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"Has it come into the city before?” Naya was unable to stop her voice from shaking.
"That is how these ruins were created," Akoro said. "It has destroyed entire regions. Much of what was in the city has been rebuilt, but we repel them here on the outskirts."
They watched the white fire coming closer still, and Naya became even more tense.
“This entire region used to have great power until these arrived. We cannot travel over the sands without having to contemplate how to deal with them. It has changed the way we live. And it was caused by your people.”
“What would be the point of us attacking you like this?” she asked, after the silence between them had stretched. “I don’t even know how we would do it. It looks like the white fire that killed Lili. How would we create it here if we can’t control it on our own land?”
“It’s possible to unleash a power you can’t control on your enemies.” He glanced down at her. "We are not aware of this white fire in your lands. Where is it?"
"It is in the southern region, the very southeast next to Saderthorne.”
He grunted. "We are not able to go there. When we saw reference to the Wastelands, we thought it meant that it was a desert or an abandoned land. We did not assume it was dangerous.”
With a horrible feeling in her stomach, Naya realized she shouldn’t have talked about Lili. If he hadn’t known about the Wastelands that could have been an advantage for the Lox.
“I don’t understand the attack, but I cannot guess the motives of a culture I don’t understand,” he said.
Naya breathed shallowly. So his insistence on all the different questions about her culture and people… he was trying to understand them. But he then was going to use that to destroy them.
* * *
For the next few days, they didn’t leave the nest.
Akoro kept her sated and in the aftermath of constant sex, clearly very pleased that she was present again.
Naya took comfort in her Alpha, pleased that she’d been able to unload what happened to Lili, even though he was still her enemy. It made her feel like she was making progress dealing with her past, even though it didn’t change anything between her and Akoro. In just the right mood, she could almost forget that she could never be with him. When he looked at her a certain way, took his time dragging his tongue on her skin, when he purred for her and chuckled at her obsession with fixing the nest. In those moments, she could push reality to the edge of her nest and hold it there. And just enjoy her Alpha.
She learned he liked when she stroked his hair or twirled it around her finger. He liked when she dug her nails into his skin as she orgasmed, when she crouched over him with her feet pressed into the soft bed, her ass smacking down onto him furiously searching for the rapturous high. He liked when she was tucked into him, when he could feel her breath on his neck as she slept, and he liked that she nested with him, plumping pillows, drawing the blankets around them, and positioning them just right. That was the reason he didn't take her back to his bedroom. He wanted to be in the nest she’d created organically.
As time wore on, she suspected that he was delaying the meetings, frequent knocks on the door that forced him to get up and speak to visitors annoyed him, so much so that she had to soothe him afterward. Obviously they needed him, and he was distracted.
To a point, she didn't care. If she distracted him so much that his invasion fell apart, that was a win for her and her people. But she was clinging to what she had right now… the bliss she may never have again.
Finally, one evening after Akoro had slammed in his knot and spilled inside her, he drew her into his arms and told her the next day they would be meeting with his council again.
Naya just nodded, her bubble deflating. She’d been expecting he would go back to using her to plan his invasion eventually. But if he was going to act like fucking her was inconsequential to who she was and where she came from so he could continue with his plan, then she should do the same.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The next few days were a flurry of activity. Naya met with various council members and answered questions. She kept her responses brief and to the point without elaborating, but the behavior of the council members had changed. They were on edge and pickier about what information they wanted. Naya wasn't sure whether this was because of what had developed between her and Akoro or if there was an external pressure or deadline they were trying to meet that was soon approaching. Either way, there was a slight edge of urgency within the meetings.
One morning, Meiro dressed Naya in similar warrior leathers to Prillu and Akoro. The top half was closely fitted with padding sleeves and flexible metal spaulders over her shoulders that curved upward. Soft leather gathered to cup each breast, and multiple colored bands of patterned material wrapped around her torso.
At her waist, the same fabrics draped like a skirt, but they weren’t as long or thick as the usual outfit she’d been wearing. Instead, she wore loose pants with generous give that were tucked into calf-high boots.
The entire outfit was a mix of creams, orange, red, and blue, punctuated with metal armor and brown leather. Naya examined her outfit with interest, noticing all the small pockets, belts, and areas where daggers or small weapons could fit.
When she was escorted to the rooftop grounds, Akoro was already there. Naya made her way over to the weapon stand, but Akoro threw a wooden training stick at her and charged. Grabbing the stick out of the air, Naya ran toward him, and their wooden weapons clattered. He drove her back, their sticks clacking, both defended and attacked as the advantage took them.
Akoro seemed intent on trying to deliver a fatal blow, but Naya kept sliding, spinning, darting out of the way just at the nick of time.
His style had changed. He fought more wildly and took more risks, and even shifted his weight quicker. The difference was stark. It was like fighting a completely different person, and Naya couldn’t rely on the fighting techniques she’d become familiar with. She tried to stay out of reach of his wooden weapon, relearning his new fighting style as they parried across the roof.
Finally, he slammed her hand, forcing the stick to fly out of it, and although she dodged him again repeatedly for a few long moments, he knocked her down and pinned her to the ground with his knee.
She panted staring up at him, his dark, wild eyes boring into her, and his aggressive scent that had been building in intensity surrounded her. There was something wild about the way he fought her, but she wasn’t sure if it was to do with wanting to fuck her or the impending invasion. She waited for him to speak, to say something that explained what that sudden attack was about, but he simply maintained eye contact with her, his eyes narrowing, until his breathing calmed.
