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“I was going to ask why those males were rejects, and then enquire when they would meet the women who are already on base. I thought they were supposed to be getting socialized. When will that happen and when will they be trained for jobs?”
“So, so…” His gaze searches mine. “Everyone on base figured those males were there as punishment? What do you think they are being punished for?”
“The way Sylas explained it to me, they weren’t socialized enough or human-looking enough or cooperative enough to come to this side of the property.”
His face contorts as this straight-laced military bigwig tries and fails to school his features and prevent them from crumbling.
“Corporal Barton,” he barks. “I want every on-duty soldier and every civilian who is not a resident of the southern barracks in the Town Hall for a meeting in exactly ten minutes.”
“Thank you, Miss Quinn.” His tone is distracted as he strides away.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Sylas
The Town Hall is at the end of Main Street. It’s a half-minute walk from where we were playing volleyball. Now that all of us civilians are piled onto the comfortable couches that fill the space, everyone is looking at Cally, who is tucked against my side.
“Spill,” says Jenna, Noble’s mate. “What the fuck did you say to the man? It appeared as though you wrecked him.”
She shrugs. “I just asked why they were being punished. What he expected of them before he let them meet women and train for jobs.”
Although Cally receives more questions, all along the same lines, she has no additional answers. Even the soldiers, must be fifty of them crammed along the edges of the spacious room, are giving inquisitive looks Cally’s way. Evidently, they don’t know what burr is up the Colonel’s butt any more than the rest of us.
Slater strides in, still obviously fuming, and ascends the two steps to the small dais which is the focal point of the room.
“Thanks for coming,” he mumbles. That apparently concludes the preliminaries, because he launches into the rest of his statement.
“I am the Commanding Officer of this base and a firm believer that the buck stops with me. Therefore, I take full responsibility for making a massive mistake. Let me apologize and say that I’ll be giving this same speech to the southern barracks as soon as we’re done here.”
He doesn’t have notes, but his speech is eloquent as he explains that there is nothing wrong with any of the splicers on this base. “You’re all extraordinary, with high IQs, good work ethics, and a lot of heart. This integration with women was a grand experiment. I gave it a lot of thought and didn’t think we had the manpower to integrate all one hundred of you at once. Too many moving parts.”
He explains that the “lucky twenty,” as the splicers call the males in this room, were chosen because of their aptitudes for retail work and public-facing jobs. “Nothing could be farther from the truth that those to the south are rejects. They’ll be trained for other things. Now that I understand the misconceptions, I’ll be stepping up the timeline, as well as introducing them to females.”
Something inside me uncoils at hearing his words. I’d believed I was a reject, unfit, unworthy, unprepared to be introduced to women or meaningful labor. It’s good to hear that isn’t true.
“I’d like to ask any of you women who are not in relationships… if there are any of you left.” To ensure we know this is a joke, he rolls his eyes and shrugs, “To see Corporal Barton and put your name on a list if you’re willing to make a trip to the south and socialize with some of those males. Don’t worry.” He manages a small smile. “You won’t be thrown into a room with all eighty of them. We all remember what those first few moments were like when the males in this room were introduced to you.”
His gaze flicks to Forest, a ginger-haired male with a red fox tail, who suddenly howls “Noooooooo. Don’t say it.”
Everyone laughs, including the colonel. That’s Forest. The poor male couldn’t control his animal urges and pissed at Bella’s feet to mark his territory within a minute of entering this room. He’s apologized a dozen times since then. No one seems to hold a grudge, even Bella, but that doesn’t mean Forest doesn’t get teased about it at every opportunity.
The colonel winds up his remarks, apologizing to everyone again, then gives me and Chance the centaur a remorseful head nod, since we weren’t part of the original “Lucky Twenty” and spent some time in the area formerly known as the reject barracks.
The mood is exuberant as everyone files out.
“I’m so happy to hear that,” says Amber Dawn, who runs the hair salon. “After what you males have been through, I didn’t enjoy thinking the males to the south were being mistreated.”
Cally’s glowing with happiness at the colonel’s new directives, but the moment we part from the crowd, as most of them go to their barracks and we leave to make our way to our Quonset, I can smell her emotions change.
The scent of her arousal, swirling at low levels pretty much all day, every day, kicks into higher gear. As if that wasn’t a clear enough statement, she tucks herself closer to me and seems to purposely press her breast against my side.
“Maybe we could eat at home tonight? Make something easy and just chill?” I know her so well, I can read her little hints effortlessly. By her low tone of voice, I’d bet money that what she wants is the opposite of chilling.
It strikes me like a sledgehammer that this is exactly what I’ve been waiting for. When I proposed our celibate experiment, wasn’t it so we could learn each other? Know each other better? Didn’t I just admit that I know this female’s moods as well as I know my own?
“Cally?” My voice is so urgent that Tater’s ears perk and he turns to look at me. “What is my fondest wish?”
“We’ve never really talked about that,” she hedges.
