Chapter 14
Survii
Survii had messed up.
He hadn’t intended for her to hear that. But of course, that was no excuse. He had denied his mate in public without hesitation.
And Alanna shamed him for it by not shaming him at all.
She introduced him properly to her family, she translated flawlessly, she made them laugh and waved away their suspicions.
She showed him how to eat Earth food and helped Hattie when they had to step aside and inform the hotel chef what domini could and could not eat.
The rancid smell of cooked meat was nasty to him, but humans had to cook their meat to make it consumable.
Alanna, who had studied domini culture while on Turv, was happy to explain everything to the families that had taken over the private hall. Smoothing the transition. Easing cultural tensions.
Holly’s family were the most open and accepting.
They took to Holly’s new mate as though he were their own son and her mother kept exclaiming loudly how proud she was that he was so smart.
When she discovered Holly’s pregnancy, she broke down in tears of excitement and despair.
Happy to have a grandchild at last, sad that they would be living galaxies away.
Scarlet’s mother was equally proud of her and kept taking pictures for her socials.
She approved completely of Havali, but the way Survii could understand through the translations he got, she was proud because he was highly ranked and handsome by human standards, not because she held any affections for him.
Scarlet’s mother was happy to see her daughter again, but she was a shallow kind of female.
Peony’s cousin had come, but their dinner was more polite than excited.
Meanwhile, Hattie was trying to avoid the human male that had followed her here and only spent time with her parents.
She couldn’t ask for protection from him the way Alanna had because having Atem growling and threatening him would not be good for relations between the species.
Not that Tuvo seemed to care. His hostility was barely concealed as he walked around the room, keeping track of everyone and making sure they were all safe.
Alanna’s family weren’t as welcoming to Survii as Holly’s were to Romival, but they didn't dismiss him either. They asked him questions about his job and his past – polite, harmless inquiries. There was a kind of shield in their gazes, a sense that they weren’t completely accepting of him, but they were willing to give him a chance to prove himself.
Maybe they sensed Alanna’s reticence, or they themselves were not that eager to embrace him as her mate, because that politeness was as far as it went.
Through it all, Alanna smiled.
And the sight made him uneasy, because he knew it was false.
There was a light in Alanna’s eyes when she smiled that wasn’t there now. He didn't think anyone else even noticed, but how could they not?
She exclaimed over the meal, excited to taste familiar foods and flavors again. She laughed loudly at jokes that, at times, didn't translate. She eagerly listened to her family as they told her everything that she had missed in the year since she had been gone.
But there was something fragile in her smile. Like it might break at any moment. And he knew that was his fault.
This was not the right time to talk to her, however.
In front of all the families and while Atem kept throwing him threatening glances when he dared get too close to Alanna.
She never corrected her family when they asked her questions about mating him, but he knew better than to think that’s because she held onto some kind of hope for them.
She was only trying to prevent drama and hurt feelings from souring the relationship between their species.
She had asked her guardian to intervene. She knew domini culture. She knew that doing so was basically the firmest rejection possible. It was permission from her for Atem to take Survii to the ground if necessary.
Something he was clearly happy to do, just judging by his expression.
The dinner was otherwise calm. But every time Alanna smiled, every time she laughed, he felt it like a knife in his belly. A knife that he had given her.
He shouldn’t be upset. Just as many females had rejected him as those he had taken to bed. He never let such a thing make him bitter or hurt his feelings. He had made his intentions known, she had said no, that was the end of it.
But it wasn’t. It couldn’t be.
Because none of the human females in the room, all of them beautiful in their own way, affected his heart and body the way Alanna did.
He wanted to fling himself at her feet and beg her forgiveness.
He wanted to lick her cunt in apology until she screamed and tried to crack his skull with her thighs.
Krik. What if he was wrong?
What if he was just stupid?
What if he was clinging to a lifestyle that had brought him joy before but never would again and he had just ruined his future with his careless words and a reluctance to change?
Plans were made for tomorrow. They were going to be heading to the United Nations building to present both the full story of the human females as well as lay out the initial terms for negotiations.
Those talks would be debated with their secretary general in front of the entire assembly and the Earth as a whole.
They were already making plans for the countries that they would be visiting while said negotiations were ongoing.
The humans were eager to show off their Earth. And normally, Survii would be eager to see it. But seeing that fake smile on his female’s face made the very idea sour in the back of his mouth.
Alanna convinced her father to get stylists for all of them.
They would be obtaining Earth clothing and accessories.
Something else he would usually look forward to, but all he could think about was if Alanna would find him handsome in Earth garb, which reminded him that he had no right to dress up for her, which made him mad.
Not at her. At himself. At every silent snarl Atem sent his way.
His instincts bristled with the urge to fight him, grab her, take her to a dark safe place where he could gorge her and convince her to make a nest so he could claim her properly.
Fuck her until she forgave him. Put a pup in her belly.
Krik!
These desires and yearnings were that much more acute for being new to him. And forbidden now that he had messed up so monumentally.
They finished family dinner and, after a prolonged goodbye, they all returned to their private floor.
Alanna told them all that it had been a good night – the human obsession with time orientation baffled him further – before rushing back into her room.
Survii stared at her door until Atem growled. Her guardian refused to go back into his room until Survii left Alanna’s to go into his own.
Which he did only reluctantly.
The human suite of rooms was lovely. Exotic and alien, but simple and comfortable. He already had his clothing spread all over his space from when he had dressed for dinner. He could only stare at the bed he had wrinkled and wonder how Alanna would make her nest.
And growl because he knew he no longer had the right to know.
Snarling, he slammed his fist into the mattress.
No! He would not let things end this way!
He had messed up.
But he would fix it.
He had to fix it because that smile on Alanna’s face, that dreamy expression that hid her pain, hurt him as much as he knew it hurt her.
Even if she refused to be his mate, he would make her happy again.