Chapter 12
“You see that?” Bonnie asked, her attention focused at the end of the pool.
“I sure do. Looks like Titus might have found a female that will challenge him,” Jack said.
“Titus? I was talking about Alison and Feral. It is Feral, isn’t it?” Bonnie asked.
Jack glanced that way. “Yes, that’s Feral. He’s already asked me about the possibility of leaving Alliance and joining our Pride.”
“Are you serious?!” Bonnie asked.
“Yep.”
“What did you say?” Bonnie asked.
“That I personally didn’t have a problem with it, but that I’d need to speak to you about it first. This is your Pride, too.”
“But, Jack, it’s not. I’m just your mate.”
“And you’re the Reigna of this Pride. I trust your opinions as well as I trust your instincts. I consult you on anything that affects this Pride. Accepting a member of the Variant into it is one of those things.”
“Did he say why he wanted to leave the Variant?” Bonnie asked.
“He said that there had been a misunderstanding. One that he was as responsible for as those who convicted him instantly. He said he’s not felt like he belonged since then, and coming here and meeting our people, and of course, finding Alison, has him feeling more at ease than he has in a long, long time. ”
“Convicted him? What did he do?”
“He said he’s got more details if we want them, but that basically, he was related by marriage to the doctor who is ultimately responsible for their lives being stolen from them.
He never told anyone. Joined the SOT team that had the most likelihood of catching the man, and never told them that he was still aware of who he was, and what had been done to him.
When they tracked the doctor down there were photos of Feral and the man’s daughter in his office.
He tried to hide them, and it looked to them like he was a mole.
They’d already figured out someone was at that time, and assumed it was him. It wasn’t.”
“His team assumed he was guilty, too?” Bonnie asked.
“Yep. And trust and betrayal are both huge things to these people.”
“It sounds awful. Especially when you realize this doctor turned his own son-in-law into a Variant person,” Bonnie said.
“It does. They even locked him in their jail for a while. There are those who believed he was innocent, but not all. The fact that he’s no longer under suspicion and is part of any type of recon team speaks for itself, though. Obviously, they were wrong to accuse him and they know it.”
“I feel bad for him,” Bonnie said.
“Me, too. And there was no lie, no shame when he told me about it. He just wants a peaceful place to be without all the bullshit and military lifestyle that Alliance offers. I figured he’d ask for permission to be here for at least a little while when I saw his response to Alison.”
“What response? I miss everything!”
“You were out here taking care of the Gamieyon females. He was just taken with her, and she had no clue. He sent one of his people to watch over her when she went to the leather facility to get the soldering irons. He complimented her on thinking of the soldering iron. He remarked about how inordinary she is when she made a remark to the opposite in passing. He’s focused on her. ”
“I wonder if he’s her mate?”
“He says he is. I guess we shall see if she agrees.”
“If you knew that, why did you think I was talking about Titus and Hail?”
“Because I haven’t noticed a single thing about Titus or Hail. There was nothing out of the ordinary to indicate there may be a match going on there until Titus brought her some food and sat down with her.”
“Maybe it’s not a match. Maybe it’s just sex. They both come from very primal behaviored species. It’s not unheard of.”
“True.”
“Just like with Feral and Alison, we shall see.”
~~~
It seemed like all at once the kids started gravitating toward their mothers, yawning and whining, obviously tired from the day’s activities.
“Ladies, we do have several options available for you for tonight. First, those of you who’ve been assigned rooms will of course still have those rooms. We do have a home that’s been offered temporarily for some of you to use — it has two bedrooms and is available for anyone who might want to stay there immediately.
It is fully furnished, and again is being offered temporarily.
There is another option that is available for anyone who might be interested.
The person who owns it will be there, but she has two extra bedrooms she’s generously offered if you’d like to take her up on it.
If none of these options appeal to you for tonight, you are welcome to spend the night with us in our home again, just as you did last night.
So that you know, the males of your Pride have been given quarters with some of our unmated males and are already rotating in and out of security patrols.
As I explained earlier, we do have several brand new cabins, and more that will soon be available.
The problem is that only three are furnished at this point and available for immediate use.
We only just finished building them before you arrived.
But I did get a chance today to place orders for the basics the others will need, bedding, curtains, pots and pans and such, and the guys will be going to make pickups of everything we ordered and distribute it all between the remaining cabins tomorrow.
Until those items are received and in place in the new cabins, you might be more comfortable here.
You are of course welcome to stay here indefinitely, but we do have the other options for you if you’d like to take advantage of them. ”
“I would be interested in a place for my Griffin and me, maybe with the lady who has extra bedrooms available?” Maeve said.
“That’s me!” Alison said. “I’d be happy to have you.”
“Thank you. I’m Maeve. This is Griffin.”
“Hi,” Alison said.
“You live in a big house all by yourself?” Feral asked.
Alison nodded as she looked up at him.
“Does anybody bother to check on you?”
“We’re safe here. It’s not necessary.”
“But it is,” Feral said.
“It’s okay. It really is. And I go to work every day, and they’d notice if I didn’t show up.”
Feral sighed, and realized he was jumping into places emotionally that he wasn’t yet invited into.
A couple of the ladies who’d spent the night on the floor the previous night spoke quietly between themselves, then one of them raised their hand.
“We would be interested in the temporary housing. There are five of us altogether; two adults, three kids. I’m not sure if there is somewhere for someone else to sleep in the living room, but someone else could take the living room if they’d like to. ”
“It’s just got a sofa in the living room. There are only beds in the bedrooms,” Vance said. “It’s my brother’s place. But the sofa is comfortable.”
“Okay, well at least a few more are settled. Decide among yourselves, who’s going to take the three new homes that are ready, they have either two or three bedrooms, and can house more than one family. And then everyone else can stay here until tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Reigna, for making sure we are all taken care of,” Maeve said. “I am grateful for your hospitality.”
“You’re welcome. If anyone needs anything I haven’t thought of, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I know it’s a little jumbled, but we’ll get it all sorted out in the next few days,” Bonnie said.
Having offered her home for anyone who might want to take advantage of her offer of hospitality, Alison walked back over to where she and Feral had shared dinner, to grab her towel.
She picked up her empty water bottle and looked around to see if anybody else had left anything near there, her gaze went to the plates and napkins that Titus and Hail had not yet disposed of.
She picked them up and added them to everything she already held.
“I’m gonna get that!” Hail called out from the pool where she and Titus floated on the same raft but on opposite sides.
“I already got it,” Alison said.
“Thank you, girl,” Hail said.
“You’re welcome,” Alison said, flashing her a smile as she started back toward the house where the garbage cans were.
“Hey, did I hear right? You still have a room available?”
“I do. And even if I didn’t, my sofa folds out into a sleeper. Why? You looking for a room?”
“I’m not really looking forward to spending the night on the ground.”
“Consider yourself booked for the night,” Alison said. “If you don’t feel like going now, you can ask anybody, they can point you to it.”
“Thank you. I’ll see you later,” Hail said.
“Or not,” Titus quipped.
“And what does that mean?” Hail asked.
“Means you didn’t ask if I had room for you.”
“I’m pretty sure if I stayed with you tonight, I wouldn’t get any sleep.”
“I’m just talking about sleeping,” Titus said with a sly grin as he held his hands up in surrender.
“I’m not. If I’m at your house, with no other company, I might not be able to restrain myself and whatever happens I will not even regret because you will have invited it, so it would all be your fault,” Hail said, flirting shamelessly.
Alison cleared her throat and both looked at her. She focused on Titus. “I believe the exact idiom she used was, and I quote, ‘I kinda want to climb that male like a tree’.” Alison smiled at both of them, turned and walked away with her head held high.
“I cannot believe you just did that!” Hail called after her, though she was laughing. She was still laughing when she turned back to Titus, floating right across from her.
He wasn’t laughing.
Hail’s laughter died out as she found herself locked in a staring contest with him.
“Only kind of want to climb me?” Titus asked.
“Well, I was trying to restrain myself.”
“And if you weren’t restraining yourself?”
“We’d be spread out on the grass over there, witnesses be damned.”