The Breeding Experiment - Laurann Dohner Page 0,21
take me in, but they did.”
She frowned. “Shunned?”
He hesitated. “It’s not a good story to tell.”
“I told you about my life.”
“That is true, and fair. My father allowed himself to lock on to a female who wasn’t interested in him. It shouldn’t have happened.”
“Lock on to?”
He adjusted his body, also sitting on the floor. “When we begin to feel strong emotions for a female, if she’s not interested, we avoid her and remind ourselves that she isn’t going to become our mate until those feelings go away. If she is interested, we allow those emotions to grow stronger. We call it locking on. In our hearts and minds, she becomes our mate. She will be all we want or need. To be with her makes us happy.”
“That sounds really nice.”
“It can be, but my father knew she wasn’t for him. The female had rejected him. He allowed himself to lock on to her anyway. When she kept rejecting him, he began to go feral.”
Her mouth opened, and she appeared shocked.
He lowered his voice. “His grouping should have put him down. He became unstable and couldn’t control his body or emotions. He lived with three brothers in his grouping, by the same parents. They didn’t have the strength in their hearts to do it.”
She paled. “Put him down as in…”
“End his life for the safety of others. A feral Veslor is highly dangerous. My father went after my mother to force her to become his mate.” Gnaw paused; he still felt shame over what his sire had done. “He took her without her consent. She tried to fight him off, to defend herself, but he was stronger.”
“Oh, Gnaw. I’m so sorry.” She reached for him and touched his arm.
“They put him down after that, but she was pregnant with me from his attack. She kept me for a few years but as I grew, I resembled him more. It became too painful for her to look at me, and her grouping shunned me. I was old enough to survive on my own.”
She scooted closer and shoved the bucket from between them. “They kicked you out of your home? How old were you?”
“Five years. The males had taught me how to hunt and find shelter. None of the groupings near us were willing to accept me, even the one my father had belonged to. They feared I’d make the same mistake, turn feral one day, too, and they’d have to put me down.”
“That’s absolute shat!” she spat. “I’m so sorry that happened to you. It makes me angry. They were wrong to treat you badly because of something someone else did.”
He nodded. “My grouping says the same. I lived on my own for two years, surviving in the forests. Drak found me when I was exploring farther out and took me home. They took me in, and I’ve been with them ever since. They didn’t fear that I’d become like my father.”
“Of course you wouldn’t. You’re a good man.”
He watched her closely, studying her. She appeared sincere. “You don’t know me well.”
“I think I do. You were kind to my sister and I on the shuttle. We were both scared since we’ve never been on one before. Then you could have hurt me.” She turned her head, glancing at the padded exam bed, before peering at him, her cheeks pink once more. “You didn’t. It was great. Then you cleaned me. That’s being a good man, Gnaw. On top of all of that, you want to threaten the fleet recruiter who hired me to make sure he can’t collect on my debt. You care about others.”
He couldn’t deny anything she’d said. “No male would want to hurt a female.”
“That’s not true. I was raised on an entire planet where the men in charge don’t care much about women. My father is a good man, but most living there aren’t.”
“You’ll never return to your planet.” He’d make certain of that. “Try to eat more.”
“I can’t. This stuff doesn’t taste too nasty, but it’s got a bad texture. I think I’ve had enough. I don’t want my stomach to reject what I’ve gotten down so far.”
He nodded. The food wasn’t settling well inside his stomach, either. Veslors enjoyed meat. Not planet surface covering. He rose to his feet and held out his hand to her. “We’ll rest.”
She took his hand, and he pulled her to her feet. Then without warning, he scooped her into his arms. He carried her over to the exam bed