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“You’re asking for a chokehold at this point, bud.”
Thyone drew out his sigh, sending glares at both of them. Then he focused on Deimos. “Your father wants you to find a mate. I hope you haven’t forgotten about that.”
“How could I? It’s the only thing he yaps about each time I visit him. There’s a reason why I avoid his presence every chance I get.”
“You can’t avoid him forever,” Thyone said, the eternal voice of reason amongst the three friends. “He’s your father. And he’s the former king. I think it’s only natural that he wants to see his bloodline continue, and since he doesn’t have any other sons …”
“Yeah, I know,” Deimos whispered. “You don’t have to keep repeating that to me.”
“It sure feels as if we have to,” Qev remarked. “You ran off and started a cow business, Deimos. And now your cows are dying. I think that you have no other choice but to focus on your obligations as leader of this clutch.”
“How can I? I’m watching everything I worked hard for fall apart before my eyes. Excuse me for not worrying about a damn mate in the middle of this crisis.”
“It’s a crisis thatyoucreated for yourself, though. I say cut your losses and move on.” Qev raised his hands in defense, noticing that dark look he was getting from Deimos. “Don’t treat me like a villain. I’ve been on your side since day one.”
“As have I,” Thyone added. “We both want to see you succeed. And we can clearly see that this cattle business is doing nothing but bringing you frustration and suffering. In my opinion, I don’t understand the fondness that you have for those animals. It doesn’t make sense, but I digress.”
“I’ve raised some of these animals since they were young. It’s natural for me to have bonded with them in a way that you two would never understand. They’re like my children.”
Qev scoffed. “I think your father would beg to differ.”
“Was I talking about my father, Qev?” Deimos snapped.
“Okay, all right.” Thyone raised his hand. “Settle down.”
“I have faith in my animals,” Deimos announced, straightening his back as he stared at the cows in the distance. “I know they’re going to get better once I find the right veterinarian to take care of them. And once that happens, I don’t want to hear another damn piece of criticism come out of either of your mouths.”
“Shit,” Qev whispered, raising his brows. “Okay.”
“And how do you expect to find another veterinarian to look at them? We’ve already exhausted our options here on Nova Aurora,” Thyone exclaimed. Then, he ran a hand down his face. “I can’t fucking believe I’m here worrying about some cows because of you, Deimos.”
“I’m glad you can see their importance to me.” Deimos rested his hands on his hips. “I’ll figure out my next steps soon. I promise. My animals are suffering right now, so I’m not going to sit back and do nothing in the meantime.”
“Why don’t we just kill them right now?” Qev asked, shrugging. “They’ll make a pretty good dinner. I say we eat that fat one over there. It’s not doing anything useful, anyway.”
Deimos reached over and smacked him on the back of the head. Thyone, the peacemaker, untangled the two as they began scuffling. He used to do the same thing when they were children, fighting over the most mundane reasons.
“You two act like a pair of raging idiots at the worst times,” Thyone snapped, shoving Qev away from Deimos. “Let him handle his cows. I went through hell trying to find you the last veterinarian, Deimos. I’m not doing that again, so you’re on your own.”
“Fine! I can figure this out myself.”
“You want to know what I think?” Qev asked, leaning an elbow on the fence while he gestured toward the animals.
Deimos scowled. “No, I really don’t.”
“Too bad. Why don’t you find an Earth veterinarian to deal with these animals? They’re not native to our planet, so find someone from theirs who can look at them.”
Pausing to mull over that possibility, Deimos had to admit it was the smartest thing he had heard come out of Qev’s mouth in a long while. Why hadn’t he thought about that before?
Perhaps, it was time to expand his horizons. After all, the lives of his cows were on the line.
THREE
HOPE
With her hands clasped together, Gerri motioned toward the three suitcases that Hope had brought along with her. She kept a bright smile on her face.
“What’s all this?”
