Serix was relieved when he and Cassie escaped the dining hall and made it back to their room without any more confrontations. Even though Emily had said she spoke for most of the humans in the caves when she apologized, he had seen the faces of the others. Mistrust, hate, disgust, anger, annoyance… He had seen it all reflected in the humans’ expressions. They were not so ready to forgive him for the crime he never committed. He only hoped they would keep their frustrations to themselves rather than lash out at him like Hunter did. One bitter male was bad enough. He didn’t need an entire colony of them stalking him like prey.

[b]“I’m glad to say it wasn’t as bad as I expected either,”[/b] Cassie said as they sat down together on the bed to eat their dinner privately. [b]“I was worried one of them might try to jump you with the looks some of them were giving us.”[/b]

Serix winced slightly. Cassie had noticed the humans’ hostility, too. He knew he shouldn’t have been surprised by his mate’s perceptiveness — it wasn’t like the half-bloods were trying to be particularly sneaky — but he still didn’t want her to worry for his sake. She had done enough of that after what happened in his earlier “interrogation.” When she leaned in to kiss him, he met her lips with a weary exhale, running his thumb over her hand as he held it in his. After the difficulties they had faced in the humans’ compound, he was even more grateful to her for staying by his side.

After a moment, Cassie leaned back to go over their new rules once more, [b]“We just... need to be very careful from here on out. Keep to ourselves for now and interact with people we know for sure we can trust. We also need to make sure you go nowhere alone with anyone else. We can’t have a repeat of what happened at the bonfire that caused all this trouble. We need to make sure that I go with you, no matter what. They can’t say anything against you if I was there with with you as well.”[/b] She kissed him again. [b]“I know it will be difficult. But once all of this is cleared up and what Hunter did is brought to light, then things will get better and people will start trusting us more.” [/b]

[i]Maybe,[/i] Serix added silently. Somehow, he doubted that Hunter would get caught any time soon, if at all. Ryan and the other humans were too afraid to consider the possibility of one of their own pulling such a risky stunt. They would much rather stay in their blissful ignorance and assume that it was the fault of an outsider. He lifted a strawberry to his mouth and took a bite, chewing thoughtfully. At least the worst had passed. The humans were content to believe the Pilot snuck in without help, so he wasn’t in immediate danger anymore. He and Cassie had that going for them.

Serix nodded when Cassie pointed out that they also had the rest of the day to relax by themselves, “True.” He looked up, meeting her gaze. “A whole day to spend with my beautiful mate. I feel like I just won some sort of prize.” Letting go of his concerns for the moment, he gave her a playful simper. “If only we had a door with a lock so we could keep them away longer. I wouldn’t mind being stuck in here with you for a week.”