Chapter 16 Sad Parting
“Scarlett!”
A man’s voice rippled over the clearing and echoed around the surrounding hills—decisive and, if Ransom read the tone right, worried and angry.
“Ah!” Scarlett said. “Our rescue party has arrived. Come and meet my brothers. I’m sure you’ll like them.”
“What aren’t you telling me?” Ransom asked, suspicious of her wide grin. “That look is sassy and full of secrets.”
“All of my brothers captured their mates and stole away with them. I’m the only one who is escaping and following my plan.”
“Saber, we’re here,” Scarlett shouted.
Huh! That was what she thought. At present, he was making a strategic retreat to learn and formulate a strategy worthy of this woman.
Scarlett Mitchell would not escape—not when they were mates.
She might not experience the same pull as him, but that didn’t negate the bond’s existence.
They had much in common. Their love of jewelry design.
Their strong family ties. Their desire for a different path.
He’d never confessed to anyone how much he resented the leadership thrust on him after his father’s unexpected death. His father had trained him to lead since he was the oldest child. Everyone expected it of him, yet he’d dreamed of forging a different way.
He sighed and followed Scarlett.
Gryffnn, even though he didn’t see the strengths in himself, was an excellent leader, and with Kaya at his side, the clan was in safe hands.
Five naked men who bore a resemblance to Scarlett stood together, each with a serious expression. A lone woman stood with them.
Ry Coppersmith, the captain of the Indy, peeled off with three other black leopards. No doubt to get clothing.
Scarlett ran up to the men and threw herself at one.
The man wrapped his arms around his sister while he glared over her shoulder at Ransom. “What happened to your arm? Why do you have a bandage? And what’s up with your eyes?”
“My eyes? What’s wrong with them?”
“They’re golden-brown,” Saber said.
“Oh! They work okay. I haven’t looked in a mirror since I left the resort.
It’s a long story.” Scarlett stepped from her brother’s embrace.
She gave Casey a quick hug. “I’m fine. In one piece.
You’ll want to get home. Why don’t I tell you everything on the way?
Ransom, my brothers. This is Saber, Felix, Leo, Sly, and Joe. And this is Casey, Felix’s mate.”
“Pleased to meet you.” Ransom offered his hand. “Scarlett speaks highly of you all.”
Not one brother moved to accept his friendly overtures.
“You abducted her,” Saber said in accusation.
“He had a noble reason,” Scarlett said.
“Let him speak,” Saber snapped.
“Scarlett is right. I had a reason for my actions, although from what Scarlett has told me, each of you seized your mates.”
One stepped forward, his face twisting. “Not I.”
“That’s true, Sly,” Scarlett said. “Although there was abduction involved.”
“Hey!” Ry shouted. “Are you ready to leave?”
“Where are we going?”
“To the dragon compound,” Saber said.
Scarlett nodded. “I’ll travel with Ransom.”
“No, go with the others,” Saber said. “Grab my clothes, Felix. I’ll travel with the dragon.”
The Indy took off first, and Ransom strapped in, waiting for them to clear before taking off too.
Saber clicked his harness into position and turned to him. “Tell me everything.”
So Ransom did. He started his story from the moment of the trip into the mountains, where he and Nanu had crashed.
He spoke of the hell he’d found himself in, and how the inexplicable—at the time—dream of Scarlett had set him on this road.
Ransom was still talking when they landed at their spaceport.
“That’s one hell of an adventure,” Saber said when he finished.
“One I never want to repeat.”
“You love my sister.”
“I do, although Scarlett seems oblivious. Like your sister, I have a scheme. I intend to become her mate.”
“You say Scarlett has a plan?”
“She seeks independence.”
“Scarlett has been pushing against family constraints for some time, but she hasn’t mentioned anything. I thought she enjoyed her work.”
“Her first love is jewelry design,” Ransom said. “She wants to set up her own business.”
Saber nodded. “What will you do?”
“Support her dreams. Keep popping up in her life until she realizes I love her and will encourage her in her goals. I have contacts in the jewelry business. She hasn’t realized how helpful I could be.” He shot a glance at Saber. “How we complement each other.”
“She’s not a kid any longer. I keep forgetting that,” Saber admitted. “To me, she’s always my baby sister.”
“I have two sisters. I understand.”
“Come and visit if your clan can spare you,” Saber said. “You can meet my mother and the rest of the family.”
“I have your support even though I abducted your sister?”
“You tell an entertaining story.” Saber winked at him. “When you visit, I’ll divulge how I met my mate, Eva.”
Ransom stood with a sigh. “My brother is waiting for me. My friends. I guess… This doesn’t feel like home any longer. For the last half a rotation, the Maphra prince controlled me, and now I’m at a loss.”
Saber unfastened his harness and rose. He squeezed Ransom’s shoulder in silent sympathy.
Ransom followed Saber Mitchell from the ship to the large spaceport to join his friends and family.
He forced his lips to curve as he hugged his brother, two sisters, and other clan members.
While he was pleased to see them and relieved that this ordeal was over, he felt flat.
Disorientated. Perhaps all he needed was to slip into his routine again.
His gaze strayed to Scarlett, who was speaking with Camryn Coppersmith. Camryn was also from Earth. A growl echoed through his mind, and Ransom wanted to howl in concert. Letting Scarlett leave would test him.
Scarlett hugged Ransom goodbye with a tightness in her chest. If it weren’t for her family and his family, she would’ve given him a proper kiss and squeezed his muscular arse. Now, she forced her hands to release their grip on his broad shoulders and stepped back.
“Bye,” she said, the pressure on her chest rising to constrict her throat, her power of speech.
With a general farewell wave, she followed her brothers and Casey to their ship and strapped in for the journey to Tiraq.
For once, she’d participated in a full-out adventure. Now she understood the dizzying fear and crazy peaks of celebration, she hated to return to dreary days researching prospective guests and checking them in on arrival.
“Did he hurt you?” Felix asked. “If he did, we can return and break him.”
She laughed, but even to her, it sounded forced. “We worked together. No one kicked anyone’s butt apart from that purple prince. The man was delusional. He wanted to repopulate the planet with children, and I was to be his broodmare.”
“Poor man,” Sly said. “He had no idea what he was getting into with you.”
“Is that arm sore?” Leo asked. “Shouldn’t it have healed by now? And what is up with your eyes?”
“The eyes—no clue. I guess I’ll consult with you, Casey, but my vision is perfect.
” Scarlett frowned at her bandage. “The itchiness in my arm drove me crazy before the insect things burst out and killed the prince. It’s a relief to have them gone.
Believe me, a scar is a small price to pay.
Talon knew the truth, but I’m glad I didn’t understand I was playing host to creepy-crawlies. Well, not at first, anyway.”
“I hear you,” Leo said with feeling.
Scarlett reached over and squeezed Leo’s arm because he’d had experience with a Spiderus alien. He’d understand her turmoil at the idea of being a host for an insect.
“I can’t wait to get home.”
A lie. It was time to inform her family of her wishes, to get her plan on track. Yes, the first quiet moment she had, she’d consult her lists and add a new bullet point—tell Saber and Mum about my plan to open a jewelry shop on Dalcon.
Twelve cycles later
Today. Scarlett could not bear this tedium for one second longer. Mungo, Joe’s mate, could deal with the guests. With visits to the resort in high demand, two of her cousins had joined the research team, and they were naturals. They didn’t require her help.
She’d updated her business plan, and her to-do list, and the premises on Dalcon were hers if she wanted to forge ahead.
All she needed to do was pay the first half-rotation of rent in advance, and the biggest hurdle—inform Saber of her plans.
Yet, she hesitated, waiting for a sign, one of her premonitions, and they weren’t forthcoming.
“Scarlett.”
Scarlett blinked and focused on her mother.
“You haven’t been to see me this morning,” Anna Mitchell chided. “I wanted to check on your arm.” She shook her head. “It’s difficult getting used to your brown eyes.”
“My arm is fine.” Scarlett rolled up her tunic sleeve to prove it.
Her mother tutted as she prodded the two red marks. “You will have a scar.”
“Honestly earned, Ma. Those are fine badges to wear on a body.” She supposed she should inform her mother about her upset tummy, but the last thing she wanted was one of her mother’s nasty potions.
“I thought a girl would be easier after having five boys,” her mother said with a rueful smile. “That’s what I told your father. I bet he’s cackling away in heaven after watching your adventure. You’re as impossible as your brothers.”
“Ma, look. There’s Hew Grantlach. He’s heading this way.” Her mouth twisted at the thought of her father. Hopefully, he hadn’t seen everything because she’d misbehaved, and it had been fun. She missed Ransom—talking to him, sleeping next to him, touching and kissing him.
Faint color crowded into her mother’s cheeks. “Is my hair all right?”
Scarlett returned to the present. “You’re beautiful, Ma. Why don’t you take Hew for a walk on the private beach? Take a picnic lunch?” She and her brothers approved of the Grantlach.