Page 11

Simone

M y nerves are starting to get the better of me now that we’re lining everyone up outside the walls of the tribe and doing a head count.

There are twenty-three demons making the journey with us.

They’re all excited to go to our tribe and help get it ready for the first batch of humans, who should be arriving in about thirty days.

Half of my worry is that we picked the wrong demons.

That somehow, I managed to pick the worst possible ones who are all chomping at the bit to say screw decency and kidnap all the women.

I worry about this despite the fact that their tribal leader, his mate, Rallan, and a handful of women all vouched for them.

The other half of my worry comes from not knowing if Vex is going to be in the tribe when we return.

I’ve tried not to let it show that I know him—more than know him—when he’s brought up in conversation between the tribal leader and Rallan.

I think I’ve been doing a pretty good job because Rallan doesn’t look at me like I might have a breakdown, and he doesn’t make jokes about it.

He knows all about what happened between Vex and me, and he rarely ever brings it up unless he’s talking about how much he dislikes him.

It’s not that I’m worried about seeing him.

Well, I am. But more than that, I’m pissed off at how he’s acted.

In the entire time he’s been on this planet, working with Ralleth to set up the tribe for the new humans, he hasn’t come to see me once.

He hasn’t checked to make sure I’m okay after ditching me in the woods.

He hasn’t made sure I’m safe with Rallan.

I thought he’d at least care a little bit about me since we were together for over two years.

I know I said some shitty things to him on Earth, but he told me he was never going to leave me and that we’d be together no matter what.

Then, he wakes me up early one morning and tells me I’m being sent to the planet and I shouldn’t wait for him.

He tells me if I find happiness with someone else, I should take it.

Basically, I was dumped by my first alien boyfriend after being told his soul was bonded to mine. He dropped me off in the middle of the woods with no clothes, no protection, and a fucking storm starting up.

“You look more upset than normal,” Rallan says as he steps up beside me, placing a hand on my shoulder. Normally, I’d shrug it off, but right now, it’s grounding me.

“I’m having second thoughts about the ones we picked,” I answer.

At some point, I’ll have to tell him not to kill Vex when we see him.

As much as I like pretending I feel nothing for Rallan, I do.

I really, really don’t want to, but it doesn’t seem like my heart’s listening to me when it comes to the giant alien.

It doesn’t help that no matter how much I’ve tried to push him away, he always seems to dig his heels in deeper.

“Do not question your decisions because of nerves,” Rallan says.

He squeezes my shoulder and all but forces me to push it off me because he’s testing to see if I noticed it when he first put it on me.

Of course, he would push me like that. He can’t just let me inch closer to him without wanting everything.

It’s annoying how much I like it, even when I meet his smile with a scowl.

“They could all be terrible,” I say, motioning toward the demons gathering around us.

The twenty-three demons are all fidgeting around with their packs and watching Rallan and me to let them know what to do.

The plan is to get as far as we can today and then stay in the various safe houses tonight.

Everyone knows where the tribe is, so even if we get separated, they’ll know where to go.

It’s a three-day journey if everything goes right.

That means three nights of cramming all these demons into a few safe houses.

“You think you would choose terrible males?”

Rallan moves to stand in front of me, too close.

So close that I take a step back because I know it’s what he’s trying to get me to do.

No, that’s not true. What he’s trying to do is get me to admit that I like him being so close that I’d actually prefer him closer to me.

He doesn’t push as much as he used to. Now, he does small things that could be played off as not being him trying to pursue me if I didn’t know him as well as I do.

“No, I know I did the best I could with what I was given,” I respond, looking up at him and narrowing my eyes in what I hope is a threatening glare. The way his lip is curled upward proves to me that I’m definitely glaring at him, and his dumbass loves it.

“Then you should not worry,” Rallan says, spinning around to face his brothers. “You trust your mate, and he wouldn’t choose males that would hurt your sisters.”

“Who says I trust you?” I ask, not missing how his body flinches when the words leave my mouth.

I don’t understand why. He’s not facing me, so I can’t see what his mood is.

I doubt I’ve said anything that’s actually hurt him, not when I’ve tried to hurt him with my words before. He only ever gets hard when I do.

“Right, well.” Rallan clears his throat, an uncertain waver in his words that actually has me questioning if he’s lying to me. I’ve never once heard that tone from him. “Are you all ready?” He directs the question towards his brothers.

They’re all watching us, every single one of them. Most of them have intrigued looks on their faces, just like we all thought they would. Those who are willing to go to our tribe are willing or wanting to mate a human.

They’re watching us so they can learn how to interact with human women. I’ll have Rallan tell them that I shouldn’t be used as the example of what the rest of the women will be like. I don’t want them scared off before we’ve even made it to the tribe.

“We will head out then,” he says when a few brothers give him nods of their readiness.

He sweeps an arm in front of him toward the trail that leads into the forest. “You all know the way. You have a map. I will walk behind with Simone. She is a small creature and takes slow steps. No reason for you all to be slowed by Simone and her weak humanness.”

Rallan lays it on thick, but do any of the others notice or care? Nope, because Rallan has said my name a couple of times in front of all of them, making it clear to all of them that he’s claiming me.

“Don’t say my name,” I huff as I start following the other males. “You know I don’t like it.”

“I do not know this at all,” Rallan says, chuckling behind me.

Whatever had him so nervous just a minute ago seems to have passed.

He’s already back to being an annoying ass.

“Every time I say your name, your eyes flare with desire, and your body leans toward me. Your soul wants me. Your body wants me. I am very confused about which part of you is uncertain of me.”

“Uh, the most important part.” I whip my head to the side and up so I can glare at him some more.

He’s looking at me from the corner of his eyes. He lifts one of his hands like he’s going to put it on my far shoulder and pull me close to him. Part of me wants him to, and that’s the thought that has me forgetting whatever point I was trying to make. Stupid heart flutters.

“The most important part?” Rallan uses the hand I thought he was going to touch me with to rub the back of his neck.

He gives it a soft squeeze before dropping it down again.

A few of his brothers have slowed their speed so they can listen to us argue, but most of them are eager to get to the tribe and aren’t being slow just to eavesdrop.

“I assume you are talking about your mind, are you not?”

“My mind?” I ask, confused about what he’s talking about, and then try to recover as smoothly as I can. “Yes, my mind is the most important part of me. It’s what makes me a person.”

“It is what makes you an insufferable female, you mean.” Rallan smiles brighter as he calls me the nickname he knows I hate. I don’t need to tell him I secretly like it. Just like the demon himself, it wiggled underneath my skin and made me grow warm with its familiarity.

“I hate you,” I mumble under my breath. I’m not quiet enough because a few of the others whip their heads around, eyes wide, as they look from Rallan to me. Yeah, I’m a model of healthy communication and nontoxic relationship building.

“Ignore her,” Rallan says, shooing his brothers away with a flick of his wrists. “My mate is a cranky female. Do not let her bristly exterior make you fear the other humans. I have yet to meet another just like her.”

“One, I’m not cranky.” I put my hands on my hips and add as much brazenness as I can to my words.

Rallan stops walking when he sees me stop and turns his body to face me.

This time, when he steps closer to me, I don’t back down.

He wants to make me run. He wants to push and push and push.

Well, what if I don’t step back? What if I let him take up all my personal space? What is he actually going to do?

“Two, there are plenty of women just like me. Hot, talented, and opinionated. They’re great traits.”

“Opinionated?” Rallan asks with a disbelieving huff. “This is what you prefer your attitude to be called?”

“Yeah, opinionated makes me sound like a classy bitch and not just a bitch.” I wiggle my brows, unable to stop the smile on my lips.

“Never a bitch,” Rallan murmurs as he bends lower until his face is close to mine. “I do not think you could ever be a bitch. Especially not when you haven’t denied being my mate once today.”

He keeps his face close to me for long enough to watch as I piece his words together. My left eye starts to twitch before I can even go back over how many times he’s called me mate and what my reaction was each time. I suck in a short breath and press my lips into a tight line.

Rallan throws his head back and laughs as he straightens to his full height.

He starts walking again, even as I reel from his observation.

When he stiffened earlier, he was expecting me to tell him not to call me mate, and I hadn’t even thought about it.

And just now, when he said it again, I made a point to be difficult about what he said but not about calling me mate.

I can’t even deny it either. The smug asshole is walking away with a saunter he doesn’t deserve, and it has me wanting to jump him.

“I— That— Urg—“

I don’t manage to come up with anything remotely intelligent sounding as I run over to him. My face is burning, but I refuse to let him affect me more than he already has.

Whatever, so I didn’t correct him for calling me mate. I can still push him away in other ways. I can keep a distance between us.

Sure, I’ve now conceded to allowing him to hold me when I go to sleep, but that’s because he rubs my head so nicely.

I can’t help but fall asleep in his bed.

And yeah, sometimes I catch myself leaning into his touches without noticing and then have to remind myself not to.

And maybe, just maybe, I like it when he calls me mate, and it fills me with a warmth I haven’t felt since Vex dumped me.

Not that I’ve been trying to feel that warmth because I’ve very actively been trying to avoid it.

“Do not be upset,” Rallan says. This time, he doesn’t hesitate to throw his arm over my shoulders and pull me close to his side.

I should push him off. I should tell him I don’t like how I react to him. I should, I should, I should. But I’m tired of denying myself.

“I will give you many more opportunities to tell me not to call you mate. Starting right now, I think. Yes, my mate, Simone, is a prickly female, but she is also filled with love and kindness that she shows to everyone who is not her strong, powerful mate.”

“Shut up,” I whine against his side as I turn my head against his tunic.

His grip tightens on my shoulder, and I swear I can hear him mumble something about being blessed before his jovial voice finally concedes. “You are right. There is much walking to do. It would be wrong to waste all of my talking now when we are just beginning.”

I let him keep me close, or rather, I keep myself plastered to his side and tell myself that it’s because of how tight he’s holding me.

Silence isn’t something Rallan does well with, so of course, he lasts all five minutes before he calls some of the other demons to walk with us so he can talk with them.

I don’t mind because I just get to listen, and he’s done with poking me.

I don’t extricate myself from his hold. Anytime Rallan seems like he’s going to move his arm, I might tense, but I don’t tell him not to move, so it’s fine. This is all fine.

“When you grow tired, let me know so I can carry you.” Rallan lowers his head as close as he can to me without removing his hold on me.

He says the words so quietly that the others don’t hear, and I appreciate that because I don’t need them to know that there will come a time when I’m too exhausted to keep going.

My options will be to end the day early and take twice the amount of time to get to the tribe or let Rallan carry me.

I turn my face up to him and give him a small nod. The look in his eyes is one I haven’t seen before, or maybe he keeps it locked away from me when I’m not the most complacent. It’s a look of adoration and vulnerability that tells me if I were to reject him right now, it would cause actual wounds.

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.