It wasn’t a woman, she realized an instant before a large hand flashed out quickly and caught the ball of her foot just inches from his knee. He was bent over her, a big guy Berrr’s size, and as she stared into his bright blue gaze she realized he resembled Berrr too, only younger. She instantly knew she was staring up at one of Berrr’s sons.

The man was gripping her arm and her foot. His head snapped up, rage pouring out of his glowing blue eyes, right as a loud roar hurt Shanna’s ears. Damn, the guy is loud when he is pissed, she thought, rage nearly rolling off him. She followed his glare and saw two of the house helpers backing away with terrified looks on their features.

The man’s head lowered to stare at Shanna.

“I mean you no harm. You are seriously hurt. I am not attacking you, human. I am Rever, Berrr’s son, and I am going to pick you up very carefully to not hurt you more.” He blinked. “Will you let me do that?”

Shanna nodded, knowing that Berrr’s son wouldn’t hurt her, only his house helpers would. The man released her arm and her foot very slowly and then shifted to his knees next to her. She lifted up a little as he slid his arms under the back of her knees and her shoulders. She was amazed as the guy lifted her and then stood up with her in his arms from that kneeling position. He glanced at her once and then strode back down the hallway that she’d just run from.

The bedroom was empty when he carried her in but he paused, his furious look darting around the room, and he sniffed loudly. A deep growl tore from his throat as his mouth twisted into a grimace. He walked again, headed for the bed, and he gently laid Shanna down. His arms slid out from under her and then their gazes met.

“I’ll call for a healer and for my father.”

Nodding, Shanna relaxed. “I think I need a healer.” Her hand touched the back of her head, which still hurt a lot, while her other hand rubbed at her side where she’d been kicked. “Thank you.”

He still looked furious as he watched her and sniffed at the room again. “All of them came after you, didn’t they? I know their scents and I smell every one of them in here.”

He could smell them? She wasn’t sure what to say to that but she nodded. “Ovoly is the leader of that gang. They ordered me to tell your father that I wanted him to fuck them still but I refused.”

The man turned away and stormed for the door. “They won’t be back but I will be in less than a minute. Stay down and do not move.” As soon as he exited the room Shanna ignored his order and sat up slowly. Her body ached and she knew she was going to have a hell of a lot of bruises on her arms, her back, and her ankles hurt from some of the hard kicks she’d dished out. As she moved her limbs and visually inspected her ankles, she realized she was in better condition than she’d feared at first now that the shock was wearing off.

One ankle was a little swollen but it wasn’t broken. She looked around the room, spotting the two discarded dresses that Ovoly and Aya had left behind in their haste to flee so they weren’t still found in the bedroom.

The only thing she smelled in the room was where Aya had gotten sick and had left her dinner on the floor at the end of the bed. Shanna carefully got off the mattress to test her weight on both ankles. They held and she took a few steps to make sure she could still walk, which she could even if it was a little painful. She reached back to touch her head where it still throbbed but her hand didn’t come away wet, confirming that she wasn’t bleeding. Motion made her gaze dart to the open doorway to see Rever storm back into the room still looking pissed off.

“I told you to stay in bed,” he growled.

“I don’t take orders well, sorry. I wanted to see if I could walk. I’m going to be fine since I don’t think anything is broken. I’m bruised to hell and back but I’m not as bad as I feared.”

The man walked closer to her. “My father and a healer from medical are on their way.” He stopped feet from her to stare down. “Please return to my father’s bed before you fall down. You are human and you are more hurt than you believe. You are in shock from being attacked and are not assessing your injuries properly. While our women still need protection from males they are much stronger than you are and you were outnumbered greatly. They had to have harmed you severely.”

“I think I got them a hell of a lot worse than they got me. Maybe you should go check on them.”

His black eyebrows shot up in shock as his eyes widened.

“Seriously, go check on them. I think I hurt Aya the worst. She stayed down after I punched her in the throat. The blonde one with the bright green eyes might have a broken jaw.” Shanna rubbed her head in the back where it still ached. “Of course better her chin than my skull.”

Shanna found it semi-amusing that he was too stunned to speak as he stared down at her, obviously not sure what to even think. She let her hand drop and just gazed up at him, forcing a smile she didn’t feel.

“I know you and every other guy on this planet think human women are totally helpless but I grew up rough on Earth. I know how to defend myself and I did some damage to the house helpers so you might really want to check on them.”

“I don’t care if they are harmed. They attacked a human my father brought into his house and if you did manage to harm them, they deserved it.” Shanna was relieved at hearing his words, proving to her that he was obviously pro human. He turned then, studying the room, and noticed the discarded dresses, Aya’s dinner and some blood on the white tile. He slowly turned to meet her gaze again.

“I came to talk to my father about my brother Ral and Ariel. My bound is also pregnant and human so I am worried that our child will be too large for her to give birth to so I wanted to demand that my father have more healers trained to treat humans.” He ran a hand through his long black hair. “Right now Ahhu only tends our family but if something were to happen to her or she were not available, it could put our bounds in danger. My brother Argernon is also bound to a pregnant human.”

“Wow. You guys are really potent, aren’t you?”

He shook his head at her, frowning. “I don’t understand.”

“You have great sperm.”

He nodded. “All Zorn males easily get females pregnant. That is why we are only permitted to share our seed with our bound females. Otherwise the planet would be overrun with population we couldn’t support so it became law long before my father became Hyvin. I am sure my father explained to you why he may never give you his seed.” The man’s mouth tensed. “My mother was cruel to force him to bound to her but she wouldn’t listen to her offspring on the matter.”