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“You can’t mean to leave our den,” Vordri said. “What of the rogs?”
“Rogs? You have whelped again, Mother? Do my fathers never let you rest?”
His mother swatted at him. “Hush. You have a brother who has aged fourteen revolutions, and a sister who has aged nine. Trust me, they are the last rogs I’m bringing into this world. I will just have to look forward to yours,” she said with a wry smile.
“And they need you to be here with them,” Vordri said.
“They will be just fine with Mishar. We won’t be gone long,” his mother informed her mate, her narrowed gaze uncompromising. “I’m going to meet our son’s triad brothers and the female he is so keen on gaining for them, and that is that.”
Chapter
Fifteen
Arie stared in shock at the human woman in front of her. She had no idea it was even possible for Ragoru and humans to mate and reproduce, and yet there was living proof in front of her in the form of the severe woman Kyx introduced as his mother. From the grunts of surprise from Rager and Warol, she figured they hadn’t known either, but she suddenly felt very small, pale and insignificant compared to the older woman. Emala had strode in wearing a dress of soft, beautifully dyed leather, her thick hair combed up into several intricate braids that fell down to her waist from her crown while Arie had clumsily greeted her, painfully aware of how filthy she was from days of travel and sleeping in caves.
Worse, Emala hadn’t so much as cracked a smile when she was introduced, not even when meeting her son’s triad brothers. If anything, when she was introduced to them, she looked… not angry, but disappointed which made Arie angry on their behalf. How dare she judge them? They didn’t seem to notice, though. Despite their surprise, both males had recovered quickly and treated her with respect, inclining their head and addressing her as “honored mother.”
It wasn’t that she overtly snubbed them, but she frowned as she was introduced to them and said little other than murmuring a polite greeting and observing that Rager was dark as pitch. Both males had eventually shrunk back beneath her penetrating maternal disapproval and sank into silence.
Although clearly disheartened by Emala’s rejection, Rager and Warol’s initial surprise morphed into apathy and then irritation the longer she was there in the cave with them. This was especially the case when Arie was introduced. Emala’s eyes landed on her with obvious hostility. Emala stiffly inclined her head when they were introduced, ignoring the hand Arie extended out of habit when meeting another human.
Embarrassed, Arie tucked her hand beneath the fold of her skirt as critical green eyes swept over her. She knew Kyx had gone to his family for provisions but now she wished she had foreknowledge that it was going to be like this, and that she had been awake to object. If she had a choice between going hungry for a few days or this uncomfortable encounter, she would have chosen the former. Especially given the cool reception that the woman gave her son’s triad brothers. Arie ground her teeth together, her heart going out to them. Kyx’s mother was the only mother their triad was likely to have, since Rager and Warol’s families were deceased, and the woman couldn’t even warmly welcome them.
Emala sniffed and narrowed her eyes at Arie. “So, you are the human my son has been spending so much time with.”
“I don’t see any other humans around,” Arie said, immediately regretting it when the other woman’s stare turned positively glacial.
“Yes, indeed. I will come right out and tell you that I’d have hoped that if he had to be with a human, it would have been a woman more,” she rolled her hand as if searching for a word before landing on her desired adjective, “deserving.”
Arie froze, her face heating with anger and humiliation.
“Mother,” Kyx growled in objection, a look of shame and horror tightening his expression. Even the males who he’d introduced as his fathers looked shocked at the vehemence coming from their mate.
Rager and Warol rumbled low in their throats from a respectful distance away and Rager narrowed his eyes at their third.
“Kyx.”
The single word was very much a warning, indicating the lead’s barely restrained temper. Arie felt a rush of warmth in her chest that they were standing up for her. She knew it couldn’t be easy on any of them, but especially not Kyx, who’d slid up to her side, his entire body nearly vibrating with tension. His fathers who’d accompanied them shifted uncertainly. They bristled a bit at the growl directed toward their mate but didn’t seem settled on how to feel about the situation they were presented with.
“Emala!” a large male introduced as Korash protested, his golden eyes widening at his mate. His size was near that of Rager, but unlike the latter male, Kyx’s father had white suede down his belly. Both of his ears were also white as were his hocks and paws, even his fingers on all four hands were tipped with white. His ears were flattened with discomfort, and he looked just as taken aback as his son.
“And what would you consider more deserving?” Arie asked, ignoring her internal voice that screamed for her to be silent.
Emala’s lips twisted into a cool smile. “Let’s just say, a woman of some breeding and refinement, not some ignorant villager who probably believes far more ridiculous things about the Ragoru than anyone at The Citadel. In short… not you.”
Arie felt her face further flood with heat, and she pushed aside Kyx’s attempt to restrain her as she stepped up to the other woman. She’d spent her entire life listening to people talk about her as if she were nothing, and she’d be damned if she was going to listen to it from a woman she just met.
“Emala, respectfully, I would ask what you find so objectionable about me but allow me to be just as honest with you when I say that frankly I do not care. I have done no harm to you or your son. He offered me friendship when I had no one in the world just hours after I’d been driven from my home. This was just days after my mother’s releasing to the next world. I am thankful to Kyx and consider all three of them a gift from the gods in my time of need, but I do not require your approval to lead a satisfying life. I have spent my life hiding away, afraid, letting people treat me as if I was nothing better than dirt beneath their shoe. I allowed it then, but I will not accept it anymore. Especially not from a person who knows nothing about me.”
Arie stepped back away from Emala and turned away, seeking comfort in Warol’s arms as he stepped up to encompass her in his embrace. His body was stiff as he glared at the older female. She knew he looked aggressive and unapproachable to anyone who didn’t know him, but all Arie saw in him was a refuge. She thought she might have seen a flash of regret in Emala’s eyes, but she buried her face in Warol’s fur and shut out Kyx’s family.
She recognized that she never even had a chance.
She leaned her weight into Warol’s body, wishing that she could disappear when she felt the male stiffen moments before a small hand touched her shoulder.
“Do not,” Warol growled in warning to the offender.
Arie turned and found herself face to face with Emala. The hand gently squeezed, and Emala’s lips tilted up in a small, uncertain smile, breaking the chilly façade. Arie glanced down at the hand, her impulse to push it away. Rager and Warol must have seen something of what Arie was feeling because suddenly they were pushing their large bodies between them, their eyes narrowed with anger.
