart rate.

The loneliness, the fragile hope, and varying levels of disbelief levelled at us were heartbreaking.

I wanted to find Doctor Asshole Helliot and wring his fucking neck for all the things he’d let these males believe about themselves.

There was a line between implementing safety protocols and damaging their sense of self-worth, and he’d crapped all over both.

It upset me even more that Lara and Jean hadn’t picked up on it themselves.

King sat beside us just as Sarge started speaking.

“As you can see, the rumours are true. Prowl has a female who freely and willingly touches him and accepts his touch in return. King and I have both witnessed it and now you all have to.”

“I do more than accept it.”

Prowl’s arms tightened around me in response, but I mustn’t have muttered it quietly enough because two dozen heads swivelled in our direction.

“We want to hear it from her!” someone called, which was followed by a wave of nods.

Sarge looked at us. At me.

“Yeah, of course.” I went to stand, but Prowl’s arms turned into iron bands, locking me in place.

I patted his arm. “Let me up, big guy. They need to hear this.”

“You can do it from here.”

I shot him a dirty look over my shoulder.

“Really? Short of lifting your leg and peeing on me, I think it’s pretty clear to everyone I’m yours.”

Prowl shrugged.

Well then. It looked like I was talking to them all like this.

I raised my hand, giving them an awkward wave.

“Hi everyone, I’m Daff. Sorry if you can’t see me down the back. This guy won’t let me stand up, so I’ll have to do this from his lap.”

A few heads halfway down lifted, and a handful down the very back stood.

“Right. I don’t know how much you’ve heard, so I’ll give a quick rundown what’s happened and my thoughts on it, and then maybe we can do some Q and A?”

Sarge nodded, and Prowl kissed my temple, setting off another round of whispers and oaths.

“I arrived with the women in group B. I didn’t have time to get the full brief on things here, just enough to know that you’re hybrids who were rescued, and this is your new home. Lara and Jean cut our intro short because of things going south with Prowl. I was the fourth person to see him, and obviously, he responded to me. He’s been improving in leaps and bounds since.

“We had nothing but time, which meant we got to learn about each other.

This was when I was clued onto the fucked up expectations they’d given you regarding women, relationships and sex.

And to be clear, they are fucked up.

”

The noise level rose until Sarge raised his hands, holding them up until the room fell quiet.

A hand went up, but I was too short to see who it belonged to.

“Blade?” Sarge said.

“Is it true you touched him first?”

“I did, yes.”

“Why?”

I looked to Prowl, unsure how much information about him he was okay with me sharing.

“I was having a nightmare,” he said, surprising me.

“And it upset her. She tried soothing me with her voice and getting her scent close to me. When I didn’t respond to either of them, she touched me. She stayed there and slept beside me.”

Four letter words echoed around us, followed by half a dozen more raised hands.

“I heard she brushed your hair.”

“She did.”

“It was awkward doing it through the bars, but we managed.”

“Why did you do it?” someone else called out.

“Because it was a mess, and I wanted to help him.”

“I’ve got hair you can brush.”

Prowl shoved me behind him, his growl thundering around us.

“Daff’s mine!”

“Shit!” .

“Prowl! Stand down!” Sarge commanded

I shoved past Drill, who’d mirrored King’s move to intercept him.

The huge hybrid flinched away from me, making it easy to face Prowl.

His feet were spread, muscles coiled, teeth bared.

Double shit.

“Look at me, big guy, I’m right here. All yours. No one’s taking me from you.”

My trembling fingers had buried themselves in his beard, grazing his skin, feeling his warmth as I willed him to look down at me.

“I need you to look at me Prowl, please. Please look at me.”

He gave nothing away, no hint that he’d heard me.

“Please, Prowl.”

His eyes, the only part of him that moved, lowered to me.

“You’re mine, and I’m yours. Ignore the jackass. He’s jealous, that’s all. They all know I’m yours.”

His arms came around me, burying his nose in my neck as he squashed me against him.

“Thank god. I thought I’d lost you.”

“Mine,” he rumbled, after another deep inhale.

“I know. And now there’s no question that they do, too.”

“Is he okay?”

I turned my head, just far enough to see Sarge and the two officers hovering in the doorway behind him.

“We’re fine. Aren’t we big guy?”

Another slow inhale, then he pressed his forehead to mine.

“Yeah.”

After a fleeting kiss to my nose, he straightened to his full height, staring daggers at the hybrids behind me.

He gave me just enough room to turn back around and settle back on him, his arms rigid bands around me, the muscles in his thighs still coiled with tension.

The male who’d said it—a hybrid wolf with a lean body and jaw that protruded far enough to almost look like a muzzle, was still staring at me, his gaze a little too intense.

A lot of eyes were.

I started rubbing Prowl’s forearm, the only place I could reach to soothe him and, to be completely honest, myself too.

The last thing we needed was a setback, not when he’d been doing so well.

King and Drill retook their places, and Sarge cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Let’s discuss the books.”

I blew out a breath, grateful for the redirection.

“Daff?”

I nodded.

“Smut is the classy term used for romance books with sex scenes. Unlike porn, the story is all about the couple falling in love and getting their happily ever after. There’s a particular fan base of women who love reading alien, shifter, and monster smut.

“These generally feature a human female with a male of a different, intelligent species and their differently equipped cocks.

There’s enough of an interest in the sub-genre that adult stores carry a variety of alternative dick-shaped dildos to fit with the fantasy of being done by the main male character in their book.

“I can confirm the library has bulk-ordered various romance books at our request. If you are one of the few who were able to get hold of one, please return it as soon as you’re done, so those on the waiting list aren’t stuck there for long.”

“Is it true the women in your group all like monster smut?”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean they’re all going to want a relationship or to jump into bed with you. Some might, the possibility is absolutely there, just… be mindful.

“Some women have no problem hopping into bed with zero expectations of anything more between you.

Still, others can be really reserved with that kind of thing, or need an emotional connection, or a solid relationship first.

“I think the biggest take from this is, the reasons they’ve given you, your past, your DNA, your different junk; there’s a ton of people out there who would still wholeheartedly want you exactly as you are.

“You guys deserve the same opportunity and expectation of sex, love and meaningful relationships as every other person on this planet.

”

“You see us as monsters?” The voice came from a dark-furred feline in the back.

He looked similar to Prowl, with high cheekbones and a wide, flat nose, but he was dark everywhere Prowl was light, his black hair short and slicked back, his eyes a startling emerald green.

“Hell no!” Prowl lifted with me, letting me up while keeping hold of me.

“Your physical differences do not, now or ever, make you monsters.”

My gaze drifted across them, their differences stark but not terrifying.

They settled on the feline who’d spoken.

“There will be assholes. People who will hate you for your differences or want you because of them. But there are intolerant people and kink chasers everywhere, and they’ve been around long before your arrival. Someone having an issue with any of your differences is a reflection of them, not you. Never let anyone, even the higher-ups, tell you otherwise.”

“Which brings us to why we’re here and what we want going forward,” Sarge said.

“The rules need to be changed,” someone said.

Heads nodded.

“I need specific, actionable requests.”

“We should be allowed to approach the women when we want to.”

“And touch them.”

“We should be allowed in their zone.”

“They should be allowed in ours!”

“Have them make a list of women open to dating us.”

“And fucking us!”

“Enough!” Sarge called over the converging voices.

“We’re not going to be able to change everything, not at first.”

A rumble followed that statement.

“It’s easy to say what things we want changed, but we need to provide them with specific alternatives that won’t interfere with the women’s safety or feelings of it.”

“Can I make a few suggestions?” I asked.

Sarge raised an eyebrow, and the sea of heads facing me nodded, willing to listen.

I cleared my throat, shoving my second thoughts aside.

“What Sarge said about us feeling safe is right. They’re not going to allow any changes that mess with that. Like coming into our zone. That would freak most of us out, wondering who was out there and if someone was going to break down our door to get to us.”

I winced at the responding calls of anger.

“Let me clarify! Please! I don’t know how exposed you’ve been to the outside world, but there are hundreds of years of history of women being knocked around, and our homes and beds invaded by uninvited, unwanted men.

“That worry is a fact of life for us, wherever we live, not a specific worry about you as hybrids.

Maybe what we need is a neutral living zone, where those who want to, can live in a shared space where everyone can come and go as they please?

”

The slowing nodding heads gave me courage.

“I also think you should be allowed to approach anyone you want, as long as their request to be left alone is honoured—and that should go both ways, for everyone. As for a list of interested women?”

I bit my lip, thinking.

“What if there was a sign or symbol used instead? Like a ribbon or a badge that could be worn, both you and us, for whoever was open to the possibility of dating or sex.”

More nodding.

Including Sarge. “I like those ideas.” He studied the gathered hybrids.

“There’s a lot more to be considered, but we need a starting place, and I like these suggestions. I invite you to have a think on those presented, and pass your thoughts on to your representatives before 10 a.m. tomorrow.”

He looked at us.

“Thank you, Daff, for your thoughts, for accepting one of us, and for giving us hope for a future we hadn’t thought possible.”

Ooof, that made my heart hurt.

Especially since I didn’t feel like I’d done all that much besides call out the shitty expectations they’d been given.

“If you’d like to leave first, we’ll give you a few minutes before following you out.”

Prowl nodded, ran his eyes over the sitting hybrids, dipped his chin, then propelled us out, his arm wrapped around me, gluing me to his side.

I had just enough time to wave before Drill’s giant form following behind us blocked them from view.

Prowl stopped at the edge of the pavement.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

His eyes held me as solidly as his arms, his fingers stroking my cheek.

“For once again, giving us hope.”

My stomach twisted, and I fought the urge to bury myself in his chest. Did he not realise that there was nothing I wouldn’t do for him?

I was completely and utterly in love with him.

A terrifying thought when we could only end in heartbreak.

I had a contract with an end date and a heart that would likely never heal.

I gripped his wrist and turned my head, kissing his palm.

He deserved to be loved.

To feel worthy. To have every hope and opportunity that came his way.

So I’d give him everything and love him enough over the next two years to fill two lifetimes and pray it didn’t kill me when I left.