Page 63 of Keeping His Mate

“The tr’gorys,” she replies, clearing her throat. “The tr’gorys killed him and the other guards. Nanay led the charge. One of the guards tried to kick Stanley, and he responded by ripping his leg clean off. Then the pack focused their attention on Bzzsil, and they tore him apart.”

The tr’gorys killed Bzzsil Chi. Even hearing the words in my head, I do not believe them. It does not make sense. None of it. “Wh-what...How did the—”

“I don’t know,” she interjects. “They just showed up, and even though you were lying there, and I was lying on top of you, they went straight for him.”

I rub a hand down my face, puzzled by Elle-noor’s words.

Her voice drops into a whisper. “They knew.”

“Knew what?”

She shrugs, then shakes her head dismissively. “I don’t know. It’s silly, really, and you’re going to think I’m stupid, but it...it felt like they knew. They knew what Bzzsil Chi had done. That he hurt you, and me. They knew he was the enemy. That we weren’t.”

“I do not think you are stupid,” I tell her honestly. “I would never think that.” A smile tugs at my lips, and a chuckle escapes me. “I also do not think a tr’gory would care much about my death.”

“Hmm,” Elle-noor replies with a smirk.

“What?”

She gently drops my hand on the bed and stands. “Then why have they been sleeping outside the front door every night since we brought you back here?” She tugs open the curtain covering the large front windows, and there they are. The entire pack––Nanay, her four pups, including Stahn-lee, and the five adult males––lying on the ground in front of the door, their big bodies close together but facing every direction, so they can watch for any approaching threats.

Two of the pups wrestle and plop on the ground in a tangled heap of fuzzy black fur, as the other two are sound asleep on either side of Nanay. The five males fan out from there, flanking Nanay from the left and right. She lies in the center, her large head held high. She is not just the new mother of the pack. She is the leader. The alpha.

My jaw hangs open as Elle-noor stands against the window with her arms crossed, a smug smile on her lips. But I am too stunned to banter with her. I do not understand. “Why?”

“I don’t know,” she says, throwing her hands up. “I honestly don’t.” She returns to my side and leans down, dropping her pointy chin onto my arm. She tilts her head to the side as she runs her fingers through my mane. “I guess not all beasts are bad.”

I lean into her touch, releasing a sigh as she continues running her blunt nails against my scalp. “I guess not.”

Then she stops. “So, listen…”

My heart stops beating. I might as well be dead again. She is about to say she cannot be my mate because I did not properly support her pursuit of bonding with the tr’gorys.

“Elle-noor,” I begin. I must get this out before she can leave me. “I—”

“I love you.”

I stare at her blankly, wondering if I imagined the words coming out of her mouth. “You…”

She smiles. “I love you, Bruvix. I wanted to tell you before everything turned to shit. I wanted to tell you that you’re all I need. I’m happy to work in your garden with you, to scrub the clan’s dishes after every meal, to check the security feeds with you. I… I don’t need anything else. I just need you.”

Her words fill me with hope. It is a new feeling for me. “Truly?”

“Truly.”

“But that is not what I want for you,” I tell her. When her eyes widen at my words, I realize I must clarify. “Your work with the tr’gory is important to you. It fills your dark eyes with wonder. It makes your heart soar. I will not take that from you. What kind of mate would I be if I did?”

Elle-noor’s eyes dart between mine, as if trying to assess whether I speak truth. “Are you sure? You’d be okay with me continuing to observe them up close?”

“Yes,” I tell her honestly.

I pull myself up, eager to press my lips against hers, but fail to get into a seated position when the ache in my chest becomes so painful that my vision blurs. Elle-noor just giggles and pushes my shoulders back down. “It’s okay. I’ll come to you, big guy.”

She leans in, and her mouth is warm as it moves against mine. Her tongue glides against my lips and I let her in, groaning at the feel of her as her kiss becomes desperate, needy, and her hands stroke up and down my biceps. Bumps cover my skin as her breasts brush against my bare chest, her nipples pebbled and poking through her tunic. My hands flex with the need to grab her and lift her onto my body, making her straddle my aching cock.

My hand gets lost in her soft mane, and I hope it never finds its way out. So soft. Too soft, I’ve often thought.

Elle-noor is too soft to survive this chaotic, dangerous world.