by Stacy Jones
Tribe Protector (Chosen Series Book Three) by Stacy Jones
Edited by H.R. Hooks
Cover by Christian Bentulan
Artwork by Christof Grobelski
Formatted by Lyn Forester
Copyright 2018 © Stacy Jones
All rights reserved.
This book is protected under Copyright Laws. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, please contact the author.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this story are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual events, business establishments, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
This book is dedicated to my mum.
Thank you for all the support you’ve given me, all the words of encouragement when the stress got real and I was doubting my abilities. Thank you for taking care of my heathen and for always being there when I need you.
You’re amazing, and I love you.
Acknowledgments
As always, a massive, heartfelt thank you to my readers. I know I’ve said this before, but it bears being said again: without you I wouldn’t be able to follow this dream so, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Y’all are amazing and I hope you continue to read and love the stories I write.
To my alpha and beta readers: Y’all are the unsung heroes of bookworld and I appreciate you more than I can say. I value each and every one of you so damn much and I hope you stay on this crazy bandwagon of mine ;)
To my editor, Knower of Rules: You, lady, are a badass. Never forget that. I love you to tiny little pieces. I hope you let me keep you captive for the next one hundred books.
Contents
Frrar
Tor
Arruk
Drrak
Family Picture
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Epilogue
GLOSSARY
LANGUAGE GLOSSARY
Also by Stacy Jones
About the Author
Frrar
Tor
Arruk
Drrak
Family Picture
(From left: Trrak, Drrak, Tor, Lily, Frrar, Arruk)
F rrar woke before the sun, while the forest was still enveloped in the chilly embrace of night. He lay still so as not to disturb his Pasha or harem brothers, but his heart was beating too fast in his chest, anxiety making his tail stiff where it lay behind him.
He stared at Lily’s relaxed, peaceful face as she slept, thankful his sight in the dark was so sharp, because it allowed him to see her beautiful features clearly. Frrar tried to focus on her soft, down-less skin as he stroked his thumb rhythmically over her cheekbone or the way her small body rose and fell atop Arruk with the male’s deep breaths. But he couldn’t stop the worries from crowding into his mind.
He needed to plan out his actions so he could keep his mate and brothers safe, but how could he do that when no one had any idea what had been invading the forest or stolen Skaa, the missing Pasha?
He did not know what the danger looked like and did not know how to defend against it. He might as well be slashing at shadows for all the good he was to his Lily.
Perhaps the Goddess had been trying to warn him of this new, unknown threat back at the cave, and that was why he’d had that inescapable feeling of dread. He should have listened to his instincts and kept her away from the tribe. If anything happened to his Lily, his life, it would be his fault for not listening to the Goddess’s omen.
He would not survive the pain if he lost her.
He resolved to talk to the Tribe Mother as soon as the sun rose, to see if she knew anything further, anything she hadn’t wanted to tell the tribe as a whole at The Circle. They’d spent the past several days finishing their new hut or he would have confronted Akksha sooner, but he knew how much having a home meant to his Lily, even if it might only be their home for a short time.
Now that their hut was finished, he felt restlessness creeping in. He needed to know everything was prepared. Depending on what he learned, they might have to move either closer to or farther away from the tribe to be safe. He just hoped it would only be for a short time and that he could bring his Pasha back to the hut she seemed to love so much.
It felt like his heart was being torn in two as he lay there listening to the rising noise of the forest as the animals began singing to greet the sun. He did not want to leave his people—he wanted to fight for them, with them, but that would put his Lily in danger, and that was something he absolutely could not allow. He knew he would never forgive himself if something happened to the tribe because he had taken three of their capable males, but he would cease to exist if his mate was killed because he put the tribe’s needs before hers.
He must persuade Akksha to share her knowledge. He needed to know if he must hasten his gathering of suitable males for Lily. Even without this threat looming over them, she needed more protection than what he, Tor, and Arruk could provide.
He would not make the same mistake his three fathers had, nor would he allow Lily to make the same mistake as his Mother.
His gaze moved from her to Arruk. He winced in guilt at what he was thinking of doing, knowing it would hurt Arruk most of all. If Drrak, Arruk’s twin, took more time than they had available to gather his courage and show Lily his interest, Frrar would be forced to bring her other males, males not burdened with Drrak’s hesitation.
His heart hurt at the thought that she might not Choose the scarred male, but he had to do what was right for her, despite his heartache.
He recalled their interactions, the way Lily and Drrak looked at each other, their mutual attraction and uncertainty showing in their gazes. He truly believed they were a good match and knew Drrak would fit perfectly within their harem.
Remembering Lily’s reaction to him the other night, Frrar suddenly thought that perhaps they only needed more time together, just the two of them, a nudge to make them see each other. He decided he would arrange it that day. He would give them as much time as possible.
If, while visiting the tribe, other males approached him to inquire about Lily, he would not turn them away, but he would not go searching for suitable males… yet.
Lily yawned and blinked open her eyes, awakened by Frrar’s soft stroking of her cheek. Stretching atop Arruk’s massive, muscled body, she enjoyed
the feel of his velvety skin against her nakedness.
The sound of alien birdsong was muted and the light was dim inside their new tree house, filtered through the leaf walls the guys had so ingeniously constructed. It gave her a sense of privacy and security, as if they were in their own little world, untouchable by the uncertainties outside.
She was especially thankful for the barrier between them and the forest beyond when she recalled just how loud she’d been the last few nights. Aside from her screeching, she was sure their creative positions would’ve either shocked the stripes off their people or prompted them to banish her from tribe lands.
Ha! And I thought the guys were the pervs of their people when I met them. Oh, how the tables have turned! Apparently I’m the pervy one.
The guys had come a long way from only wanting her on top when they had sex and she loved it, but she knew their people wouldn’t be nearly as pleased with what she saw as progress, considering how dominant females are supposed to be in their society. She wouldn’t be at all surprised if they tried to ‘rescue’ her guys from her corruptive influence if they ever found out.
As soon as the thought entered her mind, a feeling of cold washed over her. Lily realized, with dawning alarm, that scenario was an actual possibility.
She’d seen the distrustful way they looked at her, and after hearing about the missing woman and the mysterious people invading the forest, she didn’t think it would take much for them to see her, an outsider, as a danger. Not necessarily a physical danger, unless they thought she could spit venom or something, but a danger to their society and way of life .
Everyone was on edge. She’d felt the tension the few times she and the guys had ventured away from their new home over the last few days.
Lily knew how humans reacted when scared or when they felt cornered. Their first instinct was almost always to destroy the threat, any threat, whether it was actually the one they were scared of or not. Once panicked, humans could be driven to violence with alarming ease.
She hoped like hell that wasn’t true of these people, but she had no way of knowing for sure… until it was too late. She’d just have to do whatever was necessary to prevent the possibility from happening.
Her show of assertiveness had worked with Akksha the other night, but she would have to be extremely careful going forward. She needed to constantly balance presenting a dominant front that matched their idea of what was expected of women while also not appearing threatening.
The tribe absolutely could not find out how different the guys had become since being with her. From what they had told her of their society, and what she’d witnessed for herself, that would be a quick way to set them off.
Lily couldn’t even blame them for their strict balance of power. The males outnumbered females at least a dozen to one, if not more, and their people didn’t have the sexual dimorphism predominant in humans; males and females were basically the same size here, with the females being only slightly larger and more muscular. It made sense they would need a distinct distribution of power, if for no other reason than to prevent accidents from happening.
She couldn’t be sure whether it was nurture or nature that made the males more submissive but thought it was nurture after seeing her guys become comfortable. Frrar, in particular, had very quickly revealed he had dominant personality traits once he realized she wasn’t going to become angry with him for showing his true nature.
Their society clearly worked as it was. She wasn’t about to change her relationship with her guys, but she also didn’t want to be the reason for disrupting their peoples’ way of life .
The thought of being the cause of some kind of revolt made her heart pound in her chest and turned her throat dry. She tried pushing her worries to the back of her mind as much as she could and glanced at Frrar lying next to her to distract herself.
In the filtered sunlight she could see his eyes were distant and the skin over his brow bone was furrowed.
Seems I’m not the only one worrying.
Lily sighed sadly, not the least bit surprised to find he was stressing as well, but she wished she could take his burdens. She’d happily worry for the both of them if she thought that would actually work. She knew it wouldn’t. Two of the things she loved most about Frrar was how much he cared and his mile-wide protective instinct. It was his nature to focus on a problem, to pick it apart until he had every possibility accounted for and thought he could effectively protect them from anything this dangerous planet dished out.
Turning her face into his hand on her cheek, she kissed his palm then reached out and brushed her fingertips along his brow, smoothing the pinched skin there. At her touch, he lifted his gaze to focus on her. His midnight blue eyes were dark with whatever thoughts were weighing on him. For just a second, she thought she saw uncertainty and guilt flicker through their depths.
She frowned questioningly, unsure if she had read him correctly.
Why would he look guilty?
“Mek Lily… ” he began, his voice a deep but quiet rumble as he searched her face before he cut himself off.
His eyes darted to Arruk, still sleeping under her, before focusing somewhere over her shoulder.
“Hey, whatever it is, we’ll face it together, okay?” she whispered reassuringly, hooking her fingers under his chin to guide his eyes back to hers.
A breath rushed from his grey lips, and the frown on his face melted away, a gentle smile taking its place. She returned it before stretching over to kiss him.
Before either of them got lost in it, she heard Arruk grumble under her. Arruk’s arms tightened around her middle, and he twisted them away from Frrar, taking her with him as he rolled to the side. She heard Frrar huff while Arruk tucked her body into his chest, curling his big frame around her, blocking the weak light filtering through the walls until she was cocooned in warm darkness.
“Were we talking too loud for you, Teddy Bear?” she questioned, giggling at Arruk’s muttered growl about rising with the sun and lost senses.
Frrar spoke from behind Arruk, saying in broken English, “I speak Tribe Mother. Need see what she see.”
Lily’s eyes flew open, and she wiggled within Arruk’s embrace. Popping her head up between his two right arms, she looked at Frrar where he was sitting on the nest, gazing off in the direction of the tribe.
“You think she knows more than what she told us?” she asked sharply.
The suspicions she’d had during the meeting that Akksha had been hiding things, or trying to get rid of the human before making plans, came back full force. Lily squirmed, trying to sit up so she could question Frrar further, but was hampered by the weight of Arruk’s limbs as he tried to keep her from leaving his hold.
She chuckled and kept wiggling until Arruk finally growled and flopped over onto his back, probably realizing he wasn’t going to get anymore sleep, his four arms splayed wide in a clear show of resignation as he glared at the sun.
Pressing a commiserating kiss to his downturned lips, she crawled over his big body, wincing and apologizing at Tor’s yelp behind her when she accidentally kneeled on his tail.
Reaching back after she’d landed on the other side of the nest, she picked up Tor’s injured appendage, stretched it over Arruk’s stomach and held it in her lap as she settled cross-legged in front of Frrar, petting it in apology.
“Should we come with you to talk to her?”
“Mmm, na, mek Lily. Akksha… uknaa tuuk arri tul shh ,” he replied, his voice gentle.
“I know she doesn’t trust me. I don’t trust her either,” she muttered.
Sighing, she gave Frrar a concerned look. She did not like the thought of him confronting the leader alone. The woman’s big-ass teeth and aggressive demeanor was not something she wanted Frrar facing by himself, without her, Tor, or Arruk at his back. But she trusted his judgment, and if he thought he’d have better success alone, she wouldn’t fight him on it.
“As long as you think it’s safe for you
, I’ll stay here,” she conceded but grimaced to show him how little she liked the idea.
He purred quietly as he leaned down to kiss her forehead, communicating without words how pleased he was with her show of trust in him.
“All sehr , mek shaar ,” he whispered against her skin, telling her in their verbal shorthand that he would be careful.
She heard rustling and a pained grunt behind her. Turning, she saw Tor climbing over Arruk’s sprawled form, kneeing him in the stomach in the process. Lily could have sworn she saw an amused smirk cross Tor’s face before he closed the space between them and settled behind her.
Tor yawned loudly and stretched his legs out on either side of hers, pushing Frrar out of his way when Frrar’s position in front of her blocked his stretching efforts, then slumped against her back. Lily grunted at his weight and would have doubled over if he hadn’t wrapped his arms around her middle, keeping her upright and catching her before she was folded in half.
Lily laced her fingers with Tor’s against her stomach and snickered when she saw both Frrar and Arruk glare at him, amused at how much they reminded her of siblings, though she knew they weren’t related.
A rruk finally pushed himself upright, grabbed a food pouch, and joined Frrar in front of her, picking up Tor’s leg and moving it out of his way as he sat. They ate a quiet breakfast, either still waking up or lost in their own thoughts.
Lily didn’t give much thought to being completely nude while eating until Tor, still sitting behind her, dripped juice on her shoulder, and casually leaned over to lick up the trail of liquid snaking its way down her arm before nonchalantly going back to his melon. Scrunching her nose up, Lily was caught between the urge to laugh and wanting to teach him table manners .
Naked at breakfast. Grams would have laughed her ass off right before popping me with that damn wooden spoon and telling me to cover my ‘bits and bobs.’
Quickly finishing the last berry in her pile, she moved to her hands and knees and began crawling over to where the guys had piled her clothes the night before. Halfway across the nest, she sensed movement behind her. Whipping a look over her shoulder, she caught Tor with his tail stretched out, the tip about six inches from making contact with her backside.