Chapter 53 #2
Bad enough that someone was coming to fight him for Scarlet.
His mate and newborn pup being out of their nest went directly against his instincts.
He was pacing. Agitated. Aggressive. Tuvo lingered nearby, watching him with a serious frown.
Yet, despite that, if anyone were to dare suggest that either male wasn’t enjoying himself, it would be a bald-faced lie.
They lived for this chance to be protective and aggressive.
Havali was coming soon. Whenever he finished his preparations. He had to get his den ready for her to build a nest within it. That involved getting her food she could gorge on. Since there was no fresh hunt for him to catch on the ship, he was going to have to get creative.
Scarlet couldn’t wait.
Her mother used to tell Scarlet that she had every second of her wedding day planned out from the moment she found out she was having a girl.
If she were getting married on Earth, she would have had knockdown, drag out arguments with her mother about color choices, tulle, satin, beading, venues, cake flavors, guest numbers, and all sorts of things that meant nothing to her.
This largely instinctive claiming was far easier to go through. And much more exciting. There was something thrilling about the thought that she was about to get claimed like a cavewoman. So primal and base. Wonderful.
“I don’t know,” Alanna said when Scarlet described it to her. “I think I’d miss a wedding.”
“Really?” Peony asked, surprised, gently rocking Viktor. She had just finished breastfeeding and now the sweet little boy was already going to sleep. Domini infants spent a lot of time sleeping. Something that Peony thought was the greatest thing ever. “That surprises me.”
“Why?”
“Well,” Scarlet snickered, “we’re talking about you. I can’t imagine you going through with the whole wedding thing. Maybe like a bohemian, backyard wedding. You know, the one with mason jars and fairy lights? But never more than that.”
Alanna chuckled. “I mean, that does sound lovely too. But doesn’t a big, beautiful, wonderful party filled with all the people you love sound even better? The prettiest flowers and a princess dress and everything wonderful about a wedding?”
Scarlet and Peony laughed together. It wasn’t an unreasonable desire, but the fact that it was coming from Alanna made it strange.
Atem, however, had paused, and was now looking at Peony. “I was told that your ring is the important part of human mating. What is this wedding?”
“Don’t worry about it,” she waved his concern away. “I didn’t really want a wedding anyway. They’re just a lot of work in my opinion.”
“What is it though?”
“It’s kind of like a claiming?” Scarlet said, thinking. “We have a special outfit we wear, and our family gathers. But it’s also more like a big party. They witness the marriage- er… mating vows to each other, then celebrate the couple.”
“That’s right.” Alanna bobbed her head happily. “It’s during the vows that the rings are exchanged. Really, that’s the most important part of it. The vows are what make a wedding. Everything else is just extra.”
Scarlet grinned. “I think you and Hattie are the only two that actually want a big to do over their wedding.”
Tuvo suddenly lifted his head.
“Oh, yes!” Alanna laughed. “We’ve talked about it. Hattie has been planning her wedding since she was a little girl. She’s way into it. It’s adorable. I want one, but she really does think it’s the best thing ever.”
“Well, I’m sure if you find a domini guy, he won’t mind incorporating a wedding into it.”
“Right.” Peony beamed. “We might have to adjust things a bit, but there’s no reason we can’t have a wedding and reception on Turv.”
“Can we not right now?” Atem grimaced. “I’m already giving up Scarlet. I don’t want to think about giving up Alanna and Hattie too.”
The girls all laughed at his discomfort. He was back to pacing again and Tuvo looked pained, like he had a toothache.
Scarlet ignored their reactions as she focused on Viktor for a bit. A cute, adorable, alien baby. He made the softest, sweetest cooing sounds. Rarely cried. Preferred to sleep in a little curled up form like a cat.
Her ovaries were screaming at her, demanding one of her own.
She couldn’t help but think that it might very well be possible now.
Smiling to herself, she sipped at her water as she waited.
Food was available on the table, but it was for Alanna and Peony – who was back on a non-blood-based diet, though she did require some iron supplements since she was losing so much in her breastmilk.
Somehow, despite Viktor not being inside her anymore, her body seemed to know exactly what her baby needed and had adjusted the composition of her breastmilk accordingly.
A fascinating reaction that Scarlet couldn’t wait to study.
Was it a lingering effect of being pregnant with a domini baby?
Was it something Viktor was doing to affect Peony?
She didn’t know, but she and Donivi had exchanged messages about it right up until they started the swing through subspace.
She knew she would have messages from him waiting when they emerged.
There might not be time to do a proper study immediately though. Not considering they were leaving Turv within only a few days of arriving.
Earth was beckoning them home.
Their departure from Holotulle’s Ring had been met with a great deal of fanfare.
Fellaseen had been there, bearing a message from the High Imperium that they were, again, deeply sorry for what had befallen Scarlet while under their care.
They promised that Svit and Danya would be appropriately punished.
They had also passed on a message from the vir government begging their forgiveness and renouncing Crav and his actions.
Scarlet had requested, in recompense, they help fund and conduct the experimentation that Earth must agree to in order to gain protectorate status. It wasn’t much of a punishment for them as they were as eager to study humans as any other race.
They had called her a gracious, soaring luctag. Which sounded like a compliment.
And now, they were off.
They had already called ahead and told Hattie and Holly to pack and be ready to go.
Holly had wept with joy, and apparently had been doing so frequently since they had watched, live, as the Coalition vote was cast in their favor.
She was closer to her family than any of them and knowing she would see them again soon meant everything to her.
Alanna had asked Hattie if she was going to stay on Earth or return to Turv.
Hattie hadn’t really responded.
Scarlet wasn’t sure what either girl was going to do since neither of them were mated. But they all knew that they would always have a home on Turv. Personally, Scarlet didn’t know how they could possibly return to their lives on Earth after this.
Of course, she had a mate now, and that probably colored her preferences.
A mate that entered onto the viewing platform on silent footsteps. He was shirtless, wearing a mostly sheer, flowing pair of trousers that were opaque only around the groin area. Barefoot. Hair loose. He looked wild and free and incredible.
Just like Scarlet had traditional fur and hide to wear as her claiming dress, Havali had his own traditional style. While it was common for the domin to wear camocloth if they were wealthy as he was, it wasn’t uncommon to be bare and let their skin be their natural camouflage.
That was apparently the direction he had chosen, and she couldn’t help but admire the stacks of taut, hard muscles as he walked their way. Confident. Determined. Tail rigid. All three eyes on Atem like they were about to seriously fight.
And, around his neck, a braided leather cord with two crystal rings hanging from it – one bigger than the other but otherwise both identical – resting against his chest.
The sight made her gasp as her heart squeezed almost painfully in her chest.
When it came to the claiming, Scarlet and the others were okay with following the traditions of the guys, surrendering theirs in turn. They hadn’t asked for anything.
But when Atem had claimed Peony, he had gone to Hattie and asked her about human mating rituals, and she had told him about the marriage band. The ring that marked a mated human – according to the guys.
Atem had given his to Peony in private. Both of them still wore it now.
But when Romival had claimed Holly, he had been wearing the ring he intended for her around his neck.
Holly had also never asked for a ring. Hattie had sought out Romival to instruct him on the importance of it before Holly’s claiming without needing to be asked.
And now, though Hattie wasn’t around, and Scarlet hadn’t said anything about it, Havali had one for her.
The sight nearly made her cry. Not because she was so attached to the idea of wearing a wedding ring, but because of how thoughtful it proved Havali to be. He knew about this human tradition from watching Atem and Romival. He paid attention.
And that made the ring bouncing on his chest with each step so much more valuable.
Atem, however, was unimpressed and snarled at the sight of him. The girls immediately broke into tittering giggles.
Scarlet tried not to be too eager as she set her glass down and leaned forward.
It was so tempting to run to him, but she could not. They were playing an instinct game now, steeped in tradition, and it meant just as much to the domini as a walk down the aisle meant to her people.
And she found herself actually excited to go through with it. Exactly as she would have felt waiting in line behind her bridesmaids as her turn to walk inched ever closer.
Atem, however, did not share that feeling. He snarled at Havali like a rabid dog at the very end of his chain. Deep and guttural and dangerous.
Havali met it with a snarl of his own. Quiet, but rumbling and vicious. The sound of it sent a thrill through Scarlet as she shifted eagerly on her lounge.