But I had already thought this through. There were two gargoyles ‘above’ me in the New United power structure. Both had gargoyle omegas at the center of their chimes.If the most powerful unbonded chime can’t control, master, and breed a human, how will others?
Ben’s been very cagey, even with us, on the ‘results’ from the first year of the program. I know that he is worried that leaked data could taint the validity of their results so I haven’t pushed him. But there’s something he’s not telling me and that makes me nervous.I can only lead well if I have all the information.
Unfortunately, now is not the time to question him. I frown.
Damn my fool wings, making me leave last night in search of the peace of flying, instead of insisting on helping my bonded.
We follow Ben into a small entry room. The other chimes, numbers two - ten, based on their combined personnel rankings,are already there. I recognize two groups but the others are from foreign leaderships.
When the wee Fae died in the late 2010’s, our rulers were outraged. The fairies, the sprites, the kiln- and hearth-spirits, the nixies, the leprechauns, the kobolds.All dead.Suffocated on the pollution the idiot humans put into our air, our water, our earth.
The humans had to be stopped. Curtailed.Controlled. For their own good.
In a move that ended up being rather devastating for them, the vampires sided with the humans. I suppose it makes sense; vamps always said the blood tasted best from willing prey. And how willing would the humans be if their vampires kept them chained up like junkyard dogs?
The BloodStone War lasted from 2024 to 2030. The last vampire ashed out, tied to a stake, here, outside this very building. His capture and execution was what bumped my rank to A.
The Lunar Battles started soon after. The damn humans bribed the largest werewolf packs to fight for them. Mercenaries in fur.
Now the weres are gone too.
It’s unfortunate that we had to lose the only two other large species of magical creatures, but we won’t stand by idly while our home,our planetis destroyed. For once that happens, we’re all dead anyway.
“Ranger Archibald!” a pinkish grey gargoyle with big horns and small wings calls. I manage not to roll my eyes.
“It’s Earl Archibald, now, actually, Frederick,” I rumble, the scent of the human women laying heavy in my throat.
“Yes, yes, of course. And are you excited to choose a bride?” He grins in a way that is not kind.
I snort.A bride. What utter bullshit. A human concept we latched onto to make this more palatable. Our female would be the center of our chime. But she would not be a gargoyle omega, making it impossible for her to help make our family decisions given her lack of understanding of our culture. That job will not be hers; though the rest of the female’s responsibilities will be the same as an omega of our species: she will be a brood mare, there to take our seed, settle our beasts and bring us through our ruts, ease the ache in our balls, to submit prettily and beg for more. In return, she'll be pleasured, spoiled, taken care of, a member of our society.After she’s trained that is.
I turn my attention back to ranking member of the Quorum. He’s probably upset his chime wasn’t chosen. “Yes, very, Freddy. If you’ll excuse us?” I tilt my head towards the scientist Erik at the front of the room. Frederick nods brusquely and slips outside.
Erik clears his throat. “Alphas. You’ll notice that your button screens are glowing. Green is for the highest ranked chime, then blue, then purple, then red, then yellow. When we open the doors, all the screens attached to the rooms will have each color glowing on them. You can use the touch screen to read more about the human woman in the room if you wish, or deactivate your chime’s color if you are not interested in her.” Erik shifts awkwardly from foot to foot. “We... er... had a situation last year. Please note that any physical violence between chimes will remove you from the bride selection process for an undetermined amount of years.”
Hmm, that hadn’t made sector news. I glance at Ben. He quickly looks away. I frown yet again. Our human might not be the only one getting some training tonight.
“If you have the numbers of the human women you know you are not interested in, you can hand them to me and I will deactivate your color from their screen now.”
Ben steps forward, handing Erik a slip of paper. I’m suddenly torn. Those are women I won’t even bother to view, to smell, to consider, now. Perhaps I fucked up in letting my bonded handle this.
Chapter Seven
Ebenezer
We are let into the room where the humans are kept. The lights are low, calming. I hear Theo gasp quietly. I give him a sharp look but he leans in and whispers loudly, “These aren’trooms, they’re cages!”
I grab his arm, “Hush. This is the most effective way we’ve found. They’re safe. Unharmed.”
Just then we walk past a room with a woman crying, sitting at the back of her cell. Theo shoots me a glare. Our light, the green, is off. My chest aches with pity, but I suspect her gentle nature will earn her a lower ranking and, more importantly, easy-going chime, perhaps one with a beta attached to them as well. Theo and I had ruled her out due to the distance from which she would be from her family if she was to join our chime.
Arch is frowning too. He stops in front of her. “Why can’t I hear her?” He inhales. “I can smell her.”
Erik answers from behind me. “Bio-filters. If you would like to speak to one of the women, I can deactivate it. But... I don’t recommend it.”
Arch frowns harder.Good thing he’s stone, or he’d have some wicked frown lines. I put a hand on his arm again. “Come on. We don’t have all day.”
The three of us walk the rows, only stopping at rooms with the green light still activated. One looks much younger than her listed age of thirty-one human years, so we deactivate her touch screen. Another lays, sleeping or more-like pretending to, on the floor.Deactivate. An exceedingly slender female, and another that barely comes up to Arch’s waist, we decide against, as we are all larger males and we are not sure of the danger to a tiny female carrying our winglings.
