Chapter Thirty-Seven Zann
Slade’s irritation at running into us after his dinner with Corrina was apparent, as was her genuine delight to see us.
We stepped out from the alley as Slade was paying the check and pretended to be examining something through a nearby store window when they emerged.
I hide my grin when Corrina bids Slade goodnight in the street, though I am disappointed that she does not come back to our new home.
The next night, Krish and I are playing cards with some of the other workers in the loading dock near Slade’s ship when he and Corrina approach, and she again bids him good night.
The following night, Davix happens to be returning from a swim in the lake as Corrina and Slade are walking through the park after another dinner together.
This may not be the stealthy hunt we are used to, but my brood brothers and I have decades of experience of tracking a target.
There is nowhere on this station that Slade can take Corrina that we cannot follow or find her.
A part of me feels bad that we are behaving like this, like we are spoiling Corrina’s fun.
But a deeper part of me cannot wait for Slade to leave again so that Corrina can be back with us where she belongs.
It is more than jealousy, though I now understand and recognize the feeling.
Slade does not see her or understand her the way that we do.
He takes her to loud restaurants that she does not like and chatters constantly about himself.
He does not see the small ways that she gets frustrated just as he does not notice the small things that bring a smile to her face, like stopping beside her favorite flowers at the park so that she can look at them.
I can see and sense his agitation growing as Corrina declines, yet again, to return to his ship with him at the end of their evening together.
I would not be agitated with her. I would be grateful for every moment that we spent together, regardless of what we were doing.
I would not be trying to lure her into my bed, as I now recognize Slade is trying to do. He wishes to breed her.
On the fourth night, when Krish happens to pass by the restaurant where Corrina and Slade are dining outside, Corrina invites Krish to join them.
The following night, my brood brothers and I are eating the meat skewers that are among Corrina’s favorites when she passes by on her way to meet Slade.
A few minutes later, she returns with Slade in tow and we eat sitting in the grass as we did on the day of our first visit to the lake together.
Slade glares at me when Corrina is not looking, but I simply take another bite of meat with my sharp teeth and glance away.