Page 26 of His Human to Learn

The question is barely out of my mouth before Marron drops his hands from me and looks up at me as though I have betrayed him in such an awful way. I give him a playful wink, hoping he knows this is for the best. Then, I mentally prepare myself to wait until tonight before my mate can claim me.

14

Marron

"Why are you out here?" Beren asks when he answers the door to his home.

I am meant to be in the tribe since the mating ceremonies have not ended. It is hard to be so close to Tori and not go to her, though, not after everything she has done for me.

Beren's eyes harden when he sees the bandage on my neck. I know he is trying to think of whether or not I had a cut there after Joll and his friends attacked me. Before he can ask me any questions, I move the topic toward why I came out to his home.

"I would like to petition for the farmland we have been clearing," I say, standing as tall as I can with my hands behind my back. I want him to look at me as a strong, capable male, not the barely coordinated male I was when I first began helping on his farm. "I know you have been taking applications for males to work the land and live in the house there. I would like to be added to the males you are interviewing."

Beren's brows rise on his forehead. He leans against the doorframe, moving to one side so his mate, Lyath, can stand beside him.

"Are you interested in the land?" Lyath asks, sounding as surprised as Beren looked for all of a second. "What about our farmland? Are you to leave us to start your own?"

My scales feel tight at the question. Maybe I should have told them I would no longer be helping them on their farm before I asked for the other land. I avert my eyes, my hand moving up to rub the back of my horn. I try to think of what to say, but I am too embarrassed at this point.

"Stop being mean to your blood," Nia says as she squishes between her males to stand in front of them. "They're teasing you. Pay them no mind."

"You are ruining your mate's fun." Beren glares down at her, but Nia just swats him away.

"He wants to talk to you about taking over the farm he's had a hand in preparing for its next owner. He's been out at the house as often as the two of you, getting it ready for someone to live in it. The least you can do is offer him the same courtesy you've given every other male who's asked about it."

Beren and Lyath look at one another for a moment, and they have a silent conversation. I have been there for the interviews that Nia is talking about. Beren has been rude and condescending to every male who has come out to look at the land, and Lyath has not helped the poor males who try to tell them how they can be good farmers.

Nia does not know how the interviews go. Beren and Lyath seem to decide they aren't going to ruin Nia's perception of them just yet and shrug.

"Come with me," Lyath motions as he steps from the porch and heads toward the other farm. "We will have many questions for you."

"Many, many questions," Beren says, walking behind me.

They have me trapped between them, and it isn't until we are further into the fields where Nia cannot see us that I realize they could dispose of me easily if they so chose. Maybe they are now unhappy that I am the male who calls to their ward's soul. Or maybe they do not want me to have a farm near theirs and will dispose of me for that.

"Stop looking scared," Lyath calls out from over his shoulder. "You make our ward happy. We are not going to kill you."

"I may still kill you," Beren says nonchalantly. "What is the wound on your neck?"

My gulp is audible as I try to decide the correct answer to this question. Obviously, I am mating Tori. There is no getting around that, and Beren has, on more than one occasion, called her my female and my mate. I hope he is being his usual self, and this is his version of teasing me, even though it feels very much like he is testing me to ensure I am an honorable male.

"Tori has claimed me," I say, keeping my eyes forward so I do not have to see when Beren strikes, if he is going to kill me. "In the old ways. She has claimed me. We are not mated yet, but only because we are following the rules of the ceremony."

"You are blessed," Beren says, coming to stand beside me. He claps a hand on my shoulder, and for the first time in a long while, I do not wince when he does it.

I have grown accustomed to others touching me. Especially the males I am now blood with. It took me a long time not to flinch when a hand was raised toward me, but none of them made me feel less than. If anything, they continued to treat me as they did everyone else. Over time, I have managed to find ease around them.

"Very blessed," I murmur, thanking the goddess when the gate to the next farm comes into view. It is not too terribly far fromBeren and Lyath's farm. The fields butt up against one another, but the houses are on opposite ends.

"You know this house is one of the larger ones, yes?" Lyath asks, turning over his shoulder and smiling when he sees Beren touching me in a way that makes it clear I am not to die this day.

"I am hoping to fill it." I rub the back of one of my horns as soon as the admission is out of my mouth.

I have always wished for a large family, and I know I will attempt to get Tori swollen with my young as often as possible. Thro has told me that she is also eager to have children, not that she has ever told me. But I have seen her with some of her sisters' young, and Thro tells me she often talks about starting her own family. I have had to tell him to stop talking many times because it made me want things I could not have yet. Now, I am close to having everything I have ever wanted, so it does not feel wrong to tell the other males how I wish for a large family.

"We are to have many young to spoil, then?" Lyath asks.

I realize they have not asked me about my ability to tend to the farm, what I plan on growing, or my strategies for planting and harvesting. They are not asking all their questions and then cutting down my answers as they have done to the various males before me. It would make me suspicious if I weren't so eager to express my excitement about starting my own family.

---