claw on Zayzon’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Claws, it must be hard for you, of all Xylan, to realize your Bride is without pigment.”
A growl rumbled in his throat. How dare they criticize his female? “She’s perfect the way she is.”
“Uh huh.”
“There’s nothing wrong with her,” Zayzon repeated. “Can’t you see that she’s human?”
“Human?”
“Oh, yes she is,” his youngest brother exclaimed. “He’s right, this female is human like Leah and Darcy. It was hard to see at first. We really need to upgrade to night vision for our visuals, I’m tired of them turning out dark like this.”
Cannibal threw back his head and laughed. “Claws said he’d never mate a human. Remember?”
Oh hell, he’d never live this down. The whole colony knew how he felt about that. He’d made sure of it. For once his loud mouth was coming back to bite him in the ass.
“What is this, are we all going to end up with human Brides?” Heavy said.
His other brothers cringed in horror.
“Damn, if that’s the way this is going then I’d rather remain unmated. Sorry, I don’t mean to offend you, Claws, but I wouldn’t mate with a human. They’re so tiny and defenseless. I’d be afraid I’d break one. What are you going to do with her? You’ve got those claws.”
He glanced down at his hands. It was true, he would have to be gentle. His nickname was Claws because he was known for his abnormally large, sharp claws. Xylan females swooned over them and males admired him for his deadly appendages, but when mating a female without scales or claws of her own, this would be tricky.
“And he’s the loudest of us. He often scares our own females.”
It was all true. He had no idea how to treat this human correctly.
“At least she’s not a real intruder. She’s just in there sleeping. In your bed.”
“We’ve all been waiting our whole lives to find our Bride and yours just shows up unannounced and delivers herself to you?” Scar growled. “Claws has always had it easy when it comes to finding a mate.”
A wave of warmth hit his chest and a smile played across his lips. His mate, in his bed. She was here. He’d found her. He blew out a breath and flexed his claws. He could make this work.
“Well, it won’t be that easy,” Trunk broke in. “Humans don’t mate like we do. Hook’s Bride didn’t know what the hell mating compatibility was.”
“Same thing with Daxon’s Bride.”
“Well, we could move her into Hook’s old room, it’s empty,” Heavy gestured. “That way she could have her own bunk and wouldn’t be in there taking up all the space in your bed. And then you could have more time to think through what your approach will be.”
Zayzon bared his fangs and emitted a low growl.
Chief crooked a ridge. “Guess moving her elsewhere isn’t an option.”
“She sleeps with me,” he snarled.
“Okay. Okay. Be careful with this female though, she might not understand our culture or how we mate. You will have to talk her into agreeing to test for compatibility. She doesn’t have a Manager or a Champion. It will take time.”
Zayzon nodded and flexed his claws. He would do his best to convince this human female of the necessity of testing compatibility. Meanwhile, he was keeping her close.
“I’m glad your mate is here in the compound with us and we’re all together,” Chief said. “Daxon was forced out and Hook left us when he took his Bride. Our crew was nine strong and now we’re only seven. My priority is that we stay together. There is safety in numbers.”
They all nodded.
“I won’t be leaving,” Zayzon said to the crew. “Hook wanted new quarters for his Bride and offspring, but I prefer to stay here.”
“Hopefully your Bride will feel the same.”
“I still can’t believe this,” Scar huffed. “All any of us have ever wanted is to find our mate, and Claw, who said he didn’t want to mate, has his Bride delivered to him, like he’s some kind of spoiled royal pigment asshole.”
“Shut up,” Zayzon snarled. He hated being compared to those elitists.
“It’s true.”
He lifted his claw, ready to teach Scar a lesson.
“Let’s hurry this up,” Cannibal interrupted. “I’m hungry.”
“Are you going in your room?” Trunk questioned. “There’s no need for us to do a search. You can go in there alone.”
Zayzon shook his head. “Uhh…” He glanced around at his brothers, unsure of what to do.
“I think he’s speechless,” Heavy laughed. “Since when is Claws left without words?”
He