Savage King: New Worlds - Milly Taiden Page 0,45

you weren’t leaving me.” Confusion and anger lit her voice.

“Love,” he said, creating the opening that had been there, covered with vines, “the tribe will kill me on sight. I won’t endanger you with my selfishness.”

Her face remained a frown, but she didn’t say anything. On his way past her, he leaned down and kissed her hard. “I love you. I’ll be watching you all day from a safe distance.”

She nodded but didn’t smile. There wasn’t a frown either, which he considered a win. He took down the dirt barrier separating the others from them, the dirt dissolving into the ground. Her friends were still sleeping, as they should’ve been.

He made an opening at the back of the mound, stepped out, then resealed it. He took a deep breath to see if anyone was nearby. He heard no activity. The tribe hadn’t awakened yet. He hurried away through the trees with thoughts of being buried in his mate’s body racing through his mind.

His tigron sensed danger, but not soon enough. A body slammed into him, taking them both to the ground. They rolled, each making a powerplay to gain the advantage. Hitting a tree, they came to a stop. Xenos had a shifted paw and claws against the attacker’s neck ready to rip his throat out.

The other male had his knife pressed to Xenos’s vein, which, if severed, would kill him before he could change forms. The man snarled his name.

Xenos could only say one word. “Haml.”

Chapter Twenty-One

After dressing, Wren sat against the wall of their domed sleeping location thinking about yesterday. So much had happened, it felt like a week had passed.

So many thoughts, each having different emotions, bombed her. Being lost and frightened, being alive and grateful, being in “like” with Zee. Was that dumb? She didn’t want to say love. What would the others think if she told them she was in love with a guy she’d known for twenty-four hours? They’d laugh and tell her it was just horniness—well, Lilah would say that anyway.

But her heart said it was more than just a temporary bodily desire. Hell, any physical cravings she would’ve had were satisfied after her multiple orgasm night, and her heart still ached with him being gone.

This was almost identical to what happened with her cousins in the Crystal Kingdom. Chelsea went for a run and a couple days later, she was mated. When she asked her cousin if she was out of her mind for mating a guy she just met, she was told that was how things were. That’s how mates worked.

Zee said she was his mate. And last night she believed it whole-heartedly. But if that was the case, how could he leave her now?

But if he showed his face here, they would kill him and possibly her and her two cousins. She couldn’t be so selfish that they all died because of her. That was just not happening. She’d live with a broken heart if it came to protecting her two besties.

She pulled her hair in frustration. Lilah and Daphne slept on the far side of the dome. She didn’t want to wake them so early, so she got to her feet and peeked through the ivy covering the door. Only seeing one person down by the garden, she stepped out and smacked into a moving wall of rock.

She eeped and fell backward. Haml grabbed her arm, letting her get her balance.

“I am sorry for frightening you,” he said.

She had a hand on her chest, her heart pounding. “No problem. You just scared the shit out of me.” She gave a little laugh.

Haml’s face scrunched, and he leaned to the side and looked at the ground behind her. “Do you need a change of clothing?”

Why would he ask that? Her clothes were “washed.” She looked over her shoulder to see what he was looking at, then she realized what she had said, he took literally.

She busted out in a laugh. “It’s just an earth saying. I didn’t really poop in my pants.”

I leaned back and smiled. “That’s good. Seems the magic doesn’t translate perfectly.”

“I guess not,” she replied, feeling kind of embarrassed in front of someone so manly. When he turned his head, she saw a line of blue on his neck. “What’s on your throat?” She gestured toward with her head. He quickly reached up and wiped his fingers over his skin, smearing the color.

“It’s just a little blood,” he said.

His words shocked her so much that she froze,