Guardian [New World Book 6] by C. L. Scholey

situation and the closest memories are destruction.” Taz looked thoughtful. “My father behaved one way when he was around my mother and me and another way when he was with other Tonan males. He had to throw a switch of sorts on his emotions. Tonans sense deception, but do so because they are deceitful by nature. For a Tonan, it’s a normal thing to sense in another Tonan.”
    “Were your parents capable of love?” Roam asked.
    “Tonan females weren’t cruel. They turned off their emotions to tolerate males. I still have urges I fight with. Hunting is a very powerful experience. Life and death is in your hands. Tonans are bred to kill, inhumanely, sometimes humanely, but destruction of life is key.”
    “So you weren’t loved?”
    “Probably not as you were. Not the way I feel for Ally; that emotion is much stronger because Macey is human. I can feed off of her emotion through Ally’s mother’s scent and hormones. My specific line, my father’s line, is genetically geared to science. I’m guessing the Tonans who were able to find a human female mate are of the same line I came from. The rogue Tonans are from the barbaric killing line. They stem from the Castian turned killer. The first Castian turned Tonan stole a female, though not from Earth. She wasn’t Tonan and had no way to turn her emotions off. She was capable of cruelty though it wasn’t first nature. Because of that the line split. Their children were evil, yet some were born with compassion. It takes a certain someone to bring out the empathy.”
    “Like Macey?” Roam asked.
    “Macey hit me with a sledge hammer,” Taz said and laughed.
    “So she was able to get through to your emotions right away?”
    “Nope,” Taz said, chuckling. “She actually hit me with a sledge hammer. Bonked me right on the head. Never saw it coming. My shield of course went up; I had been posing as a human male. No easy feat in the beginning, so I understand what you’re going through. I had some interesting moments to say the least. I scared the shit out of Macey when my shield went up, I sensed it, but she stood there with that hammer daring me to do my worst. So I kissed her. Nothing prepared me for her taste.”
    Taz was looking past Roam to a place in his life that obviously gave him great comfort and pleasure. Roam realized Taz didn’t have only bad memories, he had good ones. Roam wouldn’t suddenly turn evil if he had the memories. If Taz could remain decent, so could Roam.
    “I have two choices, Taz. So do you. I can stay away during the rainy season or warrior mate with you and become part of your family. If I stay away it will be harder to convince the others to come to Bagron with me when Cobra arrives. I feel things, good things, for Jinx. I don’t want to stay away.”
    “I thought long and hard while you were gone. Until Macey came into my life, all I knew was rejection. Then I had my family and all I knew was acceptance. When you raced off, the old feelings of hurt hit again. Macey is human, but you, you’re part of me whether we like it or not. It’s hard to be rejected by your own.”
    Roam supposed it was. All of Roam’s life he’d had acceptance, love. The other warriors were respectful of one another. Then the human females came along and Roam knew rejection, the bitter taste of it. Jinx accepted him; Roam knew she had feelings for him. The feeling was wonderful. He had missed her while away.
    “You realize warrior mating exposes you to your mate, everything you’ve done, good, bad, evil. It’s why we take warrior mates so young, they help keep us in check when we understand there is someone to judge us. Like a living breathing conscience.”
    “There are parts of me you won’t like,” Taz admitted.
    “Forgiveness is also part of being mated.”
    “You need to understand any evil I did I don’t regret. It was who I was. I like who I am now better, but that part of me is always near the surface.”
    Roam gazed at him