Page 15 of His Human to Learn

"Someone in the tribe told us you have been seen with an unmated male on more than one occasion." Olivia gives me a soft smile. "First, we're not judging you for that. We wouldn't care about it if not for the fact that we're doing everything to keep all of the males following the rules so we don't have issues with males trying to take the women."

"No, no, that's fine," I wave off her justification. The way everything is set up here is so that human women are kept as safe as possible after some males came to the tribe to kidnap women they wanted for themselves. I understand why they have rules, and I also know that I frequently disregard them. "Who told you I was meeting with Marron?"

"You've been meeting with a male?" Nia says in the fakest surprised voice I've ever heard. I would be trying not to laugh if I weren't so nervous. "Why, I never… and under our noses?"

Olivia covers her laugh, but her lips quirk up on the sides. "Look, as far as I'm concerned, what happens on the farm stays on the farm."

"Then why are you here?" Nia asks, her tone shifting to something more serious. "I already told you what was happening and that we were keeping an eye on it to make sure no one was taken advantage of. Why's there an issue now?"

Jen and I both snap our heads in Nia's direction. Nia looks at both of us with an unimpressed flick of her eyes. "Do you think we didn't know about all of that? We're not idiots. We just needed to make sure you two didn't go around flaunting that we were letting you date when no one else gets the opportunity."

"We had a few unmated males come to us with concerns of Tori being seen with another unmated male, and when I talked with him, he told me that you were allowing him to woo you and say your name." Olivia holds my eyes when she says it, and the only reason her words don't have me spiraling is that I can seeher baby's arm reach up from the sling she's in and start to grab at Olivia's tunic. It helps to soften the reason they're here.

"Marron would not have admitted to it," Beren says from behind us.

I'm glad he's here to tell Olivia precisely what I'm thinking. We've been alone, and he's been wooing me and saying my name, but I can't see him telling Olivia that. Not when he always seems so nervous to be caught alone with me.

"He wasn't one of the males to come to us," Ralleth says.

The fact has everyone in the room confused. Well, Olivia and Ralleth aren't confused because they already know who talked with them. Still, the rest of us wonder who would've said they were wooing me.

"I know I've been sneaking around with Marron, but there's no one else."

The words make me flush again, and my hands are sweaty from more than just how warm this planet is. If this was them telling everyone I've been with Marron, that's one thing, but whatever they've been told is a lie. I don't want them to think it's true. I don't want them doubting me. I look around at Olivia and then up at Beren. There's not an ounce of disbelief on their faces, just pure anger. I'm glad I am not on the receiving end of.

"Who is telling lies about my ward?" Beren asks, his lips pulling back in a snarl that would have me peeing myself if it were directed at me.

"If I tell you, they will be dead by the time the clouds have darkened," Ralleth keeps his voice calm, and it's clear he won't tell us. "We came here to think of ways to fix this."

"I can fix it as soon as you tell them their names," Beren offers.

Nia nods like she's all for letting Beren deal with the males who have decided to make up lies about me. I don't know why anyone would want to, and I don't know how many people they've told since I'm not in the tribe very often. For all Iknow, everyone in the tribe might think someone is wooing me. Marron could think I'm letting someone else woo me.

"Are you going to cry?" Olivia asks me, moving from her chair to stand in front of me. She scoops her daughter out of the sling and rocks her in her arms, the laughter making me smile. "Don't cry, okay? None of this is your fault."

"Well," Ralleth starts to say, but Beren's loud hiss cuts him off, and he holds his hands up again, saying he's done.

Olivia plops her baby into my arms, not even asking. It's okay with me because her bright red scales and big black eyes make me want to snuggle her close and see if I can get her to giggle like she did for Olivia.

Since realizing I had a calling to Marron, I've felt a stronger and stronger urge to have kids. This tribe is big on family and growing their families, so it makes sense that it would rub off on me the longer I'm here. Now, staring at Azaana's cute little face has me wanting it more and more.

Olivia moves to sit back in the chair and addresses all of us. "We need to know how you want to deal with the rumors. We can tell everyone that you're not entertaining any males, but we'd need to keep you separated from Marron, too, so no males feel like he's being given special treatment. Or, you can go through the mating ceremony. We're pretty sure that's why the males who spoke with us did."

"They wish to force my ward into the mating ceremony," Beren snarls. His claws are digging into the couch, and Nia frowns at the gashes in the fabric before shooing his hands away so he doesn't make the tears worse. "They think they can force her to mate them. You realize this, yes?"

"We assume that's the plan," Olivia shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know how they're planning to make it succeed, considering it's clear she's already responded to a different male, but we weren't about to tell them that."

"So I either join the mating ceremony or stop seeing Marron?" I ask.

"Unless there's a different plan you'd feel more comfortable with," Olivia says. "We wouldn't even be taking it seriously if we weren't hearing from other males that they think the rules are softening. Gossip spreads fast in the tribe, and the male who says he's wooing you has made it very clear to many of the brothers that he's the one wooing you."

"Banish him for breaking the rules," Beren snaps, cutting Olivia off and causing Ralleth's eyes to flicker red for a moment. This time, Beren lowers his eyes, an act of submission we don't usually see from him, but Ralleth is his tribal leader, and there's still a hierarchy to these things.

"I would if it wouldn't give his rumors more merit. If your ward wishes to go through the mating ceremony, it will be clear that the rumors were the tellings of a male thinking too highly of himself and willing to spread lies to force a female into a mating. He will be shamed enough to leave the tribe on his own when it is clear your ward isn't his mate."

Ralleth's plan makes sense, but it hinges on me going through the mating ceremony. I'm still unsure if I'm ready to be mated to Marron. I'd rather be mated to him with communication issues than not be able to see him at all. If those are my options, I'll have to learn the language even faster. Marron might even be keen to help me once we're together.

"I'll do it," I say before Beren can get himself even more upset by thinking about a male making up lies about me.

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