Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
That does it. I jerk backward, horrified, and swipe the back of my hand over my mouth. The taste of her is…awful. “Pfaugh!”
She gasps, recoiling as if stung. “I’rec? What the fuck?”
Her scent is in my nose, and the taste of her lingers on my lips, awful and invasive. I turn my head, spitting upon the beach to try and rinse the taste from my mouth. I rub my lips again, and when I look up, everyone is staring at me.
D’see and O’jek have wide eyes. T’ia’s expression is full of shock and hurt. And the rest of the tribe—W’la and Gren, R’kh and H’rlow, D’vi and N’dek, and all the others stare at me as if I have committed some sort of atrocity. As if I am the one to blame.
V’ronca rushes up to A’tar’s side, the big golden male striding toward us. “Ashtar,” she cries. “You were supposed to say something!”
“I was in battle form,” he tells her, and then nods in T’ia’s direction. “I’m supposed to tell you that I’rec resonated to someone else.”
“Ashtar,” V’ronca says again, a groan in her voice. She puts a hand to her forehead. “Seriously.”
“He what?” T’ia looks at me with utter betrayal.
“I was in battle form. She is not psychic. What was I supposed to do?” A’tar gestures at T’ia, who continues to regard me with distress. “We only stopped at the fruit cave, and we were too far away for me to receive my mate’s thoughts. After that, we came straight here. By the time I was in range to tell her, it was quicker to just land.” He shrugs. “It seemed smarter to return instead of leave again, return to Croatoan, shift, tell her, see if she wants to stay, and then return.”
V’ronca just smacks her forehead again.
“You resonated?” T’ia asks me, her voice so full of hurt that it makes me ache. “And you didn’t tell me?”
As if this is all some plan of mine? “It was on the day that A’tar left. There was no way for me to tell you.”
Her gaze leaves me and she stares at something over my shoulder. My heart plummets. When I turn, I see F’lor standing in the distance, a stony expression on her face. I wipe my mouth again, and she glares at me.
Well now, this is much worse.
“F’lor,” I say, turning toward her. The only thing that matters is her. I do not care if T’ia hates me. I do not care if the entire tribe thinks I am cruel through no fault of my own. All that matters is F’lor and her good opinion.
And right now, she is looking at me with disgust.
She turns and walks away, and I chase after her, because I cannot stand the thought of her abandoning me. I am her mate. She is mine.
I race to her side and touch her shoulder. “F’lor—”
“No,” she tells me, shrugging me off. Her expression is tight. “It’s not right that this is how she finds out. You need to sit and talk to her. Make sure she’s okay. The woman you love deserves that much, don’t you think? Don’t let resonance influence you so much you forget who you care for.”
“What are you talking about?”
F’lor shakes her head. “You and I will figure ‘us’ out later. For now, you need to go and talk to T’ia before it all gets fucked beyond saving. I’ve got fishing to do, and I want to be alone anyhow.” She gives my arm a pat and then turns away, brushing past R’ven and B’shit who watch from nearby.
I stare after her, and I feel…strange. Unhappy. Why is it that she is pushing me toward T’ia? After we have resonated? Am I not her mate and she is mine? But she is acting strange.
S’teph, the one with the outcast mate, suddenly appears at my side. She gives me a gentle smile and steers me quietly toward T’ia, who remains standing where she is, her expression devastated. “I think we need to sit and talk this out, hmm?”
I do not feel like talking. I want to chase after F’lor and talk to her. I want to touch her and breathe in her scent instead of the offensive ones perfuming the air around me, but it is clear from the expectant looks of the rest of the tribe that they wish for me to talk to T’ia and soothe her hurts.
And she is my friend, so I suppose I should, even if it feels as if I am betraying my mate. Somehow.
Reluctant, I let S’teph drag me forward. T’ia’s eyes are brimming with tears as she watches me, her arms crossed over her chest. Her expression is accusing, as if I was the one that chose resonance and not my khui. I am not unhappy with it, though. Perhaps that is why she stares at me with such misery in her gaze.