Rygael’s Reward

Vince, the only other person hanging around in the gathering room of the building they referred to as headquarters, was Burke’s next in command when Logan wasn’t around. He was perched on the end of the long rectangular table stretched across the middle of the floor, listening to our conversation while eating one of the pytiennas I’d brought for them. He was also doing his best not to smirk between bites.

Apparently, my plan to use the sweetened flat cakes made from plants to bribe them wasn’t working, which irritated me even more.

“Can’t you at least go out there and talk to him?” It had been several weeks since Rygael had stubbornly refused to accept my offer of a room and insisted he return to his cave in the rocky perimeter bordering a portion of the settlement. He hadn’t given me an explanation, leaving me with the impression I might have done or said something to upset him. The few times I’d asked Rygael questions about himself, he seemed uncomfortable. What little he did share wasn’t much. I’d assumed it might be part of the reason he never associated with anyone in town, that his need for solitude stemmed from being different than others of his kind.

When shades of green, orange, and yellow were the standard colors for the scales covering the chest and tails of the planet’s predominant race, being an albino had to be difficult. Personally, I found his silvery-white hair, and the pearlescent scales covering his chest and portions of his arms, quite attractive. His eyes, an unusual shade of pink, were even more appealing, especially when it seemed that I was the focus of his perusal.

Until recently, no one was aware of his existence. Not until he’d risked his life to rescue Melissa, one of the children in my care, from being abducted.

“Harper, I know you mean well, but I need to respect Khyron’s orders.” Burke scratched the dark brown stubble on his chin, and I knew he was struggling with a way to appease my request. “You know I can’t force Rygael to move into town.”

I wasn’t happy with Khyron either. No matter how many times I urged him to persuade Rygael to relocate into town, he refused my requests. I would have thought the drezdarr, the leader of the ketaurran race, would want what was best for all his people. And as far as I was concerned, living in a rocky hole shouldn’t be allowed on the list.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the connection I’d felt to Rygael the moment Garyck, one of Khyron’s bodyguards, also known as a vryndarr, had helped him into my spare bedroom after he’d been injured.

Ketaurrans, at least what I knew of the males, possessed an enhanced sense of smell and could scent their true mates. There’d been a few times I’d seen Rygael sniffing me when he thought I wasn’t looking, and I wondered if he thought I might be his ketiorra. It wasn’t as if I was looking for a male or needed one in my life. I’d done fine without one for quite some time now. At least that’s what I told myself until I’d met Rygael.

Of course, any notions I’d had about the possibility of a different future disintegrated the minute he told me he was leaving and returning to his cave. No amount of arguing on my part could convince him to stay, not after Nayea, the ketaurran female who was the town’s doctor had informed him that his wound was healing nicely, and he no longer had to spend his days resting.

“Who said anything about forcing? I would like you to politely insist he move into the settlement for his own safety.” In this case, my interest, or so I tried to convince myself, was purely because he happened to be good with the children, the ones who’d lost their parents, and I’d taken into my home.

Realizing I wasn’t his ketiorra hadn’t stopped me from worrying about him living in isolation. I cared about what happened to him, even missed having him around. Ben, Gabe, Melissa, and even little Draejill, had grown attached to him. They hadn’t been any happier about his departure than I had.

His visits with the children when they were playing in the woods behind our home was the only thing that made the transition a little easier for them. For me, not so much. I firmly believed that if he stayed at my place, I’d sleep better at night knowing the children were protected, and he wasn’t out there all alone.

I still had nightmares every time I thought about Travis, the low-life human male who’d planned to sell Melissa into slavery. He’d made the mistake of coming to my place first, telling me he had a home for Draejill, a three-year-old half-human, half-ketaurran child, I’d also adopted. Things turned ugly when I refused to let him have the sweet little boy.

Luckily, Celeste had picked that moment to visit and ran him off. She was one of my closest friends, worked for Burke, and happened to be Khyron’s mate. She was highly skilled with a blade and afterward had given me one of her daggers to keep in my boot.

To make matters worse, Travis had also pretended to be a trader to help a group of luzardee mercenaries sneak into the settlement. The luzardees were another species who lived on the planet. They were humanoidish but reminded me of two-legged lizards with flat faces and nostrils similar to a snake’s. They had bald heads, black beady eyes, and though I’d never witnessed it myself, shed their skin at least once a year.

Over time, Khyron and the vryndarr had made quite a few enemies. The luzardees had come here hoping to collect on the bounties posted for the males.

Travis had driven his solarveyor to the backside of the mountain ridge and found a passageway through the perimeter. While the luzardees had gone after Khyron and his friends, Travis had tried to take Melissa. He was in the process of dragging her back to his vehicle when Rygael found them and put an end to his life.

The time Rygael spent in my home recovering was the first time in what seemed like forever that I’d felt safe. I wasn’t a warrior, not like my friends; Laria, Celeste, and Sloane. I didn’t have any fighting skills, and my only knife-wielding abilities were performed in a kitchen. What I lacked in skills, I made up for in determination. And in this particular situation, I was committed to getting my way.

“I don’t care if he stays in the extra room at my place, or here.” Not only was the large wooden building used as a command center, but it also had two levels. The upper floor consisted of sleeping quarters used by Burke and some of his team. A few were left empty for the vryndarr to use when they stayed in town. The lower level was used for gatherings, meetings, and eating. It included a kitchen and a decent-sized training area.

“As long as he’s not living out there.” I huffed out an exasperated sigh and pointed in the general direction of Rygael’s current home. “No male should have to live alone, especially not in a cave.” I’d never been inside his home but didn’t think being surrounded by rock walls would be very pleasant.

Burke skimmed his hand along the side of his head. “Yeah, but it’s his choice, and we have to respect it.”

“Harper, Burke’s right, we can’t go against Khyron’s orders.” Vince held another pytienna inches from his mouth as he spoke. “If you want him to stay at your place, maybe you should go ask him yourself.”

I rolled my eyes. “Gee, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.”

My response might have caused Vince to flinch, but it didn’t have the same effect a single look from Burke did. The male was a good leader and quite proficient at non-verbal communication. The steely-eyed glare he shot at Vince, a warning not to say another word, had him cringing even more.

Footsteps on the platform-type porch outside the building alerted me to a new arrival. I turned as the door opened, and Wyatt walked inside. The male was in his late forties, and with the help of his teenage son Carter, coordinated the daily trader’s market. Silver streaked the sideburns of the short, dark hair combed back from his rounded face. Normally, he wore an easy-going smile, but today concern furrowed his thick brows.