He leaned closer. "I was raised to rub my sister's back and run out to buy the necessary feminine supplies without shame. Which of us is right, do you think?"

"Rub her back?" I asked, not sure what that was supposed to do.

His mouth curled into a lopsided smile. "Mhm. Although, first, you have to learn to admit you have cramps."

"It only hurts a little."

He nodded his head once, then stood, heading into the kitchen. Zasen returned with a glass of water and something clutched in his fist. First, he handed me the water, then revealed a pair of small white pills. Holding out my hand, I let him place them in my palm, then gave him a confused look.

"It's made from a willow tree and processed to reduce the pain. Hopefully, that will take away the worst of the ache."

I took the pills, swallowing a large gulp of water with them. When I was done, he took back the glass, set it on the table, then gestured for me to scoot forward a bit in the chair. I did, not quite sure what he was planning. Then, without asking, Zasen stepped over the arm and slid behind me.

I tensed. He ignored it. Gently, his hands began to knead the muscles of my back. And it felt good! When he reached about halfway down, I moaned and let my eyes slide closed.

"So," he chuckled, "I guess this means you'll keep me for another month, huh?"

"I suppose, or I could see if Kanik knows how to do that," I teased.

He made a playfully disgusted noise. "You are cruel. Trust me, neither Kanik nor Rymar can give a woman a massage as well as I can. And tell me if my nails poke, okay?"

"I don't mind."

His hands paused. "What?"

I shrugged and glanced back to see him. "I wish I had claws like yours. They seem like weapons attached right to your hands."

"That has nothing to do with me poking you."

I shrugged with only one shoulder. "You're careful. I'm pretty sure you could pierce me, but the worst you've ever done was a little prick on my skin."

"Well, still tell me, because I can't always be sure." His hands started massaging again. "And yeah, they can pierce and cut, but it's not comfortable. It feels like they're being bent backwards."

"Which is why you use the krael instead. Makes sense."

"Yeah." He chuckled softly. "So does this mean you're a bit less mortified now?"

"I..." My head dropped. "No. I wish you didn't know. I didn't mean to be so loud, but I didn't want to make a bigger mess."

"Ayla, we're not worried about you making a mess or bothering us. We're not worried about you being a very normal woman. What we worry about is making you feel comfortable and safe here. We just want to help you in any way you need."

"Even if I'm unclean?"

He eased himself out of the chair, and moved to sit on the corner of the couch beside me. "We call it a period. I'm not sure why, but women say they're on their period. It's normal. It's natural. It's just blood, and I cleaned your feet for weeks. I sewed the cut on your side. There's no difference."

"There is!"

I could feel my face. It wanted to heat up and blanch at the same time. In the end, it just felt like all of my skin was stunned. I wasn't supposed to talk about these things with men. I would've been punished for such things back in the compound, but Dragon men were different. So very different, which was the only reason I could even find my voice.

Zasen smiled. "Okay. There's a little difference. When you ran through the forest, it meant you had to walk on your injuries. This? It means I have to change the sheets, and that's about it."

"You…"

"Are a friend, and friends help each other," he finished. "And when I'm sick or wounded, you can repay the favor."

I folded my hands in my lap and smiled down at them. "I'm so glad you were there. All of you."

"Where?"

"Outside the compound, wherever we were."

"Me too," he breathed. "So you know, Rymar's trying to make a deal with the Reapers. If another Mole is chained, we'll pay them to let us know about it."

"Why don't the Reapers take them?"

He canted his head and chuckled. "Because they have no idea what kind of a treasure you really are - and we aren't about to tell them. Moles attack Reapers too. They steal their harvest."

"Oh."

"And," he went on, "most die on the chain. They hang there for days with no food and water before anyone finds them. The predators and scavengers take the easy meal. They die, Ayla, but you? You didn't wait to be saved."

"I just wanted to live," I explained.

"And now we're going to help you," he promised. "Even when it might be embarrassing, we will always help."

Sixty-FourZasen

Ayla was embarrassed. I wasn't trying to make her feel bad, but I hated how she'd been taught something so normal was a thing she should be ashamed of. Granted, since Moles only valued their women for their uteruses, it made a sick and depraved sort of sense.

So, once she picked up her book, I folded up the blanket I'd been using on the couch, put it and my pillow to the side, and then made my way up the hall. Ayla glanced up but didn't ask. My plan was to head upstairs, yet when I passed the open bedroom door, I paused.

The covers had been pushed back on the bed. The edge of that bloodstain was clearly visible. Right. I needed to deal with that. Changing direction, I marched into my bedroom and pulled the bedding off, found clean sheets, and remade the whole thing. One less reason for her to be worried, right?

When that was done, I took the dirty sheets into the bathroom to add to the growing pile of laundry. Time to arrange washing again, it seemed. Ayla's nightgown was now wet and laid over the edge of the tub, so I put that in the laundry as well, then double-checked. There should be a pair of panties in here somewhere too.

Once I found those, I closed the hamper and then finally climbed the stairs. It was early. Much earlier than I was usually up, but the sound of Ayla's panicked flight across the hall had startled me. There was no way I was going back to sleep now, so I might as well share the fun with the guys.

Passing Rymar's room, I pounded my fist on the door. At Kanik's, I tapped lightly. Without waiting for either one to reply, I headed into the office, surprised to find it was now clean and actually organized! Papers had been put in open-top boxes. Books were stacked up. Even the floor was now clean.

"What the fuck, Zasen?" Rymar asked as he staggered into the room.

Kanik was only a few steps behind him. "Something wrong?" he asked, rubbing one eye with a fist like a child.

I chuckled at them both. "So, it seems we're all dumb guys."

"Okay?" Kanik asked.

Rymar simply threw himself down into his office chair. "I could be sleeping right now," he grumbled at me.