I SOMEHOW ENDED UP WITH A HAREM FULL OF BEAST MEN

The morning after we arrived, I woke without wondering who would try to kill us before breakfast. It was surprisingly nice. Suspicious, but nice.

Sunlight poured through the opening of the temporary room Aurin had given us, warming the thick furs beneath my body. Somewhere outside, children were already screaming. Happy screaming not frightened. There is a difference.

I opened one eye. Then the other.

Beside me, Soryn was gone.

That immediately made me suspicious. Lately he had become particularly unwilling to leave me alone for long. With our clutch due any day now, he hovered so closely that I sometimes wondered whether I would turn around one morning and find him attached to my back.

I woke with the familiar warmth low in my abdomen, the subtle presence of the clutch that had become constant over the past weeks. I rested my hand on the slight swell of my belly, barely noticeable beneath the fur robe. "Not much longer now," I murmured.

I dragged myself out of bed, wrapped one of the soft fur robes around my body, and went looking for my serpent.

I found him carrying half a tree.

I stopped in the doorway. "Soryn."

He did not even look guilty. Which somehow made it worse. The enormous bundle of thin branches, reeds, and broad leaves in his arms nearly hid his face. His long green tail dragged behind him as he disappeared through the doorway of the room Aurin had told us we could use for the babies.

I followed him into the room. "Soryn."

He turned, his green eyes immediately finding mine, softening as they always did when he looked at me. "Did I wake you? I tried to be quiet."

"You were quiet. I just missed you." I stepped closer, taking in the sight of the enormous nest he had built. "What is all this?"

He glanced at the bedding, then at me, a hint of color rising in his cheeks. "I want everything to be perfect. For you. For them." His hand came to rest gently on my waist, his thumb stroking the slight swell where his eggs grew. "I know it seems like too much. I just... I need to know you will both be safe and comfortable."

I smiled, reaching up to touch his face. "It is beautiful. But you do know the eggs will not hatch immediately after they are laid?"

"I know." He looked down, his ears flattening slightly with embarrassment. "I am being foolish."

"You are being loving." I pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Come back to bed. You can finish this later."

"I just want to move the barrier a little closer to the wall..."

"Soryn."

He looked at me, and whatever he saw in my expression made him pause. Then he nodded, his tail wrapping around my ankle. "Yes. Of course. Whatever you need." Then he added, "They will come soon."

"I know."

"What if something happens?"

There it was. I slid my arms around his waist. "Then we handle it."

His jaw tightened. "What if I cannot protect them?"

"You built them a fortress."

"I am serious."

"So am I."

He looked at me. I reached up and touched his cheek. "We are surrounded by our own. We have Ravin, Leon, Veylan, Caelion, Aureon, an entire Tiger Tribe, and apparently enough bedding to stop an avalanche. They are going to be fine."

His mouth twitched. "And me," I added.

His expression softened completely. "And you."

"Especially me."

"Especially you."

I kissed him.

---

Aurin had promised us a good place to stay. I had expected a house. Aurin apparently had a very different definition of good. He gave us an entire section of land.

When Aureon led me there later that morning, I actually stopped walking. "What?"

Aureon grinned. "Do you like it?"

"Your father gave us all of this?"

The property sat near the inner edge of the Tiger village, close enough to the central village that we were not isolated but far enough away that the children could run without knocking over someone’s property. A broad wooden home stood beneath several massive trees. It was not luxurious by modern standards. By Askalda standards, it was practically a mansion.

The main structure had several sleeping chambers, a large central gathering room, storage spaces, and a covered cooking area. Smaller connected rooms extended along one side, giving each of my mates space without separating the family completely. Behind the house ran a clear stream. Not deep enough to make me worry constantly about the cubs drowning, but deep enough that Caelion immediately looked interested. Beyond that was an enormous open field surrounded by trees.

I stared at it. Then at Aureon. "The children can use all of that?"

"Father specifically chose it because of them."

As if summoned by the word children, Atlas suddenly bolted past us screaming at the top of his lungs. "RACE!"

Jasper immediately gave chase, his shorter legs pumping furiously to keep up. Chase followed right behind him, and Ryder followed Chase, the four of them tearing across the open field in a chaotic sprint toward absolutely nothing. My three other cubs joined the madness despite clearly having no idea what they were racing toward or why, simply caught up in the infectious energy of the moment.

Leon ran behind all of them, his long strides eating up the distance as he tried to keep his offspring from killing themselves. "DO NOT GO NEAR THE STREAM!" he bellowed, his voice carrying across the field.

Not a single cub slowed down. Not a single one even glanced back.

Leon skidded to a halt at the edge of the field, his hands on his hips, his chest heaving. He turned and looked at me with an expression of pure exasperation, as if somehow this was my fault.

I shrugged, fighting back a smile. "They are yours."

His black eyes narrowed dangerously. "You say that every time they misbehave."

"Interesting pattern," I mused, tapping my chin thoughtfully.

"They learned it from you," he shot back, pointing an accusing finger in my direction.

I gasped, clutching my chest in mock offense. "Leon. How dare you. I am the picture of proper behavior."

He snorted, clearly not believing a word of it. He turned and walked away before I could properly defend my honor, already moving to intercept Jasper who had veered dangerously close to a patch of thorny bushes.

I watched him go, smiling despite myself. Our children were going to give that poor man gray fur before he turned thirty.

The cubs had already claimed the field. There were fallen logs to climb, smooth boulders, tall grass, trees with low branches. Aurin’s people had even built a broad sand and dirt training area where young Tiger children practiced shifting, wrestling, and learning how to control their claws. My children treated it like paradise.

Jasper immediately attempted to climb a tree. Atlas discovered a pile of sticks. Chase somehow found three Tiger cubs and declared them his friends within approximately four minutes. Ryder began following an older tiger girl around because she had a wooden sword. Levy sat in the grass smacking flowers with both paws. The younger cubs rolled around her like fuzzy potatoes.

I stood there watching them. Something inside my chest loosened. They had space. Real space. Not a cave. Not a temporary shelter. Not somewhere we had to abandon at the first sign of danger. A place where they could run, play, grow. For however long we remained here, they could simply be children.

Ravin came up behind me and wrapped an arm around my waist. "They like it."

"I like it."

"Then we stay."

I leaned against him. "For a while." His arm tightened. The words did not need explaining. Not permanently. The lion’s tribe is still our home, my first home.

My gaze moved automatically toward the surrounding houses. Beast folks passed along the nearby paths. Tiger men carried supplies. Females walked together with their young. Elders sat beneath shaded awnings. Normal. Peaceful. Friendly. And somewhere among them could be the person who had paid Stonehorn warriors to attack Eryx’s group.

I hated that I was starting to look at every stranger and wonder. Them? Her? Him? The elderly male smiling at my children? The young warrior carrying water? The woman who brought us fruit that morning? Someone knew. Someone had wanted the alliance supplies stolen. And if they were willing to hire Stonehorns to stop an alliance, what would they do now that Eryx had survived?

Ravin’s hand covered mine, his palm warm and calloused against my skin. His thumb traced slow circles as he studied my face with those knowing amber eyes. "You are doing it again," he said softly, his voice barely above a whisper.

"What?" I asked, though I already knew. I could feel the tension in my own shoulders, the way my gaze kept drifting to every passing stranger.

"Thinking." A faint smile touched his lips, but it did not reach his eyes. "Your brow furrows. Your jaw tightens. You look at every passing stranger like they might pull a blade."

"That is generally considered healthy," I replied, trying to keep my voice light. "In our situation."

"Not the way you do it." He squeezed my hand gently, his expression softening with concern. "Not when it steals your peace."

I sighed, the weight of it all pressing down on my shoulders. "I do not like not knowing who we are looking for," I admitted, my voice dropping to a whisper. "I hate walking past smiling faces and wondering which one of them paid for blood."

"Neither do I." His jaw tightened, the muscle jumping beneath his skin. "I hate it too."

"We have children here." My throat closed around the words, my free hand moving instinctively to my belly. "So many children. Innocent and trusting and loud enough to draw attention from half a league away."

"I know." He brought my hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to my knuckles. "I watch them too."

"Soryn’s babies, our new babies could come any day." I placed my hand over the slight swell where his eggs rested. "What if they come while we are still blind? What if whoever is watching decides to strike when I am vulnerable?"

"I know." His voice thickened, rough with emotion. "We are taking appropriate measure, but you can’t keep thinking negative, Krys."

"Veylan is still injured." I ignored Ravin, I glanced toward where he sat beneath the tree, pretending not to watch us, his bandaged side pressed against the trunk. "He can barely walk without pain. If something happens, if we are attacked..."

"I know." Ravin’s grip tightened almost imperceptibly. "I have counted every weakness. Every risk. Every shadow that moves wrong." Ravin turned me toward him, his hands moving to cup my face, forcing me to meet his gaze. His eyes burned with fierce intensity, with absolute certainty. "But they do not know us either," he said, his voice low and steady as stone. "Just like we don’t know them, they don’t know us." he said. "My bondbrothers and I aren’t idiots Krys. We will make sure no harm comes to you and our children."

A faint smile touched my lips, my confidence returning. "Thank you."

"We should still make a watch schedule," Soryn said, sliding up beside us with his tail curling around my ankle.

"Already done," Ravin replied, his voice casual, as if organizing guard rotations before dawn was perfectly normal.

I stared at him, one eyebrow raised. "You arranged a watch schedule without consulting anyone?"

Ravin’s smiled, "My bondbrothers and I arranged it before sunrise."

"Of course you did." I shook my head, equal parts exasperated and grateful. "What about Veylan?" I asked, glancing toward where he sat beneath the distant tree. "He is injured. He should be resting, not standing watch."

"That is what we told him," Soryn sighed, his scales rippling with remembered frustration. "We suggested he stay out of it, recover properly."

"And?" I prompted, already suspecting the answer. I could imagine Veylan’s reaction all too clearly.

Ravin’s expression remained carefully neutral, though his eyes sparkled with barely contained mirth. "He threatened to bite Leon."

"Sounds like Veylan." I laughed despite myself, the image of my fierce wolf baring his teeth at Leon’s reasonable suggestion almost too vivid.

"He is taking second watch," Ravin announced, as if this were a perfectly reasonable compromise.

"Ravin." I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose. "He can barely walk. How is he supposed to stand watch?"

"Try telling him no," Ravin said, spreading his hands helplessly. Then he gave me a mock horror face, his eyes wide and his mouth open in exaggerated fear. "I value my fingers too much."

I looked across the field. Veylan was sitting beneath a tree with his bandaged side supported against the trunk, his face pale but determined even from this distance. A knife rested beside his hand, within easy reach, a silent promise that he remained dangerous despite his wounds. Even injured, even exhausted, he refused to be sidelined, refused to be less than what he saw as his duty.

I sighed, accepting the inevitable. There would be no arguing with him, no convincing him to rest when he felt responsible for our safety. "Second watch," I conceded.

"That was our conclusion." Ravin’s hand found mine again, our fingers intertwining with comfortable familiarity. His thumb stroked my knuckles once, a small gesture of reassurance. "We protect our own," he said simply.

"Always." Soryn said as his hand wrapped around my waist.