Breeze suddenly growled and turned. Tammy saw a man quickly approach. Two more men followed him. All three New Species appeared angry. Breeze stepped between the oncoming men and Tammy.
“What do you want?” Breeze sounded pissed.
The man growled back. “Move.”
“Back off,” Breeze growled deeper. “She’s with me.”
Tammy nervously stared at the three men. She realized that the room had gone deadly silent. There had to be at least thirty New Species but none of them spoke. She didn’t recognize a single face as she glanced around. Tammy’s gaze slid back to the man who’d been the most aggressive.
“Is there a problem?” Tammy frowned at him.
“She’s human.” He flashed sharp teeth at Tammy, taking another step closer.
Breeze kept in his path, putting her hands out. “She’s a human who lives here with one of our males. She belongs to him and he will beat you to a pulp if you so much as breathe wrong at her. Justice North invited her to live with us. She’s one of us despite being human. I realize, as a Primate, your sense of smell isn’t that strong but she belongs to him.”
The man growled again and so did the two men behind him. Tammy sensed danger. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her fear. Valiant always told her his kind could smell it. She lifted her chin.
“Calm down. I’m not the enemy.” She was proud her voice came out strong and didn’t shake as badly as her hands started to.
“What is going on?” 927 suddenly spoke. He had silently strode up behind both women.
Tammy started, glanced at him, and smiled, feeling a little relief at seeing him there. “My guess is they don’t like me.”
927 snarled, glaring at the males. He stomped forward to stand next to Breeze. She looked uneasy when she glanced at the new male and her body tensed more. 927 didn’t spare her a glance. He continued to defiantly stare at the three men.
“She’s the reason you are free. Dr. Zenlelt kidnapped her and her mate tracked her to me. She isn’t like the humans we have known, 861. Back off. She is family to us.” 927 glanced around the room, meeting every man’s curious gaze, and his voice rose. “She is family and a friend.”
“Humans will never be family,” 861 growled. “It offends me to look at her.”
“Get over it,” Breeze snarled. “She isn’t going anywhere. She lives here too. So does another human woman who is a mate to one of us. Smell her. She belongs to one of our own.”
861 moved closer to Breeze and inhaled. He frowned and moved closer. She backed up to keep him from touching Tammy. The man inhaled again and stepped back. “I do not like this.”
“You do not have to. She is here and no harm will come to her. Where is your gratitude? We would still be locked up inside our cells if not for her mate’s love for her and our people helping him find her. Show respect,” 927 demanded in a harsh tone.
861 snarled back. “Never for humans.”
Breeze softly cursed and reached back. Her fingers fisted the front of the sweater Tammy wore and pushed, moving Tammy toward the elevator. The pounding of booted feet drew everyone’s attention as more New Species wearing the NSO black uniforms rushed into the lobby. They quickly assessed the two men circling each other and Tammy saw what they saw—the men were going to fight. 927 would protect and defend her.
“It’s the primate in the red,” Breeze called out loudly. “He came after Valiant’s mate.”
The man in the red, 861, lunged for 927, and the fight was on. The New Species officers rushed forward, pushing everyone out of the way. In seconds they had grabbed 861 and restrained him flat on the floor.
Tammy relaxed. Breeze’s hold on the sweater eased and she turned her head, studying Tammy.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. What was that about?”
927 approached. His hand was gashed from where he’d hit the other man in the face. A sharp tooth had cut his skin. He stopped a few feet back. “I apologize. These men are from the same place where I was locked up. They do not trust or like humans. When he calms I will speak to him rationally.”
“It’s all right.” Tammy sighed. “I guess I can understand that.” Her gaze dropped to his hand. “Do you want me to clean that up and bandage it?”
One of the New Species officers approached. “We’ll let him calm down and have a talk with him.” He glanced at Tammy. “Are you unharmed?”
“I’m fine.”
He inhaled. “Just frightened.” He turned and met 927’s gaze. “Thank you for defending her until we were able to take him down. Let me take you to medical and they will care for your injury.”