Page 45 of Bred By Sor'en

We both sit with that for a while.

Until his attention falls to theempty,energy-filled space in the field again, and I feel so uncomfortable that I’m forced to speak to ease the sensation. “I had a purpose once, and I failed. I think I’m failing again.”

I clear my throat, standing abruptly from the grass, brushing off my nightdress. The sheer fabric silky underneath my cool palms. “I’d better get back to—"

“Perhaps you have not failed as you think, Human 74-B.”

My head snaps toward him, my chest stilling, trapping air within my lungs until it bursts out incredulously. “How do you know that name?”

He shrugs, groaning again as he gets to his feet. My mind is so fucked I don’t even offer to help him up, not that he’d appreciate that anyway. “Close to the veil, there are always whispers.”

“You’re creepy, stop that.”

He smirks. “No, and I am alsoright.”

I open my mouth to offer a witty remark to hide the way my hands are shaking, the way I keep staring at that empty spot in the field, and I don’t know why, when I’m suddenly jerked off my feet with a ragged gasp, I half choke on it.

My mate snarls as he heaves me over his shoulder. I curse at him, struggling to get out of his arms when Jin’rayal’s voice finds me over Sor’en’s displeasure, snarling in a way I’ve never heard before. Cold and viscous. “Just who I was waiting for, youngbotanist.”

“You are a long way from your home, Jin’rayal,” Sor’en warns.

“And you have brought more upon us than your mate,” the elderly man snarls.

My eyes widen as he straightens, gathering something deep within him, standing taller than even Sor’en as he gathers himself to his full height. I can see how much it costs for him to do it, something about that strikes a chord of concern deepdown somewhere I don’t focus on. Not if I want to retain any semblance of sanity.

I finally wiggle free from my mate, making him growl at me. I ignore him, dropping to my feet with a thud that jars my ankles. Scratching my belly after I right myself.

“You have no idea what I’ve done,” Sor’en bites out, his white eyes incensed. “Leave my mate out of your—"

“Spare me, you unbalanced fool. Your mate is the best thing you’ve done for ages.”

Indignation for Sor’en fills my chest as I whirl to glare at Jin’rayal.

But the male isn’t done. “What would the Bella’mar say if he knew you did not get your human from a pod? That you are something of astar childyourself?”

Sor’en steps closer to the male, his fingers lengthening into claws. His dark form begging to be unleashed. My pulse quickens in equal parts anticipation and worry. “You cannot begin to realize the gravity of what you speak. Stay your fucking tongue.”

Before I can think better of it, my heart slamming around my chest like a battering ram I wedge myself between them. “Stop! Both of you!”

Another ripple, larger this time, hits the dome.

“They are not poachers, are they, botanist?”

I turn toward the older male. “Enough!”

But once both males calm a fraction, my eyes are on my mate.

He refuses to meet them.

That dark, sick feeling uncoils in my gut.

A worn, leathery hand pats mine softly before gripping it, turning my attention back to Jin’rayal. “You are brave, star child. You are capable of goodbye.”

Sor’en snarls, jerking me away from the other male, making my head light as he phases back to the house. I’m still catchingup when he plants me on my feet, checking me over like a madman as he sniffs my palm.

I frown as he checks for hints of Jin’rayal’s oil like a madman.

That does it.