[Forrest]After work, I took the long way home. The drive was nice. There wasn’t as much traffic when you went the country route around town. The weather was cooling off and there would be less daylight to enjoy soon. I never liked the shift from summer into fall. Not that I wanted it to stay summer all the time, either. The ever-changing seasons gave some variety and once you started really getting tired of one, another came. Winter might be boring, dull, and gray, but I relished the greens and colors of spring all the more for it. When I reached home, the neighborhood seemed to be buzzing. There were a lot of trolls on the street and in their yards. Something happened while I was away at work. That was the downside to working outside of the fae lands. I wouldn’t get news until later. After getting in, I went to my room and changed out of my clothes and into a more traditional loin cloth. Pyla wasn’t coming over today, so I could be comfortable in my house with very little on. I never wanted her to feel pressured and what I was wearing was very tempting to a lot of females. Heading to the kitchen, I checked on the meat for dinner and the tub that held tomorrow’s meat. Rock outfitted all troll kitchens with a tub for thawing meat. I would move something frozen in when I moved this meat to the large sink for thawing in the morning. My phone started ringing while I was unwrapping the meat in the sink. Tonight, I would be adding a little char to the meat, but I generally preferred it raw. I wiped my hands off and went to answer the landline phone in the next room. “Hello?” “Hey, Forrest, you’re never gonna believe what happened today,” Elbio said on the other end of the line. “It looked like all of the neighbors were talking about something. It must be big.” I chuckled. “What happened?”“Shayle got in a fight today.” “What? Shayle doesn’t fight. She never took a lesson in her life. How the hell did that happen?” “Her anger got the better of her and she attacked. But it was who she fought that I thought you would be more interested in…. It was Pyla,” he told me. My free hand formed a fist and I growled. I would beat Shayle’s ass if she hurt Pyla. My rage poured out of me. That bіtch didn’t realize her place. “Is Pyla okay? What happened?” I asked. “Pyla kicked her ass. Size doesn’t mean ѕhit when it comes to skill. Pyla has serious skills if the rumors are to be believed. I’ve heard it from a few different people and a few different species.” “How? These things rarely leave our social circles.” My pride in Pyla was only matched by my worry. She put a target on her own back by fighting for me instead of picking a different way of claiming me. Pyla claimed me, though. My heart was flying. She was always a little cool, though sweet. I thought she really thought of me as a friend. Carmen and Gemma told me they were sworn to secrecy about Pyla’s real feelings about me, but they did tell me that Pyla was grateful for being able to get to know me without any pressure. “Shayle started the fight in the market in the forest village. Pyla kicked Shay’s ass and told her that you belong to her and not to mess with her again. Then Queen Ivy came and declared Pyla your champion. She said that no one is allowed to challenge either one of you for the other. Queen Maeve is expected to send out the declaration this evening,” Elbio said. I closed my eyes. I did belong to her. My whole heart belonged to my little lizard troll. I wished I could have seen the fight. Part of me was shocked that Pyla would even claim me like that. I didn’t realize how she felt about me until now. All I had was hope and my hope had been rewarded. “She’s mine, then. No hard feelings about our fight, right?” I asked. He laughed. “I was just jealous. Trust me, I’ve moved on. You should get dressed and go see her. I bet you’ll actually get a kiss from her this time. If she were a full troll, you’d get a lot more than that.” “I’ll take whatever I can get from her. I don’t need more than Pyla is willing to give. She’s perfect the way she is. I’m gonna let you go. Thanks for letting me know, Elb.” “You’re my best friend, Forrest. I’m not going to keep a secret about the female you like. Especially not a secret about her liking you as much as you like her. Go find your woman,” Elbio told me, and hung up. I put the phone on the cradle and rushed to my room. I needed to get dressed and go see Pyla. She fought for me, so I knew she wanted me at least that much. Maybe not as much as I wanted her, but we’d get there. After dressing, I headed to the front door and opened it to find Pyla on my doorstep. She had her hand up as if she were about to knock. Putting my hands up defensively, I took a step back. “Calm down, killer,” I joked. Pyla giggled. “So you heard about the fight?” Lowering my hands, I smiled and nodded. I reached out for her hand and she gave it to me. The neighbors were watching, so I pulled her into my house and closed the door. They could speculate all they wanted but whatever happened next was between Pyla and me. “Are you okay? Did she hurt you at all?” I asked. “No. She’s a bad fighter and my father would have been disappointed in me for taking it as far as I did. I was trained as a warrior. I should know better…. I just wanted to make sure she got the message and left you alone.” “Because I belong to you?” Pyla blushed and her tail stuck straight up in the air behind her. I moved in closer and my hand trailed up her arm. I realized there was something in her other hand. A bag of something. “What’s that?” I asked, changing the subject. “It… it’s s-something I got for you. Rock helped me put it together. That’s where I was just now. At Rock and Carmen’s house,” she rambled in a cute way. “You got me a gift?”“I-in my culture, we give stones to the people we like,” she answered and offered up the bag to me. I accepted it and opened the bag. The stone fell out into the palm of my hand. It was the perfect size for me to wear. The leather strip that ran through it was lightly scaled and tied tightly in the back. Picking it up carefully, I put the necklace on and the stone fell right over my heart. I touched it carefully, but it seemed like it was a pretty tough stone. Pyla’s tail was waving from side to side behind her. I was guessing that meant she liked how it looked on me. “It’s a rock snake's eye. They are hard to scratch and it takes a lot to break them. I thought it would be the best idea, since it was likely going to be against your skin. Do… do you like it?” Pyla asked. Moving closer, I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her close. She let out the cutest squeak as her tail stopped waving and stood up straight behind her. Leaning down, I kissed her as softly as I could. After a moment, Pyla started kissing me back. She pulled me even closer. I reached behind her and stroked up and down her tail with my free hand. Pyla moaned lightly. I wanted to touch that tail from the moment I saw it. My hand slid down further, to the base of her tail. I grabbed a handful of her ass and pressed her lower half against me. Pyla pushed me away as much as she could, but I was a lot stronger than she was. “Forrest, no. I… I don’t just want to be another notch in your bedpost. We can’t go any further,” Pyla whispered. I let her go abruptly. “Where the hell did you get that idea from? Have I ever done anything to make you think I only want to sleep with you? We’ve known each other for weeks and I’ve never pushed you. What makes you think I would change now?” “… I’m sorry…. Shayle said something before the fight and my mother told me you would be expecting it now. She told me I needed to give in to you so you wouldn’t get bored with me. There’s so much pressure from everyone else right now. Everyone who saw me on the street was assuming I was coming to your house to sleep with you….” “Pyla, I was serious about waiting until my coming-of-age. I would love to have ѕex with you, but only if you’re my mate. Trust me, I don’t want to think of you that way if you’re not my mate. I won’t want to remember the feeling of your soft little body, the sound of your moans, or the sting of your claws as you dig into my skin. “I got carried away with the kiss, Pyla, but I will never go any further than that until I know for a fact that you are really mine forever. I promise, we can make out all you want, but I won’t sleep with you,” I told her. She nodded. “I’m sorry if I made you angry. I should have known that. You’ve never been anything but a total gentleman. I trust you, Forrest. That was just a momentary lapse. Will you forgive me?” I reached out my hand and she accepted it. I looked into her eyes and felt any anger I had melt away. She was reacting to something that bіtch, Shayle, told her. I could guess exactly what Shay said, too. “If you want to kiss and explore, we can, but I want you to understand that I’m being honest. I don’t want anything more until I know what we are to each other. I don’t blame you for being suspicious. I would be, too. Trust me, Pyla. I would never do more than that.” “Okay, I’ll trust you.” “Have dinner with me tonight. I was just preparing the meat. I’ll walk you home later and people can believe whatever they want about what’s going on in here. Let them have their fantasies.” Pyla nodded and I grinned at her. I took her into the kitchen and had her settled at the counter while I prepared the meat. She liked it raw, as well. So I decided not to cook it at all. I split the meat, giving myself a bigger portion, and took it to the kitchen table. Pyla followed me. I put the food down, then pulled out her chair for her like I’d seen Rock do for Carmen. I guided her into the seat and pushed it in. We ate quietly. I didn’t know what to talk to her about. Pyla seemed to be in the same boat. She just blushed and ate her food. After dinner, we went to the living room and sat on the couch to talk more. I felt like more guidelines and rules would make Pyla feel more secure, so she didn’t think I was only trying to get her into bed again. As we talked, I could feel her relaxing more. She ended up leaning against my chest as the conversation went on. Pyla told me about the fight from beginning to end. I was impressed with her choices in the fight and with how she handled everything. I would love to see her fight and I liked the idea of her being able to protect herself. Soon, Pyla started drifting off in my arms. She had a long day. I carefully scooped her up and carried her to the guest room. I tucked her into the bed there and closed the door softly. Heading to my own room, I fingered the stone on my chest. Pyla intended to claim me like a lizard person but ended up claiming me like a troll today. The stone meant more to her than the fight. The stone meant more to me than the fight, too. The fight was something special, but this stone told me Pyla wanted to claim me in a way that meant something to her. She really did want me. I would cherish this and keep it safe forever. Even if she wasn’t my true mate, I would remember when Pyla loved me enough to give me this gift.