“There has been a noticeable decrease in the number of saints born as the centuries pass,” Roharu says, sitting cross-legged on the floor of the hut. He taps his cws on his knees. “Are you certain that there is one in the capital?” His other hand idly rubs circles into my back, as if he needs to reassure himself that I am still here. That I am fine.

  Not that I mind. I like it when he touches me. Love how he is always reaching for me. I stifle a yawn behind my hand.

  Blessing the fields took a lot of me. More than praying for the salvation of those poor women or taking out those goblins. Whatever curse or ailment affecting the nd here is strong. Too strong. I lean against Roharu and try to pay attention to what he and Bazur are talking about. Chloe and Katsuro opted to help skin the fish and help prepare the food for a vilge feast ter today. Whatever disease that was affecting this nd would have spread to the water as well.

  “No, I am not,” Bazur replies, rubbing his forehead. “The few times I have traveled to the capital, I used what little we had to buy more food. Getting an audience with the saintess is out of the question. No one is allowed to enter the sanctuary anymore. Prayer is done outside of the temple... unless you have more to donate.” He gnces away and stares at the wall. The hut is pretty small, considering he must be the leader of this pce. In the middle, the floor is lower to make space for the fire pit. Off to the side, far away from the door, is bedding.

  There are no decorations. Not unless we count the mp off to the side, which is worn down and looks as fragile as everyone else around here. There isn’t even a rug or something of sentimental value. Just a worn bed on the floor and one window.

  Maybe we should find somewhere else to stay the night. If things are this bad for the vilge leader, then there is no way they have any other housing for us to stay in. Roughing it in the wild would be better than to take what these people don’t have to give.

  “We downsized and sold off most of our things for food,” Bazur says, pulling me from my thoughts. His yellow eyes darken. “Perhaps it would have been smarter to move to the capital and try to make it there, but...” he trails off. “We are a stubborn bunch. Too much sentimental value of this pce.”

  Roharu shifts. “You did what you felt was best for those under your care.” He leans back against the wall and rubs his shoulder. “What will you tell them if they come asking?”

  I squint. Is he being nice?

  “We thank them for their prayers,” Bazur says. “Being hostile outright will do us no favors. We are weak.” He holds out his hand and flexes it. “The morale is stronger now, thanks to you.” He dips his head at me and smiles.

  Roharu’s body vibrates.

  Bazur’s smile drops as quickly as it appeared. He coughs and looks down at the floor.

  “Really?” On second thought, no, Roharu is not being nice.

  “I am reluctant to travel any further,” Roharu says instead.

  “Huh? Even if you want me to stay here, we still need to know why human women are being pulled from different worlds.” Seriously, what is with him? He’s never given off the vibe of wanting to settle down somewhere. Why this pce? It’s worse off than the st vilge we stayed in and it is closer to the capital. Maybe if I study his side profile long enough, he’ll slip up and give me a hint of what he is thinking.

  “Different worlds?”

  Shit. Me and my big mouth.

  Roharu’s face is bnk. “The capital is no longer allowing you its citizens to pray inside of the temple and they now refuse to send out their saintess when there is need. I do not believe traveling to the capital would be in our best interest, considering the abilities you have shown thus far. I do not trust them.” His tail wraps around me. “Perhaps they are panicking because there is no saintess in the capital.”

  “There’s more than one?” My brows pull together. If a saintess is super important to this world, wouldn’t there only be one? Like a chosen one or something. That kind of thing that is super popur in the movies?

  “Naturally,” he replies. “Why would there only be one? The capital tends to have the strongest one, but there has always been more than one. There are other cities like the capital around, but that is because they were blessed to have a saintess in their midst.”

  Oh. I wrinkle my nose. So, these powers of mine aren’t that special. That stings. Roharu’s tail strokes my stomach and then gives me a squeeze.

  Bazur stands and wipes his palms on his pants. “You may rest in my hut. I am sure I can procure more bedding.”

  “Oh no, that’s okay. We don’t want to kick you out of your home.” I hold my hands out in front of me.

  “You saved this vilge. We are indebted to you.” Bazur frowns. “I am ashamed this is the best we can do.” He pounds his chest with his fist. “You have my word that none will speak of what transpired on this day. Please rest here and stay as long as you would like. Whatever we have is yours.”

  Roharu cracks his neck and then stands as well. He holds out a hand. “We will take a look around.”

  We will?

  I gnce at Apollo, but he’s already by the door fp and ready to go. Okay, guess we’re looking around this pce. We head out after Bazur.

  “So, what’s the pn?” I ask after a moment.

  “I do not hate it here.”

  “... You don’t hate it here? You want to stay here?”

  He shrugs. “Depends on your answer.” He scans my face. His purple eyes lighten under the light. “Will you stay with me?”

  I swallow. He’s serious about this? “What of your mate?” Mentally I kick myself. Never thought I’d be in this situation. “As fun as this has been, I’m not trying to stick around until you find your mate and then you discard me.”

  He ughs.

  Fucking ughs.

  “Hey!”

  “Apologies. I am not ughing at you.” He says that, but a chuckle slips past his lips. “You did so well st night when I quizzed you.” He lets my hand go and instead wraps his arm around my waist.

  “Would it kill you to take this seriously? I’m no one’s mistress.”

  Roharu pushes me back against the wall of the hut. His body is hard. Unrelenting. He pnts his hands near my head, caging me in, and leans his head down. “I would not ask if I was not serious.” He runs his hand down the column of my neck. “I know I am asking a lot of you. To give up your world.” He pauses and then exhales. “I understand if you are reluctant to give up on your revenge.”

  “Revenge?”

  “Your family. You said they were dead.”

  “I’m not looking for revenge. They are gone, but I’m not looking to avenge them. It’s not like they were taken from me. They gave me up.” And I mean, yeah, I know they are dead, but not like I’m losing sleep over it.

  His nostrils fre. “You were abandoned?”

  “More or less.” I grip his white shirt. How is it he is never cold? Truthfully, there isn’t much holding me to my world except that it is comfortable. There are no fox demons or man-eating pnts lurking around the corner. No beasts. No real danger unless you stay out too te like I did and get chased on the way home. “That doesn’t matter. I’m not sticking around until you find your mate.”

  He gnces down and then flicks his eyes up, meeting mine. “Surprise quiz?”

  “You just want to whip your cocks out,” I grumble. He is always looking for an excuse to do so. “I don’t want to read the name of your mate.” It was better when I could pretend the markings on his cocks were just tattoos. The lies I told myself are catching up and now that the truth is knocking at the door, I don’t want to answer. “Let me go. I’m tired and not in the mood.”

  Roharu looks over his shoulder and jerks his head at Apollo.

  “Roharu,” I warn.

  “Come on. We can stay in here for the night.” He moves away, but his grip on my wrist is tight. Not tight enough to hurt, but tight enough that I can’t jerk away if I want to. “Told you to take it easy earlier. You shouldn’t have overdone it.” He leads us back inside the hut and immediately pulls me into his p.

  “Okay. I wasn’t scared before, but now I am. What is with you?” All this because I don’t want to stay with him? My stomach churns. Staying with him is not an option. Even if I go back home to nothing to my name. I can’t stay here with him, knowing my happiness is only fleeting. “No, let me go. I’m serious. You can stay here if you want, but I’m not.”

  He rests his chin on my shoulder. “I thought you wanted to learn the nguage so you could read the markings for yourself.” Roharu pulls away and sighs. “Megan, you are my mate.”

  What?

  I turn around and grab his face. “I don’t like liars.”

  “Have I ever lied to you?”

  “Probably. You said not to trust you.”

  His lips curve into a smirk while his eyes twinkle with mischief. “No, you should not.” He runs his hand down my back, lightly scratching with his cws. “You can check for yourself if you do not believe me.” Roharu leans back against the wall. “It is a little frustrating how you do not have the same markings.”

  “... I’m human. We don’t have anything that screams, hey this is your soulmate,” I mutter as I eye his pants. “This better not be a ploy for me to touch your cocks.”

  He snorts. “I do not need to trick you into touching me.”

  My pussy clenches because, of course, it does. All this talk about cocks is getting to me. I undo his pants and bite my lip. He wouldn’t have agreed to teach me how to read the nguage here if he didn’t want me to know, right? As annoying as Roharu is, he isn’t stupid.

  “So why now?”

  “You’re stalling.”

  “So.”

  He rolls his eyes. “Because we are getting closer to the capital and the chances of you leaving have increased.” He spikes a hand through his hair and runs his fingers through the dark strands. “I had thought to court you in the hopes you would choose to stay here. With me.”

  “Courting? You mean like dating?” I grip him, but I keep my eyes ser focused on his face. My heart beats away in my chest like a drum.

  “Yes.” He lifts one shoulder and shrugs. “Apparently, there are some differences between our species.”

  “No kidding, you have two cocks,” I tease, trying to will my heart to chill the fuck out. It’s not working. “What happens if I say no?”

  His eyes darken. “Then I’ll follow you to your world if it comes to it.”

  Roharu in my world? I try to picture it, but I can’t. With how sensitive his nose and hearing are, he’d hate it for sure. I chuckle and shake my head.

  “I was not joking.”

  “I know. I know. Just...” I bite back the ugh. “Just imagined you trying to work an office job. You’d kill everyone there.” His cocks twitch in my palms. Right. Surprise quiz, but he already told me what the markings say. Scooting back so I can get a better view, I tell myself no matter what, it’s going to be fine.

  Roharu shifts and stretches his legs out. “Vixen, you are stalling.”

  “Because it feels like a trick,” I mutter. Okay, I’m a lot of things, but a scaredy cat is not one of them. “If this doesn’t say my name, I’m going to hurt you.”

  He hums and folds his arms behind his head. That’s nice. He’s completely rexed and I’m freaking out.

  “Lean closer.”

  I huff, but I press my face closer anyway. Just to make sure. Okay, that symbol is a, m, and that one I think is an, e...

  Roharu stares down at me. A fang pokes from his upper lip. “What do they say?”

  “Megan,” I whisper. “They say, Megan.”

  Ouch.

  I jerk back and grab my right thigh. What the hell? Roharu pushes my dress up and grabs a hold of my leg. He fshes a smile that is downright treacherous. Not sure if I trust that smirk of his.

  “And you said humans do not have mating marks.”

  AutumnBanks

  Thanks for reading! Sorry this chapter is a little te. Next chapter will be out on Sunday as usual.