Page 28 of His Human to Learn

"We are," Lyath says, turning to grab the door. "Now go. The mating ceremony will begin soon, and I doubt you plan to be there long."

My beating picks up at the thought of bringing Tori back to the house so soon. I take one final deep breath and give Lyath a stiff nod before he disappears back into the house to calm his mate. I make my way back to the tribe and shake out my nerves as Istand in the meeting spot outside the great hall. I will wait here until Kal takes us all inside.

15

Tori

The rules for tonight are the same as last night. We all meet in the same partitioned area of the dining hall. The males stand in their little squares on the ground, waiting for a female to approach them. The biggest difference is that if we want to claim a male as ours and they're receptive to it, then we can leave the mating ceremony.

There are a few rooms in the great hall where we can take our males if we want to get to know them more intimately, or if we trust them, we can let them take us out of the great hall. I intend to grab Marron's hand as soon as I find him and drag him to the nearest possible private space so I can finally get my hands on him in all the ways we haven't before.

I push some of my hair behind my shoulder and take a deep breath. I'm not nervous about what's about to happen. Maybe I should be. I'm more anxious to get to be with Marron already.

"They're all getting set up now," Diane says as she walks back into the room where we are waiting. "We'll give them two more minutes, and then go out. I'm sure some of you are anxious to get out there."

My cheeks heat even though I know she's also talking to other women. Still, it feels like I'm being called out. Not in a bad way, but it's still enough to have a blush covering my cheeks.

Some of the other women chat amongst themselves, but for the most part, we're all pretty quiet. Two others are more than willing to mate with their demons tonight. The other eight women don't think they've found their mates, but they're still open to seeing where things go with the unmated males. I wouldn't be surprised if they also find themselves with some private time. It's not against the rules to bed any of the males, even if you don't mate them. Something that some of the women talk about with hushed whispers and pink cheeks.

"I'm going to say we're good." Diane claps her hands together and motions for us to all get in a line. "Reminder, you need to tell me or the other chaperone that you're leaving with a male if you do decide to spend time with them alone. It's for your safety. No one here is judging anyone."

Diane opens the door, and we all file out in the same line we did yesterday. I'm a few women from the front, but once we get to the mating ceremony area, no one will try to beat me to my mate. As far as I can tell from the one mating ceremony I've been a part of, the women don't fight each other over males, and just like Diane said, no one really judges the others.

Everyone who goes through the mating ceremony is looking for the same thing, so it'd be unfortunate for one of us to make the others feel ashamed. Not to mention how hypocritical it would be. We're all here trying to find happiness, and none of us should be shamed for that.

"Any questions?" Diane asks as we near the hallway opening.

I twiddle my fingers in front of me, hoping that no one has any questions like they did last night. We stood in this hallway for what felt like an eternity yesterday when a few women had questions about what we were and weren't allowed to do. The not allowed list consisted of 'don't do anything that constitutes mating and don't do anything the males don't want to do.'

"How early can we leave with our mate?" one of the women who's made it clear she's interested in a male named Gere asks. I don't mind that question because I need to know if there's a time limit we have to reach before leaving.

"You may leave as quickly as you want, so long as you tell me or the other chaperone, and the male is receptive to leaving with you," Diane answers.

She keeps her tone factual and soft. It helps to make this all seem more normal than it is compared to what life was like on Earth. Not that I ever did anything other than a few awkward kisses and too sweaty handholding. What can I say? Not everyone's great at dating at sixteen.

"So, hypothetically, if I want to leave as soon as I get there, I just tell you, and I can leave?" the same woman asks. I nod along with her question, showing my support and that I'm just as curious as she is about it.

"Yup," Diane pops the p at the end and gives us a big smile. "We want you to find your mates. Once you have, we don't want to keep you away for any longer than necessary."

I want to roll my eyes, but it's not her fault I've been kept from Marron. It's my own damn fault for not ever going through this earlier. I feel silly now that I know how easy this is and how excited I am to be with him.

"No more questions?" Diane asks, looking down the line at all of us. Her hands rest on the top of her belly, and then she spins back around. "Alright, let's get you back with the males."

We follow her into the dining hall and toward the partitioned-off section. A few of the males are standing a bit taller than usual. Marron is one of them, which leads me to believe the other two are the other males getting mates tonight. I make my way over to Marron, not wasting any time as I wrap my arms around his waist.

"Hey," I say as I look up at him. His bruising has gone down, and the swelling is lessened enough that he can open his eye a little bit.

"Hey," he murmurs back.

He lifts his hands to cup my cheeks, his thumbs rubbing softly over my skin. He has a clean bandage on his bite mark, and my stomach flutters at the memory of sinking my teeth into him last night. He smiles brighter when he sees where I'm looking and lifts one of his hands over the wound.

We stare at each other for another moment before Marron kneels in front of me so we're eye to eye. "You told me that one day you're going to tell everyone I am yours."

My cheeks heat as Marron talks, reminding me of what I confessed to him before the party. I didn't know that he knew anything in English at the time. Now, here he is, reminding me that not only does he understand me, but he has no problem reminding me of what exactly I said.

"You also made me promise to fuck your brains out," he hisses low enough that I'm the only one who hears what he says. My stomach does a flip-flop, and my core clenches.

"I didn't know you could understand me," I tell him in English. My face burns red as I say the words. Embarrassment and arousal course through me in equal measure.

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