Chapter 7
What are you doing to me?
I dragged a hand over my face. It had been a long day.
Normally, I wouldn’t be on Command the entire day, but Urgg and Talvax had been doing something, leaving me in charge.
I hadn’t even gotten to check on Cincin.
Sometimes she came with me to Command because she liked to ride on my shoulders, and I couldn’t move her.
But this morning, she’d been happily napping in her bed.
My office door opened, and I paused in the doorway, soul thrashing against my ribs.
Wyn was asleep on the floor. He was resting against Cincin’s tree with her curled up on his lap.
His pink braid hung over his narrow shoulder, his eyes restlessly moved beneath his lids, and his full lips were open, just slightly.
Slowly, I approached, my tail thrashing.
He looked so small and delicate sitting there, and more than that—he looked like he belonged.
This, right here, was the place for him.
In my office. With my cat. I crouched beside him, my hands curled into fists on my thighs.
The urge to sweep him into my arms and snuggle him dashed through me.
I easily suppressed it. I often had this urge whenever I saw him.
Something about Wyn made me wish to hold him and never let him go.
I was a physically affectionate person with my cousins, parents, and the few close friends I had.
If Wyn had allowed me and he hadn’t been directly beneath me in his current position, I would’ve asked for permissions.
But it would be inappropriate for me to attempt anything with the power imbalance between us, even if my instinct didn’t demand I waited.
“Wyn,” I whispered.
He didn’t stir.
I loathed to wake him. Besides, he was quite trapped under Cincin.
Straightening, I snagged a blanket from my couch—one I usually reserved for my snuggle time with Cincin. She was a needy creature who demanded attention all day long, and I granted it to her, as she deserved.
With careful movements, as to not disturb Cincin, who glared at me, I covered Wyn. I stared at him for a moment before allowing myself to gently pull his silky braid from beneath the blanket. I wouldn’t touch him more than that, no matter how much I craved to feel his scales against mine.
I moved to my desk, taking a seat. I could hardly leave Cincin in here all night nor could I shift her off his lap, so I would have to wait. I started with the most important report, my eyes occasionally flicking toward Wyn. I was merely checking to see if Cincin had moved, nothing more.
My neck creaked, sending stabbing pains down my spine, as I woke up with a frown.
I blurrily looked around. Where was I? This wasn’t my bunk.
My eyes widened, and my pulse skyrocketed when my gaze landed on Monqilcolnen, who was asleep at his desk with his head on his hand.
An impossibly soft blanket covered me, and Cincin was perched in her tree, asleep with her feet in the air.
What was happening?
Memories finally pierced the fog of exhaustion.
I’d fallen asleep in Monqilcolnen’s office.
Hours ago. I shouldn’t have been here, to say the least, and certainly not for this long.
I’d been foolish to come in here simply because I’d wanted to spend time with Cincin.
The commander had to be upset with me, right?
I fingered the blanket covering me. It hadn’t been there when I fell asleep.
Monqilcolnen had to have placed it on me.
Why, though? He didn’t care about me. He wasn’t cruel, even if he did repeat a story I hated frequently, but he didn’t strike me as kind either.
In fact most of the time, Monqilcolnen acted like nothing truly mattered to him.
Blank. That was how I would honestly describe him.
I needed to get out of here. I stood, folded the blanket as neatly as possible so it was a perfect square, and went to gather my things from lunch, but they had vanished.
Monqilcolnen had already collected them, I assumed.
I began to flee, but at the last second, I peeked back at him and was met with golden eyes.
He lifted an eyebrow, and I ducked my head and raced out.
“Please?” Seth asked, and I fought a groan, rocking Bobbinvoxlyn in my arms. “Urgg is threatening to teach me. You know they’ll pummel me and Kal will freak out.”
“I can’t teach you with my hand. Doctor Qinlin said no hand-to-hand combat class.”
“But you can come. Mindy is going to teach me, but if you're there it will be easier.”
“You want me to hold Bobbinvoxlyn while you practice because you don’t want to leave him with Bartholomew.”
Seth’s cheeks turned a dark red that then spread to the whole of his face. “Teddy will be at the class.”
To stare at his mate, not practice, I knew that well enough.
This was about Seth. He struggled to have his kit out of his sight or to allow anyone to hold him.
Vince and Zoltilvoxfyn were the only other people besides Seth and Kalvoxrencol who could watch Bobbinvoxlyn.
Seth was getting better, but it was a process he was working through with his therapist.
I kissed Bobbinvoxlyn’s forehead, and the baby gurgled. He was a perfect mix between his two fathers. He was a shade lighter than Kalvoxrencol, but he had Seth’s brown hair, brown eyes, and his round face.
“You’ll come?” he asked, picking up some of the scattered toys.
Before I could respond, a squeak sounded, and Lucy wandered out of the bedroom.
She didn’t meow like a normal cat; instead, she squeaked and chittered.
The pudgy black cat twined around Seth’s legs, and he stroked her back before she leaped onto the couch next to me.
She headbutted Bobbinvoxlyn, purring. I petted her, and she leaned into it, but her focus remained on Bobbinvoxlyn.
She loved the little kit as much as Seth and Kalvoxrencol did.
Seth glanced at me, chewing on his lip. “So you’ll come?”
“Yes.”
He beamed, making my own smile grow. “I will buy you noodles afterward.”
“I will accept that.”
I kept rocking Bobbinvoxlyn until he fell into a deep sleep while Seth picked up toys and organized the chaos of baby things.
He and Kalvoxrencol seemed to have made a nest of items for their child.
Both of them were doting parents, so I assumed Bobbinvoxlyn would be quite spoiled, but that might change as they had more.
Somehow, I doubted it, though. They were too enamored with their kit.
Parents and family weren’t something I had experience with.
Urgg, Seth, and Edith were the closest thing I possessed to a family.
I’d been given up by my birth mother and raised in a care facility.
Family was nothing I knew, but Seth was giving me a chance.
He’d invited me into the family he and Prince Kalvoxrencol were making, and I was perfectly happy to accept.
When the time came for Seth’s class, we headed to one of the training rooms. The room was relatively full of people.
I spotted Kalvoxrencol with his older brother Serlotminden, and their cousin…
Monqilcolnen. I hadn’t seen him since I fled his office.
I only had a couple more days before I started working for him, so I needed to get over it, but I couldn’t get the image of his cocked eyebrow out of my thoughts.
What was it about his raised eyebrow that made me cringe and want to run away? It was like he was challenging me, and I had no idea to what.
Seth left my side and headed to his mate, who took their child from him with a wide grin, then pulled Seth close.
I ducked my head and moved toward Urgg. They clapped my shoulder, sending pain down my spine, but I didn’t react.
Pain was something I was familiar with. I had gotten into more scrapes when I was younger than I could count.
Even now I could recall Sun bending over me, his light purple hair hanging around his jagged scales. His deep frown as he cleaned and bandaged my wounds from my most recent fight with his gnarled hands. His raspy scolding as he told me I was made for better things than this.
Urgg said, drawing me out of my thoughts, “I didn’t think you were coming because of the hand injury. Couldn’t stay away from possible bloodshed and bonding, though, could you? I knew you were a barbarus underneath it all.”
“I’m here because Seth asked me to hold his son while he practiced.”
Urgg released a bleating laugh. “That doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. That little rock has Seth well within his grasp.”
Barbarus called their children rocks. I had no idea why, but they did. I agreed with the sentiment, though. I glanced at Bobbinvoxlyn, who was in Kalvoxrencol’s arms while Seth fussed over him. He was a well-loved child.
For one instant, for one moment, I allowed myself to wonder what it would’ve been like to grow up with loving parents. Who would I have been? What would my life have looked like if I’d parents who utterly adored me like Seth and Kalvoxrencol loved their son?
I pushed the thought away. No answers to those questions existed.
I had no idea who my parents were or what they were like.
It was possible my life would’ve turned out for the worse.
Besides, I’d worked through this long ago.
My past. My trauma. I had sought help and had come out the other side much better, though it did like to surface at unexpected times.
At least now I possessed the instruments to deal with my past issues.
Monqilcolnen caught my eye, lifting that star-begotten eyebrow. The pit in my stomach opened up, and I ducked my head, putting Urgg between me and the commander and using them as an effective shield. I stayed like that until Seth handed me Bobbinvoxlyn and people paired off.
Camden was here, facing off with Noxlyn, who was still asking questions, though I couldn’t hear much more than the odd word as well as the monotone cadence of his voice.
I wasn’t surprised in the slightest he had more things to ask.
Humans were odd creatures. Noxlyn had his work cut out for him to study human culture.
Thankfully, it seemed like Camden didn’t mind.
He was smiling broadly at Noxlyn, his hands waving energetically.
Bartholomew settled beside me, his eyes on his mate, who was facing Seth.
Kalvoxrencol hovered in the background, his tail flicking and hands clenched at his sides.
Seth and Kalvoxrencol didn’t often spar in the same session because Prince was unable to focus when Seth was in even the smallest possible amount of danger.
Bartholomew gently ran a finger down Bobbinvoxlyn’s arm, and the baby grabbed onto it with his chubby hand, his tail flicking, and made a loud, happy shriek. Jiggling the fat baby arm, Bartholomew “Seth couldn’t stand to be separated, huh?”
“No. He asked me to hold Bobbinvoxlyn for him.”
“He’s cute,” he said with a slight smile.
“Are you and Prince Serlotminden going to have some?”
“Apparently even aliens ask when people are having kids.”
“I don’t understand.” It was a rather normal question.
If they didn’t want any, then I would no longer ask.
We didn’t always have children, whether through womb, tube, or adoption, though there were rarely drakcol children available to adopt and adoption in itself was a rarity in our culture. It was up to the individual couple.
“On Earth, people often ask newly mated couples when they’re having children. Sometimes to an annoying frequency,” he explained.
“We ask, but the answer is rather unimportant. It’s simply so we know. However, I will not ask humans in the future, if it bothers you.”
“That’s probably wise. Mindy and I want kids eventually.”
I had no response, and Bartholomew didn’t make further conversation.
He watched his mate as he and Seth sparred.
Even from here, I could see Seth was getting better.
When I started working with him over three years ago, he’d been horrible, though dedicated.
His persistence had paid off. Seth was now a decent fighter.
He would never match up to one of us—we were stronger and faster than humans—but he would be able to defend himself if the situation ever arose, which, I supposed, was the point.
A shadow drifted over me, and Bobbinvoxlyn reached up with a squeal.
Monqilcolnen smiled at the baby, but he didn’t pick him up, probably because he knew it would upset Seth.
He did crouch to run a hand over Bobbinvoxlyn’s soft brown hair.
The tips of his fingers dragged over my bare arm, his claws scraping.
A shiver went through me, and I stared at him, meeting golden eyes.
My soul picked up, and my tail wiggled toward Monqilcolnen, wanting to curl around him and draw him closer.
That was unexpected.
“You’re not practicing injured, are you?” he demanded, his voice turning harsher than I normally ever heard from him. His tone didn’t match my dream in its roughness, but it did come close.
“No,” I replied, ducking my head, but my eyes ran over his strong hands with their prominent knuckles. How were they so beautiful? Had I ever thought someone’s hands were beautiful before?
“Good.” He stood and moved away.
Bartholomew leaned toward me and asked, “Did you really puke on him?”
I covered my face. How, by the Crystal’s light, had Bartholomew found out? “Yes.”
He snorted but smothered the sound quickly enough. “Monty told me the story when he was hanging out with Mindy and I, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was true.”
Why? Why? I didn’t understand why he insisted on telling that story, but I wished he would stop. I swallowed a scoff. Beautiful hands? I thought not.