Aya’s POV
“The audacity of you!” one of them snaps, stepping so close I can smell the artificial sweetness of her perfume. Ugh, geez. This is obviously them trying so hard to make their pheromones smell.
Her eyes rake over me like I’ve personally offended the concept of their own hierarchy.
“The audacity,” she repeats, “..to say that like it means something.”
“It does mean something,” I reply evenly, even though my pulse is kicking hard against my ribs. “It means you don’t get to decide what I am to him.”
A sharp laugh cuts through the air. “Mate?” the girl with the twirling hair echoes. “Please. Do you even hear yourself?”
“Yes,” I say flatly. “I do.”
“And we’re supposed to just accept that?” another one says. “You show up out of nowhere, cling to the captain, and suddenly you’re—w
