Page 65 of Thexan

“I didn’t have time,” I said. “He was dying when he got here, and keeping him alive took priority over anything else.”

Tanner held my gaze for a moment longer, measuring that against everything he knew about me, then gave a short nod as if he accepted that part of it.

“Fine,” he said. “You stabilized him. That’s your job. But that doesn’t explain why he’s still here.”

“It does,” I said quietly. “You just don’t have the rest of it yet.”

His expression tightened slightly. “Then I suggest you give it to me.”

I drew in a slow breath, aware of Thexan behind me. The bond between us had settled into something I could no longer ignore even when I tried. It steadied me more than I expected, anchoring my thoughts in a way that made it easier to speak clearly instead of reacting.

“He wasn’t just injured,” I said. “He was being hunted.”

That got a reaction.

Not loud, not immediate, but enough that the people standing nearby shifted, the quiet tension sharpening into something more focused.

“By who?” Tanner asked.

“Others like him,” I said.

His gaze hardened. “That’s not reassuring.”

“I know,” I said. “It wasn’t meant to be.”

“And they followed him here?”

“They tried,” I said. “They’re not going to be a problem anymore.”

Tanner’s eyes narrowed slightly. “You’re telling me that whatever was hunting him just… stopped?”

“I’m telling you they’re gone,” I said. “Thexan dealt with them.”

That landed harder than anything else I’d said so far.

“You let him go out there?” Tanner asked, disbelief creeping into his voice now. “In that condition?”

“I didn’t let him do anything,” I said, holding his gaze. “He made that decision, and I made sure he was stable enough to survive it.”

“And now you expect me to be comfortable with the fact that there’s something in this settlement that can take out three of its own kind and walk back in like it’s nothing?”

“No,” I said. “I expect you to understand that the reason they’re gone is that he didn’t let them get any closer to us.”

Tanner didn’t answer right away. His jaw tightened, his attention shifting again toward the open doorway before settling back on me.

“And what exactly is he to you?” he asked.

There it was.

The question I knew was coming, the one that mattered more than anything else I had said so far.

I could have avoided it. I could have deflected, kept the focus on the threat, on the practical reasons he needed to stay, on anything that would delay the moment where I had to put this into words that everyone else would understand.

But that would only make it worse.

I straightened slightly, aware of how close Thexan stood behind me, aware of the way that closeness no longer felt optional.

“He’s my mate,” I said.