Together, I thought sleepily as I nuzzled against them so that my cheek was pillowed on Drace’s chest and my ass was snug against Lucian’s groin. We’ll be together forever.
If only I had known how wrong I was.
Chapter Twenty-nine
Lucian
“But Lucian, darling, it’s only a little dinner party. Surely you don’t mind.”
“Yes, I do mind, Mother,” I said through gritted teeth. “Especially since you’re having it at my apartment without asking first. How did you even know I was coming here and when I’d get back?”
“Oh, I have my little ways.” She smiled mysteriously until I glared at her. “Fine—I had a tracking device installed on your ship. Purely for your own safety, of course.”
I made a mental note to have a good mechanic go over my ship with a fine tooth comb and to never again dock it in the same bay my family used.
“Mother,” I said. “This really isn’t a good time for a party.” Not that any time would be.
“I thought it would be good for your fathers to meet your little…friends.” She waved lightly at Drace and Rylee, who were standing behind me uncertainly. None of us had known what to think when we walked in my apartment and saw a catering team hard at work setting up expensive floral arrangements and hustling back and forth with platters of traditional Fang Clan delicacies. Of course, the moment my mother appeared, I knew she had to be up to something but I didn’t know what.
“Drace and Rylee are my bond-mate and my female, Mother,” I said firmly. “They’re not just friends—I love and respect them both. I ask that you do the same—respect them, anyway.” I knew there was no way in the Frozen Hells my mother would ever love them.
“But I thought that was all just temporary.” Mother’s eyes widened. “You said so yourself—just a temporary arrangement that you were working to get fixed.”
“It’s become permanent,” I said stolidly. “Drace and I have sealed our bond and the three of us have decided to stay together.”
“Oh my…” My mother put a hand to her chest. “How…interesting. But I thought…thought you were going to go look for something to help you. You said…some kind of artifact, didn’t you, darling?” She looked at me appealingly.
I wouldn’t have answered but Drace spoke up.
“It’s called the Claw—we found it in the Temple of Ganth in the K’drin Jungle,” he said, frowning. “It has the ability to separate male bond-mates—even those whose bond has been sealed.”
“And what did you do with it?” Mother asked, all wide-eyed curiosity. I wanted to tell Drace not to answer but he was already speaking.
“We brought it with us but we’ve decided not to use it.”
“We’re staying together.” Rylee spoke up for the first time, lifting her chin high. “We love each other and that love is more important to us than any status or reputation.”
“Well of course it is.” My mother gave Rylee a simpering sweet look. “I hope you don’t imagine I would ask you to give it up?”
“Well…” Rylee looked confused and Drace frowned. I was frowning myself—what was my mother up to?
“Just think of this as a little congratulatory dinner, darling” she said, smiling brightly. “A chance to introduce the rest of your Triumvirate to our family and friends.”
“Friends?” I looked at her blankly. “You mean you invited other people? People outside our family?”
“Should I not have?” She put a hand to her chest again, a look of innocent uncertainty in her eyes. “I mean, you’re not ashamed of your new bond-mates, are you?”
“Of course not!” I said quickly, watching Drace scowl from the corner of my eye. “I guess I just thought that you and my fathers would be…less than supportive of my choices. Like you have been in the past.”
“Oh, the past…” My mother made a shooing gesture, as though the way she’d kept me from finding a bond-mate and true love for so many years was no more troubling than a fly.
“Yes, the past,” I said stonily. “The past when you forbid me from bonding with anyone you deemed unacceptable. When you separated me from Hylorn—”
“My goodness, darling!” She cut me off with a light, breezy laugh. “Please don’t speak so in front of your bond-mates. You’ll give them the idea I’m an absolute monster!” She smiled at Drace and Rylee. “Now why don’t you all just run along and get into the clothing I had simmed for you? My parties are always the talk of the city and you wouldn’t want to be caught in anything less than your best if a news vid crew comes by.”
“You invited a news vid crew?” I demanded. “You’re really going public with this?”
“Well, no one invites those press people, darling.” She patted my cheek. “They just tend to show up whenever someone prominent is hosting a soirée. So it’s best to be prepared.” She smiled at Rylee and Drace. “So nice to meet you both again. I know we’re going to have a lovely time this evening. Now, if you’ll excuse me—I see a catering disaster about to happen.”
She ran off into the crowd of caterers and I saw her berating a male holding a platter full of kiboth-hump bites. Then several more caterers, carrying a heavy buffet table between them, passed in front of us, blocking our view.
I stood there for a long moment, speechless. What was going on? What was my mother planning? I honestly had no idea but it gave me an icy feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“Well…” Rylee shifted from foot to foot uncertainly. “Should we…go get dressed?”
“No,” I said in a low voice. “We should go. I don’t trust this. I don’t trust her.”
“Really?” Rylee looked at me doubtfully. “But…she seemed so nice.”
“She can seem any way she wants to seem,” I said. “It’s one of her talents.”
“Maybe you’re judging her too harshly,” Rylee said tentatively. “Maybe she’s trying to make up for how she treated you in the past. I mean, she did say she was going to have reporters here. Why would she do that if she was ashamed of you and your choice to be with Drace and me?”
“The news vid thing makes me wonder too,” Drace said, frowning. “Do you think maybe she’s trying to get out in front of it—do damage control?”
“Maybe she’s setting a trend,” Rylee said brightly. “You did say she was the social queen of Y’brith. Maybe this is her way of making, uh, marrying outside the clan fashionable. Like, if she’s doing it—or her son is, anyway—everyone else is going to pick it up and do it too.”
“I highly doubt that,” I murmured, thinking of the unspoken yet ironclad social laws that ruled Fang Clan society.
“Well, anyway—what harm can it do to just attend tonight?” Rylee asked. “I mean, she’s your mom. You can’t just blow off her party—especially when it’s a party she’s throwing for you. For us.”
That was exactly what I wanted to do—just turn back around, walk through the front door, and spend the night on my ship with my bond-mates until I was certain the coast was clear and my mother and her army of caterers were out of my apartment. But the look on Rylee’s face let me know that wasn’t an option.
I knew from some of the pillow talk we’d had that Rylee had lost her mother at a young age and had been raised by a relative who cared for her but never really gave her much attention or affection. The bond of motherhood was important to her and if she thought there was any way she and Drace could make friends with—or at least get along with—my mother, she wouldn’t waste the chance.
“Drace?” I asked, looking at my bond-mate. “What do you think?”
He sighed. “I don’t like it and I feel like I’m going to be really fucking out of place at a fancy society party, especially a Fang Clan society party, but…well…” He ran a hand through his hair. “Family’s important. And you guys put up with Twyla and Porgy for me—seems like this is the least I can do for you, bond-mate.”
I sighed. It seemed my bond-mate and our female were in agreement—we would have to go t
hrough with the party.
“All right,” I said grimly. “I still don’t like it, but let’s get dressed.”
Rylee
“So you’ve never tried plonchik stew before? I find that difficult to believe—it’s a classic dish.” The huge alien male, who had identified himself as a visiting T’varri, nodded at me and took a sip of the bright pink liquid which had been served to us chilled in tall metal cups. “Try it,” he urged me. “Before it goes warm.”
“Um…okay.” I picked up the tall, fluted metal cup and raised it to my lips. The liquid inside looked like Pepto-Bismol and smelled a little like cherry-flavored vomit. Ugh—more high holiday food like the hairy noodles and eyeball oatmeal we’d been served at Lord Mandrex’s house. I pretended to take a sip and put it back down.
“It’s good, right?” the T’varri guy asked, looking at me intently. He was as tall as my guys—seven feet at least—with strange, vivid tattoos that crawled and shifted all over his skin in ever changing patterns.
“Yummy,” I said, managing a weak smile. I really wasn’t feeling very well but not because of the weird alien food or the too-tight, mint-green and pale pink striped dress which Lucian’s mother had simmed for me and insisted that I wear. It was the fact that I was seated away from my guys—both of them.
Drace was at the foot of the long dining room table which held around twenty people. Seated to his left was a lovely Denarin girl with pale, pearly gray skin and a cloud of dark blue hair. She was laughing at everything he said and putting her hand on his arm in a flirtatious way that made me grind my teeth.
Lucian, on the other hand, was seated by a short—well, short by Denarin standards which meant he was only six feet tall instead of seven—male with pale purple skin and big green eyes. They were talking earnestly about something and I thought he must be someone Lucian knew.
I told myself it was foolish to be jealous or worried. After all, Lucian’s mother’s seating chart was probably just meant to let us meet new people and mingle. But though I tried to suppress my emotions, I couldn’t stop the feeling that was growing within me—the feeling that something bad was going to happen and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
“So,” the T’varri male said, giving me the eye. “Are you under contract to any other male?”
“Under contract?” I dragged my attention away from Drace and the girl sitting beside him who was now practically humping his leg as she fell all over herself to laugh at something he had said.
“Yes,” he said patiently. “Are you contracted to another? You’re very beautiful and unique. What planet are you from?”
“Earth,” I said, craning my head to look at Lucian and the pale purple guy. I hadn’t even known Denarins came in that color. I thought they were all green or red or blue.
“I’m asking if you’re under contract because I want to play with you,” he said and something about the way he said “play” made me snap my head up and look at him.
“Wait a minute—you’re asking if I have a contract with someone else because you think I’m for sale? Like a prostitute?” I asked bluntly. “Because that’s damn insulting.”
“I never thought you were a pleasure girl.” He held up his hands in a “don’t shoot” gesture. “Among my people, we sign a contract before we become serious with a female. It avoids…misunderstandings.”
“Well understand this, buddy,” I snapped. “I’m with him.” I stabbed my finger in the direction of Drace. “And him.” I pointed at Lucian, who was so deeply engrossed in his conversation that he didn’t even see me. “So no, I’m not available to ‘play’ as you put it.”
He frowned. “Those are discourteous words considering I was only trying to pay you a compliment. If you were under contract to me, I’d have you out of that ridiculous dress and across my knee for some serious punishment to correct that attitude of yours.”
“Back off, asshole,” I snarled, glaring at him. “I don’t know how you treat women in your culture but, on my home planet it’s considered rude to threaten to spank your dinner companion!”
“Since you find my speech so offensive, I will refrain from speaking to you again,” he said stiffly. “Enjoy your dinner.”
He turned pointedly and began speaking to the person on his left—a man with smooth, green skin and wide violet eyes.
I balled my silver fabric napkin in my lap and gritted my teeth in irritation. I could have handled that better but I was so on edge, damn it! I just kept feeling like something bad was going to happen, only I didn’t know what.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Lucian excuse himself from the table and caught a feeling of unease from him through our bond. He left the formal dining room (his apartment was really huge) and headed out into the hallway. After a moment the pale purple guy followed him.
Now what the hell is that all about? I wanted to get up and follow them, but I resisted the urge. What the hell was wrong with me, acting like a jealous wife who didn’t trust her husband? Lucian probably just wanted to catch up with his old friend. I should just leave it alone and eat my dinner…or at least push it around on my plate so it looked like I had tried.
I sighed and went back to my food, trying to ignore the feeling of foreboding that hung over me like a dark cloud. Everything was going to be okay. We just had to get through this dinner party and then we could get away from Lucian’s mother and her guests and reconnect with each other just like we had last night.
So I told myself, as I took a nibble of something that looked like gray cake and tasted like mashed liver and bananas. Just take it easy, Rylee. Take it easy. Everything is going to be okay.
I just wished I could make myself believe it.
Drace
I watched my bond-mate at the other end of the table and felt the tremble of unease that came from him through our psy-bond. What was wrong with him? Was he still upset about the dinner party his mother had practically forced us to attend? It was a very fucking fancy affair—I would give her that—with multiple courses of high holiday foods, some of them so rare and rich I’d only ever heard about them. She’d gone to a hell of a lot of trouble with her seating chart too—placing Lucian and I on opposite ends of the long table with Rylee directly in the center.
Lucian’s mother and her fathers were sitting all together not far from Lucian—his mother laughing and talking, presiding over the table like a queen and his fathers sitting silently on either side of her. I had noticed that so far the promised news vid crews had not arrived. Also, there were a lot more off-worlders here than Denarins. In fact, aside from myself and Lucian, his parents and a few other guests, everyone there was from another planet.
I was trying to keep an eye on both of my bond-mates—I didn’t like the way the T’varri at Rylee’s side was eyeing her—but the girl Lucian’s mother had put beside me wouldn’t let me pay attention to anyone but her.
“Come on now—tell me what Clan you’re from,” she cooed, stroking my bicep in an irritating manner. “Such a big, strapping Alpha like you. I bet you’re Beak-Clan, aren’t you? Or maybe Talon-Clan?”
“No,” I said shortly. “Claw Clan.”
I was hoping that would get her off my back since she was obviously Fang Clan herself. Instead, her eyes widened and she put a hand to her chest.
“How exciting! I’ve always wanted to meet a male from the Claw Clan. There’s a reason you’re our greatest rivals, you know,” she went on, batting her fucking eyelashes at me. “It’s because you’re so big and strong the males of my clan fear you. Why, I bet you could beat any male at this table in a fight!”
“Maybe,” I mumbled, trying to ignore her babble. At the other end of the table, Lucian was engaged in an intense conversation with a Beta of the Scale-Clan. I knew he was Scale-Clan because they’re the only Clan on Denaris where the males have purple skin coloration. Some people say it’s a mutation of the usual blue, which may be true—I don’t fucking know. All I knew was that the unusual coloration made them hi
ghly prized as bond-mates.
And I also knew that the Beta Lucian had mentioned wanting to take as a bond-mate had been Scale-Clan. Hylorn—hadn’t that been his name? Was this him—the male who Lucian was talking so intently to?
So what if it is? I asked myself uneasily. He’s a grown male—he can talk to who he wants. Plus we’re bonded and Lucian is too honorable to cheat. Everything is going to be fine.
Isn’t it?
And then Lucian got up and left the table. After a moment, the little Beta followed him, trotting eagerly after my bond-mate into the dark, shadowy hallway.
It’s fine, I told myself, though I felt another tremor of unease flow through our bond. They’re probably just talking—catching up. There’s nothing wrong with that.
But I couldn’t shake the feeling that somewhere, something was getting seriously fucked up. I just couldn’t put my finger on what it was.
“So does your Clan hold the feats of strength each year?” the girl beside me asked. “I’m sure you must win all the prizes.”
“Sure,” I muttered, still watching the hallway that Lucian and the Beta had disappeared into. “All the fucking prizes.”
“Ooo!’ She squealed. “Make a muscle for me, please? I’m dying to—”
I got up, leaving the Fang Clan girl in mid-flirt, and went looking for my bond-partner.
Lucian
“Thank you for agreeing to speak to me alone.” Hylorn turned his big, green eyes up to me earnestly. “It’s been so many years—I never thought I’d see you again.”
“Nor I, you,” I said, leaning stiffly against the food-prep counter.
Hylorn had asked me to find us an empty area to speak in but for some reason I didn’t think that was such a good idea. Most of the caterers my mother had hired were gone now that the dining area was set up and the food had been served, but two or three of them still lingered in the food-prep area. This gave us only limited privacy, which was fine with me. It seemed…safer somehow.