Page 10 of Chasing Tail
Taron dropped his fists and relaxed. To talk or not to talk. That was my primary question. Were land-dwelling men the same as a lot of mermen? They liked it when women didn’t know something, and they could make a big show of explaining it, even if they were pretty rotten at actually doing it.
I decided to just go with it and hope for the best. I barely understood half the mermen I lived with. I wasn’t about to tackle every druid with a penis in this short amount of time. I opened my mouth and touched my throat to indicate I couldn’t speak.
“Can you speak for her?” a man asked Taron.
Taron just stood there like stone. It got pretty awkward until they finally realized he couldn’t. They finally realized how strangely we were dressed.
“Look at their clothes. I can’t tell what they are from their auras. What if they are refugees from another kingdom? We need to place them under our protection.”
“How exactly do you plan on doing that, Forrest? I can’t tell what they are either, and neither of them can speak to tell us. What do you think Father will do to them when he lays eyes on them and doesn’t know what they are?”
I wasn’t mad they hadn’t introduced themselves. I was pretending I couldn’t speak, so they didn’t exactly have my name either. Forrest seemed kind for a druid. He had golden hair and bright blue eyes. His skin was much paler than mine or Taron’s, but it still had a golden hue. He was easily Taron’s size and much bigger than me, but he just had this face that said he legitimately cared about what happened to us.
“Iknowthat, Callum. They are both in danger from him. We can stop it.”
Callum had the same golden hair and bronzed skin as Forrest, but it was a bit of a shade darker. His features were similar to his brother’s, but they were lined with worry. Was he afraid of his father? Maybe he hated him as I did.
The third brother stepped forward. He differed from the other two. Callum and Forrest were all golden and blue. The third brother had black hair and black eyes. There was mischief sparking in his eyes, and they kept lowering to my breasts before he got concerned for my safety again.
“The safest thing to do is send them back where they came from,” he said.
“Really, Beck?” Forrest said. “How do we know it’s not worse than what our father is doing? Look at their clothes. Neither of them can speak. We can teach them while we hide them.”
This was going much better than I planned. It sounded like the druid king wasn’t even liked by his own sons, and coming into my home and slaughtering my people was something he did in his own backyard. Still, I couldn’t break out the wholelet’s kill your fatherthing right away. As much as it surprised me, these seemed like decent land dwellers, and they might balk at that.
Beck rubbed his chin and stared at my breasts again.
“I could stash them in my love nest. Father still doesn’t know about it. Instead of keeping to his stupid rules about only taking druid lovers, the two of you long should have gotten you one. Succubae and shifters arewildin bed.”
“You’re disgusting, Beck,” Forrest growled. “When he finds out about it, you aren’t the one who is going to get punished for it.”
Beck just smirked,
“He’s notgoingto find out about it. I’ve made damn sure of that, and people like me better than him.”
Man, it sounded like no one liked the druid king. I could use that. Before I could begin plotting, there was this ungodly shrieking, and I was back on my ass. Did one of these land dwellers seriously just strike me in the face?
Oh. It wasthosetwo land dwellers. Our bellies were full of their food, and we were wearing their terrible wrappings. But, wow, they were angry. Forrest was restraining the woman, and Beck had his arm wrapped around the man’s chest. Taron and I could have killed them if we needed to, but neither of us wanted to.
“These people robbed us! I demand justice,” the woman shrieked.
Beck seemed to find this entire thing hilarious.
“I’d be more worried about finding clothes. Neither of you looks like you’ve been jumped, and we all can tell how they got your clothes. You know how my father feels about public fornication, especially since one of you is a succubus and the other isn’t. Are you quite sure you want to push this matter and bring it to his attention?”
The woman shot daggers at Beck, and the man was still struggling to fight Taron.
“Shut up, Beck. It’s nothingyouhaven’t done before.”
“I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with it, Chloe. I can't entirely agree with my father’s rules, but he’s still the king. If his guards see you like this, they are going to bring you in. I’d be more focused on how you’re going to get home than beating these two up.”
Chloe wasn’t looking to attack me anymore. Now, all her rage was focused on Beck. She looked like she knew full well she couldn’t punch him in the face like she had done me, but she really wanted to.
“We are going to get home inourclothes, Beck. I get I can’t have them punished by your father without feeling his wrath myself. Iknowthe three of you aren’t like him. Make them give us back our fucking clothes. It’s bad enough they ate our food.”
None of these people seemed to get Taron and I hated these clothes and the only reason we even stole them was to fit in. We would have happily given them back if they didn’t punish people for not wearing these horrible things.
The three brothers seemed to know the couple we stole from. However, Taron and I were strangers, and they didn’t know what we were. Forrest wanted to shelter us and keep us safe, but not all of the brothers agreed on this.
