Your Protector ✓

|05|

Elik

"Don't look at her like that!" I demand, and Umner's mouth falls open. Everyone in the room stares at me with at least a little bit of fear. All except Penelope. Her wide, dark eyes stare up at me with trust and an acceptance of who I am.

I've never had someone look at me like that.

"What are you talking about?" He demands, and Penelope flinches. I growl. I'm still staring at him with fury.

"You looked at her teats. I won't stand for it." I snarl, and Posy shakes her little head as she covers the table with plates and plates of food. She has a garden, and Torint and Tillip have been providing meat from Earth animals they hunt in the woods. I'm glad we have enough to sustain us.

Penelope is skinny, malnourished. She needs to eat as much as possible. It hasn't been going well on that account. She barely picks at her food.

"What is with you guys and calling them teats? Boobies, breasts, take your pick. Anything but that." Posy says, and Torint gives her a feisty grin.

"What is a boobie?" He asks, and I was quietly wondering about that myself. Posy laughs. I suppose we're not getting the answer to that question. I rest my face in Penelope's hair. Her neck smells delectable.

Someone clears their throat, and I grumble when I look up to see who's begging for attention. It's Umner. I glare at him.

"What do you want now?" His eyes widen at my words, and I can feel the rest of the group tense at the sudden outburst. I know what they must think of me. My family has a history of anger problems, and I know they can see it plain as day. What they don't understand is that I would never hurt an innocent person. I won't let history repeat itself.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize it would bother you. It's hard not to... look at them. They're beautiful."

His description of her body has me bubbling inside. He can't talk about her that way. He can't look at her there. The anger grows to be too much, grabbing my senses in a steel grip. My breath comes out in harsh puffs from my nostrils.

A tentative hand touches my chest over my uniform. I still, my eyes slowly moving down to make sure I'm not imagining Penelope touching me. Her pale face looks worried. She's worried about me.

I pull her closer, knowing she won't speak in front of all of these people. Last night she talked to me. Only me. She hasn't said a single word to anyone else, and that is a sign to be sure. She does trust me. No one has ever trusted me as much as her.

And everything about her calms me. Just looking down at her beautiful face has erased my anger completely. All I can think about is my little human.

"Whatever." I murmur, ignoring everyone except Penelope for the rest of the meal. Time goes by quickly as I hand feed the female snuggled into me. I never thought that this would happen to me. If you told me days ago that I would have a female curled up on my lap eating from my hand, I would not have believed you.

Here she is though, and she's amazing. I shouldn't be too possessive of Penelope. She's not mine. I don't own her. But inside, deep down, I already think of her as my mate.

That's dangerous. Of course, she wants to be near me and I agree to it willingly, but that doesn't mean she wants to become my mate. I can only dream. I won't force her to do anything she's uncomfortable with, she's been through a trauma. I won't expect anything from her besides what we already have.

I watch from afar as Jane and Posy encourage Penelope to help them with the dirty dishes. She looks up at me with a bit of alarm in her eyes, but I nod encouragingly at her. She needs interaction other than myself. She needs friends, and I need to report back to headquarters.