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"Oh my goodness dear. I didn't know if I would ever get to meet you."
"Same here." Leah nervously chuckles.
"I was always coming home, mother," I say.
My mother looks at me then. I wish I didn't see such sadness in her eyes or that I didn't notice the exhaustion clear on her face.
"I wasn't too sure of that, son," she replies.
My heart breaks at her words, and that I'm sure that very thought has kept her up many a night. Then, my father is coming towards me, and I stand a little straighter. Leah comes back to my side, linking her hand with mine again. Maybe she can sense my concern, my own anxiety this time. And her touch is about all that keeps me from blurting out everything to my father, desperate for him to understand why his son has done all of this.
"Father, I would like to introduce you to Leah."
The concern is clear in my father's eyes, but the smile he gives Leah is wide, beaming. He hugs her, and as he releases her, he states, "All my daughters are here now."
"I'm honored to be so welcomed."
His expression becomes one of the utmost sincerity as he says, "This is your home. No matter what, this is your home. Always." Then, he turns to me, and I already know what his next words will be. "A word please."
I lean over to kiss Leah's hair. I feel the relief that it gives her and wish I didn't have to pull away, but I must. This talk is long overdue. As I walk away from the crowd with my father and brothers, I can see and feel others watching me. I'm sure Leah can feel their stares too. I'm beyond grateful when I hear my mother, through Leah's thoughts, telling her that she'll give out dessert now to distract the people from watching her. Then, her sisters begin questioning her at the same time that my father crosses his arms. I begin feeling defensive now, like he doesn't know who's standing before him, as if he's looking at me like I'm still the wild little boy who found trouble at every turn when I was young. Like I possibly just did all of this on some whim because I was just too impatient to wait. Hotheaded Kayo, wreaking havoc once again.
"Where would you like me to begin?" I ask, instead of waiting for him say something first.
"How about with what happened the night they sent Keri down? The last time any of us saw you before now."
There's a sting in his words that hits home, and I stiffen. But then his hand rubs down his face, something I know he only does when he's been up for far too many hours. He releases a heavy breath, and in it I can hear so much confusion, frustration, and worry. I look closer at him, and at the tiredness in his eyes. I soften, reminding myself he's been not only worried about his son, but all of his people. I shake my head.
"I'll begin with an apology instead." His eyes widen as I continue, "I'm sure I don't know the full extent of what's been going on, the threats the human leaders have made, but I'm sure it's much worse than what I've heard on the news when I've gone above ground. I'm sorry for the stress I know it must have caused our family, our people. I'm sorry for the consequences my actions have brought upon us, but not my actions. I did what I did out of necessity. I hope you can see that. That you raised me to be a male who does what is best for those he loves, and I would not have done what I did, put my family in danger, unless I had no other choice."
"I do know that, Kayo," he says. "I know the male I raised. I know your heart. Some video they showed me and the lies they told me could never change that."
I nod, looking at him, then my brothers, before beginning, "Did Keri already tell you guys about them trying to run, her and Leah being brought to the processing center, and the deal she made with the President?" They all nod. "Well, he lied. Instead of letting Leah go home, he had her sent to some hospital for the mentally ill. They held her hostage there, stripped her." I grit my teeth. "Touched her. I'd felt something was wrong all day long and that was why. Something inside of me just...knew. When I went above ground, I found her house empty and followed her scent until I could hear her thoughts, see her visions, and when I could..." I swallow, the fear of that moment filling me anew all over again. "She was strapped to a table, helpless as a man moved his hands up her legs."
My brothers hiss, nostrils flaring. My father's mouth curls into a scowl. "Funny how their leader left all of this out when I asked why my son would have had to kill those three men."
"I saw the video when I went up to get food and clothes for Leah. It's heavily edited, but yes, I killed them, brutally for what they did to my mate. I took her away from there, ran until we reached the forest and came back down."
"Where were you?" Linc asks. "We looked for you everywhere we could think."
"We stayed in this unfinished cavern far from the hunting hole. I didn't want to come back because I knew the humans would only escalate things if they knew we were here. But then I heard the news speaking of a possible war, and I knew we had to come home, to find out just how far the humans are taking their threats."
"They threatened to come down here themselves and search for you and Leah," Olex tells me.
"What?" I growl out.
"I told them if any of them or their soldiers set a foot down here, it would be the last time any of them had feet," my father states. "But we know the humans. They believe their technology makes them untouchable. Unbeatable."
"We beat them before. We can beat them again," I say.
My father shakes his head. "And you will explain to the human mates down here why we had to kill their family members, slaughter their brothers, fathers, nephews? No, I don't want a war. War will only come if we must defend ourselves."
"And what do they say is the cost of avoiding this war they seem to want so badly?"
"They want Leah back."
My heart drops to my stomach, almost making my chest collapse with it. I knew,I knew,that's what my father would say. The bullshit deal the humans would try to make, and yet hearing it still makes me so deathly afraid they might, somehow, someway, find a path to achieve it.
"I will never give her to them," I growl out.
