Mari's Mistake - Ruby Dixon Page 0,44

public displays of affection and know there's something wrong with you. I've drifted away from my friendship with Lauren because we both resonated to our men at the same time, but she and K'thar are cute as buttons and it makes me envious.

Even now, as I sit around the evening fire with T'chai at my side, I try not to watch Lauren too closely. I don't want to see her give her mate that secret smile, or watch him touch her belly. I eat my soup and listen half-heartedly to the conversations.

T'chai's in a good mood, at least. He talks to R'jaal about the differences in casting nets in the water here, and they discuss weights and doubling strands while Tia tosses her hair and flirts with both Sessah and I'rec at the same time. U'dron watches Raven with a look of fierce longing on his face as she shows her shell tambourine to Bek and Elly. She's utterly oblivious to his crush, though it's been evident to the rest of us for a few weeks now. I notice the other women sit with their mates or cluster together—Steph, Sam, Flor, and Bridget huddle on one of the fallen logs, piled together and occasionally whispering.

Yeah, I don't fit in anywhere. Even my buddy Callie, my other Latina chica, is sitting in M'tok's lap and chatting animatedly with Penny, who sits on S'bren's. She hasn't been in the Ravenclaw cave as much lately since she resonated. While I'm happy for her, it just makes me feel more isolated.

T'chai puts his hand on my knee, drawing my attention, and I fight the urge to kick it free. It sends a shiver through my body, an unpleasant one, as if my khui is rebelling against his touch. "Do you want more food, my mate? Shall I get you another helping?"

I shake my head, gesturing at my half-full bowl. "I don't think I'll be able to eat all of mine. Do you want it?"

He grins at me, so heartbreakingly cute that it's physically painful to see him smile. He takes my bowl and eats the rest of my share with gusto. There's more than enough food to go around, but T'chai has a weird relationship with it after struggling with starvation for so long, I suspect. He could eat three bowls of food at every sitting. He doesn't, though; he only eats the same portion I get unless someone presses more food on him. He'll never ask for more—but he eats it so swiftly and with such enthusiasm when he gets a second helping that I know he's still hungry.

He just won't eat more because there needs to be enough for the entire tribe. It breaks my heart at what a good guy he is. Why can't my khui appreciate that? Instead, it's wrongly trying to protect me from being touched, as if it thinks someone other than my mate is putting the moves on me…because it doesn't recognize T'chai as my mate.

I bite back a sigh and force myself to touch his arm. "I'm tired. I'm going to head back to the hut."

"I will come with you," he says immediately, getting to his feet.

"No, it's okay." I tug him back down into his seat. "Finish your conversation with R'jaal and eat your food. I need a few minutes to myself."

He gives me a blatant look of longing even as he shoves another spoonful of hopper stew into his mouth. I extricate myself from the group near the fire, stepping over limbs and dishes as I do. I pass by Gail, who's watching her mate feed Z'hren, and lean over toward her. "Can you make sure T'chai eats another bowl? I think he's still hungry, and you know he won't ask."

"You know I will." She gives me a warm smile. "No worries."

I thank her and make my way down to the beach huts, away from the friendly group. I love the get-togethers at night but sometimes it's nice to just be by myself for a while. I breathe in the chilly night air, gaze out at the dark ocean, and head toward the hut T'chai built for us. It's nestled along the cliffs near M'tok and S'bren's twin huts, and the entire Tall Horn clan pitched in to help him make it, because he was still weak at the time. It's a nice hut—small and cozy—and it feels like home, even if there are two beds inside. I stoke the fire to make the