Chapter 161: Can You Hear Me Now?
"I want to know why you are taking her to your quarters," sneered the other Saalistaja. I looked him up and down, wondering if there was a screw loose or something. I mean, most species had some sense of self-preservation. Hell, even humans did to a certain extent, but this male seemed to be missing that crucial factor.
"That is none of your business," growled Da’kea, fully turning around to confront the younger male. I watched as he grew larger and more intimidating, his exterior armor visibly changing to the one he had after he was chosen.
Huh, I never even noticed that he was wearing his original one in the first place. Clearly, I was out of it.
"What in the Dark Lord?" whispered the male, but it was enough to cause the other 24 males to turn their attention to us.
Letting out a tired sigh, I pushed the enraged Saalistaja male out of the way to confront the much smaller one. I am sure that it was not the smartest thing that I had ever done, but he simply let me. Now, instead of towering over the male in front of him, he was now towering over me from behind.
"I have not chosen any of you," I said quite clearly. I didn’t want there to be any misunderstandings. "I have, however, chosen him," I continued, pointing to the man behind me. "So, if you value your life, I suggest that you turn around and walk away. If not, let me know where you want to be buried, and I will see what I can do for you."
"He is issuing a challenge. I accept it," snarled the other male, whose name I think was A’juth-Uath.
"Is there something wrong with your eyes? Or maybe your brain? Were you dropped on your head a lot as a child?" I asked, stunned as I looked between Da’kea, who looked ready to rip the other male’s head off, and the much shorter male. "You know that there are much easier and less painful ways to die. Right?"
"I am not scared of pain," sneered A’juth-Uath, breaking eye contact with his opponent to look at me. "And I am definitely not scared to die."
"So I can see," I sighed, stepping to the side. "Just be quick. It’s past my bedtime," I said, looking at Da’kea. The male grunted and gently nudged me toward the rest of my males. On my way to their side, I saw the last hunter staring at the show from behind the crowd.
I grabbed the first male I laid hands on and pulled him over to the youngest hunter. I had a feeling that I would need my words translated by someone that also had a cock and balls attached.
"I want your furs," I said as soon as I stood in front of male #25. I turned to look at the male I had stolen and saw that it was Ye’tab. Perfect, he seemed to be the next smartest after Da’kea, so he should be able to get me my furs without ending up married as a result.
The younger male looked between Ye’tab and me and seemed to shrink in on himself. "I don’t understand," he said softly. See, this is the exact reason why I brought one of the guys. I thought I was being perfectly clear.
"She is not interested in you as a potential mate. However, after seeing the furs you had in your kill room, a complete sacrilege, by the way, she is interested in purchasing them off of you," said Ye’tab, straightening up beside me.
I took a second to look at him. Seeing how much I missed when it came to Da’kea, I wondered if I was missing the same thing from Ye’tab. It turned out I was. He was wearing identical armor to the male in front of us, complete with the fishnet and loin cloth.
Huh, I wondered if they only pulled a Goku when pissed. And if that is the case, I think I liked the upgraded look a bit better.
"If she is willing to consider me as a potential mate, I would be willing to give her all the furs that I have collected," negotiated the other male, clearly not comfortable but still willing to fight for what he wanted.
"She is not willing to consider you as a potential mate," answered Ye’tab with a shake of her head. He pulled me back and into his arms as a body went flying between us and #25. #1 groaned from where his body had collapsed, a huge dent in the wall of the corridor a testament to how much force Da’kea had used.
Groaning, the dumbass shook his head as he got to his feet and rushed back toward where Da’kea was standing.
"Be careful! You almost hit her!" growled GA, clearly not impressed.
"Sorry!" grunted Da’kea. This time, when he picked up the smaller male, he flung him in the other direction, adding yet another dent to the poor ship. If this were Jun Li, he would be having a conniption right about now, probably resulting in everyone’s death.
Good thing he wasn’t around right now.
"Where were we?" asked Ye’tab as he turned his attention back to #25.
"I want to be considered a potential mate," said the other male, digging his heels in.
"Why?" I asked, confused. I mean, he knew I wasn’t interested, so there had to be something about this arrangement that would benefit him. And if I could get the furs for free....
"It would change his rankings on the ship," said GA, coming over to the three of us. "Right now, he is last. He doesn’t have the physical abilities to fight to improve his rank, nor is he a good enough hunter to be able to raise his rank that way. The last way would be to have somehow been considered by a female when all the others were rejected."
"I think you guys are really going to have to sit me down and explain all these little rules," I grumbled. I had no idea that dominance was such an important thing to the Saalistaja.
"We live to serve," answered GA with a nod of his head.
"Sure, you do. But what do I need to do to get the fur of that saber-tooth tiger," I said, looking between all three men.
"Consider me as a potential mate," said #25 for the third time. I turned to Ye’tab for the translation because I was clearly missing something.
"You consider him a potential mate; he gets an upgrade in rank," replied GA, cutting Ye’tab off. "Then one of us beats him in a fight, and it is all over and done with."
"You are doing all this for an ass-kicking?" I asked with a shake of my head.
"I am tired of being last," #25 replied, his shoulders back.
"And I get all of your furs?" I pressed, wanting to make sure that I had everything in writing first before I agreed to anything.
"You get all my furs," he nodded back.
"Fine, I will consider you as a potential mate," I said, my voice ringing down the hallway as even Da’kea and A’juth-Uath paused their one-way beating and turned to look at me in shock.
"Thank you, female," said #25, his fist over his chest as he bowed to me. "It is an honor to be considered a potential mate."
"I challenge you," sighed GA, tilting his head from side to side, preparing for the fight. Like Da’kea, he seemed to grow to almost twice his original size, his purple armor coming out in full display.
I heard the younger male swallowing hard in fear, but to his credit, he managed to contain most of it.
"I accept your challenge for the position of mate to the female," he said clearly, his shoulders back.
I studied him for a moment seriously. He showed a lot of potential, much more than the idiot with a death wish still fighting Da’kea. He would make a good mate someday.
I thought about their females and shuddered for a second. Maybe I should amend my thought to... he deserved a mate that could recognize his true potential.
I watched GA approach the other male, and before I could even register what happened, there was a second dent next to the first.
"Do you concede?" asked GA, looking down at the youth sprawled out on the floor.
"I concede," said the other male with a nod. "If you would follow me, I will get you your furs."
GA grunted and followed #25 as Ye’tab held me back. "If you go, you are showing interest," he whispered in my ear as a body came flying past us again. You would think that #1 would learn, but I guess his head was a bit thicker than most.
However, before I could open my mouth to comment, a high-pitched, shrilling sound came through my earpiece, causing me to drop to my knees in pain.
"Can you hear me now?"
