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“My apologies.” Johnathan bowed his head. “Old habits are difficult to break.”
She gave her attention back to Dr. Dante. “My people have many genders and non-genders. But we only have two modes of reproductive status. Those who sire young are seed-bearers. Those who carry them are egg-bearers.
“As children, we’re very similar, except for those who are clearly betas. But even that doesn’t always hold true. Because ourgenderidentity dictates how we develop.”
“You experience sexual dimorphism?” Reese pushed up his glasses. “Like clownfish which are born male. The strongest becomes female. If she dies, the dominant male in the harem changes sex.”
“Nothing of the sort. Weknowour gender. If it matches our reproductive status, then nothing changes. If it doesn’t, when we receive our wolves, we go through metamorphosis. The physical changes to our body don’t alter our reproductive status.” Seung nodded at a truck-sized male, who dwarfed the other Varu, watching TV and playing video games. “James is an egg-bearer. If he was fertile, he could carry young.”
“But you said your kind is in the general population. I’ve never heard of anything like what you’re describing outside of an isolated village in the Dominican Republic. Even then, it’s restricted to individuals who appear female at birth then take on male attributes at puberty. But they’re male and don’t have female reproductive organs. They just lack the hormone needed to develop male sex organs while in utero. But this? Someone would have noticed. There would be a mountain of research.” The idea of gender being a decision rather than a biological status held in place by societal expectations was beyond incredible.
“Varu lost among the human population don’t go through metamorphosis because it only happens after we receive our wolves.”
“Do you have any of these physiological changes when you take the VrK?” Reese said it to Jonathan.
“We’re already done with puberty by the time we take the VrK, and since it doesn’t affect egg-bearers, we don’t haveget. So we have no way of knowing if our offspring would change like the Varu when they manifest the Sarvari.”
“Wouldn’t you at least have seed-bearing females?” Physiology didn’t matter with gender identity.
Johnathan picked up his beer bottle and looked down the neck before putting it back. The glass made a hollow clink against the wooden coffee table. “I’ve never met female seed-bearers, so Grey must be denying their requests to join the Clan.”
“Wow, feminists would have a field day with him,” Reese said to lighten the mood. The look on Johnathan’s face sobered him.
“My father has a strict code about not subjecting females to inhospitable conditions, whether they can bear young or not. The closest he’ll come to bringing them into our pack is allowing them to work off-site as a technician, mechanic, or overseeing operations. But that would change if you can modify the VrK to work on them.”
“Why does it matter?” Reese said. “I mean, if you can reproduce before the VrK, why do you care if there are female egg-bearers?”
“Not being able to Phase doesn’t change who we are,” Seung said. “Those females want to claim their wolves.”
“But if Luca can bring you back your wolves, they can have a Fenrir.” It made more sense than tinkering with a concoction that might result in disastrous side effects.
Johnathan pressed his lips together. “Because we’re Mah, not Varu. And the Fenrir isn’t the Sarvari.”
“But you are Varu. Just because you’ve taken on a different name doesn’t change your genetics.” Cast out or not, they were still the same people. “Besides, limiting a gene pool isn’t healthy for a species.”
“Our gene pool is very wide.”
“Not if you’re basing it off Varu who were exiled. I mean, unless you were exiled by the thousands. And if most of them were dead or dying, that’s not exactly the foundation to build a race.”
Johnathan glanced at Frost, then Seung, before bringing his attention back to Reese. While the man’s expression remained close to neutral, there was a strong sense of both sorrow and anger.
“In the beginning, the people cast out were criminals. But as human civilization spread their ideals, more than a few became sacrificial lambs. By the time the Anubis rose to power, Clan leaders were expelling entire family lines connected to the one being exiled. Those with wolves were stripped, those without were denied their birthright to stand before the Cana.
“Unlike the Varu, we’ve continued to grow our population. We have hundreds of families cataloged and thousands of descendants recorded. Generations who left behind a name taken from us. Our minds are Mah, our instincts Mah. We’re people too aggressive and rebellious to belong to Varu Clans.”
“You’re not listening to what I’m saying,” Reese said. “That doesn’t change your genetics. You’re still Varu. Even if you’ve only bred among those families, a thousand years isn’t enough to change your species.
“Plus, I highly doubt, no matter how careful you’ve been, humans have made their way into your gene pool.”
“Our genetics are dominant,” Seung said. “When we reproduce with humans, the offspring are Varu.”
Reese huffed. “I’m sorry, but that’s not how genetics work. Both parents contribute. There may be breakage and linkage that affect the percentage of influence, but you’d still have human DNA.”
“The files I sent you, what did you see?”
Reese furrowed his brow.
“Humor me, Dr. Dante. What did you see?”
