He took a step closer and was thankful she didn’t shy away.
“You should lie back down and give yourself time to heal. That is all we want. To have you whole again.”
She took a step back when he moved forward this time. “We have no intentions of hurting you.”
“We only want to take care of you.” Genet stepped beside Erak, his voice coaxing and gentle. Genet had always been the calmest out of the three of them, whereas Raimi was the outgoing and playful one.
Erak had been called many things: ruthless, commanding, domineering. Never had he been gentle, not like his brothers. The longer he was in Luna’s presence, the more he wanted to give her everything he had.
He held his hands out further and took one more step closer. They were only separated a body length apart, and the saccharine scent of her fear filled his lungs as he inhaled deeply.
“You have nothing to fear. We will not harm you.” He told her again, hoping that if she heard it enough times maybe she would understand they spoke the truth. But Erak didn’t blame her for the wariness she felt.
She was from that fucking, rotten planet, and who knew the horrors she had seen daily? He tried once more to soften his voice, to not speak roughly. Just the fact his mate was right in front of him had the primal part of him rising and wanting to go to her.
He felt guilt for his physical reaction to her, that his dick was harder than the steel that surrounded them. Because the state she was in should have had the fucker inverting. “You remember what we are called?”
Her brows knitted again, and he realized asking her too many questions right now would be draining for her. “I am Erak.” He heard her heart beat faster but not from being frightened but because she remembered.
Pleasure over that filled him.
“Yes, I remember.” Her voice was nothing more than a whisper. “And you are Genet and you Raimi.” His brothers both shifted, and he sensed their pleasure, as well.
Their mate knew them, called them by their names, and that was one fucking heady sensation.
“What...” She licked her lips. “What do you plan on doing with me? I won’t be sold. I’ll fight until death before that ever happens.”
“Fallina, I told you that is not our intent.”
Her strength and resolve were commendable, but it didn’t stop the possessive side of him from shifting violently inside of him. Just the thought of someone thinking they had the right to sell her, of another male touching her and being with her, had an animal instinct inside him needing to kill something.
Thinking of another male who wasn’t one of his brothers just being in her presence had him curling his hands into fists. He breathed out forcefully.
“You are not being sold.” His words were too rough because she flinched. Taking a deep breath, he spoke again, softer this time. “I just mean we would let no one harm you.”
“Why? I am a stowaway on your ship. A thief.” Tears started to gather in the corners of her wide eyes and he cursed.
He was in uncharted waters here, and he didn’t know how to proceed and not make things worse.
“You’re ours, Luna, but not in the way you’re thinking. We don’t want a slave, do not want a robotic female to do what we say.”
Genet put his hand on his shoulder, urging him to stop without words. Erak should have given her time to recoup, but her fear of them had something inside of him snapping, and all he could think about was making the declaration that she was their mate.
“Brother, you’re pushing too fast. Give her time.”
Raimi’s voice didn’t pierce the determination inside of Erak. He shrugged off Genet’s hand and took another step forward. She still had the wide-eyed look on her face.
“Do you understand what I’m saying, Luna?” She didn’t respond, just stood there with the sound of her little heart beating a frantic tattoo and filling the small space. “You’re our mate, all three of us, and the only thing we want to do is protect you, cherish you, and make sure you are always protected.”
He took yet another step and another, until he was only a foot from her. The wall was right behind her, so even if she wanted to escape, she couldn’t. But strangely enough, there was only a deep rooted confusion over the situation.
“This is fast, and I know very hard to accept and understand, but even being a human, you know when a male of any species finds his mate there is nothing that will make him leave her side.” They breathed the same air, shared the same body heat, and stared into each other’s eyes.
Genet’s and Raimi’s presences were fierce behind him, and their worry that he pushed her too fast and hard beat at his back, but they didn’t stop him.
They may be physically matched in height and strength, but they lacked the ruthlessness that consumed Erak.
“Tell me you understand what I am saying,Fallina. Even though it is hard to accept, tell me you understand that from this point on the three of us will never allow anyone to harm you, and if they do, blood will bathe our bodies as we destroy them.”