Chapter Seven
Treffon saw Violet’s face go pale. She blinked back tears at the sadness of it. In anyone else, he would have been annoyed by such weakness, but in her, oddly, he found it made him like her even more. And it made him trust her with his secret – the secret he’d kept inside for years.
“I’m so sorry. How did it happen?”
“I do not know. I never met her,” he admitted.
She looked at him in confusion. “Are you making fun of me again?”
“I was never making fun of you in the first place, I promise you. As for my true mate…I felt her presence for many years. This is not unusual for a Vulfan, and especially for a Reginar…we have strong psychic abilities. I felt as if she needed me, as if she was waiting for me. I searched everywhere for her, but I never found her.” The shame of it stabbed at him like a hot poker.
“Oh. I am very, very sorry. But how do you know she’s dead?”
“I cannot feel her anymore. Bit by bit, the connection that I felt to her faded until it was gone completely.” He scowled. “Nobody else knows of this.”
“I would never tell anyone,” she assured him.
“I know.” He meant it, too. He had a feeling he could trust her completely. Then he glanced over at Dorcas and the pack of Eeplings. “We will leave now,” he said. “If you want to bring that oldling with us, then you must fetch her at once. Otherwise I will pick you up and take you to my ship right now.”
“And he’s back to being a dick again,” she said, addressing the heavens. She looked him in the eye. He liked how bold she was, how fierce. Few Vulfans dared challenge him.
“I’m not leaving the Eeplings,” she informed him. “And you can’t kidnap me. You have no legal right to take me.”
He laughed at that. “On Ilyria? I am the law.”
“If you take me away from the Eeplings before we can get them back home, I will keep running away,” she threatened. “You can’t watch me all the time. I’m sneakier than you think.”
He felt a surge of frustration. Perhaps her feisty nature was not so admirable after all. “I am trying to protect you, foolish human!”
“I didn’t ask for your protection, and I can’t leave a bunch of helpless children alone in this dump.” She gestured at the camp.
Two huge, bull-like aliens with tusks curving from their massive lower jaws were circling each other. One charged, his head down, and they collided with a heavy smack, then began grappling. A meandering queue for rations curved around the fight, some of the aliens waiting patiently while others cheered on the brawling creatures. Far from stepping in, one of the guards seemed to be taking bets on who would win.
Several tiny, birdlike aliens fled chattering in terror from the lazy, loping pursuit of a humanoid half-shifted into a big, spotted cat. A female, clutching a ragged pair of trousers, gave chase, spitting feline curses at her wayward mate.
Treffon considered. She was a stubborn one, all right. And he suspected that if he simply used brute force on her, it would somehow not end well. He did not want her to hate him. He had no idea why he felt that way, but he did.
“I will make you an offer. If you agree to stay with me and let me guard you, I will let you bring the Eeplings with us. I will find a way to contact their families, if their families are still alive, and I will ensure safe passage for them. While we wait, I will enroll them in our school.”
“Couldn’t they travel by transporter?” she asked.
“There needs to be a functioning transporter on the other end. For security reasons, there are no transport trips going to any areas that are currently harboring cyborgs.”
She stared up at him, frowning. Finally she heaved a sigh, which made her chest rise and fall in a most tantalizing fashion. “I’ll do it,” she agreed reluctantly.
She looked around at the camp again. “This place is a disaster. Those big horned beasts keep stealing food from the weaker aliens. Fights breaking out all over. Can you do anything about it before we leave?”
She stifled a yawn. It was getting late.
He nodded. “I do not like to see such disorder anywhere on Ilyria. When I left this place a week ago, everything was running smoothly. I will find out what went wrong. Stay with your oldling and remain where I can see you until I have taken care of this.”
Violet shot him an annoyed look. “Have you heard of the word please?”
He answered her with a look of puzzlement. “A word that weaklings use in an attempt to get their way?”
She snorted. “I’m glad I’m not your true mate, because you’re rude, and you’re mean.” And she turned and stalked off, heading for the old woman who was playing with the Eeplings.
He yelled after her, “And I am glad you are not my true mate, because…because…” he couldn’t find a reason. “Because!” he finished angrily, and stomped off to find the Chief Peacemaker.
