was not terribly fond of it in truth. Still, watching her care for it warmed his hearts.
Her protectiveness and determination to save the f’anril kit had surprised him. Despite her vulnerability, she was far fiercer than he had assumed she would be. He knew that she could and would defend herself, and take risks when necessary. She took an enormous risk saving him. Yet he would not have imagined her standing up against him to defend the orphan. She would be a fierce mate and mother—for someone else.
His chest tightened near his primary heart, and he picked up his pace.
He did not want to think of her mated to another male. A normal male. Not when his hunger stirred relentlessly within him, burning brighter as the hours turned to days. He had been successful enough at ignoring it while he was caring for her when she was sick, but with her body against his, to pretend that her warmth and hot, wet scent didn’t affect him was madness.
His cock swelled uncomfortably, kept only in place by the seam of the genital sack and the hard, protective plating. His odd attachment to her was turning to desire at an unsettling rate, and with it came the territorial needs of a male priming to claim and mate. Needs that were frustrated and impossible due to his position.
Anger choked him. He could not bear to consider releasing her to another male. Not to one of the at’sahl males of her species, nor one of the beautiful males of the Tak’sinii. She had taken his breath; she had offered her touch to him. To the instinct-driven part of his nature, that made her his.
He was discovering that he was a possessive male. That was dangerous for an a’sankh, whose priority should be his people.
He turned and glanced back at her again. Her head was bowed as she whispered to the kit. Although her body nearly completely obstructed his view of it, he could see the long, thin ears twitching. A wave of doubt surged through him. Was he making a mistake bringing her to the great city of the san’mordan Fa’teln, Emsha’fa’teln, to be judged by his king?
No. He could not weaken. She had to go before the king. She was still at’sahl until officially deemed otherwise. To fail in this would be to betray everyone he swore to protect—his entire purpose. But it pained him. He tried to tell himself that he could not be fooled by the way she treated the baby f’anril. He drew upon the memory of her sedating him and standing by, allowing the other at’sahl to take and defile him.
He clung to it, determined to harden his hearts against her, but every effort was crumbling like sand falling from his hands. Every instinct demanded that he turn away from the city and hide her somewhere… Perhaps travel to another san’mordan on the other side of the continent. His body quivered with stress as he forced himself to continue. He squared his shoulders, refusing to let the need to have her in his arms again control his actions. Soon enough, they would arrive at Emsha’fa’teln.
“Not much longer, is it?” Cha’lii’s soft voice drifted up to him.
He shook his head. It was well past midday. A shift in the winds had driven the rains to another part of the mountains, so they had not been forced to stop and seek shelter as they had on previous days, nor was he slowed down by saturated loose soil. They might have had one more night of peace if not for the elements inconveniently working in their favor.
“Tonight,” he grunted.
She shifted on his back, and he scented the sour note of her fear, though she controlled it well. If she were not seated on him, he might have struggled to detect it. Brave female.
“What is this place like?”
It was not the first time she had asked, and every time he had been reluctant to speak of it. Telling her of the city made it too real, looming over them even as they drew ever closer.
She was afraid, though, and it was unfair for him to keep it from her.
“It gleams silver in the sun,” he said at last, as he climbed a particularly rough incline and felt her lean forward to settle against him as she listened. “Much of the mountains appear that way, so it hides us well. But what is not seen from a distance are the gems we have pulled